BY Kubu Evelyn
The Anglophone crisis has been raging on for close to seven years and counting. Two years into the crisis, it metamorphosed into an armed conflict. Since then, the two Anglophone regions of the North West and South West have been restive zones with frequent sporadic clashes and gun exchanges between the Cameroon Defense forces and the Ambazonia Defense Forces, ADF, otherwise known as Separatist Fighters or Amba Boys. The separatists had since picked up arms against the state to fight for the restoration of the independence of former British Southern Cameroons and the creation of a new independent state known as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.
Flashback of the crisis
It is also worth recalling that the Anglophone crisis, something that pundits say had been brewing for several years, boiled over in October 2016, when Common Law Lawyers in the North West and South West regions went on strike. They were demanding the return of the federal system of government and, the 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 the redress of several issues concerning the English system of education.
Things, however, got worse when Anglophones in both regions, who had been fed up with the unfavorable political and economic situation of the country, the use of French as the dominant and official language, and the marginalization of the Anglophones, joined the strike.
The crisis has left thousands, both civilians and security and defense 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.
Investigative findings from many human rights groups and non-governmental organizations have in one voice condemned the extrajudicial killings of mostly the military, on innocent civilians including children and pregnant women, burning of houses. Many houses, and even whole villages, have been burnt down in the crisis-hit regions.
Reports indicate that about 4000 civilian lives have been claimed by the armed- conflict and about 750000 have been displaced with many living horrible lives in neighbouring Nigeria.
The recent killings of civilians by the military in villages across the North West and South West Region of Cameroon have received widespread condemnation across the board including the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioners for Human Rights, the European Union, the USA, the UK, France, and the Nobel Women’s Initiative and Human Rights Watch. Many youths in the English-speaking North West and South West regions are reported to be entangled due to the Anglophone crisis that has been raging on since 2016.
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, and Tsi Conrad, among others, are also serving jail terms at the Kondengui prison. While the Anglophone crisis continues to escalate, international organizations and other Western powers have called on the government to address the root cause through genuine and inclusive dialogue. On Tuesday 29th February 2022, and Tuesday 4th July 2023 Amnesty International Published both her 2021 and 2022 Human Rights Reports respectively on Cameroon indicting the military, for the atrocities meted out to innocent Civilians forcing them to flee the Country due to the conflict in the North West and South West Regions and still buttressing the fact that these two Anglophone Regions are still risk zones.
In the face of all these, youths and innocent civilians are the ones bearing the brunt of the unending crisis. Many have been declared wanted, and the Cameroon military defense forces and other security operatives have established both search and arrest warrants for the apprehension of many alleged Anglophone activists all over the national territory suspected to be siding with separatist fighters as the ongoing armed conflict rages on. The alleged activists have been considered a danger and threat to the public and declared wanted. The population has equally been urged to be vigilant and report to the closest gendarmerie or police stations. Those who have successfully escaped to countries where the respect of Human Rights is prime for protection, their names are still in the military data based pending arrest and prosecution while their names equally future in the Blackleg List of the Separatists.
The case of Kumba
Kumba is the chief town of Meme Division, South West Region of Cameroon, and one of the restive areas amidst the armed conflict and has since then earned the name Red Zone. The town and its surrounding towns and villages like Mbonge, Konye, Kwa Kwa, Bole Bakundu, Ikiliwindi, Matoh, and Teke have been the battleground between separatist fighters and the Cameroon Defense Forces with frequent sporadic gun exchange being the order of the day. Most of these villages have been razed to the ground by the military, villagers, and innocent civilians forced to flee for safety. The armed conflict has left Kumba the once buoyant economic hub of the South West Region to be a shadow of itself. Schools, hospitals, markets, homes of private individuals, and government establishments have been attacked and some razed to the ground by both separatists and the military. with the most gruesome one that attracted widespread condemnation across the board, being that of October 2021 where gunmen attacked and killed many students and injured others at the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Fiango Kumba. Cocoa merchants in Kumba have seen their businesses ruined due to the crisis. Vehicles of Cocoa merchants like Sam Nfon and Achanyi Martin talk less of Smallholder Cocoa agents like Deffo Edith Martial have been attacked by Separatist Fighters at various checkpoints, some of them kidnapped for heavy ransom, their business vehicles and trucks transporting their Cocoa produce destined for the market and other items burnt. They have equally seen their Cocoa stalls burnt and their families and loved ones have both been targeted and killed by both the military and the separatist fighters. Most inhabitants of Kumba especially businessmen, innocent civilians, youths, and women, are caught in the web of the armed crisis. While they are considered as blacklegs by the Separatist fighters, the military on other the hand is accusing them of siding and collaborating with separatist fighters reasons why security searchlights from both the military and separatists are on them with the intention of the military to arrest and cause their prosecution within the national territory while the separatists are ready to kill them if spotted anywhere within the national territory.
The war still rages on and many more killings by the military are still been documented by Rights organisations, the government has launched a manhunt for those alleged to be fanning the crisis both at home and. abroad. Terrorism charges hang on them if arrested as they have been declared wanted.