The military has reportedly launched a fresh manhunt for a lady, Mary Ambo, who was years back accused of being an informant and sympathizer of the Ambazonia separatist fighters.

It should be recalled that some years back, Ambo had been accused by the military of being an informant and collaborating and sympathizing with separatist fighters. This was after the military had met her in a forest around Mundum in Mezam Division of the North West Region. Separatist fighters are said to have had one of their camps in the said forest.

Meanwhile, after the military had tried to track down Ambo after she fled from Bamenda, in order to extract information from her concerning her alleged links with the separatist fighters, she is said to have vamoosed.

However, recently, Ambo is reported to have resurfaced. Nonetheless, the military is said to have spotted her in a shop in Limbe, Fako Division of the South West Region. But before the soldiers could make a move to arrest her, Ambo mounted a commercial motorbike, which sped away.

Since then the soldiers have been on the lookout for her.

If arrested by the military, Mary Ambo will be tried in a military tribunal, under the 2014 anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death sentence. That is if she 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.

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As the crisis in the North West and South West regions, which has morphed into an armed conflict, rages on, residents in some localities in the conflict-hit regions have been caught between atrocities committed by Ambazonia separatist fighters and government’s clampdown on suspected separatists and sympathizers of the Anglophone cause with the use of defense and security forces.

Government has equally launched a manhunt for alleged activists siding with separatists.

The activists include members of the outlawed Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, a pressure group clamouring for the restoration of the independence of the former British Southern Cameroons. Lists bearing the names of these alleged activists are already making rounds in the hands of the military, as they have been placed under military searchlight and declared wanted since they organised several protests and organised fighters living in the bushes to pick up arms to fight against the military and state institutions.

After releasing a list of Anglophone activists in the Diaspora, who were targeted for arrest some time ago, sources say a fresh list of SCNC members and other activists both home and abroad has been re-established and those on the list targeted for arrest. More than a hundred names have reportedly been given to intelligence services.

It is against this backdrop that unanswered questions have been raised about the whereabouts of many SCNC and Anglophones activists who have disappeared amidst the ongoing armed conflict rocking the restive North West and South West Regions.

Reports say one of the SCNC activists, Stella Limnyuy Wirsiy, is amongst those who have been declared wanted by the Yaounde regime. It is worth recalling that because of the marginalisation, subjugation, and injustice meted on Anglophone Cameroonians, Stella Limnyuy Wirsiy decided to join SCNC in 2005.

She served the movement through sensitisation of the masses on the already executing agenda of Francophone Cameroon against the people, culture, statehood, legal system, educational system and way of life of Anglophone Cameroon and the need to fight against it. She did this through sharing flyers and calling on students to boycott certain activities.

All these made Stella Limnyuy become a target to the authorities as she suffered a lot of persecution largely because of her political opinion and her SCNC affiliation.

THE SUN gathered that she was arrested several times, first by the policemen in uniform on February 9, 2006 at the Bamenda Commercial Avenue while sharing flyers sensitising students not to participate in the National Youth Day of February 11, 2006, a day considered by Southern Cameroonians regrettably voted to join La Republique du Cameroun in a Plebiscite of February 11, 1961.

Wirsiy was whisked to the police station, molested, tortured and detained in an inhumane, degrading condition for three weeks and released after she signed an undertaking to desist from SCNC activism.

However, Wirsiy didn’t relent her efforts to see to it that the quest for the total independence of the former British Southern Cameroons is achieved.

On May 16, 2006 at the main entrance of the University of Bamenda while distributing SCNC flyers to students, she was arrested by policemen in uniform, detained for eight months under cruel inhumane conditions. She later miraculously escaped from Bamenda Central Prison.

Family sources hinted that Stella Limnyuy Wirsiy relocated to Buea and on January 25, 2009 was arrested during a police raid in the Molyko neighbourhood and was whisked to the police station where she was officially informed that she was declared wanted all over the national territory due to her SCNC activities and her escape from the Bamenda Central Prison in 2007.

