4, September 2018

Schools Fail to Open in Southern Cameroons ⁰

September 3rd marks the first day of the school year across much of the world. But in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, thousands of children failed to show up for class. Ongoing clashes between the military and separatists seeking independence from Cameroon’s French-speaking majority has parents keeping their children away.

There are only a few vehicles and people on the main commercial street in Bamenda, a town in in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest.

Most shops and businesses are closed.

And, despite September 3rd being the first day of the school year, there are no children seen headed to class.

Benette Ngum said she only came out to see how the public responded to calls by armed separatists to keep shops closed and for children to stay at home.

“I will go and register my children but, next week. The money is there, everything is there, the children are even prepared to go to school but, I just want to see how the atmosphere will look like in the first week before I send them to school next week fully,” she said.

Most schools in the northwest have been closed since 2016, when fighting broke out between Cameroon’s military and armed separatists who want to create an English-speaking state.

Authorities say the separatists have torched more than a hundred schools, which they see as legitimate targets because they force the French language on locals.

Last month, the separatists said they would allow schools to reopen though without any safety guarantee.

The governor of the region, Deben Tchoffo, said the government has taken security measures to protect schools. He is urging parents to put their children back in class.

“The major task lies on the parents, teachers and the school children. That is the reason why I am asking the parents to rise against those that are trying to disrupt resumption of classes in the northwest region,” he said.

But parents seem to be listening to the separatists’ demand to keep their kids at home on September 3rd and wait for authorities to announce a different date as the start of the school year.

Ajume Francis said he did not send his children to school in the town of Mamfe because authorities have yet to reconstruct it after it was torched.

“The schools that have been burned down, are the students going to sit on the floor? Where would they learn? The government needs to take its responsibility,” he said.

Cameroon’s Minister of Secondary Education Nalova Lyonga says the government will provide basic school supplies while school buildings are under construction.

“School is a universal good as I said and every Cameroonian must go to school. It is only slaves who do not go to school and we are not slaves. So the head of state has made it possible for us to go to school and I encourage parents to send their children to school,” said Lyonga.

More than 200,000 people have been displaced by the violence in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

The United Nations says a majority of them are school-age children.

Culled from the VOA

4, September 2018

Black night as Federer, Sharapova crash at US Open ⁰

Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova crashed out of the US Open on Monday in back-to-back seismic shocks under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights.

Federer, the five-time champion and looking to end his 10-year wait to add to his total in New York, was beaten by Australia’s world number 55 John Millman 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/3).

It was 20-time major winner Federer’s first loss against a player outside the top 50 in 41 meetings at the US Open.

He finished with 77 unforced errors and 10 double faults.

“It was very hot. I felt I couldn’t get any air and I was sweating more and more and became more and more uncomfortable,” explained Federer.

“I guess I was happy when the match was over.”

He added: “John dealt with it better — he’s from Brisbane, one of the most humid places in the world!”

It was the world number two’s earliest defeat at the tournament since a fourth round loss to Tommy Robredo in 2013.

The result meant there would be no quarter-final showdown with old rival Novak Djokovic who will now face Millmann instead.

“I have so much respect for Roger and everything he’s done for the game. He’s been a hero of mine,” said Millman.

“Today he was definitely not at his best. But I’ll take it.”

Sharapova, the 2006 champion, suffered a second successive last-16 exit in New York, blasted off court by Carla Suarez Navarro.

The Spanish player marked her 30th birthday in style with a memorable 6-4, 6-3 win over the five-time major champion whose last Slam title was in Paris in 2014.

Federer had cruised through the first set against Millman who was appearing in his maiden last-16 at the majors.

But the Swiss, who lost in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon where he was defending champion, began to look every bit the 37-year-old he is as he struggled in the suffocating humidity.

He squandered two set points in the second set and another in the third set tiebreak as the errors piled up.

Federer was 4-2 up in the fourth set but was reeled in and two back-to-back double faults sent him 1/4 down in the tiebreak.

– ‘Break a leg’ –

The contest was over shortly before 1 a.m. when he hit a weary forehand wide.

Djokovic reached the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over unseeded Joao Sousa.

Djokovic, who ended a 54-week title drought with his 13th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, said he was relieved to get past 68th-ranked Sousa in straight sets as temperatures soared again.

“Very happy to get this one done in straight sets,” said Djokovic, who left the court for a medical evaluation early in the third set but returned to wrap things up in exactly two hours.

