By Wilson Nana
As the crisis in the North West and South West Regions, which long escalated into an armed conflict, continues to take new twists, the government, through the defence and security forces, has intensified its pursuit for those suspected to be separatist activists, others accused of supporting and collaborating with the Ambazonia separatist fighters and those who are sympathetic to the separatist cause.
The military has also intensified its crackdown on members of the now outlawed Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC.
In this light, security and defence forces have been indiscriminately arresting all those suspected to be Ambazonia activists, collaborators and sympathisers and also persons suspected to have been taking part in activities organised by the SCNC.
Sources say the arrested persons are being tortured and detained under inhumane conditions. Some are reported to have died in detention.
For fear of their lives, many have fled and their whereabouts is not known. One of such is Ngah Dickson Yufonyuy, who is said to have joined the SCNC sometime in 2014. He is reported to have taken part in SCNC activities and also distributed gadgets such as posters, flyers, brochures, among others, carrying SCNC propaganda.
However, when the crisis took an ugly twist, sometime in 2018, Ambazonia separatist fighters threatened Ngah, who was a school administrative staff then. He was warned on the phone by separatist fighters that his hands will be chopped off if he doesn’t stop working with the school since there was an imposed schools boycott by separatist fighters in the entire North West and South West regions.
For fear of his life, Ngah decided to abandon his teaching job and fled.
Meanwhile, in early 2019 when Ngah was visiting Ngendzen in Nkum Subdivision, Bui Division of the North West Region, where his mother lived, the military is said to have raided the village, burning down houses including that of Ngah’s mother. Some villagers were killed and others fled into the bushes for safety.
Ngah was seriously tortured by the soldiers and was later hospitalised.
But when he left the hospital, his ordeal was far from over. It later emerged that Ngah’s name was on a list produced by the military of wanted persons in Ngendzen village, especially supporters of the SCNC.
For fear of his life, Ngah is reported to have vamoosed and since then his whereabouts is not known.
However, we gathered that in May 2022, a warrant of arrest was issued for Ngah. If arrested, Ngah Dickson Yufonyuy will be tried in a military tribunal, under the 2014 anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death sentence. That is if he is not killed outright, like many others who have been victims of extrajudicial killings within the context of the armed conflict in the North West and South West regions.
On the other hand, if separatist fighters lay hands on him, Ngah will definitely be killed, like many others who have been victims of atrocities committed by separatist fighters.
Flashback On Origin Of Crisis
It should be recalled that the Anglophone crisis, something that pundits say had been brewing for several years, boiled over in 2016, 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 sub system of education.
Things, however, got worse 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.
The situation later escalated into an armed conflict when some Anglophones piked up arms, fighting for the independence of country they have named. Ambazonia.
The crisis has left thousands, both civilians and security and defence forces dead, some 700,000 displaced with some living in bushes while over 50,000 have fled to neighbouring Nigeria, where they are living as refugees.
Many houses, and even whole villages, have been burnt down in the crisis-hit regions.
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 at the Kondengui maximum security prison where they are serving life sentences. They were sentenced by the Yaounde military tribunal in August 2019 on charges including terrorism and secession.
Many other activists such as Mancho Bibixy, Penn Terrence, Tsi Conrad, among others, are 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.