After serious negotiations with Police authorities, we learnt, Stella Limnyuy Wirsiy was released after a huge amount of money allegedly exchanged hands and she immediately left the country.

After several years out of the country, and with the hope that her persecution and threat would have been over, Limnyuy came back to Cameroon. But upon her arrival in Yaounde in February 2019 she was arrested and detained at the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison.

THE SUN gathered that Stella Limnyuy Wirsiy put to birth in prison and a senior female penitentiary officer at the Kondengui prison took her to her house to serve as a domestic servant and for her to have the opportunity of taking care of her newborn baby out of prison.

Sources say Stella Limnyuy Wirsiy took advantage of this and went underground in 2020.

As we went to press, the military, with firm instruction from government, had launched fresh pursuit for her arrest alongside many others for them to be prosecuted at the Yaounde Military Tribunal on charges of secession, hostility and related offences and her support for the restoration of the independence of the former British Southern Cameroons.

The military keeps making impromptu checks at her Buea and Bamenda residential areas, just to arrest and prosecute her. Family sources have hinted that they are constantly harassed and molested for them to disclose her whereabouts which unfortunately, remains cloudy.

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More and 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 have taken centre stage.

Security operatives have been indiscriminately arresting innocent Anglophone youths and suspected activists. Sources say the arrested persons are being detained under deplorable and inhuman conditions. Some have reportedly died in detention.

In the face of all this, youths, activists are bearing the brunt of the unending Anglophone crisis and remain scapegoats. They are at the crossroad between the military and separatist fighters.

They have been considered as dangerous and threats to the public and declared wanted. The population has equally been urged to be vigilant and report to the closest gendarmerie or police stations. Those who have successfully escaped to countries where the respect of Human Rights is prime for protections, their names are still in the military database pending arrest and prosecution.

The case of Sinju Dickson Ngalia, just like many others, is extremely pathetic. Family sources say his whereabouts remains cloudy ever since he went underground in December 2024 and has been declared wanted.

THE SUN learnt that Sinju Dickson Ngalia, a poultry farmer resident in Ekombe, a village in Mbonge Subdivision, Meme Division of the South West Region and a driver plying the Ekondo- Titi – Buea highways is a victim of circumstances amidst the ongoing armed conflict that has cost many lives and many are now Internal Displaced Persons, IDPs.

In an effort to fish out separatist fighters in Mbonge Subdivision who have been causing havoc in the area, the military on May 15, 2024 intercepted Sinju at Ekombe and took his vehicle while he was transporting passengers to Buea from Ekondo –Titi. Sinju, just like any other denizen in the area, only got information that the vehicle was used to go and attack separatist fighters. Reports say on September 29, 2024 on the eve of the celebration of the supposed independence of the former British Southern Cameroons usually celebrated every October 1,  separatist fighters,  at gunpoint intercepted Sinju at Kwa –Kwa, Mbonge, took his vehicle went and attacked the military and abandoned the vehicle along the road.

We learnt that Sinju later on took his vehicle and continued with his daily routine until December 14, 2024 when his wife called him while he was in his farm, telling him that the military had raided their house, molested and torture the entire family including children and in an unfriendly tone are looking him.

For fear of the unknown, Sinju Dickson Ngalia decided to flee the country to an unknown destination. Since December 2024 his name remains the talk of the day within Cameroon Security Operatives. He has been declared wanted by the military and for fear of the unknown his whereabouts remains cloudy and the military keeps making impromptu checks around their neighbourhood in search of him.

As we went to press, the military had launched fresh pursuit for his arrest alongside many others for them to be prosecuted at the Yaounde Military Tribunal on charges of terrorism-related offences.

Reports say the crisis has caused many in the English-speaking regions to migrate to French-speaking towns and the cities in Cameroon, while others have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees. Government forces have 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 arrested Sinju will face charges of acts of terrorism, insurrection, hostilities against the state, and failure to report.

