BY SANDRA LUM
The Anglophone crisis has been raging on for close to seven years and counting. Two years into the crisis, it metamorphosed into an armed conflict and since then the two Anglophone regions of the North West and South West have been restive zones with frequent sporadic clashes and gun exchange between the Cameroon Defense forces and the Ambazonia Defense Forces, ADF, otherwise known as separatist fighters or Amba Boys.
The fighters have picked up arms against the state to fight for the restoration of the independence of former British Southern Cameroons and the creation of a new independent state known as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.
Flashback on the crisis
It is also worth recalling that the Anglophone crisis, something that pundits say had been brewing for several years, boiled over when Common Law Lawyers in the North West and South West regions went on strike. They were demanding for the return of the federal system of government, redeployment of Civil Law Magistrates back to Civil Law Courts in French Cameroon, among other grievances. Not long after, teachers in the North West and South West regions also went on strike, demanding for the redress of several issues concerning the English system of education.
Things, however, got worst when Anglophones in both regions, who had been fed up with the unfavourable political and economic situation of the country, the use of French as the dominant and official language, and the marginalisation of the Anglophones, joined the strike. Schools, houses and villages have been razed to the ground by both the military and separatist fighters.
Ghost towns, lockdowns imposed by the separatist fighters, and the frequent calls from the Separatist fighters for school boycotts are the order of the day across the two regions.
Many human rights groups, non-governmental organisations, have, in one voice, condemned the extrajudicial killings of mostly the military, on innocent civilians including children and pregnant women, burning of houses. Many houses, and even whole villages, have been burnt down in the crisis-hit regions.
Reports indicate that about 4,000 civilian lives have been claimed by the armed conflict and about 750,000 have been displaced with many living horrible lives in neighbouring Nigeria and in the forest.
The recent killings of civilians by the military in villages across the North West and South West Region of Cameroon have received widespread condemnation across the board, including the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, the USA, UK, France, the Nobel Women’s Initiative and Human Rights Watch. Many youths in the English-speaking North West and South West regions are reported to be entangled due to the Anglophone crisis that has been raging on since 2016.
The separatist leader of the self-declared Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, and eight other close associates of his, who were arrested in Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon, are currently serving life sentences at the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde. Many other activists such as Mancho Bibixy, Penn Terrence, Tsi Conrad, among others, are also serving jail terms at the Kondengui prison.
While the Anglophone crisis continues to escalate, international organisations and other western powers have called on the government to address the root cause through genuine and inclusive dialogue.
On Tuesday 29th February 2022, and Tuesday 4th July 2023 Amnesty International Published both its 2021 and 2022 Human Rights Report respectively on Cameroon, indicting the military, for the atrocities meted on innocent civilians, forcing them to flee the country due to the armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions and still buttressing the fact that these two Anglophone Regions are still risk zones.
In the face of all these, youths and innocent civilians are the ones bearing the brunt of the unending crisis. Many have been declared wanted, the Cameroon military and other security operatives have established both search and arrest warrants for the apprehension against many alleged Anglophone activists all over the national territory, suspected to be siding with separatist fighters. The alleged activists have been considered dangerous and threats to the public and declared wanted.
The population has equally been urged to be vigilant and report to the closest gendarmerie or police stations. Those who have successfully escaped to countries where the respect of human rights is prime for protections, their names are still in the military database pending arrest and prosecution while their names equally future in the blackleg list of the separatists.
Many caught in the web
Reports from across the North West and South West Regions say many are caught in the web of the crisis. They are either kidnapped by separatist fighters for ransom on one hand or are arrested by the military on grounds that they are siding and collaborating with separatist fighters and to a greater extent financing the separatist fighters, especially by those living abroad.
Majority have been forced to drop out from school for fear of their lives as the two restive regions have been the battle ground between separatist fighters and the military with frequent sporadic gun exchange being the order of the day.
The family of Christopher Sone in Buea, notably his wife, Ebang Kome Georgette Mesonge, and son, Nkede Dilan Regan, alongside many families have a very bitter story to tell amidst the armed conflict. Most of these villages have been razed to the ground by the military, villagers and innocent civilians forced to flee for safety.
The armed conflict has left Bamenda, Buea, Limbe Kumba buoyant towns of Anglophone Cameroon to be a shadow of themselves. Schools, hospitals, markets, homes of private individuals, government establishments have been attacked and some razed to the ground by both separatists and the military.
A gruesome attack which attracted widespread condemnation across the board, was that of October 2021 where gunmen attacked and killed many students and injured others at the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Fiango, Kumba Meme Division of the South West Region. Most inhabitants of Kumba, especially businessmen, innocent civilians, youths, women, are caught in the web of the armed crisis.
Security searchlights from both the military and separatists are on them with the intention of the military to arrest and cause their prosecution within the national territory, while the separatists are ready to kill them if spotted anywhere within the national territory.
The war still rages on and many more killings by the military are still being documented by rights organisations.
The government has launched a manhunt for those alleged to be fanning the crisis both at home and. abroad. Terrorism charges hang over them if arrested as they have been declared wanted.