As tension rages unabated in the North West and South West regions, the Cameroon government has embarked on fishing out sympathisers and activists backing what is now termed the Anglophone crisis.

The crisis is characterised by kidnapping for ransom, burning of houses and villages suspected to be harbouring separatist fighters and raping of innocent civilians by predominantly the military.

It should be recalled that  trouble in the North West and South West Regions began in October 2016, when lawyers and teachers led protests calling for a  two- state federation to preserve the Anglophone legal and education systems, which they felt were being eroded  by the Francophone- led central government. The military’s high- handed response to peaceful calls for greater autonomy prompted Anglophones to form militias popularly known as Ambazonia Defense Forces leading to armed conflict the following year. Since  2017, the fighting has claimed over 6,000 lives in the Anglophone regions and displaced nearly 800,000 people, majority of whom are refugees in neighbouring Nigeria. Some have been left in constant tears either for the demise of their loved ones or because their homes have been razed. These attacks have been so alarming that human rights groups across the board have

concluded that Cameroon is no longer safe.

The outskirts of towns like Buea, Bamenda, Kumba, Menji, Mamfe, Kumbo, Nkambe, Muyuka, Ekona, Wum, Boyo, and Ndop have been the hardest hit by the crisis. Many have fled in order to provide a level field for the smoking guns and are now Internally Displayed Persons, IDPs, in other parts of the country.

In the midst of all these, several alleged activists, both home and abroad, have been reportedly earmarked for arrest, with regional and national warrants issued against them. Photos of most of the activists declared “wanted” are said to have been handed to security operatives with names including but not limited to Fomuki Iris Keng, Tinjong Kendry Selvene and Menyele Charles Musima.

These youngsters have been placed under security searchlight, making Cameroon unsafe for them. Cognizant of this, these activists have resorted to seeking a safe haven in distant countries where the respect for human rights is supreme.

The case of Fomuki Iris Keng is more worrisome and pathetic. Reports hold that the whereabouts of  this  member of the Keng family and holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Logistics and Transport  Management, who disappeared and  escaped into hiding for security reasons is still cloudy.

The Sun Newspaper gathered that, Fomuki, in March 2022, travelled to Kumba, Chief town of Meme Division of the South West Region, on a special invitation from her boyfriend, Mbang Julius Nche. Unfortunately, on her way back after two weeks, the military intercepted their vehicle at the Mabonji control checkpoint on the outskirts of Kumba. Fomuki was arrested by the military who had searched her phone and discovered pictures, videos related to military brutality on Anglophones as well as separatists’ propaganda on the independence of former British Southern Cameroons.

We further learnt that Fomuki Iris Keng was seriously molested, brutalised and detained under inhumane conditions by the military that immediately accused her of siding with Ambazonia separatist fighters, thus she was considered a terrorist.

Fomuki, was detained under degrading and inhumane conditions for two weeks until she was released on bail after huge sums of money exchanged hands thanks to her uncle, Kengla George Wangia, who promised to produce her periodically.

For fear of  the fact that she might be sent to the military court where she could be slammed a life sentence or killed like other Anglophones suspected activists, she decided to escape to an unknown destination  after she received  medical attention.

Family sources hinted that since her whereabouts remained cloudy and her uncle couldn’t produce her, he was arrested and a warrant of arrest issued against her.

This traumatising situation caused the death of Fomuki’s uncle in prison in June 2022. Things fell apart in the Keng family, following the death of Kengla George Wangia as Fomuki was accused of having caused her uncle’s death.

With this unrest in the  family, Fomuki Iris Keng’s father is reported to have facilitated her escape into hiding. As we went to press, Fomuki, whose whereabouts remains cloudy, according to family sources, security operatives are still making impromptu rounds at their neighbourhood all in attempts to apprehend her.

Tinjong Kendry Selvene is another pathetic case amidst the armed conflict in the restive  Anglophone regions. Tinjong Kendry Selvene  is a holder of a Higher National Diploma, HND, in Accounting from  National Polytechnic Bamenda.

Reports say his whereabouts is unknown. Before sneaking out of the country in 2022, he had been arrested and detained several times  in  Kumba, by the military because as a frontline  member of the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, a movement clamouring for the restoration of the independence of former British Southern Cameroons since 2015, he participated in several anti-regime protest marches, thus becoming a target to the military.