The Anglophone crisis began 2016 with the teachers’ and lawyers’ strikes, which later attracted the people of the two English-speaking regions of the country, as they said their accumulated grievances emanated from marginalisation by the majority French-speaking part of Cameroon, inequality in employment, adulterations of the judicial and sub educational systems.

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As the Anglophone crisis, which long metamorphosed into an armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions, rages on, workers of state-owned Cameroon Development Corporation, CBC, have been bearing the brunt.

CDC workers have continued to be targets of Amabazonia separatist fighters, who are clamouring for the independence of the Anglophone regions into a country they have named Ambazonia.

The corporation itself has suffered huge financial losses as most of its estates have shut town due to the attacks on its workers.

Separatist fighters have banned CDC workers from going to work on the corporation’s plantations. They claim the CDC is located in their Ambazonia territory and thus belongs to them. CDC workers who violate the ban of Ambazonia separatist fighters have frequently come under attack.

The separatist groups that have vowed to make the English-speaking regions of Cameroon ungovernable, consider the state-run CDC a legitimate target.

Some of the workers of the corporation have been maimed, the fingers of some chopped off and others killed by the separatist fighters. Others have been kidnapped by the fighters and only released allegedly after ransoms of undisclosed amounts were paid.

It should be recalled that in November 2018, six CDC workers on a rubber plantation near Tiko, Fako Division of the South West Region were attacked by separatist fighters. The workers were wounded and the fingers of some chopped off with machetes.

In August 2020, armed men believed to be separatist fighters had attacked the CDC estate in Penda Mboko in Moungo Division. They reportedly shot Agbor Mbi, a 16-year-old child of a CDC worker, who was writing the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Examinations. He died on his way to the hospital in Mbanga.

The house of the Factory Manager, Ali-Malex Achalle, was set ablaze. His private vehicle and the Corporation’s supervision vehicle were equally burnt down. The Factory Manager and three watchmen; Nkemasong Nicasius, Achou Roland, and Tawlan Peter, aged 48, 49 and 60 years respectively were kidnapped.

Meanwhile, on Friday February 10, 2023, five CDC workers were killed and 44 others injured. The incident took place on the stretch of road off the Tiko-Douala Road to the Mondoni Oil Mill, when armed men stormed a bus carrying banana plantation workers who were returning from work.

Four men and one woman were killed instantly, while 44 other workers were injured. The Ambazonia Governing Council, one of the several separatist movements, later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Many workers caught in the web

As the corporation continues to pay the price, many CDC workers have been caught in the web. A case in point is that of Forzong Benedicta Manyi, who worked with the CDC in Tiko. She suffered in the hands of separatist fighters on January 15, 2022 when she and other workers were attacked while on assignment in one of the farms of the CDC.

Forzong and her colleagues were kidnapped and taken to the fighters’ camp, where they are said to have been tortured for over eight days when they were rescued by the military.

Because some separatist fighters were killed in the military raid that freed Forzong and her colleagues, the fighters are said to have vowed to deal with her and her colleagues. They thus became targets of the fighters. Forzong is said to have thus abandoned the CDC camp and gone to live with family relations out of the camp.

However, Forzong’s ordeal was far from over. Unfortunately for her, the military is also said to have accused her of sympathising and collaborating with the separatist fighters. The military thus initiated a manhunt for her. In November 2024, Forzong is said to have vamoosed and her whereabouts is not known.

Not long after she vanished, we gathered, Forzong’s daughter, who was schooling in Buea, was attacked and burnt with fuel. It is suspected that the macabre act was carried out by separatist fighters.

If the separatist fighters lay hands on Forzong, she will definitely be killed, like many others who have been victims of atrocities perpetrated by fighters.

Meanwhile, if she is arrested by the military because of the accusation that has been leveled against her, Forzong Benedicta Manyi will be tried in a military tribunal, under the 2014 anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death sentence. That is if she is not killed outright, like many others who have suffered extra-judicial killings within the context of the armed conflict in the North West and South West regions.

