The crisis raging in the North West and South West Regions, which has morphed into an armed conflict, continues to take new twists.

As the conflict rages on, the government has stepped up its crack down on those suspected to be sponsoring the Ambazonia separatist fighters and others who are sympathetic to the Anglophone separatist cause.

The government has also declared some of the suspected sponsors of the fighters, some of who are residing abroad, wanted.

In this light, security and defence forces have been indiscriminately arresting family members, loved ones, of the suspected sponsors of the separatist fighters.

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

Meanwhile, the separatist fighters have also been assaulting families of persons abroad who have refused to sponsor their activities. The fighters have been kidnapping, torturing and even killing some of these family members.

Some of the families of the accused are reported to have been fleeing.

A case in point is that of Cecilia Etala Molungu, who is said to be living abroad. Etala’s family is reported to have been living in one of the hotspots of separatist fighters, Muyuka in Fako Division of the South West Region.

We gathered that sometime ago, when the fighters in Muyuka were asking every family to give financial support for their struggle, the family of Etala was also approached. The fighters had warned that any family that did not support will be seriously dealt with.

Thus, Etala began sending financial support to the separatist through her family. Her family was then taking the financial support to the separatist fighters.

However, things took an ugly turn when the defence and security forces are said to have learned that Etala’s family had connections with and was collaborating with the separatist fighters.

While Etala’s family members were accused of supporting and promoting terrorism, she was accused by the military of financing terrorism.

Afraid, Etala and her family members thus resolved to stop giving the financial support to the separatist fighters. This caused the fighters to storm their family house in Muyuka to find out why the financial support was no longer coming.

Etala’s mother, whose name we got as Edna Nalova Metutu, is said to have told the fighters that they no longer wanted to have any dealings with them. This greatly angered the fighters, who seriously tortured the family members. It is alleged that the fighters also went ahead to rape two of Etala’s sisters and one got impregnated as a result of the rape.

The separatist fighters are said to have told Etala’s family members that if the financial support does not start coming soonest, they will all be killed.

Meanwhile, the security and defence forces are also said to have increased their investigations on the allegations of Etala and her family’s collaboration with and support to the separatist fighters.

The Amba fighters in Muyuka are noted for several atrocities they have committed. One of such is the grueling killing of a woman in August 2020.

In a shocking video that widely circulated on social media, three suspected separatist fighters in Muyuka were seen beating and dragging a 35-year-old woman, identified as Confort Tumassang, over the ground with her hands tied behind her back on August 11, 2024. She begged for mercy before she was beheaded and her body left in the street.

Amidst the Amba threats and the investigations by the security and defence forces, Etala’s family members, for their safety, are said to have escaped from Muyuka. Their whereabouts is not known till date.

If the Amba fighters lay hands on Etala and her family members, they will definitely be killed, like many others who have been victims of atrocities committed by the fighters.

In the same vein, if Etala returns to Cameroon and is arrested by defence and security forces, she and her family will be tried in a military tribunal, under the 2014 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 extra-judicial killings.

Repatriated Cameroonians Going Missing

It should be noted that many Cameroonians who have been repatriated from the United States of America have been going missing.

This was the case in October 2020 when some 57 Cameroonians were deported from the US back to Cameroon. They are alleged to have been interrogated by security operatives, tortured and detained.

A 2022 Human Rights Watch report documented that deported Cameroonians experienced abuses by Cameroonian authorities, including rape, torture, and other physical abuse, arbitrary detention, extortion, unfair prosecutions, restrictions on freedom of movement, and the targeting of relatives.

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For over five years, a brutal armed conflict has been raging in the English-speaking North West and South West Regions.

Separatist fighters, who have taken up arms against the state and clamouring for the breaking away of the North West and South West Regions into a state they have christened Republic of Amabazonia, having been clashing the military.

But as the crisis rages on, there have been new twists with residents in some localities in the conflict-hit regions being caught between atrocities committed by Ambazonia separatist fighters and government’s clampdown on suspected separatists and sympathisers of the Anglophone cause, with the use of defence and security forces.

Some, who are accused by separatist fighters of siding with the military, are often abducted by the fighters, and are either killed or are only set free after the payment of huge amounts of money as ransom. Meanwhile, those accused by the military of collaborating with the fighters are also either killed by the military, or are arrested, tortured and detained under very inhumane conditions. Some have reportedly died in detention.