Tinjong, reports say, relocated  to Kumba, Chief Town of Meme Division, South West Region,

from Bamenda North West Region, where he put up a small business.

Family sources disclosed that Tinjong, noticed by the military for his numerous  anti-regime protest marches, was arrested in October 2022.

While in detention at the Kumba principal prison, THE SUN NEWSPAPER gathered that his health deteriorated and he was hospitalised.

Tinjong Kendry Selvene, according to family sources, sneaked out of the hospital to an unknown destination.

As we went to press, reports said Tinjong’s family is having tough times with the military that constantly molests and tortures them to disclose his  whereabouts which still remains cloudy as there’s a pending arrest warrant against him.

Observers have concluded that many young Anglophone Cameroonians who have smuggled themselves out of the country for fear of the unknown because of the armed conflict can only return after the return of peace through a frank and genuine dialogue.

As the crisis continues, to deepen, report of a survey released by a group of human rights organisations in Cameroon indicates that lives of activists of Anglophone is unsafe as the military is sparing no effort in tracking down those it considers “agents of destruction”. Even those abroad considered as activists and preaching against the marginalisation of Southern Cameroons by the Yaounde regime, have equally been declared enemies of the State of Cameroon and have been tagged for persecution.

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The government of Cameroon has stepped up a manhunt for the perpetrators and the masterminds of the CDC truck attack in Tiko on February 10, 2023 that left five workers of the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC killed and over 44 others injured.

The attack is linked to a violation of a two-day lockdown imposed by separatist fighters ahead of the Nation’s Youth Day celebrated on February 11th across the country.

Security sources say intelligence reports they have gotten indicate that separatist activists living in the United Kingdom and the United States of America are alleged to be the masterminds behind the attack that killed five workers and left many others injured.

Among those accused for masterminding the truck attack are Ayamba Cho, Mark Barata, and Eric Tataw who are all promoters and sympathisers of separatist activities in the Anglophone regions. They are said to have planned with other sympathizers and promoters and sponsored the Tiko CDC truck attack, for the operation to be carried out by separatist fighters on the ground.

Meanwhile other sympathizers and promoters of the CDC truck attack have been identified by the Cameroon government. It is alleged that the names of Ebai John, Mboh Evans Suh, Eric Ateh, Dr. Winnie Lobati, Nakoli Ewumbua Daniel, Dr. Martin Mungwa and Dr Ebenezer Akwanga are in the government book as those who engineered the attack and still play a great in fueling the crisis back home.

In a video shared on social media on February 11, 2023, the armed wing of Ambazonia Governing Council claimed responsibility for the attack. “Our fighters attacked the CDC in Tiko, killing five civilians and injuring dozens of others. This is another message to the Republic of Cameroon, which likes to bribe Chris Anu and Sako Ikome (other separatist leaders) to allow the CDC to continue operating. This will serve as a lesson,” said Capo Daniel, a lieutenant of separatist leader Ayaba Cho. Capo Daniel invites his supporters to launch new attacks against the CDC, the 2nd largest employer in Cameroon, and the main victim of the Anglophone crisis that has been tearing the country for almost 7 years. CDC facilities and employees have been targeted by separatist militants since early 2017. Company equipment was set on fire, while employees encountered in the plantations were mutilated or killed.

As of late 2018, some CDC sites were shut down, the national employers’ association Gicam reported. According to CDC itself, some of these sites had become base camps for armed militias. This difficult situation officially caused the loss of 6,124 jobs out of the more than 22,000 the company had. CDC was also off the banana exporter roster between September 2018 and May 2020 (18 months), due to the cessation of production activities.

Just when they thought things were a bit quiet lately, especially after the CDC was able to resume operations, the new attack has struck fear into workers again.

Immediately after the February 10 attack, a statement by the General Manager of CDC  Franklin Ngoni Njie, said the tragedy happened when gunmen attacked a truck transporting the company’s staff.

The GM further revealed that the injured victims have been rushed to the CDC Cottage Hospital in Tiko, where they are currently receiving treatment.

To note that this is not the first time, CDC workers are being attacked by Separatists.