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 recently, when Common Law Lawyers in the North West and South West regions went on strike. They were demanding for the return of the federal system of government, redeployment of Civil Law Magistrates back to Civil Law Courts in French Cameroon, among other grievances. Not long after, teachers in the North West and South West regions also went on strike, demanding for the redress of several issues concerning the English system of education.

Things, however, got worst when Anglophones in both regions, who had been fed up with the unfavourable political and economic situation of the country, the use of French as the dominant and official language, and the marginalisation of the Anglophones, joined the strike.

The crisis has left thousands, both civilians and security and defence forces dead, 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.

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.

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The kick off of the 2024/2025 academic year in Cameroon is gathering momentum throughout the national territory. The exact date for schools to open their doors is Monday September 9, 2024.

While the back- to- school bells are already ringing with parents criss- crossing  the various markets  to purchase didactic materials for their  children and carrying on registration in the various schools,  the situation in the restive North West and South West Regions is different. Separatist fighters have called for school boycotts, shutdown and lockdown in these two regions.

Whereas the military is advocating for effective school resumption, the separatist fighters are against. They say effective school resumption will only see the light of day when these two Anglophone Regions will gain full autonomy from La Republique du Cameroun.

The separatist fighters have engaged in their usual tactics of visiting schools that have already opened their doors for registration in preparation of the start of the school year that seems promising. They constantly visit the schools and demand for financial support.

Reports say their constant visit to some of these schools asking for financial support at gunpoint and harassing staff members has of recent attracted military attention, causing them to accuse the school authorities and staff members of siding and supporting separatist fighters who have taken up arms against them. These allegations from the military have caused many innocent school authorities and their support staff to be arrested, tortured, molested, and detained in very cruel, degrading and inhumane detention conditions by the military.  Many have been declared wanted by the military and the whereabouts of some remains cloudy.

The situation of Takwa Nadine Mali, Personal Administrative Assistant to the Proprietor of Ebenezer Higher Institute of Science and Technology in Bamenda is worrisome. Her whereabouts at press time remained a misery.

Reports say she has suffered constant threats and molestation from the Ambazonia Defense forces, and unfortunately has been placed under government security searchlight for not only siding with separatists but supporting them financially.

The separatist fighters often, at gun point, reportedly demanded her financial support for defying their school boycott and shutdown orders. Takwa Nadine Mali at one point gave FCFA 50,000 to the separatist fighters for them to spare her live when separatist fighters took advantage of an unfortunate incident that occurred on August 7, 2024 and stormed their school.

Eyewitnesses say a motorbike rider was killed by a truck driver, thus causing the bikers to stage a protest and the separatist fighters took advantage of incident and stormed the institution.

The military, according to what we gathered, got hint of the incident and how money exchanged hands between the separatist fighters and the Personal Assistant of the school proprietor and immediately placed her under security searchlight.

Takwa Nadine, according to sources, under pressure from the military, accepted that she had been giving money to the separatist just to spare her life especially when the separatists usually threatened her at gunpoint.

This confession from Takwa Nadine triggered the military to launch a manhunt for her as information circulated that an arrest warrant has been issued for her. She had no other option than to escape out of the country, taking into consideration that she is caught in the web of the separatists and the military.

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 sub system of education.

The crisis has left thousands, both civilians and security and defence forces dead, others internally displaced with some living in bushes while over 50,000 have fled to neighbouring Nigeria, where they are living as refugees. Houses, as well as villages, have been razed to the ground with extrajudicial killings being regular occurrences.

School boycotts, shutdowns and perpetual lockdowns have been the order of the day since the crisis metamorphosed into an armed conflict.

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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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The protracted crisis in the North West and South West regions, which escalated into an armedconflict since 2017 with the Ambazonian or separatist fighters on one side against the defence and security, has in recent years, taken a new turn.

