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.

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For over four years now the arm conflict in the North West and South West Regions have been raging on as separatist fighters and secessionist are still demanding for the restoration or total Independence of the former British Southern Cameroon and for a new country to be known as Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

As the war rages on unabatted, the government of Cameroon has made multiple efforts to fish out the perpetrators of the arm conflict both at home and abroad.

Parents and family members of suspected activists and frontline members of those abroad  clamouring for the creation of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia back home are constantly been brutalised, molested , tortured and detained under inhumane condition, in order for them to cause the extradition of their relatives abroad.

Reports hold that many suspected activists abroad who have visited Cameroon  since the Anglophone crisis metamorphosed into an arm conflict with separatist fighters and government forces involved in frequent sporadic cross fire at the detriment of innocent civilians, have been arrested and prosecuted at the military court on frame terrorism related offences.

Rights organisations have documented many evidence indicating that Cameroon is no longer a safe heaven in the Centre Africa Sub Region  as was the case 8 years ago.

Amongst the many activists abroad whose relatives at home are finding it difficult to escape constant military harassment, brutality  and detention is Nymbuh Neba Ericshu’s uncle Bana Nji.

Reports say because of the role played by Nymbuh Neba abroad in line with the Anglophone crisis, his uncle Bana Nji is reported to have escaped to the bush for safety. The military say he is one of the middlemen between Ericshu and the Separatist fighters.

It should be recalled that with the outbreak of the crisis, Nymbuh Neba Ericshu, joined others in the diaspora in September 2017  to  clamour for the total Independence of the people of former British Southern Cameroon. His name alongside others went into records when  a delegation of some Cameroon cabinet Minister’s led by Minister of Justice Laurent  Esso visited Europe to dialogue with Southern Cameroon/ Ambazonia community and were disgraced by the disgruntled Ambazonia community. Thi incident placed him and many others under security searchlight within the national territory.

Another Cameroonian who is facing tough times with the military is Kumba based Businessman, Simo Kameni Vincent. He has constantly been accused  by security operatives for sympathising with Anglophone Separatists.

He was arrested by the military after been  accused of using his nephew Touko Steve Loic who is abroad, for providing finance and logistics to the English speaking diaspora fueling the armed conflict in Cameroon.

Ever since the arrest of Touko Steve’s uncle, Simo Kameni  following the October 2020 attacked on a school in Kumba where several students were killed and others servely inqured, nothing has been heard about him and his whereabout remains cloudy.

Family sources have hinted that Touko is a target in the hands of the military since he regularly visits his uncle Simo, on vacation. His attorney  hinted that Touko is currently under military search light and will be persecuted and prosecuted if arrested within the national territory.

what is now known as the Anglophone crisis that started with the demands from Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers urging the government for shun the  marginalisation of Anglophone Cameroon by La Republique du Cameroun for a better Cameroon have  taken a different twist. For about five years now, the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon have remained restive.

The crisis has  metamophorsed into an arm conflict, with the emergency of Separatist fighters commonly known as ” Amba Boys” who have taken up   arms against the state in demand for the complete independence of former British  Southern Cameroon.

This move by the separatist fighters, met serious reprisals from government forces, and the death toll has been on the increase, with Businessmen, medicial professionals, politicians,  students and a cross section of individuals in different works of life bearing the greatest brunt.

Houses and villages have been burnt. suspected individuals, linked to separatist fighters and activists of the anglophone course have been arrested, molested, tortured by government forces, and some detained in very horrible inhumane detention conditions.  Others  have gone underground to unknown destination and  are currently  placed  under security searchlight. Government has openly declared them wanted, and will be persecuted and prosecuted any time they are arrested.

It should  be noted that Human Rights groups have in one voice condemned the extrajudicial killings by mostly on innocent civilians, including pregnant women and burning of houses and villages. Reports indicate that the about  4000 civilians’ lives have been claimed by the arm conflict and about 750000 person displaced, with many living in horrible conditions in  neighbouring Nigeria.

International organisations and Western powers have called on the government to address the root cause of the crisis through dialogue. French President Emmanuel Macron have recently promised to exert ” maximum pressure” on the President Paul Biya of Cameroon , to end Cameroon’s  intolerable Human Rights Violations. Many how ever  hold that Cameroon is unsafe for anglophone activists  home and abroad.

