Monthly Archives: March 2018

31, March 2018

Cameroon Responsible For Fake Penicillin In Circulation In Nigeria ⁰

The circulation of fake Penicillin –V tablets in South West Cameroon is responsible for the fake penicillin circulation in Nigeria, according to the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN).

The president of the society, Ahmed Yakasai, said it is alerting the general public to the threat posed by Nigeria’s close proximity to Cameroon.

“Nigerians, especially pharmacists and other health care professionals, should place precautions with a view to preventing the importation of the drug into Nigeria,” he said.

PSN is not the only group that is concerned about the development, Yakasai added that the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), Federal Ministry of Health and office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation issued similar advisory in line with the report of the General Council of Medical Colleges, Spain in the January/February 2018 edition of its Journal of Tropical Medicine.

Source: Concise News

31, March 2018

Chinese miners invade Cameroon, exploiting gold without authorization and causing deaths ⁰

Some Chinese miners taking advantage of the vagueness in the allocation of mining licences and the laxity of the administration in Cameroon are illegally engaging in semi-mechanized artisanal mining leading to destruction of the environment and many deaths.

Sidonie Maboue pulls her hands out of the muddy water to nurse her eight-month-old baby. Sitting on a piece of multicolored fabric, she has filled three bags of gravel with five of her twelve children under a blazing sun.

“These pebbles will be crushed, sifted and if you have the chance, you can find gold but it is difficult,” says the 45-year-old widow who sometimes earns 1500 F CFA, approximately $2.8, after several weeks of digging.

Around her, a hundred people noisily search the yellow metal in a chain work at the Kaye craft quarry in Ngoe Ngoe, a village in the region of East Cameroon. Men dig the earth, crush the gravel and dry the holes with a motor pump. Women collect gravel from muddy waters or prepare food in a makeshift kitchen. The children have fun on the back of their mothers or sleep on pieces of cloth spread on the ground.

In November 2017, Sidonie Maboue nearly lost her life when she went with other villagers to search for gold at a Chinese-owned site near Kaye. “As I ran to carry the earth, I heard the cries of the survivors returning from the site and the young people removed the corpses with shovels,” she says in a low voice. She says she takes these risks to feed her offspring. “If I do not do that, how are we going to live. Since the death of my husband, I am the father and mother of the house.”

Gold and death

That night, nine people who extracted the gravel in this quarry operated by a Chinese company called “Lu and Lang” were submerged by a heap 0f sand about ten meters high. “The Chinese have arrived with law enforcement to drive the villagers out of the mine sites to better exploit our resources,” Yaya Moussa, the village chief of Ngoe Ngoe, says, widening her small black eyes. “So the villagers were forced to come in the night, in the absence of the Chinese, to extract gold and find food for their families. It was during one of these nocturnal outings that the earth fell on them.”

As in Ngoe Ngoe, artisanal mining of gold through the use of manual methods and processes draws crowds in several localities in the Eastern Region. But, the vagueness in the allocation of mining authorizations often creates conflicts between local gold miners and expatriates. According to the Mining Code of 2001, only craftsmen of Cameroonian nationality are entitled to an artisanal exploitation permit. In recent months, this exclusivity is threatened by the presence in the artisanal sites of Chinese operators who practice semi-mechanized artisanal mining through the use of mechanical shovels and loaders, gravel washing machines and chemicals.

Semi-mechanized artisanal mining was conducted for the first time in Cameroon in 2007. In that year, the government had asked the South Korean company C&K Mining to conduct an operation to salvage some 13 tonnes of gold that was likely to be washed away by overflowing water from the Lom Pangar dam. The authorities knew that this decision violated the 2001 mining code, which does not recognize semi-mechanized artisanal mining. At the time, they used the emergency situation as justification. Later, this act by the government was capitalized upon by some unscrupulous operators who started semi-mechanized artisanal mining of gold.

