Monthly Archives: October 2017

4, October 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Death toll rises ⁰

The death toll from the ongoing unrest in Cameroon’s English-speaking region has risen to 17, as the government tries to quell a separatist movement, a rights group said. Security forces opened fire on Sunday on protesters calling for the independence of the region of about eight million people.

“In order to avoid further bloodshed, the security forces must cease unnecessary and excessive use of force, and protesters should be peaceful if they want to make their voices heard. The government should investigate these killings,” Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty International’s Lake Chad region researcher, said in a statement on Monday.

Internet was blocked in the region for the third day on Tuesday – the second time in less than a year. Earlier this year, the internet was blocked for three months following similar unrest. Electricity was also cut in the area.

“The reported unlawful killing of several people in the Anglophone regions by the security forces coupled with the blocks on Facebook and WhatsApp represent an extremely worrying escalation of the government’s ongoing campaign to silence any form of dissent in the West and South-West regions of Cameroon,” Allegrozzi said.

Analysts have called on the United Nations and the regional bloc, ECOWAS, to intervene in the crisis. “We have seen a government that is not responsive to the demands of the Anglophone,” Hans de Marie Heungoup, Cameroon analyst at International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera on Monday.

“There is a need to strengthen and better coordinate the response of the international community since the beginning of this crisis in October 2016. It is time for the international community to act in a very strong way to avoid irreversible deterioration of the situation on the ground,” Heungoup said.

Late on Monday, the UN urged Yaounde to investigate the death of protesters and to show restraint. “The Secretary-General takes note of the calls by the authorities for dialogue and encourages representatives of the Anglophone community to seize the opportunity in their quest for solutions to the community’s grievances,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general said.

But some Cameroonians said a government-led dialogue would not solve the unrest in the region.

“The government cannot mediate on this crisis when they are the first people responsible for this escalation. They cannot mediate on the crisis they caused,” Albert Nchinda, a Cameroonian political blogger, told Al Jazeera.

President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 35 years, condemned the latest unrest and called for calm. “It is not forbidden to voice any concerns in the Republic. However, nothing great can be achieved by using verbal excesses, street violence, and defying authority,” Biya wrote Sunday on his official Facebook.

Cameroon’s English-speaking minority say they are being marginalised by the French-speaking majority. Dissent in the two Anglophone regions – the northwest and southwest parts of the country – has been growing over the past year, with protests taking place intermittently.

Culled from Al Jazeera

4, October 2017

Cameroun Vs Cameroon: Crisis has reached a boiling point ⁰

As Nigeria celebrated her 57th Independence Day on Sunday Oct. 1, her eastern neighbour Cameroon for the first time in over 30 years also officially marked her 56th year of reunification. However, Cameroonians were deeply divided over the Oct.1 anniversary as the internet was disrupted again in the English-speaking regions and security officials opened fire on Anglophone protesters killing as many as 15 people according to reports.

The killings come after renewed massive resistance against perceived marginalization of English-speaking Cameroon by the majority Francophone-led government.

The crisis stems from the country’s colonial history which created modern Cameroon in an agreement between colonial rulers Britain and France. Former British Cameroons (Southern Cameroons) got its independence on Oct. 1, 1961 by joining already independent (Jan. 1, 1960) La Republique du Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. There were two states—West and East Cameroons—operating under the federal system of government which were later fused on May 20, 1972 to form the United Republic of Cameroon.

But over time, citizens of the country’s English-speaking regions, which account for around 20% of the population, have complained to feeling frustrated in the union as they complain of cultural, economic, social and political deprivation.

The long-lingering crisis took a turn for the worst last week when agitators operating under the aegis of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Governing Council called for public demonstrations. The mass protests were scheduled to culminate in celebrations on Oct. 1, the day activists had hoped to declare the independence of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia, a country they clamour to create.

Following up on clashes on Sep. 22, protesters again poured out on the streets on Oct. 1 in villages and towns across the North West and South West regions. Their attempts to hoist blue-white flags of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia as a sign of independence was met with stiff resistance by armed forces who have been deployed to the troubled regions.