Today, innocent civilians continue to be victims of atrocities perpetrated by the Ambazonia fighters on the one side, and bloody measures by Government forces against those they think have an affiliation with separatists or simply sympathise with the Anglophone cause.

Defence and security forces have been arresting, without due process, pro-independence Anglophone activists and anyone suspected of having any sympathy to the Anglophone cause. The Separatist groups have been agitating for an independent state made up of the two English-speaking regions, which they call Ambazonia.

Several human rights and news organisations believe that the majority of those arrested in connection to the Anglophone separatists’ cause have either died in detention as a result of torture or extreme inhuman conditions. Many are still in detention today; the likes of the Nera Ten separatist leaders, arrested in Nigeria and brought to Cameroon, amongst them, the Ambazonian leader, Sesseko Ayuk Tabe​, are currently serving life sentences at the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in Yaounde.

For fear of the arrests and killings, many have fled to other relatively safe parts of the country while thousands have escaped Cameroon to neighbouring countries like Nigeria or to the USA and other Western countries where they are currently living as refugees.

The US President, Joe Biden had in April 2022, granted over 12,000 Cameroonian immigrants in the US Temporary Protected Status, TPS, because of the war in the two regions of Cameroon. This TPS was renewed in October 2023, providing thousands of Cameroonians another 18 months of relief since the war in the two English-speaking Regions of Cameroon is still ongoing. With many still killed, others taken hostage and the rest nursing either their wounds or trying to survive the hardships imposed by the crisis.

And while the conflict continues, the Government forces are committed to their campaign which is focused on locating and destroying with extreme prejudice the fighters to the last man. On the other hand, the separatist fighters have also not been showing any sign of withdrawal from their battle against the Government.

Civilians caught in-between!

And in the middle of this bloody war are the innocent civilians whom the Government, on one hand, blames for not assisting the state security forces with information on the whereabouts of the separatists. In contrast, the separatists, who have been abducting, murdering and abusing civilians themselves have been blaming them for not supporting their cause or for acting as an informants to the Government forces. So, due to this insecure environment, most civilians have fled Cameroon over the years to other countries, in order to be secure.

For women and girls, the story has been more alarming since a majority have been raped either by government forces or by Ambazonian separatist fighters.

Amongst those who unfortunately fell in-between the crossfire of the Ambazonia fighters and the military, as our investigations uncovered recently, is Nsocka Besong Comfort.

Comfort was once, herself, abducted and taken to the forest for several days by suspected separatists where she was allegedly sexually abused. Her father, Nsocka Dieudonne, unfortunately died during the crisis on November 28, 2019.

Comfort’s father, a worker with the National Railway Corporation (CAMRAIL) in Douala, was reportedly shot pointblank in his car by suspected separatist fighters.

As per the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Human Rights Watch and other international agencies, the war has now claimed more than 6,000 lives in which many persons have lost their lives in a similarly gruesome manner.

Caught in-between the crossfire of the Ambazonia fighters and the military

The Nsocka family fell into distraught when Comfort’s father was killed, and threats from both the separatists and Government forces were now being directed towards Mr Nsocka’s wife, a police officer, and their children. Due to the hostile conditions of her day, Mrs Elisabeth Enow Nsocka, who was serving as a Complaints Reception Officer at the Tinto Police Station, Manyu Division of the South West Region, was forced to flee into hiding as well.

The conflict had forced many in the village areas where Mrs Elisabeth Nsocka was working to flee for safety. Comfort’smother, a police officer in war-torn Tinto, was being accused by the separatists of being state security officer for the Cameroon Government which they were fighting against as their enemy.

This, therefore, forced Mrs Elisabeth Nsocka, Comfort, and all to flee their war-torn village. Comfort’s mother reportedly ran off with her granddaughter, Fongwa Dieudonne, who is Confort’s daughter.

This reporter found out that Comfort abandoned the daughter with her mother and also had to leave Cameroon after she and one of the sisters could no longer bear the pains after having been kidnapped by the separatists and subjected to sexual abuse.