Cameroon that used to be a peaceful country in turbulence CEMAC zone is now engulfed by war in the North West and South West Regions and the hope for peace to return is only when they will be a meaningful, genuine  and inclusive dialogue.

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Factions of English-speaking Cameroonians came out last Friday October 1, 2021 commemorating the supposed restoration of their independent state, Ambazonia. The said statehood restoration was declared October 1, 2017, by the self-proclaimed president, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, who is currently serving a life jail term alongside nine other separatist leaders who were arrested in Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon in January 2018, before being sentenced for charges like secession and hostilities against the state.

Hitherto celebrated by Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) and involving mostly older men and women, who were usually placed under house arrest prior to the supposed Independence Day or arrested to released only after October, the dynamics have changed since October 2017. Separatists leaders and fighters, who took up arms to consolidate their independence some 4 years ago following the declaration of war by President Paul Biya, are now the ones setting the pace on how the supposed independence day is celebrated. While they have resorted to declaring weeks of lockdown before and after the Independence Day, the Cameroon Government uses this period to intensify crackdowns on separatist fighters, activists, and leaders.

Ahead of this year’s celebration of the event, some factions of the Ambazonia leadership abroad, declared a-2-week lockdown, an action which according to Paul Nilong of the Ambazonia Interim Government, was necessary to tell the Yaoundé Government that they are in control. The government on its part, deployed troops and sophisticated weapons to crackdown on activists and fighters, they term ‘terrorists’.

Despite the heavy militarization of the Anglophone regions, amateur images still emerged on the social media with the blue and white flag flying at some strategic spots in the regions, alongside videos of separatist fighters marching and singing freedom songs in some parts of the regions. This show of bravery undoubtedly provoked the Cameroon defense forces leading to a number of clashes. Reports hold that there was a serious battle between the Government forces and Ambazonia restoration forces in Nkambe, North West Region of Cameroon with two soldiers and two separatist fighters said to have been killed.

Then SUN also gathered that the day was characterized with random home-to-home search, arrest and torture of suspected ambazonia supporters and activists. Most of the homes visited where either those located in close proximity to where the Ambazonia flag was hoisted or belonging to activists on the “Wanted List” of the Cameroon Government. The SUN has it on good record that the arm-to-teeth government forces visited the home of a UK-based newly elected SCNC Chairman, Robert Tamanji, alongside other members like: Ivo Kuka, Catherine Yambo, Omawah Elenor Charlotte Oyebog, Alain Bougan, and Meulla Kamgang Armand.

In Ekondo Titi of the Ndian Division of Cameroon, there were report of fierce clashes between Government forces and separatist fighters. The Sun gathered that, after these clashes, the military set out in mad search of a certain 29-year old Noel Sangu Jato, believed to be the one sponsoring separatist activities given that their family house at the periphery of Ekondo Titi has been usurped by separatist fighters as host. The SUN gathered that the arm-to-the-teeth security forces visited the main family residence of Noel Sangu Jato, who has since 2019 been declared wanted by the military and had left the country under unclear circumstances, leaving behind his mother and siblings who are said to be seeking refuge in Nigeria. Clashes between the military and separatists fighters in the Ndian Division has been very rife since the start of the Anglophone crisis, and has led to the death of  Pa Jato.

As we went to Press, family sources hinted that government forces, who came looking for Noel Sangu last Friday October 1, 2021, vowed to spare no efforts at tracking him down. Apart from the few clashes between separatists fighters and government forces, and crackdown, the general atmosphere in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon during this Independence Day was calm, with ghosted streets as many remained indoors for fear of the unknown.

The 2021 edition of the Ambazonia Independence Day has come and gone but there are no signs of the arm conflict ending soon. While the Cameroon Government has intensified the deployment of the military and heavy weapons, the separatists are bent on consolidating their independence come what may.

Meanwhile, Cameroon is now considered unsafe by many Anglophones in the diaspora who fear arrest or death if they return to the country. 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. Also, prominent Anglophone lawyer and Human Rights Activist, Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla, has called on the Government to dialogue, and to release all Anglophones unlawfully detained and imprisoned. Recently French President Emmanuel Macron promised to exert “maximum pressure” on President Paul Biya of Cameroon, to end Cameroon’s intolerable Human Rights violations.