Some of the US-based Separatist ringleaders are notable for spearheading previous calls for the limbs of CDC workers who violation ghost town rules to be chopped.

Buea Mountain Race ‘Bomb’ Explosion

It should be recalled that as the 2023 race went underway, multiple short explosions occurred along the track and left 19 athletes including spectators wounded.

The wounded were treated for blast injuries.

The armed wing of Ambazonia Governing Council, one of the separatist armed groups in the region, later claimed responsibility for the blasts.

One of the injured spectators, Ndi Linda, later died at the Buea Regional Hospital on February 28, 2023, three days after she and her three children were hit by one of the three explosives that detonated during the race.

The 529 race participants included local runners as well as athletes from East, Central and Northern Africa and France. They were running up the highest mountain in West and Central Africa as they competed in the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope.

Meanwhile, weeks after the explosion during the race, two University of Buea students, accused of being separatist fighters, were on March 15, 2023, killed in Muea, Buea, and their bodies paraded on the streets.

Mboh Akua and Ngule Linus, both students of University of Buea, were forcefully captured from their student residential homes by government soldiers, who labelled them as Ambazonia separatist fighters.

Their lifeless bodies were later dropped at a public spot next to the Muea slaughterhouse.

Heading the military attack group was the notorious traditional ruler and military officer, John Ewome, popularly known as Moja Moja, who was captured on video trampling on both corpses and sending warning messages to inhabitants.

But the government has since stayed silent after the act, even when it appears the controversial Moja Moja may have killed the wrong people

Ngule, on his social media handles, had repeatedly made posts about being a peace crusader and calling himself a “lecturer for peace”. It is therefore unlikely that he was a separatist fighter.

Reacting to the killing, human rights lawyer, Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla wrote: “Ngule Linus and Mbo Giress, two young male students from the University of Buea were taken away from their student residential homes ‘mini cite’ in Molyko by two plain clothes officers and carried away in a white hilux. Ngule Linus studying International Relations was later found dead (16 March 2023) and his corpse deposited at the Buea Mortuary”.

Kumba School Massacre

It should also be noted that these same promoters and sympathizers were also mentioned amongst those who engineered the killing of pupils of a school in Kumba, Meme Division of the South West Region in October 2020.

The Kumba school massacre took place at Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba.

Around noon on October 24, 2020, men in civilian clothing arrived on motorcycles and stormed the school. With machetes and guns, they killed seven children and injured another 13. Some children were also injured when they jumped from windows to escape.

The dead children were all between 12 and 14 years old.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack. Local authorities blamed Ambazonia separatists, while the government and separatist movements accused each other. The government said that around 10 separatist fighters had carried out the massacre.

If arrested for being accused as having been involved in the planning of the aforementioned attacks, they will be tried in a military tribunal, under the anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death penalty. That is if they are not killed outright, like many others who have been victims of extrajudicial killings.

It is also worth noting that due to the Anglophone crisis, many people, both civilians and security forces, have been killed, many more internally displaced, villages razed, and over 30,000 persons 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 and resolve the issue through genuine dialogue with third-party mediation.

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Reports hold that the lives of many alleged Anglophone activists including their relatives both at home and abroad remains a misery ever since the Anglophone crisis, which later on escalated into an armed conflict started.

Many of them have been accused by the government of siding, aiding and abetting with separatist fighters who have picked up arms against the state, demanding for the restoration of the independence of former British Southern Cameroons or the creation of a new country which they have christened Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Amongst the activists who are in government blacklist, and target for arrest anytime they step feet in Cameroon include the UK-based newly elected Chairman of the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, Robert Tamanji, alongside other members like: Ivo Kuka, Catherine Yambo, Omawah Elenor Charlotte Oyebog, Alain Bougan, Muella Kamgang Armand, 30-year-old Mbong Becky Nganji, amongst others.

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.  Cases abound and Cameroon is no longer a safe place for them.

