Ambazonia Crisis: Hundreds Flee Bamenda County to Mbouda Amid Violence

7, February 2018

Ambazonia Crisis: Hundreds Flee Bamenda County to Mbouda Amid Violence 0

 Hundreds of people are fleeing Cameroon’s English-speaking towns following clashes between the military and gunmen believed to be armed separatists.
A dozen vehicles transporting at least 220 people from Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest region arrived in the French-speaking town of Mbouda Tuesday morning.

Among them is Donatien Fotso, a 55-year-old businessman. He says he, his wife and four children fled the town of Bamenda, after three consecutive days of heavy gunfire between the military and armed separatists.

He says Cameroon military has been invading their neighborhoods, shooting indiscriminately and arresting and torturing citizens. He says the torture and the killing inflicted on them has made the people so frightened that when they see a military vehicle, they start escaping.

Christopher Mbaingong, a 27-year-old farmer, says he left his village on the outskirts of Njinikom before the deadline because he had anticipated there would be bloody conflicts triggered by the heavy deployment of Cameroon’s military to English speaking towns and villages.

“I was afraid. I did not know what was actually the problem since we have a military that can not communicate,” he said. “The next day they should have told us what was happening, the gunshots was this or was that. So even today, I am afraid. I do not know what is going wrong.”

The tensions began mounting when Cameroon announced that separatist leader Ayuk Tabe Julius and 36 of his supporters had been arrested in Nigeria and transferred to Cameroon. They have not been seen in public since then, fueling speculation that they may have been killed.

Cameroon government spokesperson Issa Tchiroma said in a statement that all 37 are still alive, but the announcement did not calm their angry supporters.

Cameroon says seven villages have been burned and at least 20 people, including soldiers and separatists have been killed in the ongoing violence.

The unrest in Cameroon began in November 2016, when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the Northwest and Southwest regions, frustrated with having to work in French, took to the streets calling for reforms and greater autonomy.

The situation degenerated with separatist calls for independence and the rise of an armed separatist movement, prompting a crackdown of the military.

Source: VOA



Kenya deports opposition firebrand

7, February 2018

Kenya deports opposition firebrand 0

An outspoken member of Kenya’s opposition accused of treason for taking part in a mock swearing-in of opposition leader Raila Odinga was deported to Canada late Tuesday.

The move came in defiance of a High Court order that he be presented before a judge on Wednesday.

Miguna Miguna, a provocative firebrand and member of the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition, was forced onto an international flight on Tuesday night.

“Miguna denounced his Kenyan citizenship years back, acquired Canadian citizenship and never bothered to reclaim Kenyan citizenship in the legally prescribed manner neither did he disclose that he had another country’s citizenship despite being a lawyer who should have known better,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka in a tweet Wednesday.

Holding dual citizenship is legal in Kenya, and in August, Miguna ran for political office, with proof of Kenyan citizenship, a key criteria for all candidates.

Miguna was put on a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight to Toronto via Amsterdam, a security officer at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport said.

“He was driven in by heavily armed police officers who forced him into a flight to Canada. All deportation procedures have been followed,” the officer said.

Miguna’s lawyer, Nelson Havi, confirmed his client had been “forced into a KLM flight for ‘deportation’ to Canada. Now, how do you deport a Kenyan?” he asked.

On January 30, Miguna played a prominent role in Odinga’s mock inauguration and three days later was arrested in a dawn raid on his Nairobi home.

Lawyers Tom “T.J.” Kajwang (C) and Miguna Miguna, (C-R) attend a mock “swearing-in” ceremony for opposition leader Raila Odinga at Uhuru Park in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, January 30, 2018. (Photo by AP)

 

Since then, there has been much speculation about his whereabouts and his treatment by authorities.

Police and government officials defied two court orders to produce Miguna before a High Court judge earlier this week, instead taking him to a minor court in a small town 80 kilometers to the south on Tuesday.

There, Miguna refused to plea to charges of treason and unlawful assembly.

A subsequent High Court order demanded Miguna be presented for release on Wednesday morning, but his deportation means that order too has been ignored.