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The North West and South West Regions of Cameroon have remained restive since 2017 following what is now known as the Anglophone crisis. The crisis started with the demands from Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers urging the Government to shun the marginalisation of Anglophone Cameroon by La Republique du Cameroun for a better Cameroon. It has metamorphosed into an arm conflict, with the emergence of Separatist fighters commonly known as ” Amba Boys”, who have taken up arms against the state in demand for the independence of former British Southern Cameroon.

This move by the Separatist fighters, met serious reprisals from government forces, and the death toll has been on the increase especially from the innocent civilian population, with Businessmen, medical professionals, politicians, students and a cross section of individuals of different walks of life.

Houses and villages have been burnt, while suspected individuals linked to Separatist fighters and activists of the Anglophone course have seen themselves arrested, molested and tortured by government forces, with some detained in very horrible inhumane detention conditions. Others have gone underground to an unknown destination and are currently under security searchlight as the Government has openly declared them wanted, and will have them persecuted and prosecuted any time they are arrested.

Latest statistics from national and international rights bodies indicate that over 4000 civilians’ have been killed with about 800,000 displaced, beside many living horrible lives in neighbouring Nigeria due to the arm conflict.

One of such dreadful incidents was on February 14, 2020, when the military, with the assistance of about 30 armed Fulani militiamen, stormed the village of Ngarbuh, in the North West Region, and killed, 21 civilians’, including 13 children and a pregnant woman. This sad incident received widespread condemnation across the board including the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, the USA, UK, France, and the Nobel Women’s Initiative. Despite documented compelling evidence published by New York Times Journal, and corroborated by Human Rights Watch accusing the Cameroon Military for the massacre, the government formally denied her responsibility for the killings in Ngarbuh but later admitted after several criticisms and independent investigations.

All these have made life in the two restive regions unsafe. Amidst all these, the Government is said to have launched a fresh hunt to bring to book all those suspected to be linked to or facilitating the activities of separatist fighters both at home or abroad.

Ekondo Titi in tears

As the crisis rages on, the population of Bekora Barombi, a locality in Ekondo- Titi Sub Division, Ndian Division, South West Region of Cameroon, are still to come to terms with the untimely death of 67 – year-old Monica Esengoe, in a local hospital, following a military brutality on her and other locals on August 29, 2021.

Reports say Monica who succeeded to relocate to a suburb around Buea, was arrested during a raid and while in detention, it was discovered that she was from Bekora village and had escaped when the village was raided after the killing of some soliders there. After several days in detention under inhumane conditions and torture, locals disclosed that she fell seriously sick and for fear that she could die in detention, they moved her to a local hospital where she died.

It should be recalled that Monica Esengoe’s two sons Ival Rawlings Ngabe and Enone Ngabe Kingsley’s where about remain cloudy since September 2018 following a military raid in Bekora Barombi, considered a strong hold of Separatist fighters.

The military raid according to reports resulted from the killing of some military personnel by separatist fighters. As a result, several youths and older men and women were arrested, with some killed. Houses were razed to the ground and many alongside Monica and her two sons; Rawlings and Kingsley escaped to the bush for safety.

As we went to Press, mourners at the funeral of Monica. Esengoe regretted the fact that, Monica was interred without Rawlings and Kingsley, who have not been seen since September 2018. Like several other villagers, denizens are still uncertain of the where about of these two siblings.

It should be noted that those arrested in connection with the Anglophone crisis, are tried in the military tribunal under the terrorism law, with death penalty as maximum sentence. The case of the Ambazonia Leaders that is Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Barrister Eyambe Elias Ebai, Tassang Wilfred and 5 others, and many other Anglophones is still fresh. Recently, the military tribunal in Buea sentenced some Anglophones linked to the killing of some pupils of the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy, Kumba in October 2020 to death, and Ival and Kinsley might obviously face the same fate if ever found or arrested by the security forces of Cameroon.

