BY TALLA AGHAA CHRISTOPHER
The report of a survey released by a group of Human Rights Organisations in Cameroon indicates that the lives of activists of Anglophone extraction are now in danger.
Many of the activists have been arrested and placed under degrading human conditions in maximum security detention facilities across the country.
Many have relocated to unknown destinations as their family homes and neighbourhoods have been on constant check by security operatives seeking to apprehend them due to their perceived anti-government opinions.
On the strength of untold human rights violations perpetrated by security forces, these collectives of Human Rights Organisations are recommending that people of goodwill should accord maximum security to any Anglophone activists who is on the run for fear of government persecution.
Meanwhile, as tensions in the North West and South West Regions rage unabated, government has embarked on a mission to fish out sympathisers and activists backing what is now termed “Anglophone crisis”.
The government has already considered them terrorists and numerous trumped up charges have been levelled against them such as propagation of false information, rebellion, revolution, secession, insurrection and non-possession of National Identity card.
Residences of suspected activists, whose whereabouts remain a mystery, are under police searchlights while some have been razed to the ground.
The tale of 22-year-old Tekwe Anim Bih, a Care Support Worker at Holy Trinity Clinic in Ekona, South West Region of Cameroon, is very pathetic.
Reports hold that the whereabouts of Tekwe Anim Bih, who is currently being hunted by security operatives, has remained cloudy since May 2019.
According to sources close to Tekwe Anim Bih, the military raided the Holy Trinity Clinic in August 2018 and arrested all the workers of the health facility for allegedly giving medical assistance to separatist fighters who are said to have been wounded by the military and for equally collaborating with secessionists.
The arrested workers include James Fru Ngwa, Lyonga Paul Njie, Peter Suh Abongwa, Ebenye Nanyongo, Ebai Frida Nkongho, Tataw Evelyn Bessem, Salle Mary Nnoko among others.
They were arrested and placed under degrading inhumane conditions all in an effort by the military to force them open up on their relationship with the separatist fighters and secessionist. But they have all denied any involvement. The health facility was subsequently shut down due to the military action on the workers.
As if this was not enough, the military equally went to their families’ residences in search of evidence and threatened to arrest their parents if they didn’t collaborate with them as they carried on their investigation. This attitude of the security operatives forced their parents to go into hiding.
Due to severe molestation on her vwhile in detention for about eight days, Tekwe Anim Bih went into comma.
Family sources hinted that Tekwe Anim Bih only regained consciousness while at a hospital on August 19, 2018 where the medic in charge of the hospital informed her that she has been granted bail thanks to her Attorney and that she is supposed to periodically present herself at the police station.
But Tekwe, for fear of the unknown, went into hiding to continue her treatment, this reporter learnt.
Reports have it that, the military got hold of a family member of Takwe’s and under duress questioned and even threatened to arrest him if he doesn’t disclose her whereabouts and went ahead to brandish him an arrest warrant against Tekwe Anim Bih.
While in hiding family sources disclosed that Tekwe received information from Buea that the military made an impromptu visit to their family home on January 16, 2019 looking for her.
Unconfirmed sources disclosed that with news of her imminent arrest and subsequent persecution, a priest helped Tekwe to smuggle herself to an unknown destination.
It should be recalled that many Anglophones have been apprehended in various military police checkpoints after their phones had been searched and discovered therein messages, videos, pictures and images of the killings of Cameroon of Military by Ambazonian Defence Forces, ADF. They were then detained incommunicado under draconian inhumane conditions.
In the meantime, recent statistics by civil society organisations reflect the extent of the damage with horrific numbers. The death toll is on a perpetual rise while there are claims that about 300 villages have been burnt down in the two English-speaking regions and some 500,000 people remain internally displaced. Hundreds of thousands of others have fled to neighbouring Nigeria where they are living as refugees.