23, January 2022

Death toll in Yaoundé Night Club fire jumps to 16 ⁰

Cameroon’s government said Sunday that 16 people were killed in a fire caused by fireworks in a nightclub in the capital Yaounde, the tragedy occurring as the nation hosts the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament.

“The initial report shows 16 dead and eight seriously injured” after the “accidental fire” broke out Saturday night, the communications ministry said in a statement.

The fire engulfed the main room of Liv’s Night Club in the capital’s upmarket Bastos district, home to embassies and diplomat residences.

“The tragedy, which was caused by explosions from the fireworks often used in these places, first consumed the building’s ceiling, resulting in two very loud explosions, causing panic and a stampede,” the ministry said.

“When we arrived it was a panic, there was a strong fire with lots of smoke,” an official with the firefighters told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“We counted 16 dead and five injured,” the official added.

A security guard present for the fire said that “it happened very quickly”.

“It was a little after 2:00 am and most customers arrive around 3:00 am… there are many victims,” the security guard said.

There were some burnt objects out the front of the club that suggested a fire, but the building’s facade was not destroyed or charred, an AFP journalist said.

Cameroon is hosting the AFCON tournament despite regular violence in the country’s west, where English-speaking militants declared independence from the majority French-speaking country in 2017.

Both the separatists and government forces have been accused of atrocities in the fighting, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives and forced over 700,000 to flee their homes.

Around 100 people gathered outside the morgue of the military hospital in Yaounde’s Ekounou neighbourhood, hoping to find out news of relatives.

“I don’t have any information. I woke up this morning and they told me that my 38-year-old son is dead,” said one woman, who gave her name as Fidele.

“I was waiting for my brother and his friends yesterday evening, but they didn’t arrive. And at around 7:00 am, I received a lot of phone calls asking whether my brother was dead or alive. So I came to the morgue and I identified his body,” said her daughter, Claude.

“I’ve lost my little brother,” said Stephane Hamza, 38.

In Douala, the economic capital in the south of the country, at least five discos have been partially or completely burned down in accidental fires over the past six years.

Source: AFP

23, January 2022

Africa Cup of Nations: Comoros struggle to put team together against Cameroon as Covid racks squad ⁰

The Comoros, the surprise package of the Africa Cup of Nations, are struggling to put a team together for their last-16 tie against host nation Cameroon after 12 players and management tested postive for Covid-19, their federation announced Saturday.

The 12 positive tests include both of the Coelacanths’ fit goalkeepers, with the third goalkeeper, Salim Ben Boina already injured. Comoros are due to face Cameroon on Monday.

“The Coelacanths affected by Covid…include coach Amir Abdou, our only two goalkeepers, Moyadh Ousseini and Ali Ahamada,” the federation tweeted two days before an historic match for the Comoros who qualified for the last 16 in their first appearance at the tournament.

In a video posted on the account, general manager El Hadad Hamidi also named five outfield players who have tested positive: midfielders Nakibou Aboubakari, Yacine Bourhane, striker Mohamed M’Changama and defenders Kassim Abdallah and Alexis Souahy.

With no goalkeepers currently available for the tie, the Comoros are in serious trouble.

Confederation of African Football rules for the tournament dictate that teams must play games as long as at least 11 players test negative for the coronavirus.

If no goalkeeper is available, an outfield player has to stand in.

“We are trying to do everything in our power to find alternative solutions” but “without the coach, without major players and especially without our only two goalkeepers who remained, the situation is quite complicated”, admitted Hamidi.

The Comoros, representing a tiny island nation off the south-east coast of Africa, snatched their qualification to everyone’s surprise by beating Ghana 3-2 and advancing as one of the best third-placed sides.

Source: AFP

23, January 2022

Six killed in Yaoundé night club fire ⁰

Six people were killed in a fire that tore through a packed nightclub in Yaoundé police said on Sunday.

The tragedy occurred as many gathered late on Saturday January 22, 2022 in LIVS Night club in the Bastos district to watch the UFC 270 fight between Francis Ngannou and Cyril Gane.

Cameroon Concord News understands several others had to be evacuated from the night club moments after midnight after a fire broke out during celebration of Francis Ngannou’s victory.

Fire crews, police and paramedics were called to the scene as the Bastos Night Club was evacuated and a cordon was put in place.

Three men and two young ladies were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, the Yaoundé fire service said, while seven persons were taken to hospital.

