The North West and South West regions of Cameroon have remained restive since the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis in 2017. Investigative findings and reports from many human rights groups and non-governmental organisations have condemned extrajudicial killings mostly by the military, on innocent civilians including children and pregnant women, and the burning of houses.

It should be recalled that Common Law Lawyers went to strike in October 2016 to protest against government’s 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.

Human rights groups and non-governmental organisations have in one voice condemned the extra-judicial killings mostly by the military on innocent civilians including children and pregnant women and burning of houses.

Reports say this situation has caused many to migrate to French Cameroon, while others have fled to neighbouring countries where they are living 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 living 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.

The Cameroon Government has, for over five years now, been battling to arrest the situation but tensions continue to intensify with civilian population in the North West and South West Regions in peril, panic and pandemonium. Due to this confusion, and fear of the unknown, many youths and businessmen continue to go underground.

The whereabouts of a Kumba-based businessman, Mr Taleh Azeseng Gilbert, for example, remains unknown since September 2022. The diehard advocate for the greater autonomy of Southern Cameroons since in his university days is a victim a circumstances.

Because of his opinion, his house was razed to the ground by the military in 2018 at the heat of the Anglophone crisis. After having spent some time abroad,he decided to return to his country since the government keeps talking of national dialogue, reconciliation and reconstruction, family sources hinted.

The crisis intensified and Taleh Azeseng Gilbert couldn’t withstand the heat, taking into consideration that the government retaliated on activists who intensified their fighting from the period to October, the month Southern Cameroonians claim to have had independence from Britain.

The situation was worsened as government once again went out for massive arrest crackdown characterised with looting, destructions and killings. Amidst all these, the shop of Taleh Azeseng Gilbert was razed to the ground by the military. As we went to press, family sources disclosed that the Taleh Azeseng, just like many alleged activists, remains a target on government list for arrest and persecution if found anywhere within the national territory.

Another unfortunate case is that of Ebot Witney Tarh. Her pathetic situation equally started in her university days. Considered as one of the student leaders who always roseto protest against the marginalisation of English-speaking students in the university and the systematic transformation of the University of Buea by allowing lectures to be taught in French contrary to the school policy, reports say she has been arrested several times by the military and detained under inhumane conditions.

These numerous manhandling by the military on Ebot Witney Tarh, caused her to relocate to the village to meet her mother. Reports hold that the military stormed their village and discovered that her father, a retired police officer, was a staunch Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, member and that he was leaking state secrets to his community who were all considered as Ambazonia fighters.

This led the military concluding that her family members were staunch supporters of Ambazonia fighters.

During the village raid by the military, Ebot Witney Tarh, like many other youths in the village, had gone underground to the bushes, but the military carried out search in their residence and carried away her documents including her SCNC membership card. The military also took her picture and razed their residence.

For fear of the unknown, Ebot Witney Tarh went to Kumba under cover and continued with her political activism. She struggled and completed her studies.

She was declared wanted by the military and on several occasion kidnapped, tortured, raped and abandoned at various neighbourhoods by unknown men.

With the continuous search for Ebot Witney Tarh by military, due to her political opinion and attachment to the ideals of the SCNC, she decided to leave the country to where the respect of human rights is prime. Since September 2022 family sources have hinted thather whereabouts remains cloudy and reports say the military has intensified search for her.

The ongoing socio-political impasse in Cameroon, especially in the restive North West and South West Regions, escalating, the United States Department of States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour published a 45-page document on Cameroon 2018 Human Rights Report wherein they highlighted the worseninghuman rights situation in Cameroon as about 3,000 civilian lives have been claimed,  by the armed conflict, and about 730,000 displaced  with many living horrible lives in neigbouring Nigeria.

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As the crisis in the North West and South West regions, which has escalated into an armed conflict, rages on, the government has continued to target the leaders of the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, and most of the self-styled ‘Generals’ of the Ambazonia separatist movement.

Most of the leaders of the SCNC and the leaders of the Ambazonia separatist movement have been arrested and detained; some tried at the military tribunal in Yaounde and are now serving life sentences at the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde. Others have disappeared and their families are still looking for them. The government continues to target members of the SCNC and Ambazonia separatist fighters, accusing them of being those fuelling the ongoing conflict.

So many SCNC members and some fighters of the Ambazonia separatist movement were arrested on 14 April 2017 during their General Assembly meeting in Kumbo, Bui Division, North West Region and detained. Many members of the SCNC and the Ambazonia separatist forces were released but forced to sign memorandums of understanding, presented by soldiers deployed by the government, to refrain from participating in SCNC activities.

Following the alliance between the Southern Cameroons National Council and the Ambazonia separatist leaders, President Paul Biya declared war on the leaders of these movements and branded them terrorists trying to compromise the integrity of nation. The activities of any secessionist movement following the unilateral declaration of independence in the minority English-speaking Regions of Cameroon were declared illegal, treasonous and the government of Cameroon has been trying to suppress and extinct the activities of the SCNC, and its activists home and abroad.

Elias Babe Tiku, Mbah Idris, Epie Paul Ewane, Ndeh Peter Fru, James Lyonga are renowned members of the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, who were caught distributing flyers from door to door and their images and activities were reported on CRTV 7:30 National News.

On 1 October 2017 and 1 October 2018, following the continuous unilateral declaration of independence by the leaders of the SCNC in alliance with the Ambazonia separatist leaders, Elias Babe Tiku, General Ivo, Mbah Idris, Mancho Bibixy, Penn Terence and two notorious ‘Generals’ of the Ambazonia separatist movement came to the attention of the police and soldiers deployed to the North West and South West Regions as they were caught sensitising the public on the activities of SCNC by sharing flyers, and dropping some at the door-steps of citizens in these areas.

They have again been arrested and taken to unknown destinations. The families of Elias Babe Tiku, Mbah Idris, Mancho Bibixy and General Ivo woke up one morning to the pictures of their sons where they were reportedly tied up, tortured and subjected to inhuman degrading treatment circulating on social media. Their whereabouts is still unknown.

It has been reported on CRTV National News that Elias Babe Tiku, Mbah Idris and General Ivo escaped in the course of transferring them to the Bamenda central prison. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

Since the escape of these detainees to unknown destinations, their family members have been constantly under very serious threats from soldiers who want them the indicate whereabouts of the escapees.

If Elias Babe Tiku and the others arrested, they will be tried under the anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death sentence. That is if they are not killed outright, like many others who have suffered from extrajudicial killings.

Meanwhile, 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. They were sentenced for “terrorism and secession” among other charges after having been tried at the military tribunal.

Many other activists such as Mancho Bibixy, Penn Terrence, Tsi Conrad among others are also serving sentences at the Kondengui prison.

The government has deployed more soldiers to Bamenda to assist in the crackdown of members of the SCNC who are now said to be in alliance with the Ambazonia fighters and most of them are hiding in the bushes.

Meanwhile, some pregnant mothers and their children were reported burnt in their homes in Kumbo, Bui Division by soldiers loyal to the Cameroon Government.

Most activists on social media namely:  Chris Anu, Ray Timah, Sako Samuel, Cho Ayaba Lucas, Aaron Yancho Kaah, Tapang Ivo, Mark Bareta, Barrister Harmony Bobga Mbuton, Barrister Emmy Tricia Kesah and Barrister Nalova Bih who have been advocating for the release of these detainees and that their trials in the Military Tribunal is inhuman have been declared enemies of the state and charged for acts of treason and rebellion against the state of Cameroon.

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