Amnesty International confirmed up to 17 people being kill by security forces during protests in some of Cameroon’s Anglophone towns. International and local media reports said security forces opened fire on protesters in Bamenda, Buea and several other towns. The killings took place despite a call for restraint made by the UN secretary general.

President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 35 years, has yet to return to the country after taking part in the 72nd UN General Assembly in New York last month. He condemned “all acts of violence, regardless of their source and their perpetrators.”

While the troubled regions faced a ban of gatherings of more than four people, restriction of movement and another internet shutdown, demonstrations were organized in other parts of the country to call for unity.

Demonstrators carry banners as they take part in a march voicing their opposition to independence or more autonomy for the Anglophone regions, in Douala.

In the capital city Yaoundé, members of parliament gathered at the Reunification Monument to drum up calls for unity and peaceful coexistence. The celebration which is the first of its kind was largely boycotted by Anglophone opposition MPs.

In Douala, like in Yaoundé, members of the ruling Cameroon’s People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) organized street matches calling for a united Cameroon. The regional organ of the opposition Social Democratic Front party in the economic capital Douala condemned the CPDM outing. The party voiced concerns over the “discriminatory attitude of administrative authorities.”

Source: Quartz Media

3, October 2017

Southern Cameroons: ECOWAS and the African Union should intervene early to prevent an outbreak of social and humanitarian crisis ⁰

An agitation for independence has been unfolding in Cameroon since November 2016. The people of North West and South West regions under the umbrella of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (SCACUF) finally decided to affirm the independence of the English-speaking sections of Cameroon from the Republic. The Ambazonians as they have called themselves since 1984, are protesting against their alleged marginalization by the dominant Francophone Cameroon and the Paul Biya government in Yaounde. They insist that whereas oil is found in Southern Cameroons, the Biya Francophone has practically neglected the region, and the people have been turned into “slaves” on their own soil. They have their own flag (white and blue) and a national anthem. The Cameroonian Anglophones claim that their struggle is non-violent and peaceful but they will insist on their independence, and the declaration of their own Republic. They further argue that whereas French and English are the official languages of Cameroon, the Francophone government has imposed French as the language to be spoken in Anglophone Cameroon. They insist on their right to speak English.

After World War 1, the League of Nations shared the geographical territory known as Cameroon between the French and the British. The latter administered its own share from Nigeria. On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained independence from Britain. British Southern Cameroons had a choice between joining Nigeria or Cameroon. In a referendum conducted in 1961, the people of British Southern Cameroons chose to join French Cameroun to form a Federation. But the French backed Ahidjo regime shattered the planned federal system when oil was discovered in Cape Limbo. In 1972, the French Cameroun political elites changed the name to the United Republic of Cameroon. In 1984, the word “United” was removed from the country’s name by the Paul Biya administration, thus adopting the pre-unification name of French Cameroon and effectively raising fears of alienation among English-speaking Cameroonians.

Colonialism and its legacy may have been the foundation of many of the crises in post-colonial African states, but poor governance, ethnicity, competition over power and national resources, religion and sheer leadership incompetence have done worse damage. Post-colonial African leaders have failed to act as statesmen but as new colonialists adopting in West Africa, the twin colonial policies of divide and rule and assimilation. Cameroon has been a long-suffering country, first under former President Ahmadou Ahidjo and especially under 84-year old Paul Biya, who has been President for 35 years. It is ironic that 56 years after the country became a Republic, English-speaking Cameroonians are fighting against the seeming attempt by their French-speaking compatriots to “assimilate” and “marginalize” them.