Because of the rising insecurity in the crisis-affected regions, many have been fleeing for safety. A case in point is that of Abunaw Agbor Henry, who used to live in Ukraine. Abunaw is said to have, in December 2021, travelled to Cameroon, with his fiancé, whose name we got as Ano Mbede Bouli Lune, and their son, Abunaw Agbor Ano Henry. They are said to have traveled to Cameroon for the 15 years death celebration of Abunaw Agbor’s father.

However, while in Egbekaw village in Mamfe Central Subdivision, Manyu Division of the South West Region, on February 15, 2022, separatist fighters are reported to have stormed Abunaw Agbor’s family residence, kidnapping him, his fiance and son. They are said to have been whisked away to one of the camps of the separatist fighters.

The Ambazonia separatist fighters are reported to have accused Abunaw Agbor of being a “blackleg” and having not been supporting their “fight for liberation”

Abunaw is said to have only been freed the next day after, following the payment of ransom of an undisclosed amount of money.

But Abunaw Agbor’s ordeal was far from over. The separatists are said to have insisted that before his fiancé and son will be released, he must bring five bags of rice, which he must deliver himself at a spot they indicated to him. Abunaw is said to have taken the bags of rice to the spot and his wife and son were released,

Nevertheless, on their way home, they came across the military, who accused him of having links with, collaborating with the fighters, supplying them arms and providing financial and technical support. The military is said to have claimed that the bags Abunaw had taken to the separatists contained arms.

The soldiers are said to have ordered Abunaw to take them to the spot where he had dropped the bags. But on their way there, the separatist fighters launched an attack on the military. In the midst of the crossfire between the military and the fighters, Abunaw is said to have escaped.

For fear of his life, Abunaw is said to have later taken his partner and son and fled from Egbekaw village. Since then their whereabouts is not known. But it is believed that they left the country.

However, we gathered that on March 1, 2022, the government declared Abunaw wanted and a warrant of arrested was declared for him.

If arrested, Abunaw Agbor Henry will be tried in a military tribunal, under the 2014 anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death sentence. That is if he is not killed outright, like many others who have been victims of extrajudicial killings within the context of the armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions.

We also gathered that the separatist fighters in Egbekaw village are accusing Abunaw of having brought the military to attack them. They are said to have vowed to deal with him. If the separatist fighters lay hands on Abunaw, he will definitely be killed like many others who have been victims of atrocities allegedly committed by the fighters.

Origin of Anglophone crisis

It should be recalled 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 recently degenerated into an armed conflict when some Anglophones picked up arms to fight for independence of the Anglophone regions.

The armed conflict has caused the deaths of thousands and thousands more internally displaced with some living in bushes while several other thousands have fled to neighbouring Nigeria, where they are living as refugees.

Separatist leader, Sissiku Ayuk Tabe, and nine others, who were arrested in Nigeria and later extradited to Cameroon, are currently detained at the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde, where they are serving life sentences.

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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The defence and security forces are reported to have launched a manhunt for a suspected supporter and sympathiser of Ambazonia separatists, whose name we got as Enow Besong Divine.

Enow is being accused of having links with and collaborating with the separatists, who have taken up arms against the state to fight for the independence of a country they have named Republic of Ambazonia.

After graduating from the university, Enow had been living in Afab village, Manyu Division of the South West Region, helping his parents with their palm oil farming, milling and other businesses.

Enow, in the business, had been supplying foodstuffs and other provisions to the military whose camp was not far from his family residence. His ordeal started sometime in 2023 when some men, who are said to have introduced themselves as Amazonia separatist fighters, confronted Enow, requesting that he supplies them vegetables and other food stuffs. When Enow hesitated doing so, the separatist fighters later stormed his family home, threatening to kill him, his parents and brothers and sisters if he didn’t to the supplies.

For fear of his life, Enow is said to have started supplying the separatists with foodstuffs and other items. He often took the supplies to the various camps of the separatists.

Enow is said to have supplied both the military and separatists for some months until when a group of separatist fighters are said to have stormed his family home, accusing him and his father of giving information to the military about their hideouts.

They were also accused of having been campaigning for effective school, against school boycott calls by the separatists.

Enow and one of his cousins were abducted by the separatist fighters. While being conveyed to the fighters’ camp, Enow’s cousin attempted to escape and was shot on the leg. He later died of the gunshot injury.

However, after having been tortured and detained under deplorable condition at the separatists’ camp with deteriorating health, Enow is said to have escaped under circumstances that remain unclear. Since then his whereabouts is not known.