As this reporter gathered, Comfort, like thousands of other Cameroonians fled the country after a lucky escape for further studies in Europe.

Pleas for dialogue rebuffed

Various governments including Canada and Switzerland, and some local citizens in Cameroon, have continuously called for an inclusive dialogue by the Cameroon Government. But the Government maintains that it cannot negotiate with the separatists who it accuses of being terrorists.

The crisis began in November 2016 when teachers and lawyers protested the marginalisation of Anglophones and the need for reforms in the educational system. The government responded with a heavy hand that erupted into an outright civil war by 2017. Until date, the war is still raging.

So as for the two English-speaking regions, the situation is still very unsafe for Cameroonians who fled to return.

The US Government as well, in the same line of thought, renewed the Temporary Protected Status for well over 12,000 Cameroonians in 2023. The TPS was first granted to fleeing Cameroonians who got to the US back in April, 2022, owing to the continuing insecurity in the two Anglophone regions.

Human Rights Watch 2024 World Report titled: “Cameroon Events of 2023”  states clearly that: “Continued clashes between armed groups and Government forces across Cameroon’s Anglophone and Far North Regions had a devastating impact on civilians, with reports of unlawful killings, abductions, and raids on villages rising in the second half of the year.”

The Report went on to state: “Civilians in the Anglophone regions are still subjected to abuses by various parties to the ongoing crisis, including sexual and gender based violence”.

The North West and South West remain in crisis and unsafe for anyone to return home because the killings and abductions are still near-weekly or monthly occurrences.

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As the Anglophone crisis, which has metamorphosed into an armed conflict rages on, the government, through her military is currently targeting Anglophones alleged to be activists and have consequently launched a manhunt for them for not only siding with separatists, but offering them substantial financial assistance.

In the face of all these, security operatives have not stop raping women, molesting, torturing killing innocent Anglophones and burning their houses and properties. They have established both search and arrest warrants for the apprehension of many alleged Anglophone activists all over the national territory, suspected to be siding with separatist fighters as the ongoing armed conflict that started about seven years ago rages on.

The alleged activists both home and abroad have been considered as dangerous and threats to the public and declared wanted. The population has equally been urged to be vigilant and report to the closest gendarmerie or police stations.

The alleged activists include Yvonne Ayamba Ayuk, Nji Alfred Ndifor Ni Mbone, Bolivan Enow Ako, Mbanwei John, Mbelle Franklin Etonge and Charlette Nkwa Mbiaya.

At press time THE SUN gathered that the case of Yvonne Ayamba Ayuk, a worker with a Non Governmental Organisation, Rising Hope Foundation for Change, RHFC, charged for bringing hope, happiness and smiles to the least privileged youths, orphans, Internally Displaced persons, street children, girl child and physically challenged individuals affected by the ongoing armed conflict, has been described as pure witch-hunting.  In the line of duties, reports say Ayamba is a victim of circumstances amidst the crisis and declared wanted targeted by the military.

She is reported to have been molested blindfolded, handcuffed by a mixed patrol of security operatives at Banso Quarters in Mamfe, Manu Division of the South West Regin and detained on grounds that she is a frontline of the Anglophone struggle.

Sources say despite her release, she was still determined in her function and the military saw it as a challenge and took upon themselves to puncture all her moves on behalf of RHFC, especially unearthing the atrocities of the military in Manyu Division where she worked. The military arrested and placed her under degrading inhumane detention condition until she miraculously escaped from detention to an unknown destination. Family sources say her whereabouts remains cloudy since January 2024, leaving them traumatized, especially with the brutal killing of her cousin by the military.

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

Government forces have engaged in extrajudicial killings, random looting, shooting, torture, molestation using disproportionate and discriminating force, abusing and arresting protesters, burning more than 300 villages, 600 houses, displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians, attacking hospitals beating and raping women and girls. The inhumane treatment meted on innocent civilians amidst the crisis is alarming and the international bodies have been called upon to intervene and mount pressure on the government to solve the situation and assist all those who have escaped the armed conflict.

