17, January 2019

UK: Bisong Foundation stages charity football match between Cameroon’s 1990 World Cup stars and Cambridgeshire Police FC 0

Former Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and a UK Selection took on the Cambridgeshire Police Football Team in an enthralling game of football organised by the Bisong Foundation at the Cambridge Stadium in Trumpington. The police team actually looked forward to the game and were expecting a tough one as they had to play against some of the Cameroon team who played in 1990 World Cup quarter-finals against England.

Under the theme of integration in diversity and a shared sense of belonging, Bisong Foundation chose to leverage the powerful influence of elite footballers to mobilise the community and promote personal, social and community development.

Bisong Foundation believes that football as the world’s most popular sport, can help break down barriers created by ignorance or prejudice and bring together people from different backgrounds to create, expand and strengthen social ties and network, play, watch and enjoy the game.

Bisong Foundation feels that the benefit of effective community engagement with the police can increase public perceptions of safety, a tendency towards a reduction in disorder and anti-social behaviour as well as an increase in confidence and trust between the police and the local community.

Using football to facilitate interaction between the police and community members in a non-enforcement context helps to reduce bias on the part of community members and police officers. It also helps both groups to break down personal barriers and overcome stereotypes.

Our ultimate goal is to build a united society where everyone is valued irrespective of ethnicity, religion, sexuality, disability or any other perceived differences. We believe that if we continue to work together for equality, we can change attitudes, and build a society where everyone feels they belong.

PC Josh – Player / Coach of Police FC adorning Young People with medals

When former FECAFOOT and FA referee, Samuel Taku gave the kick off, the game went into high pitch quite rapidly with the police team pressing on the ex-Lions back line, creating some scoring chances. One shot by the Police side bounced off the post in the early stages of the first half. However, one-time great Songo’o Jacques maintained calmness to his defensive line as the team flew through the centre of the midfield controlled by African legend Cyrille Makanaky towards the opposing goal with their pacey forwards led by Joseph Desire Job, ex-Middlesbrough FC goal getter.

The first goal went to the police team through the left from a cross that deceived the entire ex-Lion’s defence including ever present Songo’o Jacques. The ex-Lions team started to find their rhythm and were quickly levelled through Desire Job.

At the start of the second half, the police team went straight at the ex-Lions as they aimed to demonstrate their physical fitness and strength. The ex-Lions came twice from behind to draw level. The game ended 3-3 after regular play time. In the penalty shootout, all-time great Cyrille Makanaky scored the decisive penalty as the ex-Lions beat the police team 5-3.

The Runners Up trophy was handed to the police team by Mrs Karyne Tazi, Managing Director of the Women’s Resource Centre in Wolverhampton and the Winners’ trophy was presented to Cyrille Makanaky captain of Former Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and Legends of African Football by Mrs Annette Nti, President of the Women’s Association of Hainaut, Belgium. Medals were equally awarded to children and young people by the police team.


Mrs Nti awarding the Winner’s Trophy

Mrs Melanie Ngangen, Secretary of Charity Ensemble Manchester was head of delegate of children and young people who attended the event. She has been working with children to educate them about the heritage of Cameroon and was delighted to meet and interview legends of Cameroon and African football.

Cyrille Makanaky posing with the Young Generation

Mrs Tazi awarding the Runners – Up trophy to the captain of the Police FC

The police team raised £130 to support the work of Bisong Foundation.

*The author is Co-Founder of Bisong Foundation and also its Marketing Coordinator and Community Officer

17, January 2019

Dr Ebenezer Akwanga’s Southern Cameroons War Crimes Tribunal: Deceptive and without merit 0

Last week we of the Cameroon Concord News Group published a news item from a source representing Dr Jonathan Levy announcing the creation of a Southern Cameroons War Crime Tribunal. The document detailing the creation of the tribunal noted that several Ambazonian groups have come together to declare the formation of a War Crimes Tribunal – The Southern Cameroons Special Tribunal Coordination Committee (SCSTCC).

The author of the document further pointed out that the initial backers include the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), the Southern Cameroons Defense Force (SOCADEF), the African Peoples Liberation Movement (APLM), the Organization of Emerging African States (OEAS) and the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. It added that other groups are expected to join soon.