The two Cameroons are fighting over the language of the colonialists, national resources, and power-relations. On Sunday, October 1, 2017, Sesekou Ayuk Tabe, Chairman of the Southern Cameroons Governing Council, formally declared the independence of Southern Cameroons or the Federal Republic of Ambazonia: “We, the people of Southern Cameroons are slaves to no one”, he said, “Not now, not ever again! Today we reaffirm autonomy over our heritage and over our territory…It is time to tell Yaoundé that enough is enough!” The response from Yaoundé has been characteristic. Weeks before the protests and the declaration of independence in Southern Cameroons, soldiers were sent to the region to shoot in the air, prevent rallies, and intimidate the people. Scores of people have so far been killed. “This division will never happen”, says Cameroon’s Communications minister, Issa Tchiooma Bakary, speaking for the Francophone dominated government. Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a wave of nationalist agitations across the world resulting in self-determination, secession and partitions, and the emergence of new countries. But self-determination or secession is not an automatic process, and it is not in every instance that the protests result in the Nirvana that the separatists seek. In Cameroon, the Biya administration must get off its high horse and engage the leaders of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Governing Council in dialogue. The international community must prevail on him to put an end to the abuse of human rights and the killings in Southern Cameroons. It is the refusal of the Francophone dominated government to address the grievances of the people of Southern Cameroons that has brought Cameroon to this moment.

To quote Sesekou AyukTabe, again: “The union was always intended to be a union of two equals. Unfortunately what our peace-loving people have experienced ever since is oppression, subterfuge, discrimination, violence, intimidation, imprisonment, forced occupation, cultural genocide, and misappropriation of our natural resources by the leaders of the Republic of Cameroun.” It is instructive to note the similarity between the expressed concerns of the Ambazonian movement and similar movements in recent times in other parts of the world, and the attitude of the governments in power. In Spain (the Catalan secessionist move), Nigeria (the Biafra movement) and Iraq (the Iraqi Kurdistan) – the Catalans have held a referendum to leave Spain, but the Spanish government says this is “unconstitutional.” Biafrans want a referendum in Nigeria – the government says this is unconstitutional because Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable. The Kurds also want out of Iraq, but the central government is opposed to it on the grounds that the September 25 referendum is unilateral and unconstitutional! It is not just rhetoric that is involved, the military is deployed, violence is unleashed on separatists or critics of the extant union and the government.

While these may seem to be traditional responses, the assault on the human rights of protesters now includes an increasingly important territory: the internet. The internet is perhaps the most striking phenomenon of the century, in the manner in which it has extended the frontiers of human freedom and expression. It is the most modernist icon of globalization and the borderlessness of space and time. The internet does not know fear. It is an irreverent tool of political mobilization, commerce and social networking. It is the public mind in motion, and the anonymity that it offers in certain forms makes it a strong instrument of revolt. Elections can be won or lost, governments can be pulled down or popularized, through the mind of the internet. Given its power, reach, and impact, dictators are uncomfortable with the democracy of the internet which has proven to be much stronger than dictatorships, tyrants and intolerant governments. The relationship between the internet and authority has therefore been one of unease and distrust.

The result has been the attempt by intolerant governments and political figures to control the internet, shut it down or violate the rights of its users. China has an internet police that filters internet traffic. In 2011, Egypt tried to stop the people’s revolution by shutting down the internet. Tunisia, Italy, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Libya, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Maldives, Iraq are other countries where the internet has been censored in one form or the other or completely shut down. The degree of civil society repression varies from one country to the other, but the excuse for abridging internet democracy could be as ridiculous as saying that the internet had to be shut down in order to prevent cheating in students’ examinations as has been the case in Iraq and Ethiopia.

Generally, shutting down the internet has become the new mode of repression and a standard response to dissent. African states and governments have joined the trend. In the last year alone, 11 African governments have shut down the internet in one form or the other. These include the Democratic Republic of Congo (ostensibly to reduce the capacity to transmit “abusive messages,” but actually to stop the people from opposing President Joseph Kabila’s attempt to prolong his tenure); Gambia (a few days to the 2016 elections), Togo (to check protests against President Faure Gnassingbe, and the people’s request for multi-party elections and Presidential term-limits), Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Egypt, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Morocco. In Nigeria, there has also been so much official discomfort with what is termed “hate speech” on social media platforms particularly whatsapp, instagram, blogs, and twitter.