In December 2016 President Paul Biya promulgated a new mining code that recognizes semi-mechanized artisanal mining. However, this exploitation should be carried under Cameroonian law which states that the shareholding in the companies should have nationals controlling at least 51 per cent. This mining code could have helped to reduce the impact of the confusion around mining permits and the rehabilitation of mine holes. But, the decree implementing the new mining law is not yet signed by the Prime Minister.

When contacted, the regional delegate in charge of mines did not wish to comment. “The minister has launched a mapping campaign with drones to identify mining sites and operators pending the decree implementing the mining code,” said anonymously a director at the Ministry of Mines who said he was not allowed to speak to the press. “All the time we hear of reports of deaths in mining sites and, we do not know who is who.”

Meanwhile, semi-mechanized artisanal mining, although illegal, is already doing damage to Cameroon. In 2017, open and abandoned mining holes by operators of the semi-mechanized artisanal mine including Chinese left 50 people dead in the Ngoura, Betare Oya or Ngoe Ngoe communities in the East, according to NGO Forêts et Developpement Rural (Foder) calculations. This civil society organization reported that 250 mining sites opened between 2012 and 2014 have not been rehabilitated by operators of the semi-mechanized artisanal mine. It therefore, launched an online petition to get the Ministries of Mines and Environmental Protection to intervene.

In a video published by Foder on the dangers of illegal mining, a farmer tells how Chinese gold miners grabbed her land and destroyed her plantation with excavators. “The Chinese entered my field and started mining gold without my permission,” says Philiphine Boh. “The Chinese told me that it is the authorities that sent them and they will give me 70,000 F CFA ($ 131.2) for compensation. I said that this money is insignificant for a field of one hectare that they spoiled. Currently, I have nothing left,” said this mother of five.

Secret deals

The losses are not just human lives. In Ngoe Ngoe, a village of 2,600 inhabitants, Chief Moussa says that during the exploitation of gold the Chinese have destroyed rivers and that many domestic animals have been stuck in abandoned mining holes. Mahamadou Abdoulaye, a 42-year-old registered miner, noted that, “when the Chinese saw a local mining artisan, a Nagbata, discovering gold, they chased everyone out of the site including the artisans who have their card while we also paid, it’s not good,” he complains. “The government must intervene because these Chinese are threatening us.”

The local populations are often surprised by the Chinese presence in the mining sites. They wonder how these expatriate operators were allowed to exploit the gold on their land. The Center for Education, Training and Support to Development Initiatives in Cameroon (Cefaid), an NGO based in Yokadouma in the Eastern Region, reports that some local elites are signing secret deals with Chinese miners.

“An elite is collecting photocopies of ID cards from villagers under the pretext of wanting to bring in companies that will provide water, electricity and jobs to the village,” said Victor Amougou, Cefaid’s coordinator, who knows by heart the tricks these people use. “With ten photocopies, this elite can obtain 40 artisanal logging authorizations equivalent to 40 hectares of land. Later, the elite bring in the Chinese operator with whom he has a contract. The villagers who ate and drank are not aware of the deal and only notice the presence of the Chinese who have in the meantime offered envelopes to the mining authorities and military officials to be able to calmly carry out their activities.”

In addition to corruption, some Chinese in their greed for gold do not care about taxes. After the death of nine people in Ngoe Ngoe, some local NGOs and media reported that the site in which the tragedy occurred was operated by the Chinese company called “Lu and Lang”. Yet neither the reports of the local branch of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (ITEI) nor the tax services know the name of the company responsible. The local official in charge of mines in the East refused to comment on this accident, indicating that this file is being handled by his bosses. “This company is not registered in our books,” says a source at the Ministry of Mines. “No Chinese company has obtained a semi-mechanized artisanal gold mining license in Cameroon,” the source said.

In fact, this fictional company is the initiative of lady Lu, an economic operator of Chinese nationality, who did not wish to comment. After Ngoe Ngoe, she and her employees moved to Colomine, another mining town in eastern Cameroon, where they continued to mine gold at a site guarded by soldiers.