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The Cameroon Government is having sleepless nights following the kidnapping six divisional delegate for Ndian Division, one of the restive areas in the South West Region. The divisional delegates were kidnapped June 15, 2021,by alleged separatist fighters, commonly referred to as Amba Boys, according to government sources. Theses delegates include; Mabia John Modika, of Economy, Planning and Regional Development who unfortunately was slain by the Amba Boys, Mambe Elvis Ebaku of State Property, Felicia Ndong of Housing and Urban Development, Elad Emmanuel of Water and Energy, Mbida Armand Christian of Small and Medium Size Enterprises and Agbor Stephen Nyenti, the Chief of Service for Survey.

The kidnaping and killing of one the delegates by separatist fighters has caused panic within the government circle, given that the killing of about seven pupils of Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy Fiango-Kumba, South West Region by amba Boys is still fresh. It is against this backdrop that the Government has intensified hunt for separatist fighters home and abroad for terrorism related offences such as hostilities against the fatherland, secession, revolution, propagation of false news, and Rape.

Many Anglophone youths who were suspected and tagged as secessionist have been arrested, tortured detained under inhumane condition, and their Rights given a deaf ear by government forces. Most of these youths are human rights activists who have been very vocal about Government’s handling of the 5-year-old Anglophone crisis rocking the North West and South West Regions.

34 year- old Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor is one of the few youths who have suffered the highest in the hands of the Cameroon Government as they intensify search. The Litigation Officer of the Center for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy in Cameroon, HURIDAC, and a member of the Southern Cameroon National Council, SCNC, was arrested following his participation on a debate programme on Equinox TV wherein he blamed government for mishandling the crisis in the two regions that has metamorphosed into an arm conflict. Reports say Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor, was only released after about two weeks of torture and molestation under inhumane detention condition when he endorsed an undertaking to stop any form of sensitisation.

Not long Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor couldn’t resist the temptation of been mute as mentioned in the undertaking as summary killings, arrests detention and gross violation of Human Rights was the order of the day as the arm conflict raged on. Family sources hinted that Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor sent out information on the atrocities of the military on Anglophones to many media houses both in and out of Cameroon. He was arrested and for going against the undertaking, he endorsed. After several months of detention, torture and molestations by the military, he was tagged alongside other youths who were in detention for aiding secessionist activities in Cameroon and will be charged in the Mfoundi High court for terrorism related offences.

Despite all attempts to secure his release, Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor, and other youths linked to the Anglophone crisis were only granted bail when news filtered that some Human Rights Organisations and International Red Cross Society were to visit various detention centers in Yaounde. This was because the Government never wanted the international community to uncover the Human Rights abuses meted on

Anglophones innocent youths in detention. This is how Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor alongside other youths who were granted bail from the dreaded detention prisons sneaked himself out of the country to an unknown destination.

It should be noted that those arrested in connection with the Anglophone crisis are tried in the military tribunal and high courts under the terrorism law whose maximum sentence is death penalty. The case of the Ambazonia Leaders that is Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Barrister Eyambe Elias Ebai, Tassang Wilfred, and 5 others and many other Anglophones is still fresh.

It should be recalled that Human Rights groups have in one voice condemned the extrajudicial killings by mostly on innocent civilians, including pregnant women and burning of houses and villages. Reports indicate that the about 4000 civilians’ lives have been claimed by the arm conflict and about 750000 person displaced, with many living in horrible conditions in neighboring Nigeria.

International organisations and Western powers have called on the government to address the root cause of the crisis through dialogue. French President Emmanuel Macron have recently promised to exert “maximum pressure” on the President Paul Biya of Cameroon, to end Cameroon’s intolerable Human Rights Violations. Many however, hold that Cameroon is unsafe for anglophone activists home and abroad.

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The Anglophone crisis, which started in 2016 with a strike action by Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers against marginalisation and attempt by the Cameroon Government to assimilate Anglophone education and judiciary systems, has now turned bloody with innocent youths, women, children, drivers, business persons and others bearing the greatest brunt.

Separatist fighters popularly known as “Amba Boys, who took up arms when the Head of State, President Paul Biya, declared war on them in November 30, 2017, have been engaged in deadly confrontations with government forces. This has kept the death toll on the increase with several innocent civilian population, drivers, medical professionals, politicians, students and a cross section of individuals in different walks of life incriminated.