One lawmaker even proposed a Social Media Bill which criminalises internet democracy. The worst anti-internet culprit so far in Africa would be in my view, not Egypt (where the revolution succeeded in spite of the repression) but Paul Biya’s Cameroon where intolerance and unpleasantness have been elevated to the level of state policy. In January, the government of Cameroon shut down the internet in English-speaking parts of the country. This lasted for more than three months. This has again been repeated. It is unacceptable. The cost of internet shutdowns is enormous and disruptive, and the gain for governments is so small. The free flow of information is breached, the targeting of specific regions as in Cameroon is discriminatory; the right to free speech is violated, along with other rights: association, choice, and freedom of thought.

The UN Human Rights Council in 2012, 2014 and again in July 2016, resolved that “the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online”, and all states must refrain from taking such measures that can violate internet freedom. The African Union Declaration on Internet Governance (Algiers, February 13, 2017) is on all fours with this UN Resolution. The UN should go further and impose sanctions on countries that violate internet freedom. Worse, businesses suffer in the event of an internet shutdown. Internet services are accessed through broadbands provided by mobile telecom companies. When such companies are asked to shut down their services, they easily comply out of fear of being blackmailed by the government. They can be accused of supporting terrorism for example! By co-operating, they incur losses, part of which they may eventually pass to their subscribers. Similarly, with growing internet penetration in Africa, so many other businesses are dependent on the internet. Indeed, the internet is increasingly a shopping mall – for bloggers, advertisers, consultants and the average consumer of services, an internet shutdown in the light of this, undermines economic growth and development. Human dignity and relationships are also affected. The internet is a networking tool, so much so that many families depend on it for contact and interaction, and many individuals on it for survival. Shutting down the internet rolls back the gains of the democratization process in Africa.

African countries seeking growth and investment in the telecommunication sector, and within the economy generally shoot themselves in the foot when they seek to destroy such a significant tool. Internet registries worldwide should sanction errant governments which deny their citizens access to the internet. Men of conscience and thought leaders should speak out against the growing trend of internet shutdown or violation by African governments. In Nigeria, we must continue to discourage the government from ever contemplating any such misadventure. I am not in any way recommending, by this article a “sovereignty of the internet” in the sense in which John Perry Barlow, an internet activist spoke, when he issued “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” (1996), rather I urge the protection of the democracy of the internet and this democracy is about rights, obligations and the rule of law. To return to the politics of imperialism and dissidence in Cameroon, Nigeria (for strategic reasons – the proposed Ambazonia being a buffer zone between Nigeria and Cameroon), ECOWAS and the African Union should intervene early to prevent an outbreak of social and humanitarian crisis, if not chaos in North West and South West Cameroon. The feuding parties should be encouraged to go to the negotiating table. What is going on in that country is as much a Cameroonian problem as it is a Nigerian problem.

Culled from Vanguard

3, October 2017

Arsenal of weapons, ammo found at Las Vegas gunman’s hotel room ⁰

Law enforcement authorities have discovered an arsenal of weapons and ammunition from the hotel room and house of the gunman who killed at least 59 people and injured another 527 at a music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A total of 42 guns were found in the hotel room and house of 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, who rained down a barrage of bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel towards an open-air concert Sunday night, police said.

Las Vegas Police Department Assistant Sheriff Todd R. Fasulo said that 23 guns were found in Paddock’s hotel room, and 19 were discovered out of his home in Mesquite.

Among the guns and ammunition police found in the hotel room were high-powered rifles considered capable of penetrating police armor.

Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said that Paddock brought in at least 10 suitcases into his hotel room over a period of time.

In the aftermath of the massacre, many wondered how the gunman managed to fire for so long and so quickly to cause such carnage, raising questions whether Paddock had used banned automatic weapons.

However, it later emerged that the shooter had used a modified bump stock rifle, a legal trick that allows a gun to simulate rapid automatic gunfire.