Even though 30-year-old Mbong Becky Nganji’s whereabouts still remains cloudy since December 2022, a manhunt has been launched for her by the military. Reports say the holder of Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Buea, before going underground in December 2022 for fear of persecution and subsequent prosecution  by the Yaounde cruel regime, was a Psycho social worker with the HIV Free Project. The Sun Newspaper gathered that from November 2021 to April 2022 Mbong Becky had passed through hell in the hands of the military. Her baptism of fire, reports say, was on Saturday November 13, 2021 when the military stormed their office and immediately accused them of not only aiding and abetting separatist fighters’s activities but equally clamouring for the separation of former British Southern Cameroons from East Cameroon.

She was later be accused by the military of being a spy and the one providing sensitive information to the separatists to alert them from being captured. Sources disclosed that Mbong, while under cruel detention condition, was sexually assaulted and watched with dismay how an inmate died from military torture.

Their home was razed to the ground by the military, her father and cousin were brutally tortured on allegations that they were supplying arms to the separatist. This torture caused the death of her father.

Mbong Becky, whose family was accused of secession, masterminding and supporting the Anglophone movement from abroad, was only released on bail at the State Prosecutors Chambers thanks to the intervention of their family lawyer on condition that she will be present herself routinely at the State Prosecutors Chambers.

For fear of the unknown, Mbong relocated to Douala to live with her aunt,but received sad news few weeks later that one her closest cousins was shot dead by the military while on his way back home from bible studies. This was on allegations that he was a spy, siding with the separatists and supporting “ghost towns” called by the separatists.

Depressed by this situation, Mbong’s family had no other option than to negotiate her escape out of the country.

Ever since Mbong Becky Nganji disappeared from the country under cloudy circumstances, confrontations between the military and the separatists have intensified while she still remains a target of the military. Family sources say the military keeps making impromptu checks around their neighbourhood. By at press time Mbong Becky Nganji had been declared wanted.

It should be recalled that Common Law Lawyers went to strike in October 2016 to protest government attempts to annihilate the Common Law practice in a constitutionally bilingual and bi-jural Cameroon. The strike lasted for over a year. Anglophone teachers in the country joined the strike on November 21, 2016 to uphold Anglo-Saxon values under threat in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions.

The government crackdown on Anglophone activists has since intensified with arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and extra-judicial killings becoming the new normal, human rights groups have said.

The North West and South West regions of Cameroon have remained restive since the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis in 2016. Investigative findings and reports from many human rights groups and non-governmental organizations have condemned extrajudicial killings, by mostly the military, on innocent civilians including children and pregnant women, and the burning of houses

Reports say this situation has caused many to migrate to French Cameroon, while others have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees. According to statistics from human rights groups, over 7,000 persons have been killed, hundreds kidnapped, thousands of houses and over 400 villages razed with over 75,000 persons identified as Internally Displaced, with over 45,000 as refugees in Nigeria. Some have been left in constant fears either for the demise of their love ones or because their houses have been razed. These attacks have been so alarming that human rights groups across the board have concluded that Cameroon is no longer safe.

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Many current and former University of Buea students who took part in the strike in the recent strike chanting pro-Ambazonia and secessionist songs, are on the run following heavy military crackdown, The SUN has learnt.

This follows detention and torture inflicted on them by government forces in the wake of sustained protests by pro-independence and pro-federalist groups in the country.

It all started in Buea and Bamenda capitals of the Southwest and Northwest regions of Cameroon. A peaceful protest by lawyers who were later on joined by teachers and students, turned ugly when they were beaten up and arrested by the military.

The military shot at the population who had joined the protests. Many were beaten up, others wounded and some even later died.

Before 2016, however, Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, activists have been constantly harassed, detained, tortured for carrying out protests mostly at the approach of every October 1,a day they consider the Independence Day of the Southern Cameroons as opposed to re-unification day.

A particular case in point which The SUN has learnt about from sources is that of 28-year-old Epoupa Wanda Nyadjroh, former student of the University of Buea and has grown up reading and distributing a lot of pro-independence and Ambazonia literature and has become a committed convert.

Epoupa Wanda Nyadjroh was first arrested and detained on November 16, 2016 in relation to the strike on the University of Buea. He was accused of sharing misinformation through videos and images. After intervention by human rights groups he was released.

However, the defence and security forces did not relent on him and kept on looking for him. He was arrested in a bus in November 2018 on charges of supporting the secessionists by sharing ambazonia propaganda and for aiding the escape of secessionists.

