BY SIMON NDIVE KALLA
As the crisis in the North West and South West regions, which has escalated into an armed conflict rages on, the military tribunal in Buea has ordered the arrest of some four alleged activists.
It should be noted that the government, through the defence and security forces, has been stepping up its clampdown on suspected separatists, activists and sympathisers of the Anglophone crisis.
Security operatives have been indiscriminately arresting Anglophone activists and suspected activists. Sources say the arrested persons are being tortured and detained under deplorable and inhuman conditions. Some have reportedly died in detention.
Meanwhile, the defence and security forces and other security operatives are reported to have established both search and arrest warrants for the apprehension of many alleged Anglophone activists all over the national territory. They are suspected to be siding with separatist fighters as the ongoing armed conflict that started about six years ago rages.
The alleged activists have been considered as danger and threat to the public and declared wanted. The defence and security forces have also urged the population to be vigilant and report to the closest gendarmerie or police stations if such persons are seen.
As we went to press, there were reports that four inmates awaiting trial at the Buea Military Base had escaped detention. Their names, we got as Toh James, an auto mechanic from Muyuka; Mbole Evaristus, a teacher at Government School Matoh; Efeti Martha Mbella, a teacher at Government School Liwula Malale, and Tahtah Irene, a business woman.
According to security officials, the four individuals escaped from detention aided by a corrupt security officer on June 15, 2022.
If arrested again, these individuals will face trial at the military tribunal. They will be tried under the 2014 anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death sentence. That is if they are not killed like many others, who have been victims of the extrajudicial killings within the context of the Anglophone crisis.
Origin of crisis
It is also worth recalling that the Anglophone crisis, something that pundits say had been brewing for several years, boiled over recently, 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.
The crisis has left thousands, both civilians and security and defence forces dead, some 400,000 displaced with some living in bushes while over 30,000 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 in Yaounde, where they are serving life sentences.
They were slammed the heavy sentences in August 2019 by the Yaounde Military Tribunal after being convicted of charges including terrorism and secession.
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.