In addition, law enforcement officials found “some explosives and several thousand rounds of ammo, along with some electronic devices” in the shooter’s property.

Authorities are also working to establish the motive behind the massacre.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced that it was “currently conducting an urgent trace on firearms recovered from the scene in Las Vegas.”

Investigators have found no link to international terrorism, despite a claim from the Daesh terrorist group. Some investigators said the gunman might have had psychological issues, but there is no confirmation of this.

Police initially said that they had engaged Paddock but later said they found him dead in the hotel room.

Paddock was described as a gambler who lived in a quiet community of senior citizens and played golf. Officials said he had no criminal history and drew little attention to himself.

The mass shooting has once again thrust the bitter debate over gun control back to the center of politics in Washington.

As horror and disbelief rocked the nation, Congressional Democrats said the massacre underlined the necessity of new firearms laws, while Republicans only offered condolences and prayers.

In a televised address on Monday, President Donald Trump offered his “warmest condolences” for the victims of the mass shooting, but did not address the scourge of gun violence that has become a common occurrence in the country.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that “there will certainly be a time for that policy discussion to take place, but that’s not the place that we’re in at this moment.”

Culled from Presstv

3, October 2017

French Cameroun: Suspected Boko Haram attack kills 3 ⁰

Three people were killed on Monday morning in Mozogo, Mayo-Tsanaga Division, Far North region, in a suicide bombing attack attributed to Boko Haram.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the attack took place on Monday 02 October shortly after 5:30 am (4:30 am GMT), in front of two different mosques. In one of the mosques, a man in his sixties was killed with the suicide bomber who triggered his explosive device.

In the second mosque, only the suicide bomber was reportedly killed. “He blew himself up before entering the mosque, which is what avoided a carnage.

The Nigerian islamic sect Boko Haram has not claim responsibility for this double attack. The French Cameroun authorities are maintaining a kind of deliberate silence as all attention has been channeled to the heavy military deployment in Southern Cameroons.

By Sama Ernest, CCN

3, October 2017

Genocide in Ambazonia: French Cameroun hears echoes of anti-Southern Cameroons hate speech ⁰

The catalyst that heralded a genocide in Rwanda in 1994 that left more than 800,000 people dead was hate speech against the Tutsi minority spread by Hutu extremists via mass media, radio stations in particular. This has started building up in French Cameroun with a prominent Francophone journalist calling on the Francophone dominated army to carry out an extermination campaign in Southern Cameroons.

Francophone media gurus have reportedly painted Southern Cameroonians as “rats” and “cockroaches” and there has been no strong condemnation from the French Cameroun political elites. Southern Cameroonians are now been depicted as foreigners “ Biafra” who hail from the Federal Republic of Nigeria and therefore have to be eliminated. Radio stations are also being used to preach the so-called French Cameroun supremacy- a real guide to racial hatred.

In his recent message to the French Cameroun army, the renowned Francophone journalist, Thierry Mbouli posted on his Face Book page that the army should seal the Southern Cameroons border with Nigeria and killed everyone including 6 months old babies. He described Southern Cameronians as sheep and pigs not worth any existence. By some strange happenstance, no one within the National Communications Council has raised a finger against the buildup towards a genocide.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, CCN

2, October 2017

Anglophone Crisis: Mamfe witnesses sporadic fighting and massive arrests ⁰

Mamfe, the capital city of Manyu Division, today, October 2, 2017, is the theater of some intense fighting following the killing of some residents of Mamfe yesterday by the country’s military after the population declared its independence from the Republic of Cameroon. Due to the number of deaths registered yesterday across the Anglophone zone, the Southern Cameroons Governing Council and the Southern Cameroons National Council have issued threats of reprisals and Southern Cameroons Defense forces have successfully smuggled weapons into city where it is currently engaging the army in tough battles that have left two army soldiers and one gendarme officer dead. It should be recalled that the border between Cameroon and Nigeria in Manyu Division is one of the most porous and, in places like Akwaya, the government is conspicuously absent.