The face behind the mask then profiled Dr. Jonathan Levy observing that he is an international lawyer specializing in human rights and has been appointed Chief Coordinator of the tribunal.  “According to Dr. Levy, the special tribunal’s immediate mission is to use existing courts and procedures to investigate and prosecute war crimes.”

The reactions that came from our readers around the globe prompted us to dig deeper into the war crimes tribunal affair. We of the Concord Group can now reveal that the so called war crimes tribunal is a creation by Dr Akwanga who alongside Cho Ayaba has been working to undermine the authority of the Ambazonian Interim Government.

It was easy for us to know that Dr Jonathan Levy works with Redress-a legal establishment that has been helping Dr. Akwanga to recover financial damages arising from the multiple violations he suffered from French Cameroun policing institutions and officers.  Consequently, we of the Cameroon Concord News Group believe and fervently too that the Southern Cameroons War Crimes Tribunal initiative is misplaced.

Contrary to what the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Dr Samuel Ikome Sako announced late last year that the IG had created a body to gather and preserve evidence of French Cameroun crimes and will use the evidence to persuade the UN Security Council to make a robust intervention as the crisis unfolds, establishing a war crimes tribunal by Dr Ebenezer Akwanga and his anti IG acolytes is deceptive and without merit.

A senior Southern Cameroons advocate who contacted us immediately after we reported the creation of the so-called Southern Cameroons War Crimes Tribunal said he was very concerned about credible allegations made against Dr Ebenezer Akwanga relating to the arrest of priests and the sealing of a church in Munyenge. Southern Cameroonians should and must be aware that places of warship are protected under international law.

We understand that Redress is a reputable Human Rights organization with a capacity to investigate crimes and assist victims. Why did Dr Akwanga not ask Redress to take up the Southern Cameroons case and push for international intervention by the UN Security Council or the International Criminal Court which it is specialized in doing in many cases?

Creating a tribunal and appointing a Redress official who is already helping him in his personal case, has a conflict of interest, and another attempt to personalize the leadership of the Ambazonia cause by deceiving the people of Southern Cameroons and the world that a mechanism exists outside the United Nations and possibly the International Criminal Court for holding French Cameroun criminals to account. We call on the Ambazonian Interim Government to put a stop to this fallacy immediately and to establish an appropriate mechanism to gather information of the crimes committed by the Biya Francophone regime and submit to the competent structures within the UN and countries with universal jurisdiction over the Geneva Convention crimes and the International Criminal Court.

We of this publication will not let these pathetic attempts by Dr Ebenezer Akwanga to personalize the Southern Cameroons cause, raise false expectations and appropriate money. We know that there are people collecting evidence out there and that the Ambazonian Interim Government has contacted a Swiss based organization CIVITAS which gathers evidence for the purpose of launching universal jurisdiction investigations and prosecutions of persons committing international crimes.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-in-Chief

17, January 2019

France-Afrique: ICC Orders President Gbagbo to Remain in Custody 0

The International Criminal Court has ordered former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and his top aide to remain in custody, even after judges acquitted them of crimes against humanity.

Prosecutors immediately appealed Tuesday’s verdict and argued the pair may refuse to return to The Hague for trial if the not-guilty verdict is overturned.

The three-judge panel called the prosecution’s case “exceptionally weak.”

Gbagbo and Charles Ble Goude had been on trial for alleged crimes against humanity stemming from the violence in Ivory Coast after the 2010 election.

Gbagbo lost to his bitter rival, current President Alassane Outtara, but refused to concede. The standoff led to violence that killed 3,000 people and sent thousands more fleeing the country for their lives.

Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo appears before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Jan. 15, 2019.
Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo appears before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Jan. 15, 2019.

Opponents and prosecutors blame Gbagbo and Ble Goude for the deadly unrest. But the three-judge panel ruled Tuesday there was not enough evidence of responsibility to convict the pair.

Gbagbo’s daughter told reporters her father plans to return to Ivory Coast when he is released.

But if he goes back, he faces 20 years in prison on charges of misusing funds from a West African central bank.

An Ivorian court convicted him in absentia last year, but the government has not said whether it will enforce the sentence.

VOA

17, January 2019

Thousands Of Nigeria IDPs Leave Rann For Cameroon Border After Boko Haram Attack 0

Thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have fled their tents following gun duel between Nigerian troops and Boko Haram insurgents in Kala-Balge Local Government Area of Borno State, SaharaReporters has learnt.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that at least 10 persons were killed and dozens wounded in the crossfire on Monday night after the insurgents stormed Rann.

