22, June 2017

Biya Computer Hoax: Anti Anglophone Minister shifting the goalpost ⁰

The Francophone Minister of Higher Education, Jacque Fame Ndongo has said that the production phase of the 500,000 computers promised to students by the Head of State, President Biya will begin soon in China. Jacques Fame Ndongo, who is now acting as a representative of the Chinese company, also revealed that the firm Sichuan telecom will first make available 30% of the 500,000 computers. The anti Anglophone cabinet minister has been under fire particularly from the French speaking student community over the delay recorded in the project.

This time around, the CPDM baron lied that Exim Bank China has eventually released the funding for the project and reassured the student community that it was now possible to launch the operational phase. Cameroon Concord News sources say the Biya regime is broke and things are falling apart.

In one of its dubious moves, the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime signed an agreement with the Chinese company Sichuan Telecom Construction and Engineering Co LTD for the manufacture of computers and the construction of nine digital university development centers. Regarding the second point of this agreement, each of the eight state universities was expected to have a digital development center. Another center was supposed to be built at the interstate university of Cameroon and the Congo.

As for the delay in the project, Jacques Fame Ndongo indicated recently that it is linked to the complexity of many financial issues involved especially about the release of funds by the Chinese bank. On June 20, 2017 Qian Wen Feng, the Managing Director of Sichuan telecom construction and engineering Co.LtD was granted an audience by the 84 year old dictator. However, no date for the distribution of the first computers to the students has been made public.

By Rita Akana
Cameroon Concord News Group

Cameroon Cheetah
use this one

22, June 2017

UK: Queen lays out May’s policies amid tumult ⁰

UK Queen Elizabeth II has presented Prime Minister Theresa May’s policies to the new Parliament, at a tumultuous time for Britain and as May’s future in power remain uncertain. The queen took to Westminster on Wednesday to read out a list of the government’s intentions for the lawmakers on their first day in office, following the June 8 snap general election that saw May’s Conservative Party lose its narrow majority.

The legislative program that the monarch laid out on behalf of May was a pared-down version of her party manifesto for the election and dropped some key promises to instead focus on Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU). “My government’s priority is to secure the best possible deal as the country leaves the European Union,” said Elizabeth II. “My ministers are committed to working with Parliament, the devolved administrations, business and others to build the widest possible consensus on the country’s future outside the European Union.”

Eight of the 27 bills that were included in the agenda revolved around Brexit, while the rest were focused on other issues such as the recent wave of terror attacks that hit Britain as well as the deadly apartment block fire in Grenfell Tower last week. Absent on the list, however, were May’s manifesto pledges to tax the elderly more heavily for their own care and slash free lunches for schoolchildren, the very unpopular policies that were blamed for May’s uninspiring election performance.

Faced with growing calls to step down since the vote, May has been struggling to save her reign by striking a deal for a minority government with the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The deal plunged into new jeopardy on Wednesday after the DUP handed in an expensive £2 billion list of demands to the Tories, including £1 billion pumped into the health service in Northern Ireland and a similar figure for infrastructure projects, according to the BBC.

If true, this would make it impossible to get a deal on Thursday, the new deadline that was announced after a series of similar delays. Notwithstanding the uncertain future she faces, May has decided to press ahead with the previous schedule for the EU talks. UK Brexit Secretary David Davis held the first round of talks with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Monday. Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn, who managed to win many seats for his party in the election against all odds, took the opportunity on Wednesday to attack May and pitch himself as her replacement.

The opposition leader, who refused to bow to the queen, said at the beginning of the parliamentary session that the government has “apparently run out of ideas altogether.” While noting that Labour was “a government in waiting,” Corbyn said people in many traditionally Tory areas had chosen “hope over fear” by voting for his party. The so-called Queen’s Speech was marred by “Day of Rage” protests outside Westminster, where hundreds of Londoners had gathered to call for May’s resignation.

Source: Presstv

21, June 2017

“For goodness sake!” Pro Consortium SDF MP returns to La Repubique’s National Assembly ⁰

Hon. Joseph Wirba, the SDF MP reportedly missing for over five months has appeared unexpectedly at the National Assembly today Wednesday the 21st of June 2017. He once again marked his presence among other MPs against all odds. Wirba had been on the run since his historic speech last year during the third and last parliamentary session of the year 2016.