An investigation into the blaze, which is understood to have broken out just minutes after customers celebrated Francis Ngannou’s victory, is ongoing.

An official of the Bastos district council said: “There was a fire in this venue after midnight. There was a full evacuation with deaths and serious injuries. Yaoundé city council has promised a full investigation into the fire.

Police sources say the provisional death toll from the incident is currently at six. Pictures circulating on social media show lifeless bodies even burned and some transported in cabs.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

23, January 2022

German navy chief resigns over controversial comments on Putin, Crimea ⁰

Germany’s navy chief stepped down on Saturday after drawing criticism for saying Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect and that Kyiv would never win back annexed Crimea from Moscow.

“I have asked Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht to relieve me from my duties with immediate effect,” Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach said in a statement. “The minister has accepted my request.”

Schoenbach made the remarks to a think-tank discussion in India on Friday, and video was published on social media. The comments came at a sensitive time as Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine’s borders.

Diplomatic efforts are focused on preventing an escalation. Russia denies it is planning to invade Ukraine.

Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach: “We need #Russia to counter #China. #Putin and Russia deserves respect, #Ukraine has nothing to do with #NATO and #Crimea has been permanently lost.”

In New Delhi, Schoenbach, speaking in English, said Putin seeks to be treated as an equal by the West.

“What he (Putin) really wants is respect,” Schoenbach said.

“And my God, giving someone respect is low cost, even no cost… It is easy to give him the respect he really demands – and probably also deserves,” Schoenbach said, calling Russia an old and important country.

Schoenbach conceded Russia’s actions in Ukraine needed to be addressed. But he added that “the Crimea peninsula is gone, it will never come back, this is a fact,” contradicting the joint Western position that Moscow’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 cannot be accepted and must be reversed.

Apologies

Prior to Schoenbach’s resignation, the defence ministry publicly criticised his remarks, saying they did not reflect Germany’s position in either content or wording.

Schoenbach apologized for his comments.

“My rash remarks in India … are increasingly putting a strain on my office,” he said. “I consider this step (the resignation) necessary to avert further damage to the German navy, the German forces, and, in particular, the Federal Republic of Germany.”

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had called on Germany to publicly reject the navy chief’s comments. Schoenbach’s comments could impair Western efforts to de-escalate the situation, Ukraine said in a statement.

“Ukraine is grateful to Germany for the support it has already provided since 2014, as well as for the diplomatic efforts to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict. But Germany’s current statements are disappointing and run counter to that support and effort,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said separately in tweet.

Source: REUTERS

23, January 2022

French soldier killed in attack on military camp in Mali ⁰

A French soldier has died in an attack on the Barkhane military camp in Gao, northern Mali, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement on Sunday.

Macron’s office paid tribute to brigadier Alexandre Martin, who was killed in a mortar attack on Saturday.

More than 4,000 French forces are stationed in the Sahel region of West Africa, most of them in Mali.

France, which first deployed troops in the West African country nine years ago to fight a jihadist insurgency, has spent around €880 million a year on a mission that has cost 53 French soldiers their lives.

Paris has started reducing its presence, hoping to halve the contingent by the summer of 2023, and has asked its European Union allies to provide more support.

It is now mulling an earlier exit amid rapidly deteriorating relations with the military junta that has ruled the country since a coup in August 2020.

Source: REUTERS

23, January 2022

Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi pulls out of Italian presidential race ⁰

Billionaire former premier Silvio Berlusconi announced Saturday he will not run for Italy’s presidency, ending his improbable candidacy two days before voting begins in parliament.

The 85-year-old has been campaigning behind the scenes for weeks to replace outgoing President Sergio Mattarella, although few analysts believed he had enough support to win.

In a statement as he held a virtual meeting with fellow right-wing leaders, Berlusconi insisted he had the numbers, but in the spirit of “national responsibility”, said he had asked those who put forward his name to withdraw it.

“Today, Italy needs unity,” he said, noting the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, adding: “I will continue to serve my country in other ways.”

The leading candidate for the presidency remains Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank chief who has led Italy’s national unity government for the last year.

However, Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party is in the government, repeated his desire for Draghi to stay where he is until general elections scheduled for 2023.

“I consider it necessary for the Draghi government to complete its work until the end of the legislature,” he wrote in the statement issued by his spokesman.

That way it could implement reforms to the tax and justice systems and public administration promised in return for billions of euros in European Union post-virus recovery funds, he said.

