Monthly Archives: March 2019

4, March 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The price of occupation ⁰

The Southern Cameroons crisis that started in 2016 is now costing billions of dollars to the Yaounde government. For long the government has thought it will bear the cost but actions by the separatists have proven that the conflict will not only be long, but costly.

The country’s economy is going through a storm and it is obvious that it might not survive. The Southern Cameroons crisis that started as a protest by teachers and lawyers has finally developed into a full blown conflict and this is costing the country’s treasury a fortune.

The Southern Cameroons economy that accounted for at least 40% of the country’s wealth is now anemic and the government is losing revenue. Most of its revenue streams in the two English-speaking regions have simply dried up. Its coffers are empty and this is a huge source of frustration for the beleaguered government.

The South West region alone accounts for more than 50% of the government foreign earnings. The country’s oil deposits are firmly rooted in the Rio Del Rey Estuary and it is being confirmed that more oilfields have been located around the creeks surrounding Tiko, a major city in the Southwest region. Oil alone gives the government millions of dollars every year. But threats by separatists to disrupt activities in the oil sector are causing the Yaounde government violent nightmares and it has been obliged to step up security to protect its oil assets in the region and this is costing it an arm and a leg.

The Southwest region is the country’s largest producer of cocoa, and with the chaos playing out there, jobs and incomes from the cocoa sector have been lost. The two English-speaking regions also account for more 50% of the country’s coffee production. The conflict in these two regions implies that the country has slipped down the list of the world’s major cocoa and coffee producing nations.

The Southern Cameroons crisis is hitting the Yaounde government like a ton of bricks. The country’s economy is suffering. Its Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) seem to be out of service. State corporations located in Southern Cameroons are already feeling the heat. Pamol, a palm oil production corporation located in Lobe, a small town in Ndian Division, has finally shut its doors as the fighting between Southern Cameroonian fighters and army soldiers takes a turn for the worse. This revenue stream has stopped flowing and Yaounde is really ill-at-ease.

Pamol’s closure is bad news for the government. More than three thousand Pamol workers are today unemployed and living in permanent fear, as the fighting between the warring factions rages on. Schools and courts in the region have been closed for almost two years and it is increasingly obvious that the Yaoundé government has lost control of certain parts of the two English-speaking regions.

But it is not only Pamol’s closure that is causing the government nightmares. The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), one of the country’s major employers, is also going through a rough patch. Some of its factories have closed shop, while the fighters have deliberately set some of its infrastructure ablaze as part of their economic sabotage campaign. Malende, a small town located some 6 km from Muyuka, has witnessed huge unemployment rates. The corporation’s rubber factory was set ablaze sometime last year by some unidentified men and this has hit CDC like a ton of bricks.

In other plantations, many workers have simply deserted. The fighting is disrupting economic activities in those plantations and many workers hold that it is better to quit than be caught up between the devil and the deep blue sea. The fighting, coupled with the derisory salaries the corporation pays to its workers, has made CDC unattractive and this is gradually eroding the government’s tax base.

Similarly, government revenue has taken a nosedive, as the national oil refinery located in the Southwest region is also facing some major challenges. While falling global oil prices are spreading pain and suffering among oil exporters, the declining oil output and constant attempts by Southern Cameroonian fighters to bring down the country’s lone oil refinery are leaving the government in a huge messy economic quandary. The crisis is a true nightmare to this once-upon-a-time oasis of peace. It is indeed a millstone around the government’s neck.

The government is gradually recognizing that declaring a war on its own people has been a big mistake, as the impact of the war is spreading into East Cameroon. With a large influx of internally displaced people into East Cameroon, housing and food have become very expensive in those cities receiving the internally displaced. Douala and Yaounde have been home to most of this internally displaced people and these two cities lack the proper infrastructure to handle such situations.

Declining oil revenues and falling production of some of the country’s major employers like CDC and Pamol implies that the government is heading for a financial disaster. This is exactly what is causing frustration within the government and the frustrations has pushed army soldiers to burn villages and kill young adult males in a reckless campaign that will make reconciliation impossible.

But the bad news is only getting worse by the day. Cameroon’s civil servants are facing the prospect of not receiving their salaries in the months ahead. For now, lecturers at the University of Buea have gone for three months without a salary and they are threatening to go on strike. This is bad news for the government which is cash-strapped and has many crises on its hands.

If well organized, the strike might spread to other sectors of the economy. Cameroon is like a tinder box and any spark could trigger an inferno. Cameroonians are sick and tired of the government’s indifference to their plight and they want to take the bull by the horn. The government’s abusive use of the military and the country’s institutions has been one reason that most frustrated Cameroonians have not been demonstrating, but the mindset is gradually changing as the Diaspora plays a critical role to sensitize those back home.

Meanwhile, as the government pursues its military campaign and rejects all calls for a peaceful and inclusive dialogue, many women in East Cameroon have taken it upon themselves to change things. They are now making the most of a bad situation, as many Southern Cameroonians migrate to East Cameroon to avoid being caught up in the government’s collective punitive expedition. They are using their bodies to bring about that dialogue the government is refusing to hold with Southern Cameroonians in a bid to de-escalate things.

The efforts seem to be paying off as perceptions of who the Southern Cameroonian are changing. When many Southern Cameroonians were fleeing the military’s violent operations in the two English-speaking regions of the country, not many thought they could be useful on the other side of the Mungo. Many had left their villages and cities for places they did not even know. Douala, Bafoussam, Dschang, Yaounde and Edea are some of the cities in which some of these young energetic, but idle internally displaced boys have settled.