It would be recalled that several houses, including a military base and a United Nations hub, were razed by the militant group.

Tuesday witnessed an exodus of displaced persons fled their homes to Cameroon border to take refugee, with thousands already in Gamboru-Ngala. “It was a pathetic situation,” the source said.

“We have about 50,000 displaced persons living in the camp at Rann. They were helpless; thousands of them said it was better for them to leave Rann for Cameroon than to stay back in Rann and get killed.”

A rescue worker told SaharaReporters: “The situation in Ngala is so worrisome; thousands of our people are really going through tough time. Imagine, in this harmattan, children and women are there without anything to cover themselves. It is a really pitiable situation.”

Source: SaharaReporters

Ambazonia: Suspected Cho Ayaba gang ‘kidnap 30’ in the Southern Zone

17, January 2019

Ambazonia: Suspected Cho Ayaba gang ‘kidnap 30’ in the Southern Zone 0

At least 30 people have been abducted by suspected criminals operating under the direct supervision of the ADF headed by one Cho Ayaba, local sources said on Wednesday. “More than 30 people were kidnapped yesterday on the road between Buea and Kumba” in the Southern Zone of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia, a French Cameroun source close to the Francophone authorities there said, confirming an account by a local NGO.

Since October 2017, Southern Cameroons have been in the grip of an armed revolt by Ambazonians demanding independence from the majority French-speaking country. The people were kidnapped after the gang attacked buses plying the highway, one of the most dangerous roads in the country, one of the sources said.

Ransom kidnappings and extortion have proliferated in the territory, along with attacks on troops and police, plus arson assaults on public buildings and schools. The government has responded with a crackdown, deploying thousands of soldiers.

More than 800 members of the security forces and at least 4000 civilians have been killed since, according to the Ambazonian Interim Government. According to UN estimates, more than 437,000 people have fled their homes. The territory known as Southern Cameroons was previously ruled by Britain firstly as an integral part of the Eastern Region of Nigeria and later as an independent state.

They became incorporated into French Cameroun in October 1961, 22 months after France granted the country independence. Over the years, Southern Cameroonians have chafed at perceived discrimination at the hands of the francophone majority, especially in law, education and economic opportunities.

Demands for greater autonomy or a return to Cameroon’s federal structure were rejected by the President Francophone central government in Yaounde. Hardliners became ascendant in the Anglophone movement, leading to the declaration of the self-described Republic of Ambazonia on October 1, 2017, which is yet to be recognised internationally.

Reported by AFP and CIR

Ambazoniagate: Nigeria Federal judge to open hearing against National Security Adviser

16, January 2019

Ambazoniagate: Nigeria Federal judge to open hearing against National Security Adviser 0

A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja, Nigeria, Hon. Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu will on the 21st January, 2019 open hearing in the matter between Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and nine others against the National Security Adviser and Attorney General of the Federation of Nigeria, for the enforcement of their Fundamental Rights to:

  1. Life
  2. Personal liberty
  3. Freedom of Movement
  4. Dignity of their human person
  5. Right to private life.

This application was brought after their abduction at NERA Hotel, Alex Ekwueme Street, Jabi, Abuja. Pursuant to Section 33, 31, 35, 36, 37, 40 and 46(1)(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as Amended and Order XI and Order XII of the Fundamental Right (Enforcement Provedure) Rules 2009.

This action is supported by an affidavit deposed to by Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He is supported by Abdul Oroh,Esq, four lawyers from Cameroon Bar, three of whom were called to the Nigerian Bar are espected to join their Nigerian colleagues at the hearing. The Respondents i.e. the National Security Adviser, Major General Mohammed Monguno and the Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, SAN have objected to the suit claiming that “it discloses no cause of action”
Justice Ojukwu would also hear another action brought by the NERA10 seeking a declaration that their deportation to Cameroon by Nigerian Security Forces at the behest of General Monguno was illegal, unjust, and a violation of their rights to live in Nigeria as refugees and protected by Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right and United Nations Convention on the status of Refugees.

The NERA10 are asking the judge in the first suit to order that they

1.be released from Cameroonian incarceration and compensated for their sufferings and inhuman and degrading treatments suffered in the hand of Nigeria and Cameroonian soldiers during the deportation.

