By Sandra Lum
The scars of Cameroon’s ongoing Anglophone conflict continue to be created in the heart of the South West region, leaving families in perpetual mourning. The most recently affected is the Alobwede family of Tombel, whose tragic ordeal epitomizes the brutal realities of this long-standing crisis.
After a first raid in 2022, soldiers once again raided the house of Alobwede Samuel Emeh, a former Southern Cameroons National Council member. This time burning it to the ground and torturing anyone they encountered.
On December 26, 2022, armed forces stormed the residence of Alobwede Samuel Emeh, a known figure within the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC). A peaceful political pressure group, the SCNC has been advocating for the liberation of Southern Cameroons for over 40 years. Though banned by the Cameroonian government, its members, including Samuel, have continued to operate in secrecy, undeterred by the fear of persecution. The government has long accused the SCNC of sympathizing with separatist movements, a claim many of its members, including Samuel, vehemently deny. For them, their struggle has always been peaceful.
Samuel’s journey with the SCNC began out of deep frustration with the failures of the regime to address the needs of ordinary Cameroonians. He joined the movement in 2017, a time when the Anglophone conflict had escalated, plunging the regions of the North West and South West into turmoil. Like many, Samuel believed in advocating for a solution that did not involve violence. However, as the conflict grew bloodier, the government became increasingly intolerant of groups like the SCNC, whose message resonated with the disillusioned masses.
On that fateful December day, armed soldiers arrived at Samuel’s home, accusing him of harboring sensitive documents linked to separatist activities. Despite his denials, the soldiers brutally tortured him in search of these alleged papers. The community of Tombel, already used to the sight of military raids, watched in horror as a respected elder was beaten within an inch of his life. Samuel was hospitalized due to the severe injuries inflicted upon him and, after months of suffering, he tragically succumbed to his wounds on April 14, 2023.
Samuel’s death was one more blow, not just to his family, but to the wider Anglophone community that has long been caught in the crossfire of the conflict.
“He was not a man of violence, nor did he support the armed factions that have risen to prominence in the wake of the government’s repression. Instead, he stood as a beacon of peaceful resistance, advocating for dialogue in a situation that seemed beyond remedy.” A family friend recounted.
While Samuel’s death was painful enough, the tragedy for the Alobwede family did not end there. In February 2024, just under a year after Samuel’s passing, government forces once again descended on their home. This time, they came with a mission of sheer destruction. On February 13, 2024 soldiers raided the house, this time burning it to the ground and torturing anyone they encountered. Samuel’s son, Ewang Ivo Alobwede who was home with his wife and children managed to escape when the military started brutalizing people in the compound. His wife Ndonde Gladys Alobwede was tortured in a bid to force her reveal the whereabouts of her husband. Their house was set ablaze when the military failed to get his location.
In the chaos of that night, Ewang disappeared, leaving his family and community in a state of deep distress.
Ewang’s whereabouts remain unknown, and his family fears the worst. He had been one of the few witnesses to the initial raid in December 2022 that led to his father’s torture and eventual death. The family now believes that his disappearance is no coincidence. Like many young men in the region, Ewang may be targeted simply for witnessing the torture his father went through or being swept up in the government’s crackdown on anyone suspected to be remotely connected to the separatist crisis.
The fate of Ewang Ivo Alobwede remains a haunting question in the minds of the Tombel community. As the conflict rages on, families like the Alobwedes continue to pay the highest price in a struggle that began with peaceful calls for liberation and has since spiraled into an unrelenting cycle of violence.