Nonetheless, when the military learned that Enow had been supplying items to the separatist fighters, they accused him of having links with the fighters, collaborating with them. They also accused him of “supporting terrorism”. The military also accused Enow of having been spying on the military and sending information to the separatist fighters.

It should be recalled that many young people in the North West and South West regions have been caught in such a situation as the armed conflict within the two English-speaking regions rages on.

Another case is that of Ndakwe Daniel Tangwa, a music teacher in Limbe, Fako Division of the South West Region. He had years back been accused of collaborating, sympathising and sponsoring Ambazonia separatist fighters.

For fear of his life, Ndakwe is reported of having fled and his whereabouts, till date, is not known. We gathered that a warrant of arrest had been issued for him and defence and security forces have continued to storm the residence of his parents in Limbe, harassing them to declare his whereabouts.

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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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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.

The government crackdown on Anglophone activists since 2016 when the crisis began 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 by both non-state armed groups and 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 and overseas 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.

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.

Hopes for peace were raised early this year when a press release from the Canadian Foreign Affairs ministry talked of both sides agreeing to negotiate a peace deal. This was dashed and gloom returned when Cameroon government spokesman Rene Sadi distanced government from what was happening in Canada claiming the government didn’t give mandate to anyone to negotiate on its behalf.

Since then killings, kidnappings are resumed and the list of victims of this crisis continues to grow.

The cases

Tewah Laurita, a graduate from the University of Bamenda explains what she went through in the hands of government forces before escaping to safety. She started by hinting us on how she added her voice to those of others to call for the restoration of the federal system in Cameroon.

“I only added my voice to many to call for the restoration of the federal system that existed before now”, said Tewah Laurita.

In a bid to know what pushed her to take that decision, she said the killing of innocent civilians who came out to decry the marginalization of Anglophone Cameroon triggered her. “The forces of Law and Order of the government in power caught me with flyers carrying a slogan which read; “Bring back our Federal System of Government and stop the shooting”, she said.

According to Laurita, she was then taken to the Bambui police cell where she was detained alongside others with who she was for four days. Attempts to bail her from the dragnet of the police by family members and friends went in vain.

Surprisingly to her, one of the police men of French speaking Cameroon came up to her and accused her of her involvement in a strike action that took place in Buea in 2017. That is how she was then transferred to the prison in Buea where she was lucky to meet a Human Rights lawyer who could release her on bail and assisted her with money to go to the hospital for treatment. She had had severe injuries meted on her while she was in the police custody.

“I was hospitalized at the Government hospital in Muyuka Sub Division for seven days” said Tewah Laurita.

She then explained how a nurse working in the said hospital helped her to escape through Ekok and to neighboring Nigeria when the nurse realized the warder was fast asleep in the ward.

Tiegeh Collantine Youngobwe, a graduate from the University of Buea and the first child of a family of five has been missing from their family home in Muea, a town close to the South West Regional headquarters of Buea. The parents, Tiegeh David and Herodia Mapuh are in a state of total despair and desperation. They have visited hospitals, clinics, police and gendarme cells to look for their son to no avail.

An unemployed graduate, aged 25, having been put to birth on July 17, 1997, Tiegeh has been the target of both government forces and separatist fighters according to his parents. While government forces have been tracking him as a separatist fighter, the separatists have been after his head accusing him of colluding with government troops and identifying their positions in Muea. Muea has been veritable hotspots in the ongoing crisis which has registered many battles between the belligerents leading to casualties on both sides.

Tiegeh it is reported has been missing now for over six months and no information has been garnered without he is in the country or has fled the country for safety like many others.

Still another pathetic case

Another case is that Ewah Nadege Blance born on the 20/06/1993 at Batibo. She is a nurse by profession, though due to her small earnings which was not enough to take care of her, her daughter and family she decided to study medical esthetic.

After her certificate in medical esthetic, she worked for one year and later opened her petit business in Bastos Yaounde by name Body Expression Beauty Institute.

She relocated to Yaounde from Bamenda when it became unbearable to stay in Bamenda. She moved to Yaounde with her mother and siblings due the crisis raging the northwest region. She is a mother of one. She lost her elder brother during an exchange of gunfire between the armed forces and separatist fighters.

Towards the end of 2020, after a quiet period in Yaounde during which the beauty institute she opened picked up steam, she opened smaller branches and started sending products to Limbe in the South West region and Bamenda in the North West. Unfortunately, her business growth instead brought her trouble as she started receiving strange visitors who quizzed her on her business and where the funds of her business were being sent to. This stemmed from the fact that security alerts by security officers was to their opinion that the Anglophones (English Speaking Cameroonians) who moved to Yaounde were also sponsoring the Ambazonian defence forces (separatists’ fighters) in the North West and South West Regions.

