24, April 2018

Enfin: French billionaire Vincent Bolloré arrested over corruption allegations in Africa ⁰

French industrialist Vincent Bolloré was taken into custody on Tuesday morning at the premises of the judicial police in Nanterre, France.

According to French media company, Le Monde, the billionaire businessman is being investigated for influence peddling and corruption in Africa, specifically the conditions under which he obtained two of the sixteen container terminals in the ports of Lomé and Conakry, in 2010.

State prosecutors believe that Bollores, who has interests in several African countries, could have taken advantage of his Havas communications agency to facilitate African heads of state into power in exchange for concessions to operate these terminals.

They seek to draw a connection between Havas’ management of the 2010 presidential campaigns of the Guinean President Alpha Condé and Faure Gnassingbé of Togo at ridiculously subsidised prices and the subsequent acquisition of port rights by Bolloré Africa Logistics.

Other executives of the group were also taken into custody on Tuesday, including Gilles Alix, CEO of the Bolloré group, and Jean-Philippe Dorent, head of the international division of the Havas communications agency.

According to Le Monde, numerous documents were seized during searches carried out in April 2016 at the headquarters of the Bolloré group in Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine). These documents reportedly confirm the state’s suspicions about under-invoicing of the presidential campaigns led by Havas.

The group has since formally denied any irregularities in the way they conduct business in Africa.

Source: Africa News

24, April 2018

Ex-Indomitable Lions coach Henri Michel passes away ⁰

Former Indomitable Lions coach, Henri Michel has reportedly passed away at the age of 70 following a lengthy bout of illness.

Michel represented France and Nantes during his playing days, earning 58 international caps and competing at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

After hanging up his boots, he coached a number of clubs and national teams, including Les Bleus, Cameroon, Morocco, UAE, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Kenya.

Source: Kickoff.com

24, April 2018

121 Cameroonian Returnees Arrive Home Safely with IOM Assistance ⁰

Last week (19 April) 121 Cameroonian migrants returned home from Libya after being assisted by IOM, the UN Migration Agency. The returnees were welcomed at Nsimalen international airport in the capital Yaoundé, by representatives from the European Union Delegation, Cameroon’s Ministry of External Relations and Boubacar Seybou, IOM Chief of Mission in Cameroon.

Upon arrival, the returnees received medical check-ups including psychological support from the Ministries of Health and Social Affairs. IOM provided food assistance and distributed a delivery kit to pregnant women, which included clothes, basins, towels and other useful material.

“I have lived the worst nightmare in Libya, moving for nine months from prison to prison. And now that I’m back, I ask myself what pushed me outside Cameroon,” one of returnees told IOM staff at the airport.

This latest charter was organized within the framework of the EU-IOM Joint initiative for migrant protection and reintegration in Cameroon, financed by the European Union and implemented by IOM. This project aims at strengthening the mechanisms for migrant protection and assistance all along the migration route.

So far 1,357 Cameroonians (1,105 men, 252 women) have returned home under the initiative.

In addition to facilitating the voluntary return to the country of origin of Cameroonian migrants, the EU-IOM joint initiative also focuses on supporting returnees’ reintegration in the country and on raising-awareness on the risks of irregular migration. The programme’s operations in Cameroon started in June 2017.

With the cooperation of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, 184 returnees have been supported by IOM to start their livelihood activities. In addition, the business plans of more than 700 migrants have been approved as of the end of March, and the migrants will soon receive the material they need to start activities in fields such as agriculture, livestock breeding and retail, among others.

Source: International Organization for Migration

24, April 2018

Belo: French Cameroun forces killed, raped and burned civilians alive ⁰

The French Cameroun army caused mayhem over the weekend in Djichami, a small community in the Belo municipality Boyo Division. For the past three weeks, inhabitants of Belo, Anyajua, Dzikfin, and other small villages have been targeted by the Francophone dominated Cameroon military with scores of houses burnt down. It should be recalled that the Raster man (Sam Sawyer) who was infamously beheaded by the cowardly soldiers from French speaking Cameroun was from Belo.