“The mining sector is a mafia,” concludes Victor Amougou. “This crime unfolding before our eyes does not benefit either Cameroon or Cameroonians, perhaps an elite who would have received 5 or 10 million CFA ($ 9,376 to $ 18,755)”.

Source: Ghana Business News

31, March 2018

Pro Yaounde Southern Cameroonians left ‘skeptic’ after Atanga Nji visit ⁰

Skepticism dominates Cameroon’s English-speaking areas, even after the visit of the newly appointed Interior Minister Paul Atanga Nji. The minister visited Buea and Kumba in the South-West, as well as Bamenda and Batibo, two sub-regions in northwestern Cameroon.

The minister had said on Tuesday that he was bringing a “message of dialogue” to the restive southwest anglophone region, where the army is fighting separatists.

Atanga Nji, himself an anglophone, told state radio he was in the region to “bring a message of dialogue, a responsible dialogue, a dialogue with those who know that Cameroon is one and indivisible”.

But his visit has been met with skepticism, with some terming his mission as a ‘joke’ and an ‘illusion’ as RFI reports.

“He did not try to meet us and he talks about dialogue! But which dialogue is it,” RFI quotes an exasperated lawyer from Buea who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“He was content to see the traditional chiefs,” said a bitter teacher, who preferred to take refuge in his village because of the tension in Bamenda.

“Tension is brewing because we are approaching the presidential election and in fact, the government is doing nothing to resolve the crisis, “he continues.

The minister, the first anglophone Interior Minister, is unpopular in the English-speaking regions after declaring in early 2016 that there was “no anglophone problem” in Cameroon.

Two English-speaking regions, in the southwest and northwest, became part of the French-majority country after independence in 1960 and contain around 20 percent of the Cameroon population.

Tensions have flared since separatists proclaimed the autonomous republic of “Ambazonia” in October last year.

The country has had a tortuous colonial history that saw it pass from German rule to French and British hands, and the anglophone minority complain of having long been marginalised by the French-speaking elite.

The conflict between rebels and the army has become increasingly serious, as separatists urge the armed forces and government officials to leave the territory.

New separatist groups are emerging, while the Yaounde authorities have reduced their communications about the conflict to a minimum.

The unrest in the anglophone regions has prompted around 33,000 people to flee to neighbouring Nigeria.

Culled from Africa News

31, March 2018

Sierra Leone begins voting in presidential run-off ⁰

Sierra Leone’s electoral staff prepared polling stations in Freetown early on Saturday morning as voters queued for a presidential run-off which was delayed by claims of electoral fraud.

“I am here to vote for the process. I am here, again, so I can have a credible election and credible results that is why I am here to come and vote,” said Idris Kamara, a voter in Freetown, as electoral staff put up polling station signs and prepared the ballot boxes.

The run-off is between the main opposition leader Julius Madaa Bio of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) and Samura Kamara of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) party.

Bio led with 43.3 percent in the first round of the vote with runner-up Kamara taking 42.7 percent.

(Source: Reuters)

31, March 2018

Vatican scrambles to clarify pope’s reported denial of hell ⁰

The Vatican has attempted to clarify reported remarks by Pope Francis in which he appears to reject the existence of hell, contradicting the teachings of the Catholic Church on the issue.

In a brief statement released on Friday, the Holy See said that an article published by Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Wednesday and written by its founder, Eugenio Scalfari, was not “a faithful transcription of the Holy Father’s words,” describing it as “the fruit of his (Scalfari’s) reconstruction.”

According to the daily, Pope Francis held a private meeting with Scalfari before the Eastern weekend. During the meeting, the pontiff was reportedly asked about the fate of “bad souls.” He was quoted as responding, “They are not punished. Those who repent obtain God’s forgiveness and take their place among the ranks of those who contemplate him, but those who do not repent and cannot be forgiven disappear. A hell doesn’t exist, the disappearance of sinning souls exists.”

The Vatican said that the “literal words pronounced by the pope are not quoted” and that “no quotation of the article should be considered as a faithful transcription of the words of the Holy Father.”