Marin Cilic, seeded seven, beat David Goffin of Belgium 7-6 (8/6), 6-2, 6-4 and next takes on Japan’s Kei Nishikori who saw off German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.

Cilic defeated Nishikori in the 2014 final when he won his only Slam title.

Sharapova, the 2006 champion who was trying to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2012, hit 38 unforced errors and dropped serve six times.

The defeat also ended the former world number one’s perfect record of 23 wins — 22 of them on Arthur Ashe Stadium — in night sessions at Flushing Meadows.

“I thought she played really well. I thought in today’s conditions, her ball was getting up on me a little bit more, much more than my previous three opponents that I played,” said Sharapova.

“I didn’t take care of the chances that I had. By ‘chances,’ I mean the balls that were a little bit shorter.”

Suarez Navarro, who was also a quarter-finalist in New York in 2013, goes on to face American 14th seed Madison Keys, the runner-up in 2017.

“Maria has played here at night many times so I knew I needed to be aggressive, focussed and play solid,” said the 30th seeded Spaniard.

Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final, beating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, tearfully admitting she was prepared to “break a leg” to win the match.

The 20-year-old became the first Japanese woman in the US Open last-eight since Shinobu Asagoe in 2004.

Osaka, seeded 20, came back from a break down in the final set to take the tie on a fourth match point when Sabalenka served up an eighth double fault.

“I would never have forgiven myself if I had lost that match,” said a tearful Osaka.

“When I was a break down in the final set I thought I would even break a leg if needed so I could get to every ball.”

Osaka will next face Lesia Tsurenko, the 36th-ranked Ukrainian who beat Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 6-2.

AFP

4, September 2018

Trump blasts Jeff Sessions for undermining Republicans ⁰

US President Donald Trump has taken yet another swipe at his Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who heads the powerful Justice Department, for not blocking two damaging investigations that undermined two Republican candidates ahead of the mid-term congressional elections.

On August 8, Representative Christopher Collins, who was the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump for president, was indicted for alleged insider trading, wire fraud, conspiracy and lying to the FBI.

According to the indictment, the New York lawmaker was allegedly involved to a scheme to gain insider information about Innate Immunotherapeutics Limited, a biotechnology company headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

His son, Cameron Collins, and the father of his son’s fiancée, Stephen Zarsky, were also arrested on the same charges. Two weeks later, Representative Duncan Hunter and his wife were indicted by a federal grand jury for spending some $250,000 of campaign funds for family vacations and other personal expenses over a period of seven years.

Just like Collins, the San Diego Republican has remained defiant in face of the charges, accusing prosecutors of having political motives. Both Collins and Hunter are campaigning for re-election in November.

The Trump team is worried that the indictments would help Democrats to score a decisive victory in the House of Representatives and launch their much-anticipated attempt to impeach the Republican president.

This is not the first time that Trump is lashing out at Sessions. The president has regularly taken jabs at Sessions for recusing himself from overseeing a high-profile probe into the Trump campaign’s ties with Russia, which allowed DOJ’s Special Counsel Robert Mueller to dig deep into in the hope of finding any hints of a possible “collusion.”

In late August, Sessions finally hit back at his boss, saying he will not allow political pressure to influence the work being done at the department.

3, September 2018

Ambazonian Interim Gov’t renews security advice for parents following French Cameroun terrorist attacks in Bafut ⁰

The Ambazonian Interim Government spokesman who also moonlights as the Communication Secretary has renewed the Southern Cameroons government position on the resumption of schools in the country. Chris Anu’s emergency audio message to the people of Southern Cameroons follows actions taken by the French Cameroun military in Bafut in which some students including a teacher were forcefully carried away to an unknown destination.

Hon. Chris Anu echoed the Interim Government’s position that was made public last week for Ambazonian parents to take measures to protect their kids in nurseries and schools from terrorist attacks coming mainly from French Cameroun soldiers deployed by the Biya Francophone government.

Chris Anu further observed that attacks on Southern Cameroons youth have been unprecedented and Ambazonian schools are currently very vulnerable. Cameroon Concord News understands the Ambazonian Interim Government is currently reviewing its defense, safety and school security systems.

The Ambazonian Communication Secretary called for all parents in the territory to put the security of their children first before the shambolic education promised by the invading forces and their acolytes. Mr. Anu pointed out that the Interim Government is channelling its efforts on prevention rather than afterwards adding that the terrorists French Cameroun troops are now moving towards soft targets which to them are the Southern Cameroons young boys and girls.