When he was released, he relocated to Douala, a francophone town and economic capital of the country thinking that with the vastness of the town and huge population, it would be easy to hide from further arrests and detention. He didn’t reckon the vastness of the security network which had its tentacles spread in towns like Douala and Yaounde, the economic and political capitals where a lot of anglophones have been taking refuge, fleeing the arrests, torture and inhumane treatment being visited in the South West and North west Regions.

Infact, Epoupa is reported to have got wind that he was being tracked in Douala. Faced with the threats of further arrests and maybe the fact that he may not be lucky to be released again, he has gone missing since the latter part of 2021. His whereabouts are unknown.

The intense and unrelenting crackdown of protesters and pro-independence activists continues to push many to go into hiding or flee the country like Epoupa Wanda Nyadjroh.Infact, some have even died in the process of running away from the country.

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A worker of Cap Sur L’Avenir (CAPSA), a non-profit youth-led organization which fights to Protect and Educate Young Boys/Girls is on the run following accusations of collaborating with armed separatists in Muyuka.

In a confidential dispatch to security services, Tanyi Roquecegnol Akwo, Subdivisional Officer for Muyuka Subdivision accuses 31-year-old Ngebwung Beltus Achianga of complicity with armed militias which are fighting to forge an independent English-speaking state in Cameroon, where the majority of the population speaks French.

In a bid to gain passage, aid workers are accused of collaborating with separatists. Local administrative officials urge aid groups to share information on the hideouts of separatists with state forces.

The noose has since tightened on aid groups and their workers in Muyuka following the gruesome murder of Comfort Tumasang.

On August 12, Comfort Tumasang a 35-year-old mother of two was gruesomely murdered in Muyuka. A video her beheading went viral on social media, provoking widespread condemnation.

Comfort’s mother, 63-year-old Mary Tumasang, said separatists accused her daughter of collaborating with the military as an informant. She said she supports the protest because she wants peace to return to Cameroon. She said she wants her daughter’s killers arrested.

She said when separatists came to her home, her frightened daughter, Comfort, did not hesitate to hand over her telephone as the fighters requested. She said 30 minutes later, she watched helplessly as Comfort was forced out of the house to a neighborhood called Sandsand Quarter. She said in Sandsand Quarter, the fighters tied Comfort to a tree but residents raised an alarm and the fighters fled, taking her daughter along. Comfort Tumasang was later found dead in a pool of her own blood.

Aid worker Ngebwung Beltus Achianga is accused for failing to share information with state forces which could have led to the arrest and prosecution of the presumed killers of Comfort Tumasang. Days after the killing, angry youths went in search of Beltus, burning down their family home in Makanga- Muyuka as accusations of collaborating with separatists gain grounds.

Government military are known to have arrested Beltus earlier on in August 17th 2019 by military officers who accused him of being a spy for for the separatist fighters . He was tied him up to a and savagely beaten before , locked up and was released two days after because of the intervention of Major Laza of muyuka municipality.

This recent attack is just the latest in a long line of incidents in which aid workers have been attacked by English-speaking separatists fighting Cameroon’s military.

But separatists are not the only ones responsible for the attacks against aid workers and humanitarian operations that have been commonplace since the crisis began in late 2016. Government forces also bear responsibility. Aid workers have been victims of unlawful killings, abductions, harassment, extortion, and other abuses as supplies and property have been looted and destroyed. Humanitarian access has been severely hindered by the violence, as well as by deliberate actions carried out by the separatists and government forces and authorities.

Attacks against aid workers disrupt the provision of life-saving assistance and services to people in need.

Cameroon’s Anglophone regions face a serious humanitarian crisis, with over 650,000 internally displaced, and 1.8 millionrelying on humanitarian aid including 1.4 million people who lack reliable access to food.

Despite the call for a Covid-19 ceasefire by one of the separatist groups, Southern Cameroons Defence Forces (SOCADEF) in March – a move welcomed by UN secretary-general’s spokesperson – fighting in the Anglophone regions has not subsided.

Humanitarian workers play a vital role, often operating in difficult conditions to alleviate suffering. Government forces and all separatist armed groups should immediately end all attacks against humanitarians and other civilians, hold those who commit them to account, and allow unhindered humanitarian access.

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