The teachings of the Catholic Church affirm the existence of hell.

Pope Benedict XVI emphasized in 2007 that hell “really exists and is eternal, even if nobody talks about it much anymore.” Pope John Paul II also stated in 1999 that hell was “the ultimate consequence of sin itself… rather than a place; hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy.”

The 93-year-old Scalfari — an avowed atheist — is known for priding himself on not taking notes or recording high-profile interviews, and this is not the first time he has been accused of misrepresenting Pope Francis. He was rebuked by The Vatican in 2014 for an article claiming the pope had abolished sin.

Pope Francis did raise controversy back in January, when he defended a Chilean bishop named Juan Barros who stood accused of protecting a pedophile priest close to him.

“There is not a single piece of evidence against him. It is all slander. Is that clear?” the pope said at the time when asked by reporters about Bishop Barros.

US Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston then described the pontiff’s remarks as “a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse by [the] clergy or any other perpetrator.”

Source: Presstv

31, March 2018

Condition of Ambazonian refugees in Nigeria worries top UNHCR official ⁰

A top official with the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has bemoaned the deplorable conditions under which Cameroonians fleeing the Anglophone crisis are living in Nigeria.

Antonio Canhandula, a Programme / Operation Manager and UNHCRrepresentative made his reservations via his twitter handle after visiting some of the refugees in Nigeria’s Cross River and Benue States earlier this week. Other refugees are living in the Akwa Ibom and Taraba States.

One tweet disclosed how some women said they had so little food to feed their families that they had to carry bricks to earn money to supplement what relief agencies provided.

Accompanying a photo of young children lined up in a school he wrote: “Beautiful Cameroon refugee students. Children do not deserve the unfortunate situation of a refugee. This is freedom and human growth arrested. Robbing children of a future. An urgent solution is called for. Ikom.”

Then there was the story of how a expectant mother who fled the crisis back home had delivered a day before the UNHCR visited. Ernestine Etioe, 23, gave birth at a clinic located in Cross River State.

The UNHCR’s records indicate that 20,000 plus Cameroonians have fled the country’s North West and South West regions due to what has become known as the Anglophone crisis.

Canhandula’s reservations are the same as those of the agency he represents. The UNHCR aside pushing that a political solution be found to the crisis holds that it does not have enough funds to cater for the growing number of refugees.

Secessionist elements pushing for independence under the so-called Ambazonia Republic have often clashed with state security agencies. They had earlier used guerilla style attacks to kill over twenty security forces.

The recent leg is armed exchanges and the use of kidnappings. So far, two government officials are in their custody. The Catholic Church’s relief wing in Nigeria has said the refugee influx also hurts Nigerians as it deepens their own poverty situations.

Dialogue has been advanced as a key solution to the crisis that started in October last year. Interior Minister Paul Atanga Nji is on record to have said the government will only dialogue with persons who believe in the unity of Nigeria.

Source: Africa News

31, March 2018

Ambazonian Revolution: Whose side are you on? Good Friday and lessons for Anglophone leaders ⁰

As Christians the world over commemorate the death of Jesus Christ, on this day that has come to be known ironically as Good Friday, on account of the salvation won for mankind by this otherwise tragic event, the central message that should not be lost on Ambazonia leaders is that sacrifice makes leadership. Jesus Christ spoke truth to power and paid the supreme price. He died a vicarious death to take away the sins of humanity and open the way to eternal life for all who believe in Him and in His message.

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are a lesson on the power of humility, service, self-sacrifice and true love. Jesus taught a lot of lessons through his parables and miracles but perhaps the greatest lessons he taught are the practical lessons of his own life. Jesus taught his followers that there is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friends, and that is exactly what he did. He taught his followers that those who seek to be first must make themselves last and servant of all; and that is what he did when he washed the feet of his disciples and accepted a humiliating death in order that they may live. Though as son of God He was rich beyond measure, He made a preferential option for the poor, whose circumstances He graciously shared. His life was consistent with His message. The present generation of Ambazonia leaders can learn a lot from the life and supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Like the abducted Ambazonia leaders, the conflicts that led to the crucifixion of Christ centered on the social paradigm that Christ preached to the world. Like Sisiku Ayuk Julius Tabe and his co-travelers, the truth Jesus spoke was, of course, too bitter for his opponents to swallow and so they had to silence him. Yet, silenced in detention, like Jesus who was nailed to the cross, the power of their message was already immortal. Ambazonia is a spirit that will never die.

