BY ERNESTINE NGUM
More and more Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, activists and youths within the crisis-stricken Anglophone regions of Cameroon have resorted to going underground after surviving arrest and torture from the military for allegedly collaborating with separatist fighters, commonly known as “Amba Boys”.
The Amba Boys are fighting for the restoration of the independence of the statehood of former British Southern Cameroons, which they have christened Ambazonia.
The crisis, which started in 2016 with a strike by Common Law lawyers and Anglophone teachers against marginalization, has transformed into an armed conflict with Anglophones from all walks of life, including Southern Cameroons National Council, members, businessmen, nurses, youths and the clergy being killed in cross-fire between security forces and separatist fighters. Meanwhile, others are either termed blacklegs by “Amba Boys” and molested/kidnapped for ransom or arrested, tortured and triedat the military tribunals with life jail terms for allegedly taking side with the separatists.
The Cameroon Government has, for about three years now, been battling to arrest the situation but tensions continue to intensify with civilian population in the North West and South West Regions in peril, panic and pandemonium. Due to this confusion, and fear of the unknown, many youths and businessmen continue to go underground.
The whereabouts of a Kumba-based businessman and SCNC activist, whowent underground after he was kidnapped on January 18, 2018 by Separatist fighters, manhandled and only released January 20, 2018 after a ransom of FCFA 1 million was paid, remains unknown. He was also threatened with death, if found anywhere close to the military.
The SUN has it on good record that when news broke that the SCNC activisthad been released, military men who had blacklisted him for joining the separatist fighters, stormed their family supermarket, and instead arrested two workers of the supermarket. The whereabouts of the arrested workers remains unknown.
Meanwhile, there are all indications that if arrested, he will face terrorism charges and may be handed life jail sentence like several leaders of the self-proclaimed state of Ambazonia.
The SUN equally gathered that one Richard Fondu Aminde, commercial motorbike rider (okada driver as they are commonly known) has since April 2018 gone underground for fear of beingarrested or killed by the military. Aminde is reported to have been arrested in the line ofduty as he and other colleagues were hired to transport some passengers from Kumba who were heading to attend a meeting in Ekombe, one of the restive villages in Meme Division, South West Region on March 25 2018. But unfortunately, around the locality of Marumba, the military identified the passengers as SCNC activists and immediately bundled all of them, including the Okada riders and whisked them to their military base in Kumba where they were molested, tortured, brutalised and placed under inhumane detention conditions.
Family sources opined that Richard Fondu Aminde narrowly escaped from the military camp on April 30, 2018 and went to a local health facility in Kumba for medical attention. The news of Richard Fondu Aminde’s escape made rounds in town and triggered a manhunt for him.
Reports say the military made several impromptu searches in their neighbourhood, harassed and threatened to arrest his wife.
This horrifying situation forced Fondu’s family to relocate to the bush where he has been hiding ever since he left the dispensary on May 7, 2018.
As we went to press Richard Fondu Aminde, just like many youths who have gone underground for siding with separatists and alleged SCNC activists,had been declared wanted by the military.
It should be recalled that on October 1, 2017, many youths of the Southern Cameroons National Councils, SCNC, took to streets in Ekona, brandishing placards and peace plants, to alert the government about the marginalisation of English-speaking Cameroonians. But the predominant French government rather ordered for women to be beaten and men arrested.
This is how Kameni Silaceu Jerry ran for his life and escaped to the bush. Reports hold that the military is looking for him and his sister informed him to stay in the bush for some time for the situation to be under control.Sources have disclosed that, since then Kameni Silaceu Jerry’s whereabouts remains a misery and cloudy as the military keeps parading their Ekona village in search for him and many other leaders who led the peaceful protest march on October 1, 2017 and have been declared wanted.
On January 17, 2017 Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla and Dr. Fontem Neba, leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, CACSC, were arrested moments after the consortium had been banned along with the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC. Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, President of the self-styled state of Ambazonia was arrested in Nigeria on January 5, 2018 alongside nine other members of his cabinet including Tassang Wilfred, Nfor Ngala Nfor, and Barrister Eyambe Ebai.
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 on them if arrested as they have been declared wanted.
Recently, French president, Emmanuel Macron, promised to exert “maximum pressure” on President Paul Biya of Cameroon, to end Cameroon’s intolerable human rights violations.
Reports say this situation has caused many to migrate to French Cameroon, while others have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees.
According to statistics from human rights groups, over 3,000 persons have been killed, hundreds kidnapped, thousands of houses and over 300 villages razed. Over 53,000 persons identified as Internally Displaced, with over 35,000 as refugees in Nigeria. Some have been left in constant fear either due to the demise of their love ones or because their houses have been razed. These attacks have been so alarming that human rights groups across the board have concluded that Cameroon is no longer safe.