By Chi Prudence Asong

3, September 2018

Nigerian military death toll from Boko Haram attack hits 48!! Buhari won’t talk ⁰

The number of Nigerian soldiers killed in a Boko Haram attack in northeastern Nigeria has reached forty-eight, the AFP news agency reports citing military sources.

The terrorists are said to have overran a military base in the northeast near the border with Niger, two military sources told AFP on Saturday. They are reported to have stormed the base at Zari village in northern Borno state late Thursday and briefly seized it after a fierce battle.

“They came in large numbers in trucks and carrying heavy weapons and engaged soldiers in a battle that lasted for an hour,” a military officer said.

The latest development means the toll has risen by more than half of the initial figure reported. Boko Haram has intensified attacks on military targets in recent months, the army or government has yet to speak on the casualty figures.

“They overwhelmed the troops who were forced to temporarily withdraw before reinforcements arrived,” said the officer who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak.

The attacks appear to undermine repeated claims by the military that Boko Haram had been defeated. The militants took weapons and military equipment before they were pushed out of the base by troops with aerial support.

The militants were pursued and bombarded by a fighter jet, said the military sources. “The terrorists also suffered heavy casualty from the bombardment”, one of the military officers said.

Zari is located 30km from the town of Damasak on the border with Niger.

In a statement late Friday the Nigerian military confirmed troops fought Boko Haram “insurgents…on rampage to loot the community and extort money from villagers”.

“Troops…have successfully routed Boko Haram insurgents in an encounter that ensued yesterday evening at Zari village,” the military said in the statement.

It did not speak of military casualties and the raid on the base but maintained “several Boko Haram fighters and weapons” were destroyed in the fight. The Nigerian army has on several occasions disputed reports on losses to Boko Haram and has in some cases played them down.

Source: Africa News

3, September 2018

Cameroon defender Oyongo ‘delighted’ with first goal in French football ⁰

Cameroon international defender Ambroise Oyongo said he was delighted to score his first goal for French club Montpellier since joining from Major League Soccer (MLS) side Montreal Impact in January.

The 27-year-old’s crisp half-volley in the 77th minute earned La Paillade a hard-fought 1-0 away victory over Reims on Saturday night.

“I feel happy to get my first goal – it was difficult for me to come back from a lengthy injury,” he told BBC Sport.

“I’ve only played two games before this game, but I’m delighted to give my team all three points against a tough team.”

Oyongo, who moved to France after he ruptured a tendon, was making only his sixth appearance for the Ligue 1 club.

“I have been pushing myself in pre-season to get to the best level I can be. Everyone has helped me settle in. I just need to keep it going both at club and national team level.”

As he shifts his attention to international football with Cameroon, Oyongo has urged the fans to back new manager Clarence Seedorf and his assistants as they face Comoros in a 2019 Nation Cup qualifier next weekend.

“The fans want success and I think they will just be happy to see the team winning again,” added Oyongo

“Seedorf and Kluivert are legends, it is good for Cameroon to have this calibre of coaches and they need all the support.

“It’s not about the names, all the players must respect the coach because he is the boss.

“If we all work together I believe the country will do very well under this new set up.”

Oyongo began his career at Coton Sport in his native Cameroon, where he won three league titles between 2010 and 2014.

He had a brief spell with MLS club New York Red Bulls in 2014, before switching to Montreal Impact in January 2015.

Oyongo scored three goals and provided six assists in 72 games for the MLS Eastern Conference outfit.

Capped 29 times by Cameroon scoring twice, Oyongo played all six games as the Indomitable Lions won their fifth African Cup of Nations title in Gabon last year.

Source: BBC

3, September 2018

Students and pupils too scared to return to Southern Cameroons schools ⁰

Fighting between troops loyal to the Biya regime in Yaounde and Ambazonian Restoration Forces has forced pupils and students in Southern Cameroons to stay away. Most of the schools are now deserted. Some highly placed Anglophone officials serving with the Francophone government announced earlier that schools in Southern Cameroons will resume for the 2018/19 academic year. But shockingly Southern Cameroons parents found their streets in several towns and cities in the newly created Federal Republic of Ambazonia had been turned into a battle ground and thousands have fled bloody confrontations between Cameroon’s armed forces and the Ambazonian defense groups.

A senior government official in Buea told Cameroon Concord News that it will be impossible for the children to resume school. “People are suffering, the situation is bad” he said and sued for anonymity. Heads of academic institutions are advising students not to return to school. “I cannot advice any child to go to school in the North West and South West because it is dangerous,” an obviously scared Principal told our correspondent in Bamenda.