Jesus of Nazareth profoundly and manifestly changed the course of history. His message of love, mercy and compassion, truth, justice, and freedom, has inspired some of the most progressive individuals and movements in human history. Yet His coming was inauspicious. There were no earth-shattering sirens and convoys to welcome Him; life in Bethlehem went on normally as poor Mary and Joseph went around looking for a room in an inn to stay. And finding none, they settled for a lowly manger, and there Christ was born. But from the child born in this manger was to flow the knowledge of the Supreme Creator, the grace of healing and the compelling message of salvation for mankind. This is why Christians see the birth of Christ in the flesh as the miracle of all miracles. Those who believe in His word and abide by His teachings have the assurance of everlasting life after death. But not all who saw Him even in His own time recognized Him and not all who recognized Him believed in Him.

In the course of passionately preaching and living out the truth as he knew it, condemning the injustices of the day, Jesus came in regular conflict with the status quo and those who benefited from it. He was betrayed by his own disciple, Judas Iscariot, denied by his closest associate, Simon Peter; handed over to the Roman authorities by the chief priests of his religion and condemned to death by Pontius Pilate the Governor. He was politically murdered without due process by civil authorities who made the cause of religious bigotry their own. Ambazonians must capitalize on the best ideals of their various faiths to transform their struggle for independence by keeping their eyes on the big picture, instead of fighting each other for positions.

The victory of good over evil, which Jesus represents, questions the widespread corruption, greed and selfishness that define the present power struggles amongst Ambazonia leaders. The instant gratification mentality that pervades the Ambazonia leadership contrasts sharply with the sacrifice and selflessness which Christ’s death and resurrection symbolizes. The propensity for seeking to lead; the disposition towards crass materialism and blind pursuit of pleasure is clearly at variance with the lesson of Good Friday. On the whole, the teachings of Christ, anchored on humility and service in leadership seem to be lost, especially amongst the Ambazonia leadership, where the forces of greed and corruption continue to thrive. Those who aspire to lead the struggle must embrace those higher values of leadership exemplified in Jesus Christ. When Anglophones abandon hypocrisy and live out the higher ideals of self-less service, redemption is possible and victory is all but assured. We know who the enemy is; so whose side are you on?

By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

31, March 2018

US and British troops killed in Syria ⁰

Two members of the US-led coalition in Syria, one British and another one American, have been killed in an improvised explosive device attack, according to official statements.

The attack, which took place on Thursday near the Syrian city of Manbij, injured five other troops too.

“Two coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria” at around midnight (2100 GMT), the coalition said in a statement.

The British Defense Ministry also confirmed that the one of them was from within its ranks.

“The individual was embedded with US forces on a counter-Daesh operation when the incident occurred,” the ministry stated.

The US and its allies have been bombarding what they call Daesh positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.

The strikes, however, have on many occasions resulted in civilian casualties and failed to fulfill their declared aim of countering terrorism.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in early 2011, more than 350,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations’ estimates.

Syria has, for several times, written to the UN to complain that the US was flagrantly violating its sovereignty. The US supports militants fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad and has repeatedly attacked Syrian army positions.

Source: Presstv

31, March 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: U.K. cautions citizens in travel alert ⁰

The United Kingdom has issued a travel alert for Cameroon warning nationals to totally avoid travel to within 40km of the country’s borders with Nigeria, Chad and Central African Republic.

It also said Brits should not travel to the Bakassi Peninsula and specifically to the Ndian Division of the South West region. For the other parts of the Anglophone region, the directive said all but essential travel should be undertaken.