The questioning turned to threats of arrest on the grounds that she was sponsoring the activities of separatists. With the many threats of arrests, she has been on the run hardly residing long in one place. She has been moving in and out of the country also.

Infact, in the early months of 2021, on heading to her business site, Ewah Nadege Blance was surprised when some few minutes later, about three persons approached her shop saying they were from special branch department of the police force saying they had come to investigate her business accusing her of sponsoring Ambazonian fighters. She was grilled for over three hours. The following day she had a visit from the taxation department.

The scenarios repeated themselves when she visited her business branches in Limbe and Bamenda. In Bamenda she was picked up by two men on a motorcycle and was taken the separatists’ camp and was confronted by one “General Beabea” who accused her of being a blackleg in the struggle. She was held in the camp for two days and got released after paying a ransom.

After these traumatizing situations, she was lucky to travel out of the country namely the United States. Her relatives and friends warned her not to return but she defied their advise to come back home.

She rarely went out but was surprised on February 2023 by the visit of two security officers who told her they have been in the look out for her. They forced themselves into her house without a search warrant, ransacked the house and virtually turned it upside down. She was whisked to the police station and seriously tortured.

Ewah Nadege Blance, with the help of an investigator was able to sneak herself out of the torture chamber and go into hiding. No one knows where she is now.

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In the troubled North West and South West regions of Cameroon, teachers have become unintended casualties of a brutal conflict. Armed groups, emboldened by their control over remote areas, have increasingly targeted educators, blaming them for the ongoing crisis and accusing them of profiting from the situation. The disturbing testimony of a former teacher from Mankon, Bamenda, provides a chilling glimpse into the dangers faced by those who continue to work in the education sector.

It was a day like any other at a remote secondary school in Mankon, Bamenda, on November 2, 2022. The staff gathered for a routine meeting, unaware that their presence had been leaked to separatist forces operating in the area. What followed was a terrifying ordeal that would forever alter the life of Delphine Echou one of the teachers present.

“I was kidnapped after the attack on our school by armed gunmen,” recalls Delphine “They tortured me, beat me, and smashed my toe with gun buts, causing a serious injury that took off my toenail completely. They threatened to kill me, accusing me and my colleagues of being traitors who had continued to teach despite their warnings.”

For Delphine, the accusations were as baffling as they were terrifying. The armed groups accused her of continuing to earn a government salary while they risked their lives in the conflict. They demanded a ransom of FCFA 3 million for her release, an amount that was impossible for her to raise. Despite her best efforts to explain her financial situation, the kidnappers refused to budge.

With the help of family and friends, Delphine managed to raise FCFA 1 million, which was eventually accepted by the kidnappers. After enduring a day of torture and threats, she was finally released, only to face yet another ordeal just over a month later.

On the morning of December 11, 2022, Delphine was preparing to go to church with her family when her home was violently breached by men in military attire. “They smashed the door open and forced us to the floor,” she recounts. “My husband tried to protect us by asking questions, but they brutally beat him and accused us of sympathizing with separatists.”

The soldiers, who had identified Delphine through the financial transaction she made to pay her ransom, accused her of sponsoring separatist activities. She was dragged out of her home, thrown into the trunk of a military vehicle, and taken to a barracks in Mankon. There, she was held in a dark cell, where she endured further torture and sexual assault over the course of a week.

“I wept and pleaded with them, telling them I was innocent,” Delphine says, her voice heavy with emotion. “But they told me my fate would be decided by orders from Yaoundé.”

It was only after six days of captivity, weakened and gravely ill, that Delphine’s situation took a turn for the better. A female officer, moved by Delphine’s plight, offered to help. She contacted Delphine’s husband, who in turn reached out to a local human rights organization, *Human Is Rights*, based in Bamenda.

The organization’s representative, Blaise, quickly intervened, contacting the military commander and securing Delphine’s release on medical grounds. She was taken to Mankon District Hospital, where she received treatment for the injuries she had sustained during her captivity.

Delphine’s story is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by teachers in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions. Caught between the military and armed separatists, these educators are often left with no choice but to flee for their lives, leaving behind their homes, their jobs, and the children they once taught. As the conflict drags on with no end in sight, the human cost continues to mount, leaving a trail of broken lives and shattered communities in its wake.