The 2018-2019 academic year has effectively started in Francophone Cameroun but uncertainty looms in Southern Cameroons. Those who strongly advocated for schools to resume in the Southern Zone met with a stone wall as Buea, the chief city recorded a massive ghost town operation with shops sealed and streets deserted. We gathered that there was a heavy exchange of fire on Sunday evening between gun men and Francophone security forces in Mile 16.

The ghost town operation put in place by the exiled Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has swept through the entire Southern Cameroons. Fighting is intensifying in the Bamenda County with reports of a separatist attack on the Bafut gendarmerie brigade situated at Agyati.

Sporadic fighting was also reported in Bambili involving the some French Cameroun police officers stationed in the area. The story was the same in Bambui and Sabga.

By Sama Ernest and Rita Akana

3, September 2018

Could the future of food in the world depend on what Africa does with agriculture? ⁰

Addressing a standing room only crowd of global agriculture experts at the FAO headquarters in Rome, 2017 World Food Prize Laureate and President of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org), Akinwumi Adesina, says the answer is a resounding yes!

He believes Africa does not need aid but disciplined investments. According to this grandson of a subsistence farmer, he says the time has come to view investment and development opportunities in Africa through a totally different lens.

With over 800 million people worldwide suffering from hunger and more than two billion affected by malnutrition, food insecurity remains a real threat to global development. Adesina, who is making a global pitch for renewed visionary leadership and strategic alliances, “the future of food in the world will depend on what Africa does with Agriculture.”

The African Development Bank, which he leads, envisions a food secure continent which uses advanced technologies, creatively adapts to climate change, and develops a whole new generation of what he describes as ‘agripreneurs’ – empowered youth and women who he expects to take agriculture to the next level.

By 2050, an additional 38 million African will be hungry. The paradox of lack in the midst of plenty, and Africa’s growing youth bulge are some of the reasons why Adesina’s sense of urgency is resonating with numerous government, private sector, and multilateral leaders during recent European and Asian trips. The banker and 2017 World Food Prize Laureate will be the first to admit that he considers himself the ‘evangelist-in-chief’ for a food secure Africa.

Africa continues to import what it should be producing, spending $35 billion on food imports each year, a figure that is expected to rise to $110 billion in 2025 if present trends continue.

A few days later, Adesina joined Rockefeller Foundation President Raj Shah, Unilever CEO Paul Polman, and 2018 World Food Prize nominees Lawrence Haddad and David Navarro, among other prominent global academic, development, and agriculture experts at Wageningen University and Research, in the Netherlands, to make the case for urgent collective action by State and non-State players to accelerate Africa’s agricultural growth and transformation.

Africa receives only 2 percent of the $100 billion annual revenues from chocolates globally. Adesina tells his audience that “adding value to what nations produce, is the secret to their wealth. Producing chocolate instead of simply exporting cocoa beans does not require rocket science.”

To expand opportunities for youth, women, and private sector players, Adesina is on a global mission to promote and seek support for the bank’s Affirmative Finance for Women in Africa (AFAWA) program which aims to mobilize $3 billion to support women entrepreneurs who historically lack access to finance, land, and land titles; a $300 million ENABLE Youth program to develop the next generation of agribusiness and commercial farmers for Africa; and a new global investment marketplace, the African Investment Forum, which will be held in Johannesburg November 7-9.

In separate meetings with Sigrid A.M. Kaag, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, in the Hague; Peter van Mierlo, CEO of the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), key private sector players, and members of the Dutch Foreign Affairs Advisory Council, Adesina said Africa and its partners must seize unprecedented opportunities for innovative partnerships and increased development impact.

Mierlo believes, “a huge benefit for Africa is that it can skip development cycles that often almost all developed countries had to go through, by deploying new technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics in agriculture”.

In a continent where more than 640 million are without electricity, Adesina says the private sector is key to Africa’s development in Africa’s energy and agriculture sectors.

“If Africa is going to turn the tide of irregular migration, this is critical. There are three ways in which we can collaborate: either through the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility, Africa 50 – a private equity institution which has raised more than US$ 850 million from 22 countries, and the new Africa Investment Forum.”

Adesina, recognizes that the lack of electricity is Africa’s biggest development impediment. The Bank’s new and ambitious Desert-to-Power initiative which aims to generate 10,000MW of power across Africa’s Sahel region will be critical to reducing migration and climate change impacts. We will do this through a blended finance mechanism with guarantees”, Mr. Adesina said.