The group that attacked the soldiers comprised some forty well trained men, twenty of whom have been arrested while the others have melted into the Manyu forest. Www.cameroonconcordnews.com reporter in Mamfe says that the entire city is in total darkness and residents are really facing tough times. There is no Internet connection and anybody seen walking around the city is considered a suspect and is promptly arrested. There are massive raids across the Anglophone region following the declaration of independence on October 1, 2017, and many young men and women are being arrested and taken to unknown destinations.

Similarly, the village of the leader of the Southern Cameroons Governing Council, Ewelle, which is close to the Nigerian border, is currently being raided and the young adults are all being taken to an unknown destination. Many of the young men have been shot in their legs, with some sustaining critical injuries. The soldiers are working in collaboration with the chief who has been toppled because of the current situation in the region. The chief is still working with the Yaounde government and the young men and women of the village think that it is time for him to quit playing such an unholy role.

In the meantime, rumors of a possible coup d’etat are rife in Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital. Many people hold that with Biya’s era coming to an end, all is possible and since the 85 year old president is down with prostrate cancer and other illnesses, it is very likely that there is division within his entourage as each personality seeks to position himself as the rightful successor of the ailing octogenarian.

Also, it has been alleged that the American billionaire, George Soros, is using his vast resources to help Southern Cameroonians walk away from their oppressors of fifty-six years. George Soros, the Greek American, is alleged to have supported Burkina Faso when there was a popular uprising against the country’s former dictator, Blaise Compaore. It is also alleged that thanks to him, Senegal’s civil society succeeded to stop former President Abdoulaye Wade from changing the constitution. The fund attributed to Soros is designed to dethrone dictators and restore genuine democracy in most third world countries.

Similarly, it is also alleged that a Canadian firm has signed an oil contract with the Southern Cameroons Governing Council regarding the Anglophone region’s vast oil fields.The proceeds from the contract are expected to be used to purchase arms for shipping to Southern Cameroons. The Canadian firm is suspected to have played a key role in the conflict in Angola when Cabinda sought to secede. If this story is confirmed, then the struggle has moved into a very critical stage and this implies that things will take a turn for the worse and the entire school year will, once more, be disrupted.

Many Southern Cameroonians are prepared to lay down their lives for their country. To them, they want to quit the union with East Cameroon so as to build a more prosperous and democratic country wherein social justice and the rule of law will be realities. They hold that the union with East Cameroon has been an ill-wind that has not blown them any good. The massive arrests, they say, will not rob them of the enthusiasm to fight on, adding that their arrest will only make things worse for the government, as it already has a bad name. They hold that the one-for-all and all-for-one slogan has given them the courage to fight on. In their view, the government stands to gain if it negotiates, if not the Diaspora will continue to destabilize the country.

2, October 2017

Las Vegas: Over 58 dead, 500 injured in largest US shooting ⁰

At least 58 people have been killed and over 500 others injured when a gunman opened fire at a music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

The “nonstop gunfire” sent bystanders outside the resort scrambling for their lives while tourists hid in their hotel rooms. Disturbing footage showed the aftermath as the injured lay on stretchers or on the ground with responders and bystanders trying to provide assistance.

The gunman rained down bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino for several minutes before shooting himself dead, according to police. Earlier reports indicated that the gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock from Mesquite, Nevada, had been shot by police.

“Officers responded to that location and engaged the suspect at that location,” Las Vegas Metro Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said.

Paddock had more than 10 rifles in his hotel room.

Lombardo said Paddock was not believed to be connected to any militant group.

“We have no idea what his belief system was,” he said. “We’ve located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied.”

However, the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group later claimed responsibility for the shooting, according to the group’s news agency. It provided no evidence to back up its claim. The terror organization often claims such incidents.

At least 406 people were taken to area hospitals with injuries, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said.

The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary, eclipses last year’s massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club. The dead included one off-duty police officer. Two officers were also injured.