High Court judge Luka Kimaru has warned Kenya’s Inspector General of Police and Director of Criminal Investigations that they may be charged with contempt.

Miguna holds no elected office, but has styled himself “general” of the opposition’s “National Resistance Movement” (NRM) wing, in charge of implementing a threatened program of civil disobedience and boycotts.

Following Odinga’s pretend inauguration last week, Kenya’s government designated the NRM as an “organized criminal group.”

Miguna’s enforced exile is the latest twist in the long saga of Kenya’s disputed elections, which saw the Supreme Court annul the result of the initial August 2017 poll and Odinga boycott the October rerun, handing victory to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

However, Odinga continues to insist he was the real winner and therefore the legitimate president of Kenya.

(Source: AFP)


Political fate of South African president in limbo

7, February 2018

Political fate of South African president in limbo 0

South Africa’s ruling party has postponed a top-level meeting that was expected to decide about scandal-hit President Jacob Zuma’s political future, as rumors emerge that it has reached a deal with Zuma to step down.

The African National Congress (ANC) had scheduled an urgent meeting of its national executives for Wednesday evening to discuss Zuma’s future but suddenly moved it to February 17.

Instead, it released a statement late on Tuesday, saying Zuma and ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa had held “fruitful and constructive discussions” in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Deputy President of South Africa and elected African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa (photo by AFP)

 

Zuma, whose tenure officially runs until mid-2019, has come under pressure to leave office over corruption allegations. He was replaced as leader of the ANC by Ramaphosa in December last year.

The party’s secretary general, Ace Magashule, said the meeting’s postponement, as well as the postponement of a state of the nation address that Zuma had been scheduled to deliver on Thursday, would give them a “further chance to talk.”

Ramaphosa will give details on Zuma’s fate later in the day, according to parliament speaker Baleka Mbete. “In this day, there will be some progress, which the president of the ANC will be ready to come back to us about,” Mbete said.

Zuma’s spokesman has declined to comment.

The supporters of the African National Congress Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa protest against President Jacob Zuma in Johannesburg, February 5, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

 

Meanwhile, South African website Times Live has quoted unnamed sources as saying that Zuma has agreed to quit if the certain terms can be negotiated for his departure.

Opposition parties are demanding that a vote of no-confidence be held to remove the president.

Zuma engineered the ouster of former president Thabo Mbeki in 2008 shortly after he was elected leader of the ANC.

The ruling party lost ground to opposition groups, the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters, in the 2016 local elections. Many within the party now want the 75-year-old president to go as soon as possible so they can rebuild the party’s standing following the corruption allegations, which have provided political fodder for the opposition.

Zuma is accused of having links to the wealthy India-born Gupta family, who are alleged to have influenced his government. Zuma and the Guptas, however, deny the allegations.

 

Source: Presstv


Ambazoniagate: African Bar Association says there are speculations that the abductees are still being held by the Nigerian government at the behest of the Biya dictatorship

7, February 2018

Ambazoniagate: African Bar Association says there are speculations that the abductees are still being held by the Nigerian government at the behest of the Biya dictatorship 0

The African Bar Association (AFBA) has accused Nigeria of detaining some Cameroonian refugees without trial. The association stated this in its resolution in Calabar.

It said: “The abduction and continued illegal detention of Mr. Julius Ayuk Tabe and other Cameroonian refugees by the Nigerian security agents and their counterparts in Cameroon was wrong.”

“More worrisome is that some of the abductees are practicing lawyers and members of the AFBA.

The statement added: “Despite our demands for explanation and the immediate release of these individuals, the circumstances surrounding their arrest and their whereabouts remains unknown. This has led to several speculations.

“We have received reports that these persons have either been transferred or extradited to Cameroon or secretly executed.

“The reports added that some are still languishing in the custody of the government of Cameroon awaiting trial in a military court.

“There are also speculations that the abductees are still being held by the Nigerian government at the behest of the Cameroon dictatorship.”

The association stressed that the abduction of these individuals and their detention in an undisclosed location is a “grave and violent violations of international laws, for which there are consequences for those responsible.”

