BY EVELYN KUBU
Following the crisis in the Northwest and South West regions of Cameroon, which has gradually morphed into an armed conflict, some English speaking citizens from these two regions have found themselves in a crossfire between the military and Ambazonia separatist fighters.
Security forces have been indiscriminately arresting Anglophone activists and suspected wealthy elite. Sources say the arrested persons are being unlawfully detained under deplorable and inhumane conditions. Some have reportedly died in detention, and some disappeared with their whereabouts yet unknown.
These have caused many of them to flee into hiding and the whereabouts of many are not known. With the insurgence of the crisis, some villagers in some communities have been forced to escape into the forest for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
The separatist fighters have also been torturing and killing those who are suspected of sharing information with the military or are unwilling to support their struggle like Ngwasoh Jonathan, Elisabeth Ndip Ekwet epouse TabiTabe, Emmanuel Ekembe and 2 others.
A case in point of those who have recently been accused and targeted last week are Elisabeth Ndip Ekwet epse TabiTabe, a senior worker at a commercial bank in Douala whose life is in danger, and Jonathan Ngwasoh, a Business Consultant. They are both on the run.
The threats by separatist fighters, we gathered, came after the aforementioned persons outrightly refused to support their struggle financially. The separatist fighters have stated that they will kidnap Elizabeth Ndip and Jonathan Ngwasoh and kill both of them if they find them in their villages or anywhere in the country.
Meanwhile, Elisabeth Ndip has also been trailed by the military since she built a house for her parents in the village at a time many have been fleeing to safety. The military suspects that this could only have been possible for anyone supporting the separatists.
Unfortunately, people who have been arrested by the military under such circumstances in the past are tried in a military tribunal under the anti-terrorism law whose maximum punishment is death penalty. That is if they are not killed outrightly, like many others who have been victims of extrajudicial killings.
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, others internally 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 serving life sentences at the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde. 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.