  1. Return to Nigeria to join their families and in safety under extant laws of Nigeria and International conventions ratified by Nigeria.

Hon Abdul Oroh.
Abdul Oroh and co
Legal Practice
Suite A62 Efab Mall Area11 Ahmadu Bello Way Garki Abuja Federal Capital Territory FCT
Nigeria.
abdulorohandcompany@gmail.com

16, January 2019

Press TV issues statement on arrest of senior anchor lady Hashemi in US 0

Iranian English-language television news network Press TV has released a statement with regard to the detention and imprisonment of its anchorwoman Marzieh Hashemi in the United States.The statement is as follows:

PressTV would like to hereby express its strong protest at the recent apprehension and violent treatment of Ms. Marzieh Hashemi, born Melanie Franklin in the United States, who is currently serving as an anchor for the English-language television news network.

A female African-American international journalist, a mother and a grandmother, Ms. Hashemi has traveled to the United States to visit her family members, including her brother, who is suffering from cancer. She was, however, arrested at St. Louis Lambert International Airport in St. Louise, Missouri on January 13, 2019 by US police, and transferred by FBI agents to a detention center in Washington, DC.

Ms. Hashemi has told her family in a phone conversation last night that she has been subjected to violent and abusive treatment from the very onset as described below:

– Ms. Hashemi is yet to be arraigned or given a reason for her detention and imprisonment. She, herself, is at a loss to know why she should ever face apprehension.

– Her family members were kept completely in the dark about her situation for two straight days following the arrest.

– Immediately after arrest, she was forced to remove her hijab (the head covering for Muslim women) even though the authorities knew about her being a Muslim. They allowed her only a T-shirt to wear, with her forearms being exposed against Islamic law. She was even photographed in that state.

– The authorities running the detention facility have paid no heed to her religious preferences, despite her repeated protests.

– She has been forced to use another T-shirt to cover her head so as to remain observant of Islamic values.

– She has been denied halal food (food permissible under Islamic law), being offered only pork as meal and not even bread, which she has requested to avoid the meat. Ms. Hashemi has had nothing to eat other than a packet of crackers since her apprehension. The resulting malnutrition, compounded by cold weather conditions, has made her weak and infirm.

– Her current feeble health condition necessitates urgent medical attention.

– The United States government is accountable for any potential harm or hazard that would affect Ms. Hashemi’s mental or physical condition.

Accordingly, as part of the media community, we expect that all international media outlets set about relaying this affair without delay.

We, further, call for the immediate and unconditional release of Ms. Hashemi, and for the US government to apologize to both the journalist and the international media community for her treatment.

#FreeMarziehHashemi

#Pray4MarziehHashemi

“Trial of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe is like playing with fire at a petrol station”

16, January 2019

“Trial of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe is like playing with fire at a petrol station” 0

The Interim President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides will again appear in the French Cameroun Yaounde Military Tribunal on the 7th of February.  The case has been in court for close to a year and now.

The Ambazonian chief executive and members of his cabinet are facing lame and ridiculous charges of terrorism, secession and civil war. Ever since their first appearance in court, Southern Cameroons territory has been rocked by ghost towns and intense fighting is currently going on.

The regime in Yaounde has never been this weak. Those who have been propping the government such as Minister Amadou Ali are gradually showing signs of fatigue.  The shocking death of Foumane Akame-a senior Biya acolyte recently in Geneva also indicates that years of lying and defrauding the state are clearly taking a toll on the health of these key actors.

The French Cameroun economy is crumbling; the population has lost hope in the country. The government’s mismanagement of the country and its determination to hang on to power despite losing many elections has pushed the population into the worst form of despair.

This situation has been made all the more desperate by tribalism and nepotism which have become the government’s tools of administration par excellence. Tribalism that had very little space in Cameroon’s politics under the country’s first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo has become a key component of the country’s politics.

A baron of the regime was heard murmuring privately in Yaounde that the trial of the Ambazonian leader is like playing with fire at a petrol station and that their appearance in the Yaounde military court is fanning the flames of the crisis in Southern Cameroons which has resulted to various incessant clashes between French Cameroun security forces and the Ambazonian Restoration fighters.

By Sama Ernest and Kingsley Betek

16, January 2019

Deadly Nairobi Hotel Attack Under Control 0

The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab is claiming responsibility for Tuesday’s terrorist attack on a hotel and office complex in Nairobi, Kenya.