Speaking to a High-level Roundtable of Dutch Business Leaders at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), informed key private sector leaders that “governance structures and business regulatory environments are changing in Africa. Indeed, several African countries have already made significant progress in improving their general business and investment environments. Africa is doing better than some of the Asian countries,” he reminded his audience. “In the energy sector, the African Development Bank is investing $12 billion over the next 5 years, with the goal of leveraging $40-50 billion; and an additional $US 24 billion, over ten years, in agriculture to implement its Feed Africa Strategy.”

Agriculture steadily taking center-stage

The strategy is already bearing fruit with the establishment of Staple Crop Processing Zones in several African countries, including Ethiopia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mozambique, with a plan to reach 15 countries in a few years.

Strategically located in and around rural farming communities Adesina says “these agriculture zones will form the nucleus of a new wave of agro-industries and greenfield ventures, attracting agripreneurs, biotechnology firms, intellectual and capital investments. They will also ensure that foods are processed and packaged right where they are produced, rather than in urban centers far removed from centers of production.”

Described as a visionary optimist by many colleagues, Adesina believes the bank’s policies and investments will help turn rural areas from zones of economic misery into zones of economic prosperity.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

3, September 2018

Thousands join rival migrant protests in Germany’s Chemnitz ⁰

Thousands of opponents and supporters of Germany’s immigration policy marched Saturday through the eastern city of Chemnitz after a wave of racist violence that followed a knife killing.

Some protesters paraded with large portraits of victims of attacks perpetrated, they claimed, by asylum-seekers, while others brandished banners reading “Chemnitz is neither grey nor brown” and “The heart rather than hate”.

There was a heavy police presence with reinforcements from all over Germany after they were heavily outnumbered by thousands of neo-Nazis, football hooligans and other extremists earlier this week.

Sunday and Monday evenings saw outbreaks of street violence, triggered by the arrest of one Iraqi protester and one Syrian, suspected of stabbing a 35-year-old carpenter to death.

Following the arrests, mobs launched random street attacks against people they took to be foreigners, including an Afghan, a Syrian and a Bulgarian man.

Around 2,500 people marched in support of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s immigration policy which has seen more than one million migrants and refugees allowed into Germany since 2015, according to a police estimate.

The government lent its support to the pro-migrant rally through Foreign Minister Heiko Maas who tweeted: “The Second World War started 79 years ago. Germany caused unimaginable suffering in Europe. If once again people are parading today in the streets making Nazi salutes, our past history forces us to resolutely defend democracy.”

“We will not let right-wing extremists destroy our country and our democracy. Neither in Chemnitz, nor in Saxony nor anywhere in Germany. Our constitution must prevail. We must defend it. Now!” added one of the Greens’ leaders Cem Ozdemir in a tweet accompanied by a picture of him with demonstrators.

In a separate march later, an estimated 6,000 people marched at the call of various movements including the far-right anti-immigration alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the anti-Islam PEGIDA movement.

The violence and heated debate on immigration have brought back to the fore what has become the most challenging political issue for Merkel, especially in the former communist east of Germany where the AfD is the number one party in some towns and regions.

Following criticism of Merkel’s earlier open door policy, her government has increasingly tightened asylum laws as conservative and far-right disquiet has grown.

After an initially jubilant welcome, the migrant influx sparked a strong backlash that saw a spate of hate crimes and swept once-fringe party AfD into parliament.

(REUTERS)

3, September 2018

We’re dying, Ambazonian refugees in Nigeria cry for help ⁰

The agony of widows, infants and the vulnerable Cameroonian refugees cooling off in some Taraba communities seemed to be getting worse owing to their increasing number amidst meagre resources to cater for their well-being. At the last count, over 4000 refugees from Furawa sub-division, Baji, Nkan, Mashi, Lisan Lutu Cameroon among others have migrated to some communities in Ussa and Kurmi local government areas of Taraba state to escape the mayhem unleashed on agitators for the independence of Southern Cameroon.

For those plagued with one ailment or the other, help seemed far-fetched as many lamented difficulty in getting medical help, coupled with starvation which has made them frail and pitiable. When Vanguard visited Fikyu and Toso villages where some of them were being accommodated, the residents were weary and decried neglect by government and authorities responsible for refugees.

However, for people like Patience Andekun, what mattered was how to cater for the twins she gave birth to while fleeing her home country when the crises escalated to her village two months ago. Her husband who has been missing since the crisis started in her village seemed to be less of her worries right now. Other refugees also recounted how they escaped being consumed in the crisis and their present predicament.