On the rostrum of the National Assembly, in a long speech of about thirty minutes, he denounced the government of the 84 year old dictator, Paul Biya. Joseph Wirba told the world that the Biya Francophone regime was marginalizing Southern Cameroonians and after his speech, the MP declared his unflinching support for secession. He was received as a hero in his native Jakiri constituency but later on disappeared from circulation. Southern Cameroon sources hinted that he had escaped to the US.

The opposition MP reappeared and made another long speech attacking the Speaker of the National Assembly, Cavaye Djibril accusing him of doing nothing to ensure his safety. Joseph Wirba told local media houses in Yaounde that he was still not out of danger. The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has so far not reacted to the second coming of Wirba.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

21, June 2017

Saudi Arabia: King relieves Nayef as crown prince ⁰

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has replaced Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with his own son, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the deputy crown prince and defense minister.

According to a royal decree, Mohammed bin Salman, 31, was also named deputy prime minister, and shall maintain his post as defense minister, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Wednesday.

Saudi media say King Salman has called for a public pledge of allegiance to the new crown prince in the holy city of Mecca on Wednesday night.

The SPA also confirmed that 31 out of 34 members of Saudi Arabia’s succession committee chose Mohammed bin Salman as the crown prince.

Just days ago, the Saudi king stripped Nayef of his powers overseeing criminal investigations and designated a new public prosecution office to function directly under the king’s authority.

In a similar move back in 2015, the Saudi king had appointed his nephew, then deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef as the heir to the throne after removing his own half-brother Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from the position.

Under the new decree, King Salman further relieved Mohammed bin Nayef of his duties as the interior minister. He appointed Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef as the new interior minister and Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Salem as deputy interior minister.

Mohammed bin Salman is already in charge of a vast portfolio as chief of the House of Saud royal court and chairman of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs, which is tasked with overhauling the country’s economy.

The young prince was little known both at home and abroad before Salman became king in January 2015.

However, King Salman has significantly increased the powers of Mohammed, with observers describing the prince as the real power behind his father’s throne.

Power struggle in the House of Saud

There had long been speculations that Mohammed’s rise to power under his father’s reign might also accelerate his ascension to the throne.

On Wednesday, a well-known Saudi online activist, known on Twitter as @mujtahidd, predicted that King Salman would renounce power in favor of his son.

The whistleblower has already leaked documents indicating high-level corruption inside the Saudi royal family.

The power struggle inside the House of Saud came to light earlier this year when the Saudi king began to overhaul the government and offered positions of influence to a number of family members.

In two royal decrees in April, the Saudi king named two of his other sons, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Prince Khaled bin Salman, as state minister for energy affairs and ambassador to the United States, respectively.

Mastermind of brutal, futile war

As the defense minister, Mohammed bin Salman has faced strong international criticism for the bloody military campaign he launched against neighboring Yemen in 2015 amid his rivalry with bin Nayef, the then powerful interior minister.

The file photo shows Mohammed bin Salman attending a military briefing.

The campaign was launched with the aim of restoring the former Yemeni government, a close Riyadh ally, and crushing the country’s Houthi Ansarullah movement. On the domestic political stage, the offensive was also viewed as an attempt by Mohammed bin Salman to steal the show and sideline the then crown prince.

However, despite spending billions of petrodollars, the Riyadh regime has achieved none of its goals during the campaign, which has killed over 12,000 civilians, left much of Yemen in ruins and empowered the Takfiri terror groups operating there.

On the economic front, Mohammed has been a key backer of the kingdom’s so-called Vision 2030 program, under which the Saudi leaders seek to reduce reliance on oil exports.

The plan is known as the most extensive and jarring economic shake-up of the country in decades, with economy experts describing it as too ambitious.

Mohammed bin Salman, according to analysts, appears to have orchestrated the Persian Gulf diplomatic crisis, which has seen a Saudi-led bloc of countries cutting ties with Qatar and imposed an economic siege on the country.

The diplomatic spat broke out days after a summit in Riyadh attended by US President Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Saudi rulers and, in particular, Mohammed bin Salman.