The statement noted that the detention without charges or due process of law is a breach of the African Charter on Human Peoples Rights, the Charter of the United Nations and the constitutions of Nigeria and Cameroon.

 

Source: The Guardian


North Korea accuses US of deploying large nukes, mulling preemptive strike

7, February 2018

North Korea accuses US of deploying large nukes, mulling preemptive strike 0

North Korea has accused the United States of “deploying large nuclear assets” on the Korean Peninsula and laying the foundation for a potential preemptive strike against it.

North Korean diplomat Ju Yong Chol told the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday that Washington was seeking to aggravate the situation on the divided peninsula by deploying nukes in preparation for a possible preemptive attack.

“In view of the nature and scale of US military reinforcements, they are designed to make a preemptive strike against the DPRK,” the diplomat said referring to his country’s official name the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“US officials including the defense secretary and the CIA director repeatedly talked about DPRK nuclear and missile threat to justify their argument for a military option and a new concept of a so-called ‘bloody nose’, a limited preemptive strike on the DPRK is under consideration within the US administration,” Ju said.

The United States dropped Victor Cha, President Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to South Korea. Cha reportedly lost nomination for the position of ambassador after voicing concerns about a potential “bloody-nose attack” on North Korea.

Months of fiery rhetoric between the United States and North Korea have seen Trump drawing criticism at home for repeatedly using highly-menacing language toward Pyongyang.

In recent months, Trump has engaged in a bitter war of words with North Korean officials, and has threatened to “totally destroy” the country if it threatens the US or its allies.

In his first State of the Union address on Wednesday, Trump struck a dire note of warning about North Korea, saying the country’s “reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland.”

Fed up with the American president’s harsh rhetoric, Pyongyang warned in a statement on Sunday that “If Trump does not get rid of his anachronistic and dogmatic way of thinking, he will only bring about the consequence of further endangering security of the United States.”

In late November, Pyongyang successfully test-launched what American military experts called a Hwasong-15 ICBM, the largest North Korean missile tested to date with a presumably long-enough range to deliver nuclear warheads deep into the US mainland.

The US and its allies in the West and in Asia engineered tough UN sanctions on North Korea last year when Pyongyang test-fired two missiles in July and then carried out its most powerful nuclear test in August.

The photo, taken on November 29, 2017 and released on November 30, 2017 by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), shows launching of the Hwasong-15 missile which is capable of reaching all parts of the US. (Photo by AFP)

 

However, many said the sanctions would not deter North Korea from pursuing its nuclear and missile program, which Pyongyang insists is part of its defense policy against the United States. Critics have repeatedly warned that sanctions would more affect North Korean people rather than its military and the government.

 

Source: Presstv


Oblivious of the ongoing ICC preliminary examination, Buhari’s agent admits abducting Ambazonian leaders; Endorses another genocide in the Gulf of Guinea

6, February 2018

Oblivious of the ongoing ICC preliminary examination, Buhari’s agent admits abducting Ambazonian leaders; Endorses another genocide in the Gulf of Guinea 0

The statement in the Vanguard captioned “Nigeria pledges support to Cameroon over secession threat” dated 6 February 2018 if true, is the first statement made on behalf of President Mohammadu Buhari and the Federal Government of Nigeria admitting responsibility for the abduction and rendition to French Cameroun of the President and members of the Interim Government of the Federal Repuiblic of Ambazonia since the 5th of January 2018. This statement has profound consequences for Nigeria, President Buhari and elements of his government complicit in these crimes.

In its historical perspective, more than fifty years, ago, Buhari was a participant in the genocide that claimed more than three million Biafran lives. His endorsement of the genocide and the ideological motivation for the genocide against Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia by French Cameroun through his National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguna may therefore not be surprising.

Since President Buhari came to power, he has selectively activated his genocidal instincts to fulfill his political, ethnic and pecuniary interests.  While in the opposition to the government of President Good Luck Jonathan, he opposed the prosecution of the war against Boko Haram claiming then that it targeted the Northern Youth based on their ethnic and religious identity. With support from the circumstantially politically unreliable Yoruba politicians to the West, gullible corrupt political merchants in the South/South and in the Middle Belt he rode on his political Islamic support base of which Boko Haram is its militant vanguards to power.

