International Human Rights watch dog, Amnesty International, has seriously condemned abuses by armed groups and the military in the North-West and South-West Regions of Cameroon including arbitrary detention, unlawful attacks and killings as the arm conflict in the two Anglophone regions continues unabated.

The condemnation by the Rights group of international repute is contained in her 2021 report published on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

According to the Rights group, separatist fighters in 2021 continued to commit grave human rights violations in the North-West and South-West regions, targeting people, healthcare facilities and schools. According to the report, from January 10 to June, United Nations Humanitarian Organisations, OCHA, reported 29 attacks on healthcare facilities in the North-West and seven in the South-West region; health workers and patients were abducted and installations were burnt.

The report further states that on January 9, the head of a school in Ossing, Manyu division, South-West region, was reportedly killed by unidentified men. Amnesty International disclosed that, according to OCHA, on March 5, unidentified armed men abducted a student from a school in the village of Batoke, South-West region and on March 6, armed men abducted two teachers and a student from a school in Bamenda, North-West region.

On November 24, the report disclosed that, unidentified gunmen attacked a school in Ekondo-Titi, South-West region killing four students and a teacher, meanwhile on February 27, suspected armed separatists, abducted a doctor in the North-West region, accusing him of not supporting the separatists’ cause and he was release after paying a ransom.

The report further states that, on March 13, according to the National Union of Journalists, a Journalist at Cameroon Radio Television was abducted from her home by suspected armed separatists and was released after a ransom was paid and that on June 15, six civil servants were abducted in Masore Balue, South-West region and one of them was executed according to state media and Human Rights Organisations.

Traditional authorities were also targeted, suspected for siding with the Cameroonian government and on February 13, armed men abducted four traditional leaders in Fontem, South-West Region with three of them reportedly found dead. These human Rights abuses according to the report, happened in the context of growing inter-communal tensions. Between 22 and 26 February, the report states that at least 4,200 people were displayed from seven villages in Nwa Subdivision, North-West region, after attacks by Fulani vigilante groups, resulting in the deaths of at least eight people. On March 5, armed men according to the report attacked Fulani herdsmen in lower Menchum Valley, North-West region, killing at least 10 people, after the herdsmen’s cattle had allegedly destroyed a farmer’s crops. According to OCHA, two days later in Lower Menchum Valley, armed men attacked Fulani people, killing six people, allegedly to avenge the death of a woman burnt alive in her house in Beneng village.

Arbitrary detention

Citing the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in two opinions adopted in August 2019 and May 2021, called for the release of Mancho Bibixy and Tse Conrade. The report indicates that the two men led protests in the Anglophone regions, in 2016 and 2017 and were sentenced by a military court in Yaoundé to 15 years in prison, following their conviction notably for “acts of terrorism, secession, spreading false information and contempt for public bodies and officials”. Dozens of other Anglophone leaders remained in detention after having been tried by military tribunals.

According to Amnesty International, more than 100 members of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, CRM , reportedly remained in arbitrary detention; they were charged and sentenced by the military courts for attempted revolution, rebellion, aggravated assembly, or participation in the organisation of an undeclared public meeting, in relation to their activism or their participation in banned protests in September 2020 among them Olivier Bibou Nissack, the spokesperson of MRC, Leader  Maurice Kamto, and Alain Fogue Tedom, National Treasurer of the MRC, were sentenced to seven years in prison. On December 31 according to the report, after 15 months of pre-trialdetention, four members of the Stand Up for Cameroon Movement were found guilty of “insurrection” and sentenced to 16 months in prison by a military tribunal. They had been arrested during a meeting ahead of September protest.

Unlawful attacks, killings

According to Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International reports that soldiers killed at least nine people in South-West Region, January 10, and looted homes. The report further indicates that between June 8 and 10, Cameroonian security forces also killed two people, raped a 53- year-end old woman and destroyed and looted at least 33 homes shops and a traditional leader’s palace in the North West Region. The report further states that in following an improvised explosive device attack on a Rapid Intervention Battalion Convoy in on December 8, elements of army forces were reportedly burnt a large number of houses.

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The Cameroon Government has launched fresh hunt for Anglophone activists at home and abroad following the gruesome killing of students and pupils by armed men suspected to be separatist fighters at the Mother Francisca Memorial Bilingual International Academy Fiango, Kumba, Meme Division South West Region, of Cameroon in October 2020. The Government and its security forces belief that the Anglophone crisis that has culminated in the macabre incident in Kumba which took away the lives of about seven students and pupils, is being fanned by activists at home and abroad.