Houses and villages have been burnt and suspected individuals linked to separatist fighters and activists of the Anglophone course arrested, molested, tortured and detained by government forces in very horrible inhumane detention conditions. Others have gone underground to unknown destination and are currently placed under security searchlight.

The government is said to have launched a fresh hunt to bring to book all those suspected to be linked or facilitating the activities of separatist fighters both at home and abroad. Amongst those in the list is a popular businessman, Tabe Boris Eyembe, from Kumba, and a renowned driver, Ebwekwene Adille Joel, from Bangem, who plies the Kumba-Buea road.

The SUN gathered that, just like many other civilians in the two restive regions who are suspected to have a link with the separatist fighters, Joel who is said to have smuggled himself out of the country, has gone through a bitter experience with the military. The SUN has it on good record that Joel fell sick while in detention due to continuous torture and inhumane treatment, and almost dropped death but for the timely intervention of his family.

The Kumba-Buea driver was transporting passengers from Kumba to Buea, April 3, 2021 when he was stopped at a mixed military control checkpoint during one of his trips, with some passengers identified as separatist fighters, family sources confirmed. The SUN gathered that all attempt by Ebwekwene Adille Joel to vindicate himself was futile as the military accused him of collaborating with separatist fighters, and ferried alongside five others and placed incommunicado in draconian inhumane detention conditions for 10 days.

Trusted sources disclosed that the 23-year-old driver was about being transported with several others to the Yaounde maximum security prison when his family intervened. Given Joel’s depleting health condition, the military permitted his family to take him for medical attention on the condition that he will be produced for prosecution as soon as he recovers.

Reports later emerged that Adille Joel’s family smuggled him out of the country. This caused security operatives to issue an arrest warrant against him. As we went to press, Joel’s close friends and neighbours disclosed that the search for him by the military has intensified, with his parents still on the run as government forces mount pressure for him to be produced.

As tension rages the government is sparing no effort at tracking down those they consider agents of the destruction of Cameroon with secessionist tendencies. They still consider the fighters and activists as terrorists and any one caught is usually tagged with numerous trumped up charges like rebellion, revolution, secession, and insurrection amongst others. Even those abroad considered as activists and preaching against the marginalisation of Southern Cameroons by the Yaoundé regime have equally been declared enemies of the State of Cameroon, and have been tagged for persecution.

Recent statistics by civil society organizations shows that about 300 villages have been burnt down in the two regions and some 500,000 people internally displaced. A good number of English speaking Cameroonians have also assumed refugees status in Nigeria. Meanwhile a good number of those on the run have been declared wanted with warrants of arrest issued against their names.

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As the crisis that has been rocking the North West and South West regions, which has spiraled into an armed conflict rages on, many persons have been fleeing as the military as well as separatist fighters continue to perpetrate atrocities.

The government, on its part, has stepped up its crackdown on all those suspected to be activists or sympathisers to the Anglophone cause.

In this light, security operatives have been indiscriminately arresting Anglophone activists and suspected activists. This has caused many of them to flee into hiding and the whereabouts of many is not known.

Sources say the arrested activists are being tortured and detained under horrendous and inhuman conditions. Some have reportedly died in detention.

The military has also been setting villages ablaze, causing many villagers to flee into the forest for safety.

One of those who is reported to have been caught in this dilemma is Tangwo Alvine Nemie, who is said to have been living in their village of  Kwakwa, meme division of the South West  when a macabre incident occurred, forcing her to flee.

We gathered that Tangwo and her husband were on April 14, 2021, returned from the farm to find their house on fire. The house  which had been set ablazed by gunmen in military attire, was razed to ashes with their daughter and Tangwo’s two brothers inside.

In an attempt to put out the fire, Tangwo’s husdband was shot dead by the gunmen. For fear of her life, Tangwo is said to have fled into the forest as pandemonium set in with other people running helter skelter.

We gathered that since she escaped into the forest, without even knowing where her siblings had also fled to, the whereabouts of Tangwo Alvine Nemie is not known.