Once in power he adopted an ambivalent policy towards the war against Boko Haram with whom he has maintained a clandestine fig leave of support while prosecuting the war against them. On occasion, he negotiated and released some members of Boko Haram and subtly deployed others in the guise of Fulani Herdsmen to kill and maim in the Middle belt, the East, South/South, Middle East and the West with impunity.  He has opposed dialogue with the Biafrans who unlike Boko Haram with whom he has been dialoguing, have not declared war against the Federation.  He has subverted the amnesty deal that Good Luck Jonathan negotiated with the Niger Delta militants and turned a blind eye to the systematic massacres of armless civilians in Bakassi and other frontier communities by Cameroun Gendarmes. In context therefore, the statement endorsing the genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Southern Cameroons by French Cameroons, does not come as a surprise.

The statement for the first time provides attempts to justify the unprecedented criminal act of abduction which is better associated with Boko Haram as intended to assist the government of French Cameroun to safeguard its territorial integrity.  The purpose for violating international law through an blatant act of international criminality to assist a genocidal reason committing international crimes which even France its colonial master has condemned places Nigeria as a conspirator in the crimes.  Prior to the admission, the Federal Government kept sealed lips and refused to acknowledge the abductions or admit orchestrating the crime.  With the admission of the crime and the endorsement and support of the genocide and international crimes against the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia, the Federal Government of Nigeria is the first government in the entire universe to admit its participation in the international violations and crimes against Ambazonia. Buhari has not demonstrated a Nigeria national interest need to justify commission of the crimes Nigeria has admitted to committing or to justify its support and complicity in the crimes perpetrated against Southern Cameroons. The Buhari administration has joined the crime cartel abducting and slaughtering hundreds of thousands of Southern Cameroons civilians for purely pecuniary interests. This is tantamount to sourcing for money through criminal means to finance his reelection efforts and that of his Vice President. The Boko Haram approach to accessing international crimes cartels like the government of French Cameroun to source and launder money to safeguard its threatened hold on power espouses the hypocrisy of his commitment to fight corruption in Nigeria.

With this admission, President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osibanjo and the National Security Adviser Babagama Monguna hence bear individual criminal responsibility for the crimes of abduction, money laundering and complicity in the international crimes perpetrated against the Southern Cameroons. By relying on Babagama Monguna, the foot soldier that he and his Vice President relied on to conduct the entire operation including the negotiation and concealment of the colossal amounts paid for the criminal operation, Mr Buhari intended to keep the operation and its proceeds within his inner circle.

The alleged statement of Babagama Monguna places President Buhari and some of his close associates at the centre of the planning and execution of the crime. The fact that Buhari delegated Babagana Monguno, the alleged mastermind of the operation to deliver this statement on his behalf and not a cabinet member or a plenipotentiary member of the diplomatic corps is significant in some ways. It raises critical questions about the state of cohesion within the government of Nigeria on the matter and the possible frictions between the co-conspiring members of the crime cartel involved in the criminal enterprise in both government of Nigeria and French Cameroun.

It appears embarrassing and even surprising for the President of Nigeria to be represented in a supposed bilateral security meeting supposedly held in Nigeria by a national security adviser and not a cabinet level representative. It is doubtful that statements made by the national adviser can have the force of a binding international commitment on behalf of the people of Nigeria.  In his capacity as a corrupt mastermind of the abduction, the national security adviser might have deliver a message on his on his own behalf and that of the President as the General Overseer of the criminal operation.  There would be no constitutional basis in a genuine democracy for such a delegation of authority to a security operative to make commitments of an international nature with profound international, legal and diplomatic consequences. Diplomatic practice requires that such commitments can only be made by mandate holders recognized as such in international law.

That this individual represented the Federation or was mandated to deliver these statements to supposed delegates and representatives of French Cameroun in a supposed security meeting held in Nigeria carries with it serious diplomatic ramifications. This appeared to have been an open manifestation of a chaotic management of a criminal deal which exploded in the market place of international and national scrutiny.  This appears to have foreshadowed the nervousness, confusion and disagreement within a government    totally embarrassed by the international outcry over the criminal violations of international law by Nigeria and the exposure of the underlying corruption surrounding the violations.