Cameroon Intelligence Report sources on the ground revealed that the beheading of Sam Sawyer changed the phase of the revolution as the young men in his community enrolled massively in to the resistance army. Many of the Belo young men and women openly told our correspondent that they prefer to die fighting, than to be killed like Sam Sawyer whom they say was never involved in an armed resistance before his demise.

We understand that last week, a gendarme officer in Belo left his colleagues and went out with his gun raping women and young girls. The officer our informant noted was captured by unknown gun men, and shortly after pictures of him with hands tied ,soaked in his blood were circulating on social media. The Francophone administrators in the constituency were quoted as saying that the beheading of the officer prompted the killing Sam Sawyer. A position denied by many Ambazonians contacted by our reporter.

In retaliation to the abduction and killing of the said gendarmerie officer, French Cameroun troops invaded the neighboring communities’ and moved right as far as Njinikom, torturing and killing innocent civilians. The inhabitants of Belo have abandoned their ancestral homeland because of the continuous French Cameroun military incursions taking along with them their livestock. The French Cameroun army has been stealing goats, chicken and other foodstuffs in order to sustain their campaign in the area. With Belo now a ghost settlement, the inhabitants of Djichami reportedly destroyed the only bridge linking Belo and Djichami to prevent the blood thirsty French Cameroun soldiers from penetrating their neighborhoods.

This preventive measure could not protect the people of Djichami as the Francophone soldiers used the back corridor passing through Ndawara over the weekend and on Sunday morning killed 12 people. Homes were set on fire and an old man and his son were burnt alive. At the time of filing this report, we gathered that some armed men attacked the Gendarmerie Brigade down town Belo, but we are yet to confirm the casualties on the side of the French Cameroun army.

By Ntam Charles Ngeh in Bonn, Germany with files from Sama Ernest

24, April 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Manyu Ghost Warriors issue statement on the Eyumojock Attack ⁰

The Commanding Officer

Manyu Ghost Warriors Battalion

Subject: The Eyumojock 18/04/2018 Attack

Category: Unclassified

Following the publishing of a gruesome video on social media in which the thugs of LRC paraded the corpses of 3 young men they claimed were part of the MG Restoration forces, we launched a thorough investigation and want to officially inform the public of the following findings:

➢ There was no MG Battalion mission planned for Eyumojock on the 14th April 2018

➢ The Eyumojock attack was a brazen act of robbery carried out by unidentified elements against a popular beer parlor owned by a certain Mr. Ojang Stephen.

➢ These bandits held the Sales girl and other customers captive at gun point and stole an unknown amount of money

➢ They then moved to other localities towards the Eyumojock Gendarmerie post with the intent of carrying out further acts of vandalism and banditry.

➢ These thieves were ambushed and killed by the Gendarmes

➢ Their bodies were then displayed in Public and labelled as Restoration forces

We want the public to know that while we regret the waste of human lives put on display like some trophy to boost the ego of the LRC thugs, we equally take this opportunity to assure you that the gory video you watched was pure propaganda by the LRC thugs. The intention was to shock public opinion into losing faith in the capability of the Manyu Ghost Warriors to protect its people.

We want to assure the public that this piece of cheap LRC designed propaganda video had nothing to do with the brave and well trained Manyu Ghost Warriors who operate under the very strict supervision of professional Commanders.

Finally, we want to assure the public that we have performed a head count of all the boys in our MG battalions and none of them is missing.

As Commander of the 2nd Brigade of ASC, I am sending this as the official report received so far from one of the defense units partially operating in that brigade. I am still waiting for reports from other defense units.

Brigade Commander

Ekri Kak

24, April 2018

Macron in US for 3 days, will attend first Trump state dinner ⁰

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife have arrived in Washington for a three-day state visit as US President Donald Trump hosts his administration’s first official state visit of his presidency.