Culled from Presstv

21, June 2017

ELECAM: Chairman talks support with visiting Commonwealth delegation ⁰

The Chairperson of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), former governor Enow Abrams Egbe has met with a delegation from the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth team headed by the Director of the Rule of Law, Katalaini Sapoulu was at the ELECAM office in Yaoundé on the 20th of June 2017.

State radio and television reported that during the audience, Enow Abrams Egbe expressed gratitude to the Commonwealth for its constant support to ELECAM. Katalaini Sapoulu reportedly told pressmen that their visit is in line with the Commonwealth’s partnership deal to strengthen Cameroon’s electoral procedures.

The present visit comes shortly after one from a delegation from La Francophonie that declared similar objectives.

Source: CRTV

21, June 2017

UK: May talks with DUP to stay in power not going as expected ⁰

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s negotiations on staying in power with the support of the Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have not proceeded as expected. “Talks are ongoing with the DUP and we continue to work towards a confidence and supply arrangement,” a Conservative source told Reuters on Tuesday.
“As we have said, both parties are committed to strengthening the Union (between the UK’s member nations), combating terrorism, delivering Brexit and delivering prosperity across the whole United Kingdom.” “While our discussions continue it is important the government gets on with its business.” DUP sources also complained of the lack of “negotiating experience” on the Conservative side, a day after the separate Brexit talks also got underway. “The negotiations haven’t proceeded in a way that DUP would have expected,” a source told Sky News.

May had called for a snap election in April in hopes of getting an increased parliamentary majority that could have strengthened her position before going into two years of intense negotiations with the European Union about Britain’s departure from the bloc. However, May’s election gamble spectacularly backfired. British voters dealt her a devastating blow last Thursday, wiping out her parliamentary majority and throwing the country into political turmoil.

Now, the premier has been trying to save herself by forming a coalition government with the DUP, which won 10 seats. May and DUP leader Arlene Foster have met to discuss a plan to form the government. The DUP has been urging May’s government to give “greater focus” to the negotiations and that the DUP “can’t be taken for granted.” May’s office announced on Saturday that the DUP had agreed to support her government on the basis of a “confidence and supply” arrangement in parliament.

The so-called confidence and supply agreement means that the supporting party will back the government in motions of confidence by either voting in favor or abstaining, while retaining the right to vote otherwise in matters of conscience. “Supply”, on the other hand, refers to bills required for a minority government to receive funds to allow it to enact its policies.

Tory MPs have threatened they would object to a formal coalition, citing the DUP’s position on abortion, climate change and gay rights. A total of 326 seats is needed for a majority in the Commons, as efforts to run a minority government are usually doomed to fail because of the inability to get any legislation through the parliament, which means that an arrangement with another political party is essential.

Source: Presstv

20, June 2017

Anglophone Problem: Righting the wrongs of the past ⁰

The Anglophone crisis that has put Cameroon in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons is still playing out across the entire Anglophone region. Despite current efforts by the government to placate the rebelling Anglophones, most Anglophones hold that the current political dispensation neither protects them and their culture nor does it guarantee their rights. They have been victims of government marginalization for five decades and they hold that the current unitary state has only concentrated powers in a few hands, leaving many Anglophones out of the country’s corridors of power. To buttress their assertion, the citizens of former Southern Cameroons point to so many appointments. They assert that Francophones run the political show and have no regard for the English-speaking minority. An Anglophone has never headed the country and all the top positions in the country are always occupied by Francophones. No Anglophone has ever occupied the post of finance minister. The post of defense minister is a no-go area for Anglophones, while the foreign affairs ministry is a preserve of Francophones even when there are very qualified Anglophones. They hold that each time an Anglophone is appointed as the country’s Prime Minister, he is always surrounded by Francophones whose objective is to neutralize his powers. Sometimes, the government even appoints several deputy prime ministers and places a powerful secretary-general at the Prime Minister’ Office to ensure the Anglophone Prime Minister does not wield the power and authority he deserves.