With the armed conflictstill rages on and many more killings by the military and separatist fighters are still been documented by rights organisations, the government has launched a man hunt for those alleged to be fanning the crisis both at home and. abroad. Terrorism charges hang on them if arrested as they have been declared wanted.

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More and more youths caught in the web of the ongoing armed conflict in the North West and South West rages, 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.

Some of the youths are victim of circumstances. They have been tagged as blacklegs and declared wanted by separatist fighters because they have rejected their call to join them pick up arms against the state.

Meanwhile, the military, on the other hand, has declared some of the youths wanted for not only siding and collaborating with the separatist fighters but have been involved in the pacific demonstrations and protests called by Anglophone teachers and Common Law lawyers.

These suspected activists, who have been arrested, have been either jailed or killed and their homes razed to the ground and majority of the family relatives killed. Many have gone underground, the whereabouts of many remains cloudy. Homes of suspected activists, who are abroad for fear of the unknown, are constantly being investigated as the military keeps on making impromptu visits thus injecting constant fear.

The alleged activists including teachers, lawyers, health personnel, journalists and businessmen, who have been considered as dangerous and threats to the public have been declared wanted. The population has equally been urged to be vigilant and report to the closest gendarmerie, police and military stations. The activists abound and a list bearing the names of these alleged activists is already making rounds in the hands of the military as they have been placed under military searchlight and declared wanted.

One of the victims caught in the web amidst the Anglophone crisis that metamorphosed into an armed conflict in 2017 is Efundem Dorane Orock. Reports from family sources says the whereabouts of the Kosala, Kumba-based private teacher remains cloudy.

At press time, both the military and separatist fighters had declared her wanted just like many other youths in the two restive Regions of the North West and South West.

THE SUN gathered that upon graduation from the University and unable to secure a job through government official exams, Efundem decided to earn a living as a private teacher. With the Anglophone crisis, Efundem, like most other teachers, joined in the pacific protests and demonstrations which unfortunately met with military reprisal, thus forcing her and others to go into hiding for their lives.

Reports say Efundem and colleagues were later identified as teachers at a security checkpoint while on their way to Kumba from their hideout. They were arrested, molested, tortured and detained under horrible conditions on grounds that they are disturbing the peace of the country.

Efundem Dorane Orock was released two days later after having allegedly paid a huge amount of money to the authorities, though sexually assaulted. We gathered that even though Efundem relocated out of Kumba, the separatist fighters immediately tagged her “blackleg” and threatened to deal with her on grounds that she has abandoned the struggle and is acting like a government spy.

Life wasn’t the best for her, just like other Anglophones who have become Internal Displaced Persons, IDPs, due to the armed conflict and she decided to relocate back to Kumba, and celebrated her marriage in January 2023.

However, shortly after the marriage ceremony, she was kidnapped by separatist fighters for having abandoned the struggle. Her family paid a huge amount as ransom for her to gain her freedom.

For fear of the unknown, Efundem decided to relocate out of Kumba, but unfortunately at a security checkpoint she was again identified as one of the teachers protesting against the government. Efundem is reported to have escaped at the checkpoint following a sporadic exchange of guns between the separatist fighters and the military. Reports say Efundem and her husband settled in Yaounde, but were later arrested and detained by the police and were released after serious negotiation.

However, following a robbery of a wealthy man in their Yaounde neighbourhood, the entire neighbourhood, especially houses of Anglophone, were ransacked and properties destroyed. Efundem had no other option than to escape out of the country, taking into consideration her past encounters and experiences with the military and separatist fighters.

The country is now considered unsafe by many Anglophones in the diaspora who fear arrest or death if they return to the country. While the Anglophone crisis continues to escalate, International organisations and other western powers have called on the Government to address the root cause of the crisis through genuine and inclusive dialogue.

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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, by mostly the military on innocent civilians including children and pregnant women.