They are thus, bent on tracking these activists both within and out of the country and their families. Recent reports hold that the military has started raiding homes of alleged activists for the arrest, persecution and prosecution of the activists. The Government forces believe the prosecution of these activists will quail the crisis.

Some of these alleged activists who are in the military dragnet and are reportedly on the run include Tiko-based Angu Kevin Ambe, Kumba-based Lawyer Okole Dyana, Bafut-based Ngew Che Peter, Mbengwi-based Aliba Monga Voilet and Buea-based Mukete Iya Diwo amongst other.

Ngew Che Peter, for example is an automobile motor mechanic turned activist who escaped from the military truck in April 2018 somewhere in Between Bafut and Bambui in the North West Region of the Country, abandoning his Cameroon national identity card including Bahrain resident card after he was captured . He is believed to be one of the key persons sponsoring the crisis from abroad currently on the run. This is because he has always stood for the independence of Southern Cameroon. The Sun gathered that, before Anglophone crisis he was already involved in sensitising Kumba population about pre and post-independence of Southern Cameroon, where he escaped an arrest. It is now clear that Ngew Che Peter has always been in Bahrain since he escaped in 2016 and has possibly sneaked back there after escaping the April 2018 arrest.

At press time, the search for these alleged activists and many others had increased. 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.

Anyone caught in line with any of these demonstrations, is immediately considered a terrorist by the Cameroon Government and numerous trump up charges, including but not limited to propagation of false information, rebellion, revolution, secession insurrection and non -possession of National Identity card, levelled against him.

The Anglophone crisis is now characterised by civil disobedience, violence, intimidation, kidnappings and complete breakdown of law and order with the military allegedly burning down homes and villages considered as enemies of the State.

As the crisis rages on, many have become internally displayed persons. Recent statistics by Civil society Organisations who have declared Cameroon as unsafe for youths. The death toll is on the rise. There are claims that about 300 villages have been razed to the ground in the two English speaking regions of Cameroon, 5000 lives claimed by the arm conflict while about 850000 people remain internally displaced. A majority of those displaced, are taking refuge in the forest. This is in addition to the more than 50000 Anglophones Cameroonians that have assumed the status of refugees in Nigeria.

Meantime, the government has launched a manhunt for those alleged to be fanning the crisis at home and abroad with terrorism charges to be preferred against them if arrested as they have declared wanted. Recently, French President Emmanuel Marcon, promised to exert maximum pressure on President Paul Biya of Cameroon to end the Cameroon’s intolerable Human Rights violation

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As the crisis that has been rocking the North West and South West regions, which has now spiraled into an armed conflict, rages on,the government has stepped up its crackdown on those identified to be linked to the Ambazonia movement. Militants of the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, have been particularly targeted.

Security operatives have been apprehending and incarcerating activists identified to be involved with what has come to be referred to as the Anglophone struggle. The arrested activists, we learnt, are tortured and detained under very horrendous conditions. Some have reportedly died in detention. It is for this reason that many have fled for fear of being arrested or fear of the unknown as extra-judicial killings have also become the order of the day.

The government has always accused SCNC members and other Anglophone secessionists in the diaspora of propelling the Anglophone crisis. The former Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, earlier emphasised that, the government will not dialogue or negotiate with the Anglophones or English-speaking people of Cameroon because they are the minority and their voices should not be heard. Sources have revealed that; the government is using its diplomatic networks to ensure that SCNC members and other Anglophone activists abroad are tracked down and extradited for persecution

Most of the activists who have been arrested are being detained under horrendous and inhuman conditions. Some have died in detention.

After releasing a list of Anglophone activists in the Diaspora, who were targeted for arrest some time ago, sources say a fresh list of SCNC members and other activists abroad has been re-established for arrest; more than a hundred names have reportedly been given to intelligence services in Cameroonian borders.

We learnt from informants that after several meetings held in Yaounde in a bid to seek ways to neutralise the growing Anglophone activism both within and without the country, a bigwig of the regime was sent on a mission abroad to lobby his way in causing the UN and other diplomatic services to frustrate the Anglophone struggle by neutralizing those in the Diaspora via their arrest and extradition.

As the Cameroon government continues in its scheme to clamp down on the Anglophone activists, many of them have been fleeing the country while those in the diaspora now fear for their lives.

Many of the activists are on the run as government has intensified a manhunt for them. One of such is Paul Che Shu, who has since 2015 been on government’s black list of wanted SCNC activists because of his stand against the marginalisation of Anglophones and the independence of the English-speaking people called the Southern Cameroons.

We gathered that Paul Che Shu was an SCNC member in Bondumain Buea local area where he was a publicity secretary and he was also a teacher in a school in that area.