Impressed by the warm welcome he received for the Bastille Day ceremony last July in Paris, the US president has returned the favor by making Macron the first foreign leader of the Trump-era to receive a state visit.

Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, President Donald Trump, and First lady Melania Trump pose at their table at the Jules Verne restaurant for a private dinner at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, July 13, 2017. (AFP)

The Macrons arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington to the playing of both the French and American national anthem, where Macron said he was looking forward to the “very important” visit.

“This is a great honor and I think a very important state visit given the moment of our current environment,” Macron said Monday as he briefly spoke to reporters outside the plane, first conversing with the crowd in English and then in French.

The couple then took a motorcade into Washington, DC, and were spotted walking around downtown, just blocks from the White House.

The couple arrived just after 1:30 pm at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, where they received a red-carpet welcome. (Photo by Reuters)

“Is this agreement perfect and this JCPOA a perfect thing for our relationship with Iran? No,” Macron said on “Fox News Sunday,” before his trip to the US. “But for nuclear, what do you have as a better option? I don’t see it. What is the what-if scenario or your plan B? I don’t have any Plan B for nuclear against Iran. So that’s a question we will discuss.”

The French first couple decided to take a walk around Washington upon their arrival for a three-day trip to the Unites States. (AFP)

Melania Trump plans dinner menu, Democrats not invited

Donald Trump is the first president since Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s to end his first year in office without hosting a foreign leader on a state visit. But now Trump and his wife are preparing for a pomp display of hospitality. The US first lady has selected specific decor, entertainment and food options for Tuesday night’s state dinner, the White House said.

The menu will consist of three courses, which will include American dishes with French influences. The main course will be a rack of spring lamb with Carolina gold rice jambalaya.

In a break with tradition, AP has reported that Trump has invited no Democratic members of Congress or journalists. But at least one Democrat will be in the crowd: the office of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards confirmed his attendance. Louisiana is a state with a strong French cultural heritage.

Approximately 150 guests will take their seats in the State Dining Room on Tuesday, making for a more intimate affair than those held by President Barack Obama. Obama’s guest lists numbered into the hundreds, requiring that the event be held in a tented pavilion erected on the South Lawn because no room in the White House can accommodate that many people.

Culled from Presstv

24, April 2018

Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria kill 21 ⁰

Suspected Boko Haram militants killed 21 people in separate attacks in a remote northeastern region of Nigeria, security officials and a witness told AFP on Monday.

The jihadists shot dead 18 forest workers who had been collecting firewood in Borno state, close to the town of Gamboru, on the border with Cameroon on Sunday, according to a member of a local anti-militant militia in the area.

“The bodies were scattered over several hundred meters, and they were mostly shot in the head or the back,” another militiaman told AFP.

Also on Sunday, a vehicle carrying civilians travelling in a nearby army convoy hit a mine planted by the insurgents, killing three people near the village of Wumbi, a militia member said. “Three people including the driver were killed and 11 passengers were wounded,” he said. A local resident confirmed the toll, adding that the victims were buried on Sunday.

The Boko Haram insurgency, which broke out in 2009, has killed at least 20,000 people and displaced more than 2.6 million, forcing them into camps and host communities. In August 2014, the group seized Gamboru, a trading hub along with the neighboring town of Ngala.

Nigerian troops retook both towns in September 2015 with the help of Chadian forces following a months-long offensive. Despite the recapture of the area which saw residents moving back, Boko Haram fighters continue to launch sporadic attacks, ambushing troops and vehicles, as well as attacking and abducting farmers

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

23, April 2018

Understanding the “Good Friday” Red Dragons attack on Governor Okalia convoy ⁰

Bernard Okalia Bilia, the Francophone governor of the South-West region braved the bad roads to the Lebialem County, one of the six constituencies in the Southern zone of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, at the end of the week to install the new prefect appointed on April 6 by President Biya, when his convoy came under attack.