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

The government crackdown on Anglophone activists since 2016 when the crisis began has intensified with arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, and extrajudicial killings becoming the new normal, human rights group have said.

Human rights groups and governmental organisations have in one voice condemned the extrajudicial killings by both non-state armed groups and by military on innocent civilians, including children and pregnant women and burning of houses.

Reports say this situation has caused many to migrate to French-speaking towns of the country, while others have fled to neighbouring countries and overseas 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 fear either due to 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.

Tension continues to rise within civilian populations in the North West and South West regions, which are in peril, panic and pandemonium. Due to this confusion and fear of the unknown, many youths and businessmen continue to go underground.

Hope for peace were rose early this year as a much talk about dialogue was announced, but the anxiety died down. Since then the killings, kidnapping have resumed and the list of victims of this crisis continues to grow.

Metuge Popina Nkonge, a holder of a Higher National Diploma in Marketing and herfather, Metuge Ngeoh Titus, a police officer in Tombel, Kupe Muanenguba Division of the South West went through hell in the hands of both of government forces and separatist fighters, before escaping for safety.

Metuge hinted us how after her graduation sometimes in 2019 in Buea, she relocated to Tombel to meet her father who had just been elected a community leader, also known as Quarter Head and was living while in Tombel amidst the Anglophone crisis. Sometimes in March 2020, she narrated that an incident occurred and the residence of the Divisional Officer, DO, of Tombel was burned own. She added that one evening they heard a voice calling her father’s name, saying “Mr Metuge please come outside with any person you are hiding with, we have been sent by the Commissioner of Police to bring you and your daughter to the station”.

Metuge Popina disclosed that her father recognised the voice to be that of his colleague, and asked her to follow him.

When they got out Metuge, hinted, they saw five police officers standing beside their car who whisked them to the station and were placed in very harsh inhumane detention conditions for several days. They both fell sick while in detention.

The Commissioner of Police later called Metuge’s father into his office and disclosed to him that,”someone in the community reported to them that they saw him in a meeting with some separatist fighters a day before the DO’’s house was burnt down”.

Popina’s father is reported to have told the commissioner that as a Quarter Head he holds regularly meetings with youths and elders in his community. Metuge Popina’s father asked why his daughter was arrested and the commissioner replied that “your daughter is among the people supplying food, cigarettes and other items needed by the separatist fighters”.
But Metuge Titus rather told the commissioner that his daughter just graduated from University and came back home because things were a little bit hard for him to support her to continue living in Buea after graduation.

Colleagues are of Metuge Titus are reported to have pleaded with the commissioner to release them, rather than sending them to Yaounde central prison. He and his daughter were released after they both signed an undertaking never to associate with the separatist fighters.

After their release, many sympathisers visited them and one of the sympathisers, who was Metuge Popina’s father’s colleague, told him that father he should be careful with his friend (Mr Gilbert Ebong) whom he defeated during the election to become Quarter Head. He indicated that Ebong had been the one giving the commissioner fake information about Metuge and his duaghter’s involvement with separatist fighters.

Few months after, Metuge narrated, some separatist fighters came to their residence in Tombel and requested for his father’s gun since he is a policeman and her father told them that he cannot do that since it’s the government that is controlling the guns. The separatists turned around and started mounting him pressure to join them and he refused since he is a government official and doesn’t know how genuine their demand for secession is, especially as separation is against the law.

Metuge Popina and her father were now victims of circumstances from both the government and separatists.

The last hit on the family of Metuge, was when a primary school was burnt down during a crossfire between the military and separatists wherein some separatist fighters were killed and two police officers shot and in critical condition. This provoked the call for a state of emergency in the area.

Metuge Popina narrated that her father and her were arrested and taken to the police station and placed under harsh detention conditions. All attempts to secure their release were futile, even with the intervention of their lawyer.

Metuge Popina disclosed that her father’s colleague, a top ranking commander, hinted him that plans were underway to take them to Yaounde because they had received information that they’re siding with the separatists, supplying them food, medications and other items.

Aware of what befalls others who have been ferried to Yaounde under trumped up charges of secession, revolution, propagation of false information and terrorism like the jailed Ambazonia leaders like Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Barrister Eyambe Ebai, and Nfor Ngalla Nfor, the Commander made up plans for them to escape from prison and for them to immediately leave the country.

That’s how we escaped from Cameroon on May 5, 2022.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arbitrary detention

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

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

Unlawful attacks, killings

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

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