Due to his SCNC activism, he was brutalised and beaten (Tortured) by policemen in 2015 after leaving one of their local chapter meetings and on his way home. He was then whisked off and detained at the cell of the police station.

Even though Paul Shu sustained wounds and was bleeding, he was continuously tortured and detained under horrendous and life-threatening conditions for about two days.

The Sun newspaper learnt that he was released to the hospital for treatment and thereafter his treatment he escaped from the hospital and did not return to the police station to continue his persecution as was the plan by the government.

Since then Paul Che Shu has gone underground but his family is constantly being harassed to declare his whereabouts. If apprehended by Cameroon security forces, he will, like other detained Anglophone activists, be tried under the anti-terrorism law whose maximum punishment is the death penalty. The police in Cameroon are on a manhunt for him. His case is compounded by the fact that he was a teacher and the current crisis stemmed from a strike by Anglophone teachers and Common Law lawyers.

Origin of crisis

It is worth recalling that the Anglophone crisis, something that pundits say had been brewing for several years, boiled over in November 2016, 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 strike was met with brutal repression by the military which has today escalated into an armed conflict between the two camps with the rise of the “Ambazonia Self Defence forces” who are now also against the SCNC members for not taking up arms to join them fight because SCNC members stand for peaceful protest and continue asking for their rights. They also, on the other hand, arrest and torture teachers and students who go to school.

Today it is estimated that over 20,000 Southern Cameroonians have fled the country to neighbouring Nigeria, thousands of internally displaced people have fled into bushes/forests, and hundreds are being detained and many others missing. A huge number of civilian and military casualties have also been recorded.

While the Anglophone crisis continues to escalate, international organisations and other Western powers have called on the Government to address the root cause of the crisis through dialogue. They have also been calling for the release of all Anglophones unlawfully detained and imprisoned.

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The war in the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon referred to by activists as Southern Cameroon, or ‘Ambazonia’ continues to rage unabatedly  despite calls by national and international bodies for an inclusive dialogue to address the root causes of the problem.

The Anglophone crisis, which started in 2016 with a strike action by Common Law lawyers and Anglophone teachers against marginalisation has transformed into an arm-conflict with Anglophones from all walks of life including businessmen, nurses, surveyors, teachers caught in cross- fire between security forces and separatist fighters. Others are either termed black legs by ‘Amba boys’ and molested/kidnapped for ransom or arrested, tortured and tried at the military tribunals for allegedly taking side with the separatists.

Echobei Valery Apiagyei, a member of the SCNC and human rights advocate, who has been supporting the peaceful movements for an independent Southern Cameroon since in his university days, was among those who fell in the security dragnet on September 21, 2018 in Muyuka, South West Region while returning from a funeral in Kumba. Just like his friends Ndikum Gerald, Mbah Valentine and Mbolle Mirabel, they were rough handled by the military for dressing like the Ambazonian Freedom Fighters, and released three hours after.

The SUN gathered that Echobei, while on a family visit in Bamenda in December 2018, was again arrested for inciting soldiers to defect from the military and join the Ambazonia Struggle. According to family sources, he subjected to inhumane treatment and was later released thanks to the intervention of his late father, Hon Echobei Jethro. With this repeated arrest, it was clear that Echobei was under government surveillance. For fear of the unknown, he is said to have left the country for a destination still unknown.

Another youth who had long gone underground since September 2018 for fear of reprisals is Ngwa Standley Che. According to trusted sources, the Kumba-based business man supported the Ambazonia fighters financially to prevent them from attacking him, his family and business. Unfortunately, the Cameroon military uncovered it; he was abusively tortured, with his shop and house set ablaze resulting to the death of his child, Che Peter and his pregnant girl friend Abang Sonita. After this sad experience, Ngwa engaged in the distribution of goods in his environs. During one of his distribution activities, one of his vehicles was stopped at a police checkpoint and a bag of contraband goods were discovered in the vehicle. This led to his detention, alongside the vehicle travel. Thanks to his cordial relationship with the Police Commissioner, an Anglophone, Ngwa was advised to leave the country for fear that they could kill for sponsoring terrorism and dealing in fire arms. This is how Ngwa Standley Che went underground and have not been seeing in Cameroon again. Just like many Anglophones who are tagged terrorist for allegedly siding with separatists, the fate of Ngwa will be complicated if seen in Cameroon.

This is the case of many others who may never be seen again as the conflict in the restive regions shows no sign of ending anytime soon. The ongoing socio-political impasse in the restive North West and South West regions of Cameroon has claimed 3000 lives with about 730000 displaced and many others living in horrible conditions in neigbouring Nigeria.

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