The Las Vegas Police Department advised people in a statement to stay away from Mandalay Bay Casino on the south end of the Vegas strip on Las Vegas Boulevard and across from McCarran International Airport.

“Confirming that one suspect is down. This is an active investigation. Again, please do not head down to the Strip at this time,” LVMPD said in a tweet.

Thousands of fans were attending the concert next to the Mandalay Bay which was part of a three-day music festival. Witnesses said they thought fireworks were going off as part of the concert.

Special SWAT units were deployed to the scene of the shooting and police shut down the strip.

Gunman and his companion identified

Stephen Paddock has been identified as the gunman.

The suspected gunman had reportedly checked in as a hotel guest.

Police released the name of a female companion of the gunman, identified as Mari Lou Danley, 62.

According to authorities, Danley who was being sought as a person of interest has been located.

Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by AFP)

Witnesses said the gunman opened fire with an initial burst and then appeared to reload as he continued his firing spree.

Police also asked onlookers to avoid sharing “tactical positions” of its officers on the internet out of fear that it would endanger the operation.

A person lies on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 1, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Singer Jason Aldean was on stage when the shooting started. And it came towards the end of the concert.

“I guess it was an automatic weapon going off but it literally sounded like firecrackers. Then soon enough there was commotion on the Mandalay Bay side of the stage. They were motioning for medics to come and safety people to come and Jason Aldean ran off the stage,” he said.

“Everybody in the vicinity went down. I don’t know if they were ducking or if they were but it was chaos.”

People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 1, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Monday morning that President Donald Trump had been briefed on the mass shooting.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials,” Sanders said. “All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers.”

Shortly after Sanders’ statement, Trump tweeted, “My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!”

My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017

Nevada politicians also responded to the massacre, denouncing the violence and offering thanks to first responders.

“Senseless, horrifying act of violence in Las Vegas tonight,” Republican Senator Dean Heller said in a tweet. “Thankful for police and first-responders on the scene,” Heller said.

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, a Republican, called the shooting a “tragic” and “heinous act of violence” and offered his prayers for the victims.

Culled from Presstv

2, October 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: France urges restraint as casualty figures rise ⁰

France has officially commented on the ongoing political crisis in the Southern Cameroons. Paris called on all parties to exercise restraint and to reject violence.

“France is following the situation in Cameroon carefully and is preoccupied by the incidents that took place over the weekend,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes Romatet-Espagne told reporters in a daily online briefing on Monday.

“We call on all the actors to show restraint and reject violence,” she added. The latest round of violence on Sunday resulted in the loss of eight lives as security forces clashed with protesters.
The casualty figure has since been revised as some activists are reporting that fifteen people had so far died from the clashes of October 1 which has extended to today.

Protesters in the Anglophone region – the North West and South West regions – have long complained about marginalization and are seeking to secede from Cameroon. The government, however, insists that the unity of the Central African country remains non-negotiable.

Contrary to an earlier government position, access to some social media platforms were cut on Saturday ahead of the ‘Independence Day’ declaration on October 1. There was heavy security deployment in the said regions.
The United States and United Kingdom have all issued travel alerts advising their nationals against all but essential travel to the Anglophone regions, citing political disturbances and violence.

Source: Africa News

2, October 2017

Anglophone Crisis: The gloves are off ⁰

The Anglophone problem which started like a joke has finally spiraled out of control following the slaughtering of some twenty armless Anglophone protesters in various cities across Southern Cameroons. The protesters had been out to celebrate their independence on October 1, 2017, but were interrupted by security forces who had received orders to shoot and kill from the country’s president, Paul Biya, who is currently living in a five-star hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, where he is doing battle with prostate cancer and other old-age related diseases. Mr. Biya has presided over the country’s destiny for thirty-five years and has nothing to show for all the time he has been leading the country. He has surrounded himself with some “beni oui oui” who are doing their best to loot the country.