As the crisis that has morphed into an armed conflict rages, reports say hundreds have been kidnapped, thousands of houses razed, over 750,000 persons identified as internally displaced, with over 45,000 living horrible lives as refuges in neighbouring Nigeria.

Burning of houses, villages, ghost towns and civil disobedience, school lockdown and boycott, kidnapping for ransom by the separatists, constant harassment, intimidation and death threats are now the order of the day.

Many  innocent civilians have been arrested, tortured and detained under cruel and horrible conditions by government forces, for not only siding with the separatists by financing them in their atrocities, but also for allegedly picking up arms against the government.

As we went to press, the government of Cameroon, through the military and the courts, had launched fresh pursuits to arrest and persecute innocent alleged Anglophone activists both home and abroad. They are suspected to be siding with separatist fighters as the ongoing armed conflict that started about seven years rages on. The alleged activists have been considered dangerous and threats to the public and declared wanted. The population has equally been urged to be vigilant and report to the closest gendarmerie or police stations.

The case of Akanji Kizito is very much pathetic and is the talk in every lip. The buoyant farmer of Muyenge, Fako Division, South West Region of Cameroon saw himself entangled by the armed conflict rocking the two Anglophone Regions. His whereabouts remains cloudy since March 2024 as the military is bent on prosecuting him amongst other innocent civilians allegedly linked to the crisis. Search and arrest warrants are in circulation for his arrest and some members of his family all over the national territory. He is being falsely accused of being separatist fighter, a deadly accusation in Cameroon

Reports say Akanji Kizito became a scapegoat amidst the armed conflict in the early years of the crisis in 2017. Sources say when the military raided the village of Muyenge sometimes in November 2017 with gunshots and burning of houses, Akanji and family alongside hundreds of denizens ran to the forest for fear of the unknown while others were arrested, whisked to Buea and later to Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde.

Sources say Akanji and others lived miserable lives in the forest for several weeks following frequent crossfire between the government forces and separatist armed groups.  Akanji narrated that when he took the risk to go to the village he discovered that their house had been razed to the ground and thus he had no choice than to return to the forest until after three years.

As the crisis rages on, Akanji Kizito, alongside other farmers who were returning from their cocoa fram, were arrested, molested and tortured by   government security forces on grounds that they are separatist fighters and immediately whisked to Buea where he was detained under cruel, degrading and inhumane conditions. During interrogation while in detention, he was accused of fighting for the independence of the Anglophone part of the country, thus causing the conflict.

The military equally threatened to kill him if he doesn’t confesss and undertake to never fight against the government forces as well as to disclose the whereabouts of the separatist fighters operating in Muyenge and the surrounding areas.

THE SUN gathered that Akanji was released thanks to the intervention of one of his uncle after huge amount of money exchanged hands with the authorities.

Things again went soar for Akanji following a clash that occurred between   separatist fighters and government forces in Muyenge village in January 2024, which ended with the death of some government forces. The   forces raided the village, arrested Akanji alongside other farmers, molested them and whisked them to Buea where they were subjected to inhumane treatment while in detention for one week, on grounds that Akanji is a separatist fighter and fighting against the government. Akanji Kizito was later miraculously released from detention thanks to serious negotiation between his uncle and the authorities.

Since then government forces have multiplied impromptu patrols in Akanji’s neighbourhood in Muyenge to arrest and jail him. His family is constantly being harassed for them to disclose the whereabouts of Akanji.

The country is now considered unsafe by many Anglophones in the diaspora who fear arrest or death if they return to the country.

While the Anglophone crisis continues to escalate, international organisations and other western powers have called on the Government to address the root cause of the crisis through dialogue. Also, prominent Anglophone lawyer and human rights activist, Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla, has called on the Government to dialogue, and to release all Anglophones unlawfully detained and imprisoned.

Recently French President Emmanuel Macron promised to exert “maximum pressure” on President Paul Biya to end Cameroon’s intolerable human rights violations.

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