Tensions have continued to rise in Southern Cameroons ever since the Interim Government of the people of Ambazonia endorsed the policy of self defense in dealing with French Cameroun troops loyal to the 85 year old dictator. A series of attacks were carried out over the weekend in Southern Cameroons by the powerful Red Dragons of Lebialem, the Mighty ARA in Belo and the Manyu Ghost Warriors with the most serious being that on Sunday that targeted soldiers in Ekok and Otu in Eyumojock Sub constituency in the Manyu County and the “Good Friday” attack which targeted governor Bernard Oklia Bilia and his entourage en route to Lebialem.

The convoy of the governor, escorted by a detachment of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), an elite unit of the French Cameroun army, was attacked on the way back and forth signalling difficult times ahead. No casualties have been reported but the governor was heard crying like a child. Heavy fire came from the much respected Red Dragons forcing Governor Okalia and his gang to drive at lightning speed into French Cameroun territory.

Southern Cameroonians who are predominantly Christians commemorate the death of Jesus Christ, on a day that has come to be known ironically as Good Friday, on account of the salvation won for mankind by this otherwise tragic event, the central message that should not be lost on Ambazonia leaders is that sacrifice makes leadership. Jesus Christ spoke truth to power and paid the supreme price. He died a vicarious death to take away the sins of humanity and open the way to eternal life for all who believe in Him and in His message.

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are a lesson on the power of humility, service, self-sacrifice and true love. Jesus taught a lot of lessons through his parables and miracles but perhaps the greatest lessons he taught are the practical lessons of his own life. Jesus taught his followers that there is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friends, and that is exactly what he did. He taught his followers that those who seek to be first must make themselves last and servant of all; and that is what he did when he washed the feet of his disciples and accepted a humiliating death in order that they may live. Though as son of God He was rich beyond measure, He made a preferential option for the poor, whose circumstances He graciously shared. His life was consistent with His message. The present generation of Ambazonia leaders can learn a lot from the life and supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Like the abducted Ambazonia leaders, the conflicts that led to the crucifixion of Christ centered on the social paradigm that Christ preached to the world. Like Sisiku Ayuk Julius Tabe and his co-travelers, the truth Jesus spoke was, of course, too bitter for his opponents to swallow and so they had to silence him. Yet, silenced in detention, like Jesus who was nailed to the cross, the power of their message was already immortal. Ambazonia is a spirit that will never die.

Jesus of Nazareth profoundly and manifestly changed the course of history. His message of love, mercy and compassion, truth, justice, and freedom, has inspired some of the most progressive individuals and movements in human history. Yet His coming was inauspicious. There were no earth-shattering sirens and convoys to welcome Him; life in Bethlehem went on normally as poor Mary and Joseph went around looking for a room in an inn to stay. And finding none, they settled for a lowly manger, and there Christ was born. But from the child born in this manger was to flow the knowledge of the Supreme Creator, the grace of healing and the compelling message of salvation for mankind. This is why Christians see the birth of Christ in the flesh as the miracle of all miracles. Those who believe in His word and abide by His teachings have the assurance of everlasting life after death. But not all who saw Him even in His own time recognized Him and not all who recognized Him believed in Him.

In the course of passionately preaching and living out the truth as he knew it, condemning the injustices of the day, Jesus came in regular conflict with the status quo and those who benefited from it. He was betrayed by his own disciple, Judas Iscariot, denied by his closest associate, Simon Peter; handed over to the Roman authorities by the chief priests of his religion and condemned to death by Pontius Pilate the Governor. He was politically murdered without due process by civil authorities who made the cause of religious bigotry their own. Ambazonians must capitalize on the best ideals of their various faiths to transform their struggle for independence by keeping their eyes on the big picture, instead of fighting each other for positions.