Police say at least 15 people were killed and a still undetermined number wounded. One report says an American and a British citizen are among the dead.

Kenya’s Interior Minister Fred Matiang’i says the country is safe and the situation under control. But gunshots could still be heard several hours after he made that pronouncement.

The attack on the DusitD2 complex began in mid-afternoon with an explosion outside a bank and a suicide bombing in the hotel lobby.

Map of Dusit, D2 Hotel in Nairobi Kenya
Map of Dusit, D2 Hotel in Nairobi Kenya

Four gunmen could be seen on surveillance video walking through the parking lot with at least one stopping to open fire.

Terrified office and hotel workers and guests ran for cover, streaming from the buildings, climbing out of windows, ducking behind police vehicles and anything they could find while gunfire echoed off the walls.

Police found a sad and grisly scene inside one of the restaurants — wounded and dead diners at their tables, slumped over unfinished meals.

Other witnesses say they found human limbs lying on the ground.

Witness Duran Farah told VOA he and some colleagues were entering the complex at the time of the attack.

“A loud explosion happened at the gate. Next there was shooting, an exchange of fire, a lot of fire, and we see people rushing and running around in every direction,” he said. He and his friends escaped by running down an alleyway.

Cars are seen on fire at the scene of explosions and gunshots in Nairobi, Kenya January 15, 2019.
Cars are seen on fire at the scene of explosions and gunshots in Nairobi, Kenya January 15, 2019.

The DusitD2 hotel and shops are in an upscale Nairobi neighborhood popular with American, European, and Indian tourists, although exactly who was targeted and why is unclear.

The militant Islamic Al-Shabab staged several previous attacks in Kenya, including the September 2013 assault on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall that left 67 dead.

The militants targeted Kenya after Kenyan forces entered Somalia in 2011 with al-Shabab as their target.

Rescuers and journalists evacuate an injured man from the scene where explosions and gunshots were heard at the Dusit hotel compound, in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 15, 2019.
Rescuers and journalists evacuate an injured man from the scene where explosions and gunshots were heard at the Dusit hotel compound, in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 15, 2019.

Tuesday’s attack comes one day after a Nairobi court said three men accused aiding the Westgate attack will be put on trial.

A State Department spokesperson tells VOA the U.S. embassy in Nairobi is closely watching the situation and “has actively offered assistance to local authorities.”

VOA

15, January 2019

US: Government shutdown enters 25th day amid gridlock 0

US President Donald Trump has reiterated his demand for border wall funding as the partial government shutdown enters its 25th day.

Trump again urged Congress on Monday to give him the money to build his long-promised wall along the US-Mexican border.

Speaking at an American Farm Bureau convention in New Orleans, Trump rejected a Republican call for temporarily reopening shuttered US government agencies in order to encourage negotiations with Democrats on border security issues.

Democrats, who control the House, have rejected Trump’s $5.7 billion demand for a border wall.

He threatened to continue with the government shutdown for as long as it takes to get Congress’ approval for the wall funding across the southern border with Mexico.

PressTV-Trump: Shutdown could last ‘months or even years’

On the other side of the argument, Democrats say that there are cheaper and more effective ways than a wall to strengthen border security.

They have offered to give Trump $1.3 billion in new border security funds this year to help pay for a range of high-tech and other tools to enhance security at the southern border.

Constructing a wall along the US-Mexican border could cost way above $25 billion, according to Trump’s critics in the Democratic Party.

In the meantime, Trump was scheduled to meet members of Congress for lunch at the White House on Tuesday.

It was not announced who would be at the lunch; however, media reports cited unnamed sources as saying a group of more moderate lawmakers from the Democratic Party had been invited.

Until now Democratic lawmakers, who make up the majority of the House, have rejected Trump’s demand for funding Trump’s “big, beautiful wall”.

In an effort to restart talks with Democrats, on Sunday the powerful Judiciary Committee’s new chairman, South Carolinian Senator Lindsey Graham urged Trump to reopen the government for a short period of time.

PressTV-Graham urges Trump to reopen govt., he refuses

Temporarily reopening the government and then holding talks is an idea that the Democrats support.

The partial shutdown, which affects about 800,000 federal workers, has been the longest shutdown in the history of the United States.

Source: Presstv

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