More youths caught in the web of the ongoing armed conflict in the North West and South West are fleeing to safe havens and most especially where the respect of human rights is prime as political witch-hunting and scores- settling has taken centre stage.

The Cameroon Government has, for close to seven years now, been battling to arrest the situation, but tensions continue to intensify with civilian population in the North West and South West Regions living in peril, panic and pandemonium.

Due to this confusion and fear of the unknown, many citizens in these regions continue to go underground. Government has equally launched a manhunt for alleged activists and citizens suspected of siding with separatists. The activists abound and lists bearing the names of those listed for arrest are already making rounds in the hands of military men. The suspects have been placed under military searchlight and declared wanted.

The residents of Munyenge, one of the restive villages amid the armed conflict in Muyuka Subdivision, Fako Division of the South West Region of Cameroon, is restless following the disappearance of one of theirs, Edwin Akumsi Fuh, since November 2024. His situation has been described as witch-hunting.

The farmer and businessman, who operated an off license (bar) in this neighbourhood, is even feared dead like many others who, because of military reprisal, went into hiding and nothing has been heard about their whereabouts.

THE SUN gathered that customers of Akumsi’s bar were surprised by the sudden appearance of unidentified gunmen, who later introduced themselves as the dreaded separatist fighters group under the banner of the “Mountain Lions of Fako”. They opened fire and killed two of the customers in the bar, who, after investigation, turned out to be military men in civilian clothing.

Edwin Akumsi Fuh, despite his efforts at alerting security at a nearby checkpoint about the incidence at his bar, was rather molested, tortured, arrested and whisked to the military camp in Muyuka. Akumsi Fuh’s efforts to prove his innocence fell into deaf ears of the military. They accused him of not only knowing the hideout of the separatists, but equally siding with them, and that he was the one who called the separatists to come and kill the soldiers in his bar.

Reports say Edwin Akumsi Fuh was molested, tortured endlessly by the military and detained in cruel, harsh, degrading and inhumane detention conditions for four days and was denied access to a Lawyer.

Akumsi Fuh is reported to have later escaped from the detention under circumstances that remain unclear, and went into hiding. He has been declared wanted by the military and his whereabouts remains cloudy.

The military keeps making impromptu checks around the neighbourhood in search of him and it is alleged that in desperation, the military razed his business premises, which doubled as his residence, to the ground.

Meanwhile the crisis situation in the North West and South West Regions, has caused many to migrate to French-speaking towns and villages in Cameroon, while others have fled to neighbouring countries where they are living as refugees.

Government forces have reportedly engaged in extrajudicial killings, random looting, shooting, torture, molestation using disproportionate and discriminating force, abusing and arresting protesters, burning more than 200 villages, 500 houses, displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians, attacking hospitals beating and raping women and girls.

According to the Cameroon Penal code if Edwin Akumsi Fuh is arrested, he will face charges of acts of terrorism, insurrection, hostilities against the state, and failure to report.

The Anglophone crisis began in 2016 with the teachers’ and lawyers’ strikes which later attracted the people of the two English-speaking regions of the country who had accumulated grievances emanating from marginalisation by the majority French-speaking part of Cameroon, inequality in employment, adulterations of the judicial and sub-system of education.

The post Armed conflict in NW, SW: More youths fleeing for safety as gov’t launches fresh manhunt for those allegedly siding with separatists appeared first on THE SUN NEWSPAPER CAMEROON.

Authorities in the South West Region have issued a warrant of arrest against Noche Talom Boris, a young activist known for his public participation in an event condemning the barbaric acts of separatist fighters commonly known as “Amba Boys”.

According to sources, on October 24, 2024, Noche Talom Boris joined community leaders, civil society members and other residents who gathered at Clerks Quarter, Buea to condemn the violent acts of armed separatist fighters in commemoration of the six children killed at Mother Francisca Bilingual Primary School Kumba in October 2020. At the event, participants called for dialogue and denounced attacks targeting schools and civilians.