The victory of good over evil, which Jesus represents, questions the widespread corruption, greed and selfishness that define the present power struggles amongst Ambazonia leaders. The instant gratification mentality that pervades the Ambazonia leadership contrasts sharply with the sacrifice and selflessness which Christ’s death and resurrection symbolizes. The propensity for seeking to lead; the disposition towards crass materialism and blind pursuit of pleasure is clearly at variance with the lesson of Good Friday. On the whole, the teachings of Christ, anchored on humility and service in leadership seem to be lost, especially amongst the Ambazonia leadership, where the forces of greed and corruption continue to thrive. Those who aspire to lead the struggle must embrace those higher values of leadership exemplified in Jesus Christ. When Anglophones abandon hypocrisy and live out the higher ideals of self-less service, redemption is possible and victory is all but assured. We know who the enemy is; so whose side are you on?

A Cameroon Concord News Group Production

23, April 2018

Eleven asylum-seekers dead, 263 rescued off Libya coast ⁰

Eleven asylum-seekers have died at sea and another 263 rescued by the Libyan coast guard off the country’s western coast.

Libya’s Navy spokesman, General Ayoub Kacem, said in a statement on Sunday that the coast guard found the asylum-seekers in two separate operations.

In the first operation, the coast guard found 11 bodies and 83 survivors off the town of Sabratha, while in the second op 180 asylum-seekers on two inflatable boats were rescued near the town of Zliten, according to the spokesman.

The perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea – from Libya to Italy – is one of the routes taken by asylum-seekers trying to reach Europe.

During past years, Libya’s coast guard has been financed, equipped and trained by Europeans to stop the flow of immigration to Europe by cutting migrant boats off before they can reach international vessels.

Hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers have crossed over to Europe despite its dangers and hardships; many have perished at sea, some have fallen prey to slave-traders in Libya and a faction have returned to their countries of origin.

Eritreans, Tunisians and Pakistanis constitute the three largest groups attempting the hazardous voyage across the Mediterranean to Italy from North Africa. Twelve Pakistani asylum-seekers drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in February.

More than 600,000 asylum-seekers have made the journey from Libya to Italy during the past four years.

In November 2017, the United Nations migration agency said more than 33,000 refugees had died at sea while trying to reach European shores since 2000, making the Mediterranean “by far the world’s deadliest border.”

Source: Presstv

23, April 2018

US gov’t says Cameroon forces in gross abuse over Anglophone, Boko Haram crisis ⁰

Cameroon security forces have been cited as engaging in significant human rights abuse in respect of armed combat they are engaged in across three regions of the country, a United States government report has said.

The Central African nation is beset by Boko Haram insurgency in its Far North region whiles the Anglophone crisis continues to pose a security challenge to the government in the Northwest and Southwest i.e. Anglophone regions.

According to the U.S. Department of State’s Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2017, the military, police and gendarmerie – paramilitary – forces were using among others arbitrary killings, forced disappearances and prolonged military / unofficial detentions in the three regions.

In its Executive Summary relating to the country, the report said: “The most significant human rights issues included: arbitrary and unlawful killings through excessive use of force by security forces; disappearances by security forces and Boko Haram.”

It went on to mention: “torture and abuse by security forces including in military and unofficial detention facilities; prolonged arbitrary detentions including of suspected Boko Haram supporters and individuals in the Anglophone regions.”

Then there was the issue of “harsh and life threatening prison conditions; violations of freedoms of expression and assembly; periodic government restrictions on access to the internet; trafficking in persons; criminalization and arrest of individuals engaged in consensual same-sex sexual conduct; and violations of workers’ rights.”

The government has deployed a military unit the BIR, which continues to engage with Boko Haram insurgents in the Far North region. Communities in the region have been attacked mostly by suicide bombers and raids by the group.

Over in the Anglophone region, guerilla style attacks on security forces by suspected separatists under the so-called Ambazonia republic banner has led to the formation of a new military unit headquartered in the capital of the northwest region, Bamenda.

There has been a sustained call for dialogue to solve the crisis even though the government has insisted that it will only engage with persons with the unity of the nation at heart.

Separatists have killed over 20 security forces, locals have fled their homes for fear of being caught in the cross fire with thousands now seeking asylum in neighbouring Nigeria.

Source: Africa News