A summary of the March 27 directive issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) read: “the FCO now advise against all travel to within 40km of the Cameroon/Nigeria border and Ndian division, and against all but essential travel to the rest of the North West and most of the South West regions; updated information on kidnaps and clashes in the North West and South West regions.”

There have also been multiple exchanges of fire between the Cameroonian security forces and armed groups over the past few months in some towns and villages in the North West and South West regions.

The U.K. position follows that of France earlier this week. The French Ambassador to Cameroon, Giles Thibaut tweet on Monday that the Anglophone regions were a no-go area for French nationals. The alert also cautions against all but Cameroon’s borders with Gabon and Congo.

It specifically mentioned the Koupé-Manengouba, Lebialem, Manvu and Meme divisions in South West region and the rest of North, North West and Adamawa regions as places that citizens should be careful when going to.

“The FCO recounted the March 2018 kidnapping of Tunisian and Cameroonians workers which rescue operation led to the death of a Tunisian. They also related recent armed exchanges between suspected separatists and security forces.

“Kidnaps of Cameroon officials have been reported in the North West and South West regions. There have also been multiple exchanges of fire between the Cameroonian security forces and armed groups over the past few months in some towns and villages in the North West and South West regions.

“This follows violent and deadly clashes between demonstrators and the Cameroonian security forces in the North West and South West regions in September and October 2017. Restrictions including night curfews, a ban on public meetings and other restrictions remain in place,” the statement added.

Source: Africa News

31, March 2018

Ambazonia Liberation Struggle: A Holy Odey Chi War? ⁰

With no rape, no looting and no extortion tainting their record, this could be the most crimeless war by a very disciplined “army”

In a village along the Kumba-Mamfe-Bamenda road, a curious trial took place one of these past weekends. At a funeral I attended, village youths gathered for grave-digging, witnessed the trial (in my presence) of three young men who the previous day had assaulted two other young men over a negligible social issue. From the brutality of the fight, it looked like a gang fight. Eyewitnesses said the attacking “gangsters” were under the influence of marijuana and Tramadol.

The first among the “gangsters” to be brought to the “dock” and ordered to kneel down, told the “jury’ that their assault was intended to punish the victims for snatching someone else’s girlfriend – she is not the girlfriend of any of the gang members.

The leader of the village youths said he wanted to know in what capacity the three took upon themselves to “discipline” the “woman-snatchers”. The gangster kneeling before the jury said they simply sought to teach the woman-snatchers a lesson as they had warned them repeatedly to leave someone else’s girlfriend alone. But word had gone around the village that the gangsters claimed they were “Amba Boys” seeking to impose order in that capacity and that they were acting under the influence of their newly acquired “Odey Chi” powers. Odey Chi is believed to be a charm that renders its users invincible and provides them protection against machete cuts and bullets.

It turned out that their claim of belonging to the Ambazonia Defence Force (ADF) or its related factions had reached the ears of “authentic” Ambazonia separatist fighters in the bush, otherwise called Amba Boys or Odey Chi Boys. Credible sources say the ADF boys visited the village at night to enquire after claims that “some rascals are using our name to commit atrocities in the village”. The graveside trial was thus staged for the attention of the “authentic Amba Boys”.

The Amba Boys stood right opposite the youth “judges”, behind the litigants and observed quietly as they testified. Someone standing by elbowed me discretely and whispered to me, “Those are the real Amba Boys.” They all carried strange amulets that looked like charms. Confused, I asked, also whispering, “Real Amba Boys how? Who are the fake ones?” Then I was told about the Odey Chi/Amba Boys claim by the gangsters.

As the trial proceeded, the other two gangsters walked to the scene. Ordered to join their “accomplice” in kneeling down, only one of them obeyed. The third resisted, haughtily ranting, boasting and daring anyone with guts to force him to his knees.