“I gave birth to twins while running away—Patience Narrating her ordeal to Saturday Vanguard, Patience Andekun, the young mother of two said pandemonium broke out while she and her husband were asleep but had to run in different directions to escape being killed by the gun wielding attackers who stormed their village. She said, “I had to run because if I had stayed I would have been killed by now. I was pregnant but I never minded my condition to save my life like every other person that made it out of my village alive. “On the way, I started feeling pains and discovered that the babies were about coming. At this time I never even saw my husband because he also ran away when they started killing people in the village. “It was on our way to this village that I gave birth to the twins I am carrying now. I had to save their lives and mine by running. How I wish my husband was here to see our babies but I can’t tell if he is dead or alive. But since I came here, the church has been helping me and the children with food and accommodation.”

I hope to see my wife one day —Ezekiel——— Another refugee, Ezekiel Rimar who fled his village in Baji with his only daughter lamented how he missed his wife whom he left behind. According to him, “I only picked my daughter when the crisis escalated to my village while my wife ran in a different direction. I have been here for about two months and hope to see my wife someday because I miss her. “We ran here to live with some of our relatives who have been staying here for sometime and I really regret how everything turned out because we lost a lot of people. The way we have been living our life there even before the crisis was terrible. There was no payment of salaries and most projects were not sited in the south which was why our people raised a motion for its independence and that was how the crisis started.”

We’re suffering —Refugees Dominic Amah one of the refugees who ran into Toso village while outlining some of their challenges told Vanguard that they lacked basic amenities. He emphasized that children and nursing mothers have been plagued with various forms of ailment which has compounded their hardship and sought respite for their suffering. “It has not been easy since we came here especially concerning feeding and access to health facilities. Even to use the toilet is a very big challenge. Children have contracted water borne diseases and are suffering from diarrhea and malaria. Though the local government chairman and members of the community have been assisting us in different ways since we came, but we still need humanitarian gesture from the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and other Non Governmental Organisations”, he pleaded.

Another refugee from Furawa subdivision, Polycarp Andy in his submission commended their host community for the help so far but felt disturbed with their growing number weekly. He however allayed fears of putting much pressure on the community with their problems which he believed might degenerate into a humanitarian crisis, thus rendering both the refugees and the community helpless. He said “some of our brothers who went back to see how the situation was in our villages keep running back as the onslaught was still going on. As at last Saturday, over 15 of our people came into Kpambo-puri in Ussa and more people keep coming into Nigeria every week. “We have been suffering ever since but at the communities they have been assisting us with food and accommodation, otherwise, starvation would have killed some of us. But we want the government of Nigeria and the world at large to intervene because I am afraid that with our increasing number, the communities harbouring us might run out of resources to care for us and themselves.”

The Community leader of Fikyu village, Ezra Ukwe and chairman of Ussa local government area, Rimamsikwe Hassan told Vanguard that residents of the community were groaning because their humanitarian service had started to take its toll on them. They noted that some of the refugees were living with members of the community who have deployed their meagre resources to take care of the victims. Ukwe then pleaded with government at all levels to assist residents of the community in whatever form to reduce the burden on his subjects. “Our appeal to the government is to assist us by bringing some relief materials for our visitors to live normal lives like every other member in the community till they return to their country”, he said

The Chairman of Ussa local government area, Rimamsikwe Hassan told Vanguard that the Red Cross had earlier visited some villages to take statistics of the refugees with the promise to return with help which had not come. Hassan who said the burden was overwhelming disclosed that four communities in his local government were hosting some of the refugees with their number increasing every week. “The refugees are in Kpambo- piri, Jatau, Kanpiya and Fikyu village, with Fikyu having the least number of about 250 refugees including children as at last count. “When they (refugees) first moved in, the Nigerian Red Cross society visited some of the villages to take statistics and promised to come back, but ever since they have not returned. “We have equally written to the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, NCFRMI, but we are yet to get a reply from them. “We also wrote to the United Nations Refugee Commission and they have replied us but we are yet to see them here and we hope if our story is given publicity and they become aware of what these people are going through here, it will hasten their visit to us here. “However, the state government through SEMA brought relief materials for the victims, but we also want the Federal government to come in and liaise with the Camerounian authorities. “The state Commissioner for Health has been here but the refugees still need assistance in terms of medical needs, especially the children, the aged and nursing mothers”

www.vanguardngr.com