Eyewitnesses say Noche Talom Boris spoke passionately and served as translator between the local authorities and the participants.

However, barely six months after the gathering, security forces now accuse him of being connected to the attack on April 13, 2024 at the police/military checkpoint at Mile 16, Buea, branding him as a suspect.

A warrant of arrest has reportedly been signed against him, raising fears among his family and colleagues that he is being unfairly targeted. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

Human rights observers note that such accusations are not uncommon in Cameroon’s ongoing Anglophone crisis, where activists who openly denounce violence often face suspicion from both the state and separatist fighters.

Noche Talom Boris has denied any involvement in armed activity. Supporters insist that his role has always been limited to peaceful advocacy and humanitarian work, and they view the arrest warrant as an attempt to silence dissenting voices.

As the situation unfolds, many in the community express concern that anyone who speaks out whether against the separatist or the government risks being trapped in the middle of the conflict.

The post Youth leader accused of links with separatists wanted by police after condemning Amba Boys appeared first on THE SUN NEWSPAPER CAMEROON.

Teachers and other civilians of various walks of life such as nurses, business persons and lawyers are bearing the brunt as the Anglophone crisis, which has escalated into an armed conflict in the North West and South West regions, rages on.

Many teachers, who have been accused of being among those organising strike actions carried out by teachers, are being arrested. The separatists have also imposed a school boycott all over the North West and South West regions. Teachers who violate this ban and go to school to teacher, are being abducted by separatist fighters, and are either killed or are only set free after the payment of huge amounts of money as ransom.

Meanwhile, teachers who respect the school boycott and do not go to school to teach, are being accused by the government of being terrorists and siding with the separatists or are sympathisers of the separatists’ cause and struggle for the independence of a country they have christened Ambazonia.

Sources say the arrested persons are being tortured and detained under inhumane conditions. Some are reported to have died in detention.

For fear of their lives, many have fled and their whereabouts is not known.

One case is that of Njofie George Zoatsa, a teacher in Government Technical College, GTC, Mmockmbie in Alou Subdivision, Lebialem Division of the South West Region.

Njofie is said to have started his teaching career in 2021 when the armed conflict was already raging. Because he was not respecting the school boycott, but continued going to school to teach, separatist fighters threatened his life. Sometime in October 2021 when Njofie was on his way to school to teach, the separatist fighters stopped him on the way and mercilessly beat him up.

The fighters later dumped him on the roadside, thinking he was dead. But a Good Samaritan found him and rushed him to the hospital.

While he was in the hospital receiving treatment, the separatist fighters reportedly continued threatening Njofie’s family members. But when he reported the matter to the police, they did nothing to redress the situation, instead instructing Njofie to go back to work.

The separatist fighters are also repprted to have later raped Njofie’s sister.

Meanwhile, on November 15, 2021, the separatist fighters are said to have stormed Njofie’s family house, killed his parents and completely destroyed the house.

For fear of his life, Njofie is reported to have stopped going to school to teach. But this instead caused the security and defence forces to accuse him of having started siding with and collaborating with the separatist fighters. The security and defence forces are said to have begun searching for Njofie.

On May 4, 2022, Njofie was arrested, tortured and detained in a police cell under deplorable conditions. However, not long after, there was a fire incident in the cell and many detainees including Njofie are reported to have escaped.

Nonetheless, Njofie was later rearrested and detained. But he is said to have escaped sometime after, under circumstances that remain unclear. Since then, his whereabouts is not known. He has been declared wanted by security and defence forces.

If rearrested by the defence and security forces, Njofie George Zoatsa will be tried in a military tribunal, under the 2014 anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment isthe death sentence. That is if he is not killed outright, like many others who have been victims of extra-judicial killings within the context of the armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions.

Meanwhile, if the separatist fighters lay hands on him, Njofie George will certainly be killed, like many others who have suffered from atrocities committed by separatist fighters.