Yesterday’s killings have not only jeopardized any chances of dialogue with striking Anglophones, they have also heralded the beginning of a new phase in the struggle to liberate Southern Cameroons from the yoke of Francophone-French condominium. Speaking to a Southern Cameroons Governing Council insider in Washington via phone who also opted for anonymity, www.cameroonconcordnews.com gathered that Anglophones will continue to mount pressure on the crumbling government using all the means available to them. The insider advised that the gloves were off and that the pain and frustration of the people of Southern Cameroons must be taken to the enemy.

He said their response to the slaughtering of fellow Southern Cameroonians will surely come in a different form, advising that Anglophones have the means and resources to make the government pay for the deaths of innocent Anglophones. He pointed out that for so long, the SCNC and the Governing council have been working together to ensure that ordinary Francophones do not get dragged into the conflict, but after yesterday’s killings, it is clear that the equation will be altered to ensure that those who have died must not be forgotten.

“I can tell you, for sure, that the gloves are off. It is hard to dialogue with a government that is intent on killing Anglophones as if their lives mean nothing. We regret the loss of life, but beginning today, those on the other side of the Mungo will also have to have a taste of what we have been going through. They have been sitting on the fence for too long and their position can be interpreted as an endorsement of the death the government is inflicting on our people,” he said.

He added that “we never chose to be Anglophones, but we have the right to live our lives based on our culture which I think the government of Cameroon must respect. It must also understand that we are different. Our mentality does not allow us to accept injustice for too long. We are unlike our Francophone brothers who have lived under oppression for decades and will never rise up against injustice.”

He stressed that Anglophones would go underground to wreak havoc on French and Francophone interest in Southern Cameroons, adding that we will not surrender until the injustice of the last fifty-six years is corrected.
“Our parents lived in a prosperous and functional parliamentary democracy which made us the envy of many African countries. We had a parliament and a Prime Minister. We voluntarily opted to join our Francophone brothers in 1961 and today they are treating us like animals, with television journalists and Francophone governors branding us as rats and dogs,” he said, stressing that “we will never be cowered into submission by a bunch of people who are ruling their country as if they are mercenaries.”

With more than two million Anglophones out of the country, with high concentrations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, it is likely that most of these people will be happy to raise funds so as to engage the expiring government of Mr. Biya into running battles that may result in many more deaths, our insider said, adding that it is impossible to eat omelet without breaking eggs. “We regret the loss of lives, but we must move forward and we must implement the next phase of our plan.”

“Cameroon is at the crossroads. The country will never be the same again. We may not achieve all what we want, but we have proven that a minority is capable of bringing meaningful change to a country that is being ruled by people who are not patriotic,” he said.

“Francophone must join us if meaningful change has to occur in Cameroon. Their indifference is annoying. The battle lines have been drawn and everybody must choose their side. The government has delivered death to us on many occasions, though we have all along been calling for sincere dialogue. But this cannot continue for too long. Our people have a right to self-defense and we in the Diaspora owe them the duty of providing the necessary resources for them to achieve that goal,” he stressed.

We will fight the government city to city, house to house and street to street until it will run out of steam. We have the wherewithal and there is a pool of willing fighters back home to deliver the punch that will daze the moribund government,” he pointed out, adding that “there will be collateral damage, but that will surely help our leaders to put on their thinking cap.”

From every indication, Cameroon is down a slippery slope. The international community still has enough time to save lives. It will be morally wrong for it to let the situation to escalate before it starts looking for ways to mediate. Cameroon is gradually imploding. With Boko Haram insurgents blowing up people in the north, and central African rebels launching attacks in the east of the country, it will be dangerous for the government to wait for Anglophones to transform themselves into walking bombs before it can think of genuine dialogue. Despite yesterday’s killings, there is still room for dialogue. Many mistakes have been made and the handling of the Anglophone crisis right from the beginning has been at best mediocre. There is still a lot of time for the international community to save Cameroon and that time is now. Cameroon is begging for help and the world should not be looking the other way while the country keeps on bleeding.

A Cameroon Concord News Production
By the Editorial Desk