There are reasons why persons involved in this crime, no matter their status will be held responsible for their role in these international crimes. The international focus on Nigeria and French Cameroun by several international judicial accountability mechanisms will force the crime cartels present in the governments of both countries to account for their crimes. The moment is soon coming when they will know the clear limits to impunity, reckless corruption and abuse of political power.                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Cameroon Concord News has critically examined the impugned statement.  Apart from being a statement endorsing the genocide against Federation of Ambazonia and admitting that Nigerian security operatives on his orders committed the crime of  abduction,  it’s contains no comprehensive information  relating to the exact whereabouts of His Excellency Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and members of the Interim Government of Ambazonia.  Cameroon Concord News News critically observes that the unspecified cooperation basis for which Nigeria committed this crime appears to be but a mere euphemism for the unprecedented corruption that informed the criminal conduct of President Buhari, his Vice President, his National Security Adviser and his close associates. The deployment of his security adviser and not the Vice President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney-General of the Federal or a Cabinet level Minister, to make statements of a legal and diplomatic nature on behalf of the President to representatives of an alien sovereign evokes the possibility of serious disagreement within the Buhari government about the legality and secretive nature of the abductions and high level corruption involved in the operation.  The violations of national and international law with profound consequences may also have alarmed many members of government who might not have been aware of the criminal corrupt deal but are required by the beneficiaries to deal with the consequences.

Babagana Munguno’s statement is an admission on behalf of President Buhari that Nigeria abducted Southern Cameroons leaders who were legally in Nigeria under the protection of International law. Statements by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United States State Department alleging and condemning the violations of international law by Nigeria signifies that the consequences for this violation will follow. The statement admitting the abductions and the endorsement of international violations committed against the Southern Cameroons, the support to French Cameroun to realize it’s stated goals genocidal goals of preserving the unity of its territory through criminal means; genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes bring Nigeria and French Cameroun within the radar of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which fortunately has been conducting a preliminary examination in Nigeria since the 18 November 2010. The Babagana Monguno admission brings into focus following crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court where Nigeria is a state party:  Genocide (article 6), Crime Against Humanity Article 7 (e) Imprisonment or other deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law. 7(i) Enforced disappearance of persons, Article 7(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental and physical health. Article 8 (vii) Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement.

Although French Cameroun signed but did not ratify the Rome Statute, the officially announced participation of Nigeria in these crimes must be considered within the context of the ongoing preliminary examination in Nigeria targeting the Nigerian Military and Security Agencies which the security operatives who participated in these international violations form part.  Through its admitted criminal conduct, Nigeria may have provided the required jurisdictional basis for the ICC to examine the crimes committed by French Cameroon against Southern Cameroon/Ambazonia in which Nigeria is an admitted and willing participant.  In this regard therefore, members of the Nigeria government who participated in perpetration of these crimes and the violation of international law cannot and will not hide behind the shield of national security or sovereignty to conceal their participation is crimes that have shock the conscience of humanity.

If the criminals who have violated international law and perpetrated these crimes are not held to account for their crimes, then the protection afforded humanity by international law will be held in contempt and the abduction and trade in human beings to satisfy the corrupt pecuniary interests of corrupt power merchants will encourage impunity.  Nigeria must not be allowed to become a laboratory for whitewashing Boko Haram criminal tactics and deploying them to security operations in total disregard the international rule of law.