The injustice against Anglophones does not start and end with ministerial appointments. The appointment of senior police and military officers speaks to the marginalization that has become the Anglophone’s daily fate. Anglophones also point to the running of state-owned corporations and they contend that the appointment of managing directors to head those state-owned corporations calls for a total overhaul of the country. An Anglophone has never been the managing director of the country’s oil refinery, SONARA, even when the refinery and oil fields are located in Anglophone Cameroon. 95% of SONARA employees are Francophones and the employees of this state-owned corporation have been treating the locals with disdain and contempt. Anglophones have some of the finest petroleum engineers Cameroon can boast of, but because of government marginalization and injustice, many of these world-class engineers are plying their trade in distant lands such as Canada and the United States. Canada’s Alberta oil sands bear the hallmarks of Anglophone Cameroonian petroleum engineers. Houston, the United States petroleum headquarters, is home to some of the finest Anglophone Cameroonian petroleum experts, many of whom are occupying senior positions. Unfortunately, they cannot go back home to serve their country because of flagrant injustice against a minority that has a lot to offer.

Similarly, the Société Camerounaise des Dépôts Pétroliers (SCDP) known in English as the Cameroonian Oil Depots Company and the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures(SNH) known in English as the National Oil and Gas Company of Cameroon are totally being run by Francophones as if there are no qualified Anglophones in the country and this is hurting Anglophones so badly. While SCDP builds oil depots around the country, SNH, established in March 1980, operates in partnership with international oil companies and it is responsible for selling the government’s share of oil output. It holds stakes in projects operated by international partners and all of these operations occur without the knowledge of the Anglophone population which survives thanks to remittances from the Anglophone Diaspora that has made it a duty to support the English-speaking minority back in Cameroon.

While the country’s oil wealth comes from the South West region, the south-westerner has been reduced to a sorry spectator of events in his own region. The closest he gets to the oil is when he is buying fuel at the pump or when he sees oil tankers carrying away his natural wealth into East Cameroon. Cameroon’s oil fields are located in Ndian Division in the South West region, but the people of this region are the least educated. The region is begging for good roads, hospitals and schools for its people and children whereas, it is thanks to Ndian Division that the country has been receiving huge amounts of petro-dollars from the sales of its oil.

It was based on these frustrations that Anglophones called for a federal system that will help address some of the issues created by the corrupt unitary system that has only succeeded to spread death and poverty in the country. Though in recent months, there have been calls for the total independence of Southern Cameroons, many Anglophones will still settle for a federal system that will put in place reliable checks and balances and give the different regions the opportunity to grow at their own pace. The south-westerner is surely waiting for that moment when all the issues will be on the table for him to call for the establishment of a derivation principle that will automatically give him a right to a percentage of the oil that is being taken away from his region.

Currently, things are at a standstill in the country. Ghost town operations are still taking place and courts are still closed in the Anglophone region. The government has been struggling to give the impression that all is well, but Anglophones are working hard to cast the government in very bad light. As a means to prove its willingness to address some of the grievances presented by Anglophones, the government has recently transferred many Anglophone judges and magistrates to the Anglophone region. A special entrance examination into the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM), the school that trains administrators and magistrates in the country, has been announced and registrations are currently under way. Some 80 Anglophones will be admitted into the school this year as a major step towards to the withdrawal of Francophone administrators from the English-speaking region of Cameroon. This has been one of the many bones of contention and the government is bending over backwards just to ensure peace returns to the country.

However, many young Anglophones have been wondering if they should sit the exam because of the prevailing political atmosphere in the country. Some think that taking the exam will be like betraying the Anglophone cause which is designed to compel the government to right the wrongs that have led to massive frustrations among Anglophones who, justifiably, think that they have been victims of marginalization over the last five decades. This type of thinking on the part of young Anglophones speaks to the level of unity within the English-speaking minority.
The government is today faced with a huge crisis. It must reestablish its authority in the Anglophone region. However, if that has to happen, the government must make the most of the carrot and not the stick. The stick has failed it, as Anglophones have clearly proven that a minority can bring about significant change in a country. Government authority has been called into questions in the Anglophone region and chaos is gradually replacing the pseudo-peace that has prevailed for more than fifty years. In many parts of the Anglophone region, the government is totally absent. Government authority is on the decline. Police officers are too scared for their lives and many are not working as they would, in normal circumstances. They have been erring on the side of caution in order not to incur the wrath of a frustrated Anglophone population.