Flashback on origin of crisis

It is also worth recalling that the Anglophone crisis, something that pundits say had been brewing for several years, boiled over in 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 crisis has left thousands, both civilians and security and defence forces dead, some 400,000 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 at the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde, where they are serving life sentences. They were sentenced by Yaounde military tribunal in August 2018, on charges including secession and terrorism.

Many other activists such as Mancho Bibixy, Penn Terrence, Tsi Conrad, among others, are 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.

The post Armed conflict in NW, SW: Teachers, others caught between Amba fighters’ atrocities, military crackdown appeared first on THE SUN NEWSPAPER CAMEROON.

More and more activists of the Southern Cameroon National Council, SCNC, a movement clamouring for the total independence of Southern Cameroon within the crisis – stricken regions of Cameroon have resorted to going underground after surviving myriads of arrests, molestation, torture and detention under horrible inhumane conditions from the Cameroon military for allegedly collaborating with the separatist fighters commonly known as “Amba Boys” who have pick up arms against the state fighting for the restoration of the independence of the statehood of former British Southern Cameroon termed Ambazonia.

As the arm conflict in the restive regions of the North West and South West rages on, despite the ban of the SCNC in January 2017, the Government of Cameroon has announced fresh plans to arrest more SCNC activists for them to face persecution and prosecution, and subsequently hand them draconian jail term. These activists include but not limited to Mancho Bibixy, who staged a coffin revolution at the Liberty Square in Bamenda to protest against the marginalisation and economic deprivation of Anglophones, Penn Terence, the leader of the self – styled state of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and members of his cabinet, Barrister Eyambe Ebai, Tassang Wilfred and Dr Nfor Ngala Nfor one of the founding fathers of the SCNC.

Reports hold that the massacre of seven children at the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba, last October 2020, by unknown gunmen has made life in the region unbearable for the civilian population. Despite this development and other sad and regrettable incidents like random killing of youths and innocent civilians, and the burning of houses and villages, by both the military and separatist fighters leaving many Internally Displayed Persons, the government is making all efforts to crack down on the alleged separatist fighters and SCNC activists. The government has already considered them as prime suspects and enemies of the state who want to distabilise the state.

Many SCNC activists have already been earmarked for arrest, with panic griping their family members whose relatives have been declared wanted by the powers that be. This is because if the earmarked activists are apprehended, their lives will be “wasted” or better still neutralized. Family sources disclosed that the whereabout of their relations considered as SCNC activists remains cloudy as many of them have gone to areas where the respect of human rights is prime. The wife of one of the SCNC activists Keptchouang Ngioko Nicole, narrates that her husband, Ngatsi Tombou Ghislain , who joined the secessionist group in 2010, and was voted the SCNC Public Relations Officer for Kumba in Meme Division South West Region, has on several occasions been subjected to several arrests, molestation torture and detained under inhumane conditions.

Nicole disclosed that after her husband went underground in September 2014, thanks to the Intervention of a Police officer, names withheld for security reasons, they have not known peace. The activist’s wife relocated to Yaounde late 2020 for fear of the unknown, after she informed that an arrest warrant has been issued against her. While in Yaounde, Nicole said she was picked up in mixed police control check point around the popular Mokolo Market. While in police custody, she was identified by a police officer who had once worked in Kumba. The officer narrated how her husband, Ghislain, who suffered several detentions in Kumba has been declared wanted by the Government. Despite her refusal of having any link with Ghislain and Kumba, the police was bent on detaining her. It is at this level that it became clear to her that they have already been tagged.

Reports equally hold that Njikam Ahmed Ndam, a popular Kumba based businessman who joined the Secessionist movement in 2010, has since been under security searchlight due to his frontline role in the SCNC manifestation for the restoration of the independence of former British Southern Cameroon. His role within the movement has landed him several times in confrontations with security operatives amidst sporadic gun shots between the military and separatist fighters.

