By Cynthia Bakoma
As the crisis in the North West and South West regions, which long escalated into an armed conflict rages on, the government, through the defence and security forces, has intensified its manhunt 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.
In this light, security and defence forces have been indiscriminately arresting all those suspected to be Ambazonia activists, collaborators and sympathisers.
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 case is that of Amah Sonita Andoh. She has been accused by the military of having collaborated with and supported separatists while at the other end, the Amba fighters have equally accused her of having collaborated with the military to expose their hideout.
Amah Sonita Andoh’s brother, whose name we got as Agbor Paul Andoh, is reported to have been an Ambazonia fighter without the knowledge of any member of her family even Amah Sonita herself.
Agbor Paul Andoh, who was shot to dead by the military, we are told, frequently visited Amah’s family residence with some friends whom were later identified as Amba fighters after his death.
In such visits, Amah, will always ensure to provide food for her brother and friends and at times give him money from her little business and do withdrawals for him from her mobile money business she was doing at that time.
Little did she knew her brother and friends whom he fed and carried out financial transactions were Amba fighters.
Amah’s ordeal got worst in November 2023 when she and her mother were arrested by the military on accusations that she had been giving material and financial support to separatist fighters. She was also accused of having been a sympathizer of the secessionist caused and a member of the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, of the Mutengene branch.
She was reportedly tortured, and detained at the Mutengene Police Station, in Tiko Subdivision, Fako Division of the South West Region.
Amah suffered injuries due to the torture and horrible conditions under which she was detained. However, she was later released while awaiting trial.
But this did not deter her from her activism as she continued carrying out activities in support of the separatists.
On March 20, 2024, Amah Sonita Andoh and her mother were again arrested, tortured and detained at the Mutengene Police Station.
While in detention, the Amba fighters are said to have stormed the residence of AMAH Sonita searching for her on grounds that she has expose their hideout to the military. But in the many visits made to Amah’s residence, no one was seen as the residence had been abandoned after the two arrests made by the police.
Nonetheless, Amah’s mother we are told was released while, on March 27, 2024, Amah is said to have escaped from detention under circumstances that remain unclear. Since then her whereabouts is not known.
But information circulating has it that Amah is being hunted by the administration. If rearrested, Amah Sonita Andoh will be tried in a military tribunal, under the 2014 anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death sentence. That is if she 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.
Flashback On 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 sentenced by the Yaounde military tribunal on August 20, 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.