The potential for the crowd to explode at the slightest provocation is very high, especially in the North West region, where the people are known for their mercurial temperament. The government holds that this is time to appease instead of causing the situation to escalate. But Anglophones are not interested in the government’s appeasement policy. They want the form of the state to be discussed. They hold that if the government keeps on dilly-dallying on this issue, then it has opted for chaos. They also argue that the government must release all Anglophones arrested and taken to Yaounde. Both the secessionists and federalists argue that Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla, Dr. Fontem Neba and Mr. Mancho Bibixy must be released as they did not commit any crime. Sentencing them even to the shortest jail term will be considered by Anglophones as a declaration of war and groups such as SCNC are simply looking for such opportunities to put their well-oiled machines of destruction and violence into action.

Anglophones point out that the country would not be where it is today, if the government had placed dialogue above violence. They claim that the government’s handling of the situation when it all started playing out was, at best, dismal. The nauseating arrogance displayed by government surrogates served as highly inflammable fuel that had been poured into a burning house. The ferocious brutality that was unleashed on students, lawyers and the population spoke to the government’s determination to bring a violent past into the future. These unfortunate circumstances are making it hard for the government to really please Anglophones, especially those whose relatives have been killed or arrested and taken to Francophone Cameroon for trial in courts regarded by Anglophones as Kangaroo courts.

The government’s initial denial and the arrogance of government ministers such as Fame Ndongo, Atanga Nji and Issa Tchiroma make it hard for Anglophones to trust their government. Seven months after University of Buea students were made to drink raw sewage and many young Cameroonians killed, the government of Cameroon is yet to publicly apologize for these brutal actions committed by the country’s police and military. Many Anglophones hold that the government is still not repentant about the loss of human life and without the recognition of police excesses, it will be hard for any real and genuine dialogue to take place. Anglophones want Fame Ndongo, Atanga Nji and Issa Tchiroma to be dismissed from the government as their attitude and arrogance have put the country in the tight spot in which it is today. Leaving them in government is a clear indication that the government does not intend to apologize for the loss of lives. It also implies that it will continue to count on people who have displayed gross disrespect and contempt towards Anglophones to run a country that clearly needs profound and extensive political renewal.

With these men still in office, the government will continue to lose face and its authority in the Anglophone region will continue to take a nosedive. The government’s waning authority is unfortunately giving criminals the courage to carry out their operations in broad day light. Many schools are being burnt down and students who are attempting to write the General Certificate of Education (GCE) exams are being threatened by members of some cloak-and-dagger organizations who hold that until the form of the state is brought up for discussion, Anglophones will not collaborate with the government, especially as they accuse the government of having the bad habit of speaking from both sides of the mouth.

If the government of Cameroon wants peace to return to the country, it must listen to Anglophones. It must seek to right the wrongs of the past as the Anglophone minority is determined to put an end to the patronizing system that has hurt many Cameroonians. Anglophones have legitimate grievances. These are grievances that the old, corrupt unitary state cannot address. After fifty-five years of marginalization, Anglophones hold that the form of the state must change. The reunification John Ngu Foncha and Solomon Tandeng Muna had worked for has brought happiness only to a few. Anglophones are tired of burying their loved ones due to the inefficiencies of the Unitary State. They want federalism and in the absence of federalism, they are prepared to walk away from this hastily stitched marriage that has caused them a lot of pain and suffering. They hold that the ball is in the government’s court, and the longer it delays to find peaceful solutions to the issues, the more chances it creates for secessionists who have taken their gospel of total liberation of Southern Cameroons to the international arena. The government should, at this juncture, understand that those who make peaceful change impossible, only make violent change inevitable. It is time to walk away from the unitary state that has robbed Cameroon and Cameroonians blind. It is time to right the wrongs of the past.

By Joachim Arrey, Ph.D.
Contributing Editor
Cameroon Concord News Group

About the Author: The author of this piece is a keen observer of Cameroon’s political and economic landscape. He has published extensively on the country’s political and economic development, especially in the early 90s when the wind of change was blowing across the African continent. He has served as a translator, technical writer, journalist and editor for several international organizations and corporations across the globe. He studied communication at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and technical writing in George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. He is also a trained translator and holds a Ph.D.