The most pathetic incident was in 2018 following a military raid in Hausa quarters, Kumba, Meme Division South West Region of Cameroon where the popular NDAM & SONS Business Complex own by Njikam Ahmed Ndam was razed to the ground. According to dependable sources, Njikam was detained with plans to be whisked to Kondengui maximum prison in Yaounde as prime suspect for the bomb explosion in Douala, Littoral Region of Cameroon on January 31, 2021, but he disappeared under unclear circumstances.

Ever since his disappearance security operatives have been making frantic efforts to arrest Njikam Ahmed and to charge him before the military tribunal for secessionist, and terrorism related offences. As we went to press, other SCNC activists and suspected separatist fighters have equally been earmarked, for apprehension. Names such as Silenou Fokou Thiery , Mbah Tifu, Sakwe James and many others may never be seen again as the conflict in the restive regions shows no sign of ending any time soon.

The post More SCNC activists go underground amidst arm conflict in NW, SW Regions appeared first on THE SUN NEWSPAPER CAMEROON.

The North West and South West Regions of Cameroon have remained restive since 2017, following what is now known as the Anglophone crisis, which started with 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.

The crisis has metamophorsed 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 complete independence of Southern Cameroons for the creation of a new Country, “the Federal Republic of Ambazonia”.

This move by the Separatist fighters, met serious reprisals from government forces, and the death toll has been increasing especially from the innocent civilian population. Businessmen, medical professionals, politicians, students and a cross section of individuals in different works of life are increasingly facing the brunt of the crisis.

Houses and villages have been burnt, and suspected individuals linked to Separatist fighters and activists of the anglophone course arrested, molested, and tortured by government forces. Some have detained in very horrible and inhumane detention conditions, while others have gone underground to unknown destination and are currently under security searchlight. Government have openly declared them wanted, and will be 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 800000 displaced, beside many living horrible lives in neighbouring Nigeria due to the arm conflict.

One of such 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 responsibility for the killings in Ngarbuh.

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 or facilitating the activities of Separatist fighters both at home and abroad.

To this effect, a long list of these persons, reports say, is in circulation. Amongst those in the list include a popular businessman in Kumba, one of the restive towns in the two restive regions, Nguefeu Ngioko Claude Bernes, Joseph Itoe and Zacheus Sakwe. The SUN gathered that just like many other civilians in the regions, who are suspected to have a link with the separatist fighters, Nguefeu whose family have confirmed that his where-about remains cloudy, since October 2020, had one of the most bitter experience with the military. The businessman, just like others, was arrested at a mix military control check point in Mambanda, while returning from a business trip in neighbouring Nigeria. As the only Anglophone in the vehicle, the military immediately concluded that he was a middle man who buys goods from Nigeria and supply to the Separatist fighters in the bushes. Despite all attempts by Claude to refuse the allegations, sources say his goods were confiscated, and he was detained for some days at the Kumba Central Police Station.

Ngioko was released on bail but trapped in sporadic gun shot between Separatist fighters and the military on the eve of October 1, a day considered by separatists as Independence Day. Reports say Claude Bernes had gone to the Kumba main market to warn his sales boys not to go the market on that day. In the midst of these confrontations, one of his sales boy was shot to death. While many were rushing for safety, Nguefeu was arrested alongside many youths by the military. Claude, according to sources sneaked in to bush alongside some of them who were arrested and still date his where-about remains cloudy.

As we went to press, Claude’s family members disclosed that the search for him by the military has intensified, as his provision store at the Kumba main market is under military surveillance. Meanwhile, his family residence in Ekombe, a neighbouring village to Kumba has been razed to the ground by the military. Some of his family relations have equally been killed, just because Nguefeu Ngioko’s where-about is unknown, and military has declared him wanted just like many innocent youths.

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

The post Crisis in NW,SW: Families frustrated over fate of relatives appeared first on THE SUN NEWSPAPER CAMEROON.