I saw one of the “VIP guests” closing in on the ranting young man. Short and stout and looking vexed, the “authentic Amba Boy” grabbed stubborn village youth by the legs, lifted him with ease and flung him to the ground, head first. He pulled out a machete from… his trouser pocket; it seemed and made a gesture like to slaughter the young man he had flung to the ground. At this, the entire “jury”, the rest of the youths present and even his fellow Amba Boys, rose like one man and pounced on his machete.

A village youth who grabbed the machete was left with a bleeding palm from the machete cut. Someone standing by said the wound could be fatal because weapons used by the Odey Chi Boys are always mystically lethal so that a mere wound or scratch from their machetes or bullets was a certain cause of death. No treatment! Minutes later, when I saw the wounded young man, he had a red piece of cloth wrapped on the wrist of his wounded hand. He said the Amba Boys gave him as an antidote.

The graveside scuffle led to a commotion that brought the trial to a premature end. The Amba Boys told the village youths not to bother. They said they would handle the matter their way and left the village.

NO RAPE, NO LOOTING, NO EXTORTION

In another village, young men with guns and machetes riding motorbikes, stopped at a sales point of smuggled fuel and whisked away gallons of fuel. The salesman and onlookers were left dumbfounded. The act looking like looting, they stayed mute, at least thankful they were not hurt. But to their utter surprise, the young men who “seized” their fuel returned the next day and paid for the fuel they took away.

Some bike riders have testified that sometimes the Amba Boys seize their bikes to get away to some location, but once there, they call someone they know to ask them to collect their bikes where they abandoned them before entering the bush, describing the place.

When Amba fighters went on the rampage at Wone village also along the Kumba-Mamfe road, where they burnt down a lugging trailer and had bloody fire-fights with defence and security forces, travelers who ran into their “checkpoints” say the boys asked for money to buy cartridges for their dane guns. Their driver offered 2000FCFA. The boys asked him to throw the money on the ground, explaining that they do not receive money directly to their hands. When they, the passengers, each offered their own share of money, the Amba Boys turned them down and said what the driver had given them was enough. Just 2000FCFA! The Odey Chi Boys only enquired whether there were any soldiers in disguise in their vehicle. After performing a ritual by swinging a machete in front of them, which it is believed, would have turned red or smeared with blood were an “enemy” in their vehicle, they were allowed to drive on.

A driver transporting me to Bamenda on March 29, told me that on his way to Kumba earlier that day he ran into the Amba Boys at Kendem village, just under 40km from Mamfe. He said all they asked from him and his passengers was, “Any Gendarme dey inside dis moto?” (Is there any Gendarme in this vehicle?). They were allowed to drive on. “Some passengers were afraid they would search and seize money and their property, but those boys do not ask for money,” said the driver.

MY PRELIMINARY CONCLUSION

As well as there are concordant testimonies and reports of neither looting nor extortion by the Amba Boys, there have equally been no reports of rape. These three are the acts of atrocity most commonly reported by guerrilla fighters for obvious reasons: they would rape women because staying in bush hideouts for long could leave them sex-starved; they would loot where they attack and leave people fleeing for their lives; they would extort from frightened persons, taking advantage of their intimidating posture with arms. Besides ransoms reportedly collected from hostage-taking, none of these atrocities have been blamed on the Amba fighters.

Short of my wished opportunity to interview the Amba Boys, one-on-one, it is generally believed that their Odey Chi cult prohibits them to have contact of any kind with women, including sex and even eating food cooked by women. I am yet to confirm that. It is said their cult equally bars them from stealing/extorting or looting. “If they do any of those, they will lose their powers and lose their invincibility,” said someone claiming to be familiar with the dictates of the cult. “That’s why some of them a killed in battle, but on the whole, most of them do not succumb to bullets, reason why they are fearless and have the courage to attack soldiers, without waiting to be attacked.”

If this is true of the Amba Boys, can’t I conclude that their war will be a sane war, one free of atrocities, and thus a Holy War of sorts? Doesn’t that impose a kind of rare discipline on the troops?

By Franklin Sone Bayen