For these reasons, Cameroon Concord News Group strongly holds that the responsibility to produce and free the President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and members of his government lies with Nigeria. Whether they are in French Cameroun or still held in Nigeria as it may well be the case, they are held at the pleasure of the Federal Government of Nigeria.  Nigeria must be held accountable for whatever happens to them.  Cameroon Concord News Group strongly urges the ICC which has been conducting a preliminary examination in Nigeria since 2010 to exercise its jurisdiction on the crimes of the abduction of the Southern Cameroons leaders who were legally in Nigeria under the protection of International law. The crime in which they were abducted and disappeared falls within the jurisdiction of the ICC. Cameroon Concord News Group strongly urges international human rights organizations, Ambazonians the world over and Nigerian of good will to submit petitions to the ICC to extend its ongoing preliminary examination in Nigeria to cover this crime of abduction and complicity in the international crimes coming within the statute of the ICC committed against Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman and Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group


US condemns violence in Southern Cameroons, Cautions Nigeria, Cameroon to obey international law

6, February 2018

US condemns violence in Southern Cameroons, Cautions Nigeria, Cameroon to obey international law 0

The United States (U.S.) has condemned the attitude of Nigerian and Cameroonian authorities towards the 47 Anglophone detainees who were repatriated to Cameroon from Nigeria. A statement by the U.S. Department of State, signed by Ms Heather Nauert, the Department Spokesperson noted that Nigeria and Cameroon have violated the rights of the detainees by forcibly repatriating them back to their countries of origin. It however, urged both countries to respect the human rights of the detainees and follow due process in handling their matter, while urging them to refrain from embarking on forceful repatriation of asylum-seekers.

“We also call on the Government of Cameroon to respect the human rights, including due process, of the 47 Cameroonians forcibly returned from Nigerian custody to the Cameroonian authorities on Jan. 26. “This is in addition to many of whom had reportedly submitted asylum claims in Nigeria. “We urge the Governments of Cameroon and Nigeria to adhere to their obligations under international law to refrain from forcible returns to asylum-seekers back to their countries of origin.

“The 47 Cameroonians are now held in detention in Cameroon allegedly in connection with tension and violence in North West and South West Regions. “We expect the government of Cameroon to afford these and other individuals previously detained all the rights and protections enshrined in Cameroon’s constitution, consistent with the nation’s international obligations and commitments.”

The U.S. condemned the ongoing violence in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, including the murder of two Cameroonian gendarmes in the North West Region village of Mbingo. It also condemned the murder of a Cameroonian soldier outside of Bamenda on Feb. 1, and an electoral official of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) in Bangem. The U.S. further condemned the reported deaths of four civilians in Bemenda and Belo on Feb. 2 and 3. “We offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and to the people of Cameroon,” it said.

www.vanguardngr.com


Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon, Nigeria despite ‘defeated’ claims

6, February 2018

Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon, Nigeria despite ‘defeated’ claims 0

Boko Haram fighters stormed a village in northeast Nigeria and murdered two civilians, while six people were killed in an attack in northern Cameroon, a local resident and security sources told AFP on Monday. The attacks came as Nigeria’s military again maintained the jihadists had been defeated, and that its repeated raids and suicide bombings were “a sign of weakness”.

At least 20,000 people have been killed in nearly nine years of violence and more than 2.6 million made homeless, triggering a humanitarian crisis across the Lake Chad region. Bulama Bukar said Boko Haram fighters stormed his village, Alau-Kofa, about 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Sunday, firing guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

“Two people were burnt alive and the whole village was burnt, along with our food,” he told AFP. Bukar, whose father was shot in the leg during the attack, said the jihadists “specifically came to steal our cattle” but were forced to abandon the herds when soldiers arrived.

“Last Wednesday they attacked the village, killed three people and took away 50 cattle. And now they came back,” he added.  A security source 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) away in the Borno state capital Maiduguri, confirmed Bukar’s account.

“It is part of the fightback strategy by the terrorists, who are facing mounting pressure from the military,” he said. Another security source in Cameroon said “six people were killed and the attackers burnt down more than 100 houses” in the village of Hitawa, at about 11:00 pm on Sunday.

Nigeria’s military said last week they had cleared the Sambisa Forest in Borno state of Boko Haram fighters — just over a year after making a similar claim. Major General Rogers Ibe Nicholas, leading operations against the jihadists, was reported as saying on Monday that the Islamic State affiliate was “completely defeated”.

Asked about the claim, he told AFP: “In the Sambisa Forest where we have them, we have completely defeated them.” The military was “taking them on wherever they go outside that area, he added. He attributed Sunday’s attack in Alau-Kofa to “criminals who came to steal goats”.