Meanwhile, accused by the military of sympathising with the separatist cause, a search and arrest warrant is said to have been issued for Tangwo Alvine Nemie. If arrested, she will be tried in a military tribunal under the anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death penalty. That is if she is not killed outright, like many others who have been victims of extrajudicial killings.

Origin of the crisis

It is 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, paralyzing the courts. They were demanding for a return to the federal system of government, redeployment of Civil Law Magistrates back to Civil Law Courts 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 sub-system of education.

Things got worse when concerned citizens in the North West and South West regions, who had been fed up with the unfavourable political and especially economic stagnation of Cameroon at large, but more importantly in these regions, joined the strike.

But after negotiations with the teachers and lawyers ended in deadlock, the government banned the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, and the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, CACSC. Some of the leaders of the Consortium such as Barrister Felix Agbor Nkongho and Dr. Fontem Niba were immediately arrested while others such as Barrister Bobga Harmony and Tassang Wilfred fled into hiding.

Meanwhile, someleaders of the Anglophone separatist movements including Sisiku AyukTabe and nine others, who were arrested in Abuja, Nigeria in February 2018 and later extradited to Yaounde, are currently serving life sentences at the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde. Other activists such as Mancho Bibixy, Penn Terence, Tsi Conrad among others are also serving lengthy sentences in the same prison.

It is also worth noting that many people, both civilians and security forces, have been killed in the crisis, many more internally displaced and over 30,000 have fled to neighbouring Nigeria where they are living as refugees.

While the Anglophone crisis continues to escalate, international organisations and other western powers have called on the government to address the root cause through dialogue.

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More and more Anglophone activists in-country are been arrested and placed under dehumanizing conditions in different detention centres in Cameroon for their involvement in the crisis currently rocking the two English speaking regions of the country, while many abroad have been declared wanted for the same reason. This has made Human Rights Organisations in Cameroon to conclude that the country is no longer safe for activists of Anglophone extraction at home and abroad.

On the strength of this, and untold human rights violations perpetuated by the Cameroon Government, Human Rights Organisations are recommending that people of goodwill accord maximum security to Anglophone activists on the run for fear of government persecution.

As tensions in the North West and South West Regions rage unabated, government has embarked on a protracted mission to fish out activists abroad involved in different protest marches against the government. The Government hold that activists abroad are the ones funding separatist movements in the country and instigating anti-government demonstrations. The Cameroon government is said to have published a list of some Anglophone activists abroad they consider “terrorists” and is bent on prosecuting and persecuting them if they ever set feet on Cameroon, with trumped up charges rebellion, revolution, secession, insurrection etc. levelled against them. Prominent on this list that has been distributed to all the airports and access points into the country are: Tapang Ivo, Mark Bareta, Ashu Kingsley, Ncha Anderson, Neville Nukuna F., Chris Anu, and Eric Tataw.

According to classified sources, Neville Nukuna F. and most other activists resident abroad featured in the Wanted List of the Cameroon Government because of their repeated anti-government utterances, financial contribution to a secessionist movement dubbed “My Trip to Buea” and for repeatedly featuring in protest marches that tarnish the reputation of the country.

The Sun has it from trusted sources that Neville Nukuna F., was particularly spotted in Belgium on Saturday August 5, 2017 during a protest march against the visit of President Paul Biya’s emissary Minister of State, Minster of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Laurent Esso. Minister Laurent Esso, who was leading a ministerial delegation to explain the thorny issues in regards to the so-called Anglophone problem, had his meeting disrupted by the protesters including Neville Nukuna F.

This, beside other protest demonstrations, was a big blow to the French-dominated Cameroon Government, who is sparing no effort at tracking these activists abroad to “face the heavy arms of the law”.

Since the Anglophone crisis, which started in 2016 with a strike action by Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers against marginalization morphed into an arm conflict between security forces and separatist fighters, the Cameroon military has intensified crack down on alleged supporters of the fighters. Recent statistics place death toll from the arm conflict and crisis at over 3000 persons with thousands of houses and over 300 villages razed, 530000 persons identified as Internally Displaced persons, and over 35000 as refugees in Nigeria. As at now, it is not clear if Neville Nukuna F., and his likes will ever set feet on Cameroon, and what their fate will be as the Government intensifies crackdown, with no peace in sight.

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