Looking for a “broad consensus”

Instead, Berlusconi said he would work with Matteo Salvini of the anti-immigration League party and Giorgia Meloni of the far-right Brothers of Italy to agree a name that can find “broad consensus”.

Members of an electoral college comprising more than 1,000 MPs, senators and regional representatives will begin voting Monday for the new president.

In the first three rounds of voting, each of which will take a day, the winning candidate must secure two-thirds of the vote. From the fourth round, they only need an absolute majority.

Italy’s president is a largely ceremonial position but plays a crucial arbitrating role during political crises and wields significant political influence over their seven-year term.

Source: AFP

23, January 2022

Enfin!! Ngannou holds off Frenchman Gane to retain heavyweight UFC title ⁰

Cameroonian fighter Francis Ngannou, known as ‘The Predator’, scored a decision victory over Frenchman ‘Bon Gamin’ Ciryl Gane to hold on to his heavyweight UFC 270 title on Saturday night.

In a surprising turn of events, Ngannou, the UFC’s king of the fast knockout, saved his heavyweight championship with his grappling game after dropping the first two rounds.

The Las Vegas-based fighter used takedowns and top control over the final three rounds to eke out a unanimous decision at Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and retain his belt.

The judges’ scores were 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46 to mark the first decision victory of Ngannou’s career.

Saturday’s fixture offered an intriguing match-up, the two fighters having previously trained together in Paris – Ngannou was once a homeless immigrant in the French capital – before pursuing their careers in the US.

Gane, a kickboxer, used body kicks over the first two rounds to keep Ngannou from getting untracked. In the third, he used a huge slam to alter the fight, and followed it with a judo throw later in the round.

In the fourth round, Ngannou used another takedown to stymie Gane. In the fifth, Gane scored a takedown, but Ngannou switched position and used top control over the rest of the round to seal the fight.

Trilogy fight

The evening’s co-feature bout was the rare case where a trilogy fight was not the concluding matchup between a pair of fighters.

In a sensational bout, Deiveson Figueiredo of Brazil won a razor-thin affair with Tijuana’s Brandon Moreno to regain the UFC flyweight title. The judges’ scores were 48-47 across the board for a unanimous decision.

The bout was a 25-minute whirlwind, Moreno (19-6-2) landed more often, but Figueiredo (21-2-1) landed harder shots and scored more knockdowns, including one in a frantic and close final round that very well may have spelled the difference on the scorecards.

With the victory, the duo are now tied at 1-1-1. Their first bout at UFC 256 ended with Figueiredo retaining the championship via majority draw. Moreno took the title via third-round submission at UFC 263.

With the win in the third fight, Figueiredo became the first two-time UFC flyweight champion with the win. He indicated after the fight he was willing to give Moreno a fourth-right rematch to settle things.

Source: Reuters

22, January 2022

AFCON 2021: Biya orders investigations into the wine-drinking scandal ⁰

When the decision to have the 2021 AFCON held in Cameroon was announced, there was total jubilation in the country.

For the ordinary Cameroonian, the football festival will enable the nation develop world-class infrastructure.

For the youths, the world-class infrastructure will help them make the most of their talent. In their minds, if football is well-developed, they will be able to ply their trade and be able to help their families.

But for those in power like the Higher Education Minister, Jacques Fame Ndongo, the 2021 AfCON will be an opportunity for him and his partners in crime to demonstrate their epicurean sensibility.

And they did display that greed on the day the Indomitable Lions were clashing with Cape Verde.

While other Cameroonians were cheering up the Lions, Fame Ndongo and his band of CPDM embezzlers were bathing in the most expensive wines some of which were sold for CFAF 3 million per bottle.

As they consumed the expensive wines at the expense of the impoverished taxpayers, they were boasting and demonstrating their capacity to waste government money.

But a few days after this stupidity was captured on video, Fame Ndongo and his collaborators are already losing sleep.

President Biya, who was also shocked by such madness, has ordered an investigation and the details will soon be available.

Those found guilty will be bundled to jail like those who caused the AfCON infrastructure to be very expensive.

Stay tuned!

22, January 2022

Africa Cup of Nations: Cameroon hosts influx of football fans from neighboring Gabon, Equatorial Guinea ⁰

Cameroon says that within four days, at least 1,500 football supporters have entered the country from neighboring Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to support their teams that have advanced to Round 16 in the Africa Football Cup of Nations, or AFCON. Gabon battles Burkina Faso Sunday, while Equatorial Guinea plays against Mali Wednesday. Tournament organizers require all fans to have COVID-19 tests before entering stadiums.