At a meeting with the military and security agencies in Maiduguri, Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed said: “The last phase of the war with Boko Haram is now on.

“The military is punching deep into the enclaves of the insurgents,” he said, adding that the group was only able to mount “cowardly attacks on soft targets”. “That, in itself, is a sign of weakness,” he added. There have been repeated assertions that military operations were in the final stages dating back even further to the previous administration.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari first claimed the jihadists were “technically defeated” in December 2015. But the security source warned against triumphalism, despite recent successes. “They have indeed been pushed out of Sambisa. They have relocated their camps to Dubur and Yuwe on the rear fringes of Sambisa.” Boko Haram’s capacity has been weakened since it controlled swathes of territory in northeast Nigeria in 2014 but it still poses a threat.

The BBC last month said the militants killed at least 967 people in 150 attacks in 2017, up from 910 deaths in 127 attacks the previous year. Civilians remain at risk, particularly in remote rural areas and even in more well-guarded camps for people displaced by the conflict.

This and a recent federal government request for an extra $1 billion for security funding have led to questions about the veracity of claims about the end of the conflict. Similarly, the military has been asked why it needs 12 Super Tucano A-29 ground aircraft from the United States if the militants are scattered and on the run.

The air force said last month the aircraft were required “to consolidate on successes recorded so far.” The security source said troops on the ground remained cautious about hunting down Boko Haram factional leader Abubakar Shekau, as he was using hostages as human shields.

They include some of the schoolgirls abducted from the Borno town of Chibok in April 2014 and female police officers seized in an ambush last year. “They don’t want to harm them, which is why they are limiting aerial offensives,” he added.

 

Source: Indian Express




Tensions Flare in Ambazonia

6, February 2018

Tensions Flare in Ambazonia 0

Tensions continue to climb in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon as separatist groups demand the release of their leader and 46 other prisoners extradited last month from Nigeria. The government has sought to reassure the population.

A woman and her husband cry at the Baptist Hospital mortuary in the English-speaking town of Mbingo, in northwestern Cameroon. The woman has just discovered the lifeless bodies of her younger brother and three others. She said they were arrested last Wednesday and accused of killing two gendarmes. She refused to grant an interview, but workers of the hospital told VOA the bodies were brought there by unidentified men.

The so-called Anglophone crisis began in Cameroon over a year ago, sparking bouts of deadly unrest and more recently, clashes between alleged separatist militants and security forces. The Anglophone community in Cameroon is protesting political and economic discrimination in the majority French-speaking country.

Joseph Banadzem, lawmaker from the northwest region, said the military is responding by violently cracking down on the population.

“The army who are supposed to maintain law and order, to protect property, to protect lives, [they] go on the rampage in villages, burning houses, burning food stuff, people’s stores and so. All ransacked. It is unbelievable. It is inacceptable. It is inhuman,” he said.

Colonel Didier Badjeck is a spokesperson for Cameroon’s military. He said the military is committed to preserving Cameroon’s territorial integrity.

He said the armed separatists are using mercenaries and carrying out abuses on the population, whom he said will very soon understand that they have to trust only the country’s military.

Violence has escalated since January when Nigeria detained and then extradited separatist leader Ayuk Tabe Julius and the 46 other alleged separatists to Cameroon.

The separatist groups are demanding their leaders be released. At least four schools have been burned as of last Friday and at least 12 people have been killed, according to local media, which report unconfirmed casualties among both armed separatists and soldiers.

Many businesses remain closed in the two English-speaking regions amid fears of more violence.

The 47 detainees extradited from Nigeria have not been seen in public. International human rights groups warned against the extradition, saying the detainees could face torture or worse.

Nigeria is now also facing criticism from the U.N refugee agency, which said that most of those handed over to Cameroon had applied for asylum in Nigeria and their “forcible return” violated Nigeria’s international obligations.

On Friday, Cameroon government spokesperson Issa Tchiroma issued a press release saying the detainees are safe and would be appearing in front of the law courts soon. He did not comment on the charges they would answer.

 

Source: VOA


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