20, June 2017

Brexit: UK accepts EU’s timetable for negotiations ⁰

The UK has started the marathon negotiations for its exit from the European Union (EU) by giving in to the bloc’s demands on how the talks should be held. Hours after arriving in Brussels to kick off the first day of the talks on Monday, UK Brexit Secretary David Davis agreed to settle the divorce terms before getting to the details about future relations with the EU.

This is a stark retreat from Davis’ core demands before the talks, where he had called for parallel talks on both aspects of the process. The British minister raised the issue once again yesterday only to be shut down by EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, who said the European Council would only proceed to future ties when “sufficient progress has been made” in other areas.

The EU has demanded an early agreement on three issues: the rights of EU nationals living in the UK; the UK’s “exit” payment to the EU; and the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Davis, who had warned the EU’s timetable would risk an early collapse of the talks, said after meeting Barnier that backtracking on London’s preferences was not a sign of “weakness.” “It’s not when it starts, it’s how it finishes that matters,” he argued, noting that the timetable was “completely consistent” with what the government of Prime Minister Theresa May had aimed for.

Asked if he had made any concessions to the UK in exchange, Barnier said the talks were not about “punishment” or “revenge” and the two sides had to simply accept the “responsibility and the consequences” that came with their decisions.

“I am not in a frame of mind to make concessions, or ask for concessions,” he said. “Basically, we are implementing the decision taken by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, and unravel 43 years of patiently-built relations,” he added, referring to the last June EU referendum in the England, where 52 percent voted in favor of Brexit.

The two sides agreed to initially hold a week of negotiations every month until a new structure is defined. They also agreed to set up working groups of “senior experts” to work on the three key issues. Davis said there was already “much common ground” on citizens’ rights. Some 3.5 million EU nationals live in the UK compared to 1.2 million Britons spread around the continent.

The UK has also dismissed an ultimatum by the EU to pay a “divorce bill” of around £60 billion before sitting at the negotiating table. May expects the process to be completed by March 2019 but the EU has warned that the two sides should reach a deal before October 2018.

Source: Presstv

20, June 2017

First ever Manyu ekpe extraordinary session holds in London, Sesekou Ralph Tanyi vindicated ⁰

Large differences among ekpe members from Manyu Division based in the United Kingdom which led to sharp debates and cultural schisms, and the famous Pa Tanyi’s public denunciation of Sesekou Ralph Tanyi shows how extensive the feuding in UK ekpe lodge has become and how remote the prospects of unity are among the Manyu ekpe citizens.
It were for these reasons that the first ever ekpe extraordinary session in Great Britain held on Saturday the 17th of June 2017 at the residence of His Royal Highness Chief Sampson Abangma who also moonlights as the supreme leader of the Bache kingdom.

Opening the session, Chief Abangma observed that Manyu ekpe members must return to the hallowed values lay down by the ancestors that for decade after decade, sought to bring about really meaningful peace and decorum in the Manyu nation. The singing was amazing and led by Nfor Ngbe Nelson Agbortoko of Besongabang.

The Manyu title holders reportedly examined the main issues confronting the ekpe community in the UK including an investigation opened in Cameroon by Pa Sampson Tanyi against the award of a Sesekou title to a senior Manyu elite in the UK, Ralph Tanyi. Cameroon Concord News understands the so-called Manyu Ekpe Supreme Council wrote a letter to Pa Tanyi in which the body noted that Ralph Tanyi had breached ekpe rules and should not be recognized as a Sesekou.

By some strange happenstance, the document was forwarded to various Manyu groups and other Cameroonian cultural associations in the UK and Northern Ireland. The UK ekpe lodge after a thorough examination of the letter and backed by the fact that the Manyu Chiefs Conference had distanced itself from the said document, resolved that Ralph Tanyi of Kembong village was a recognized Manyu title holder and a Sesekou.
The UK ekpe lodge also advised Sessekou Pa Sampson Tanyi to stop posing as a traditional ruler mindful of the fact that he is a quarter-head in his native Tayor village. The Manyu elders further pointed out that there is no organization known as Manyu Mgbe Britain and that the Mamfe ekpe lodge should be made to understand the structure of ekpe in the UK.