Cameroon’s immigration police said Saturday that buses carrying at least 900 football fans from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea have entered the central African state within 48 hours. Gabon and Equatorial Guinea are Cameroon’s southern neighbors.

The immigration police said about 600 other football fans from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea arrived in Cameroon by sea and by air this week.

Cameroon says the influx came after Gabon and Equatorial Guinea qualified for the knockout stage of the Africa Football Cup of Nations, or AFCON, in Cameroon. Gabon played a 2-2 draw Tuesday against Morocco in Yaoundé, and both teams advanced.

Equatorial Guinea sealed their place after a 1-0 win against Sierra Leone in a group match played at Limbes Omnisport Stadium in Cameroon’s English-speaking South West region Thursday.

Thirty-year-old Prosper Ebang is among the 1,500 supporters from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea Cameroon police say have entered Cameroon. Ebang says he wants to be part of a continental soccer event in which his country’s national football team, the Panthers of Gabon, are doing well.

Ebang says no citizen who loves Gabon can be indifferent when the Panthers are making Gabon proud with the excellent football exhibited in Cameroon during AFCON. He says he is certain that Gabon will reach the AFCON final if Cameroon continues providing a conducive environment for the games.

Felix Nguele Nguele is the governor of Cameroon’s South region that borders Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. He says Gabon and Equatorial Guinea officials have informed him that hundreds of other supporters are still on their way to Cameroon.

Ngueles says he has asked police and military in Cameroon’s southern border to ensure the safety of football fans and supporters from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. He says he knows that people with evil intentions may want to disturb the visiting supporters since tensions mounted between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea in November.

On November 30, 2021, Cameroon said Equatorial Guinea was deporting thousands of Cameroonians who were living in the neighboring state illegally, citing national security concerns. Authorities in the capital, Malabo, said the Cameroonians fled conflict in western Cameroon, where government troops have been fighting anglophone separatists.

Videos from Cameroonians deported from Equatorial Guinea flooded social media platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp. In the video, Cameroonians claiming to have been forcibly sent out of Equatorial Guinea promised to chase football fans from the neighboring country visiting Cameroon for AFCON from January 9 to February 6.

Kisito Esua is president of the nongovernmental organization South West Youth League, headquartered in Limbe, an English-speaking southwestern town. Esua says the league is teaching youths to be hospitable to fans coming to Cameroon to support their football teams. He spoke via a messaging app from Limbe.

“The influx of fans and supporters from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea is so massive,” said Esua. “The fans have been coming in in their numbers by air, land and sea and we think that the turnout tomorrow will be something spectacular. So, we have made sure that the environment is so friendly, convivial and conducive.”

Cameroon’s Public Health ministry says the supporters who have arrived within the past 48 hours must respect COVID-19 restriction guidelines imposed by the Confederation of African Football. CAF says people must provide negative COVID-19 test results that are not more than 24 hours old as well as proof they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to gain access to stadiums for AFCON matches.

The embassies of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in Yaoundé say all the visiting fans have agreed to respect Cameroonian laws and COVID-19 restrictions instituted by Cameroon and CAF during their stay.

Source: VOA

22, January 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Five kidnapped from school in Menchum County ⁰

Three teachers, the headmaster and a deputy head were kidnapped from a Cameroonian high school by armed men in one of two English-speaking regions plagued by an armed conflict between separatists and soldiers, a teachers’ union told AFP on Friday.

“An armed group burst into the Weh bilingual high school on Tuesday and kidnapped five people,” said Roger Kafo, secretary general of the National Union of Secondary Teachers (Snaes).

Armed separatists regularly attack schools which they accuse of teaching in French, and kill civil servants, including teachers, whom they accuse of “collaborating” with the central government in Yaounde.

Students have been abducted and later released.

“At the moment we don’t have any news of the hostages and none has been freed,” Kafo added.

The hostages were the principal, the deputy head and three teachers.

The northwest and southwest regions have been rocked by violence since 2017 when anglophone militants declared independence from the majority French-speaking country.

Yaounde responded with a crackdown.

Both the separatists and government forces have been accused of atrocities in the fighting, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives and forced over 700,000 to flee their homes.

Source: The Guardian