In a soul-searching speech, Sesekou Ralph Tanyi informed the forum that Pa Tanyi had conducted a 15 years inquiry on his person ever since he raised an alarm on the corruption practices in the Manyu Elements Cultural Association, MECA UK. Consequently, the house reached a unanimous decision that the obscure document was a fabrication aimed at tarnishing the hard earned reputation of Sesekou Ralph Tanyi. The Manyu traditionalists also stated that the Pa Tanyi letter was extremely lacking in ekpe finesse.

The UK ekpe lodge meeting was attended by HRH Sessekou Chief Sampson Abangma, Sesekou Augustine Tambekong of Bachou Ntai, Sessekou Thomas Tambe of Eyang Atem Ako, Sessekou Sampson Tanyi of Tayor, Sessekou Ralph Tanyi of Kembong, Osongoribo Samuel Akoegbe of Besongabang and Osongoribo Pius Mbi of Etoko.

By Eyong Peter

19, June 2017

Boko Haram militants kill 16 people in northeast Nigeria ⁰

At least 16 people have been killed when suspected members of the Takfiri Boko Haram terrorist group detonated their explosive vests near a camp of displaced people in the volatile northeastern state of Borno, the birthplace of the terror outfit.

Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said in a statement that the bomb attacks occurred close to the Dalori camp at Kofa village, located nearly 10 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital Maiduguri, at about 08:45 p.m. local time (1945 GMT) on Sunday.

According to Abdulkadir Ibrahim, the spokesman of the NEMA, two female terrorists first attempted to enter the camp but were thwarted by security personnel of the camp.

However, “two other female bombers detonated their explosives at the adjoining Dalori Kofa village, where they killed 16 people,” he added in the statement.

Borno state police spokesman Victor Isuku gave a more detailed account of the attacks in his initial report of the incident, saying the first assailant detonated her explosives “near a mosque”, claiming the lives of seven people, and the second one blew herself up “in a house”, killing six people. He added that at least 11 people also sustained injuries in the blasts and were taken to hospital.

However, Ibrahim updated Isuku’s report, saying three of the wounded succumbed to their injuries later on. “The 16 does not include the bombers,” he added.

Isuku revised the number of attackers up to five from four, and maintained that other three assailants, not directly involved in the blasts, were also killed.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks but they bear the hallmark of the Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group, as it in the past employed radicalized females on multiple occasions to conduct bombing attacks against people or army troops.

Dalori is one of the largest camps allocated to internally displaced people (IDP) in the remote region and Boko Haram terrorists had previously tried to hit the camp. Back in January last year, Takfiri militants killed at least 85 people as they rampaged through the communities near Dalori. They burned down houses and killed people either by gunfire or by detonating explosives.

The Sunday attack is the deadliest one in Nigeria since June 8, when Boko Haram militants killed 14 people in yet another mixture of gunfire and blasts in the Jiddari Polo area of Maiduguri.

In recent months, army troops and civilian fighters in Nigeria have managed to foil many bomb attacks involving terrorists wearing explosive vests before the assailants were able to reach heavily-populated targets and detonate their bombs of their own accord.

Last December, however, two women, with the Boko Haram, killed 57 people and injured 177, including 120 children, after they detonated their explosive vests at a bustling market at Madagali, a town in the neighboring province of Adamawa.

On December 24, 2016, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to power in 2015 with a pledge to eradicate Boko Haram, announced that the army had “crushed” the terror group a day earlier by retaking its last key bastion, deep inside the thick Sambisa Forest in Borno.

The group, however, has resorted to sporadic shooting and bombing attacks in the northeast of the African country, spreading panic among the local residents.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly terror attacks in Nigeria since the beginning of their militancy in 2009, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 20,000 people and made more than 2.7 million displaced.

The United Nations has warned that areas affected by Boko Haram face a humanitarian crisis.

Back in February 2016, four nations of the Lake Chad Basin – Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria – launched a campaign, together with a contingent from Benin, to confront the threat from Boko Haram terrorists in the region.
Source: Presstv