Many were helpless when they got to these places. They knew nobody. They have been living rough and accepting whatever nature throws at them. The frustration of abandoning home has been huge and the fear of never returning to their native Ambazonia has be stalking them like a stubborn shadow.

Hunger and the stigma of being considered by their own government as terrorists have been robbing them of their smiles. But this is gradually changing. The smiles are slowly returning, and hunger, considered to be their companion, is gradually migrating to other places.

The Ambazonian has finally found work in East Cameroon. The idle boys, whose biceps and triceps are hanging loosely as if meant for destructive purposes are now fully employed as women in East Cameroon who were undersexed and sex-starved have now found a huge pool of studs who are impregnating them at an unbelievable rate.

In Douala where a huge segment of the male population is suffering from erectile dysfunction and low libido, the women are now looking in the direction of young Ambazonians who are prepared to do whatever comes their way.

Sources in Douala say, the old men do not know what to do with the young Ambazonina whose muscles spell danger to them. The old expiring men whose sex lives are in chaos are scared of these young Ambazonians, especially as the news from the warfront speaks of the bravery and determination of Ambazonians.

While the men are scared of the boys, the women, for their part, are licking their lips and smiling. The women, who have been suffering in silence, are having a never-ending party and this can be seen from the number of women who are carrying distended stomachs.

Our sources say pregnancy rates in cities like Bafoussam, Yaounde and Douala have gone up by 10% and this number is expected to rise as women open up and Ambazonians grow in confidence.

Speaking to a lady in Douala who is happily spotting a pregnancy, she said hers was the kingdom of happiness. She could not hide her glee as her cry for many years has been to be pregnant. An Ambazonian has made her dream to come true and she is now on cloud nine. She now only swears to Ambazonians.

Also, a married woman in Douala told the Cameroon Intelligence Report reporter that her husband had been neglecting his duties and this has been a bone of contention in their home. Before Ambazonians showed up in Douala, there was a lot of fighting in their home.

She added that ever since she met a young helpless Ambazonian, the fighting in their home had reduced.

“I hate the war in the two regions of our country because so many people are being killed. But the fighting out there has brought more peace than war to my family. My husband has been wondering about the sudden change in my life. He does not know he is being helped by an internally displaced person. We are all happy. I get the sex I need and the Ambazonian gets his food and a little money. My husband now sleeps in peace,” she said.

Cameroon is indeed at the crossroads. With elections around the corner and the fighting in the English-speaking regions raging on, it is clear that a disaster is lurking somewhere and before long the country could be transformed into an inferno. The frustration in East Cameroon is also mounting, as many people fall into abject poverty. It is becoming increasingly clear that Mr. Biya is not the man to lead the country to the land of promise. His time is up and there is a consensus around the world that he has overstayed his welcome.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom

4, March 2019

US: Several dead as tornado leaves trail of destruction in Alabama ⁰

At least 22 people, some of them children, died after a tornado swept through Lee County, Alabama on Sunday, and the death toll was expected to rise as rescuers searched through the rubble of destroyed homes, authorities said.

Emergency workers faced a grim night of pulling the dead and injured from the wreckage of homes and businesses.

“The challenge is the sheer volume of the debris where all the homes were located,” Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said in an interview with CNN. “It’s the most I’ve seen that I can recall.”

Storms, including at least one apparent tornado, uprooted trees and destroyed homes in neighboring Georgia, initially knocking out power to 21,000 customers, said Georgia Power spokeswoman Meredith Stone.

That number was reduced by more than half later on Sunday evening, she said. On Twitter, U.S. President Donald Trump urged residents of Alabama and other areas affected by the storms to be “careful and safe.”

“Tornadoes and storms were truly violent and more could be coming,” Trump wrote. “To the families and friends of the victims, and to the injured, God bless you all!”

In Alabama, Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said the death toll could rise. The East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika said in a statement that it was treating more than 40 patients as a result of the tornado and expected to receive more.

Some patients had been sent to other hospitals, it added. Severe weather unleashed one of many possible tornadoes that threatened the Southern United States on Sunday afternoon.

Tornado warnings and watches were in effect for parts of Georgia and Alabama through Sunday evening.

Video footage from the small community of Beauregard in Lee County showed homes reduced to piles of wreckage, felled trees, and debris from blasted buildings scattered across roads.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey warned residents on Twitter that more severe weather might be on the way. She said the state was working to help families who had been affected.

A state of emergency for Alabama, issued on Feb. 23 to deal with flooding, would be extended, she said.

Temperatures falling

Lee County Schools announced on Twitter that campuses in the county would be closed on Monday.

The National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama, said it was sending three survey teams out on Monday to assess damage in Autauga, Macon, Lee and Barbour counties.

“Please stay out of damaged areas so first responders can do their job,” the NWS office said on Twitter.

The storm initially left 17,000 customers without power in Alabama, but crews were able to reduce that number to 6,000 by about 9 p.m. EST on Sunday, said Michael Sznajderman, spokesman for the utility Alabama Power.

As thousands faced a night without power, temperatures looked set to fall to near freezing following the storm.

“Colder air will sweep into the Southeast behind the severe weather with temperatures dropping into the 30s (1 C) southward to central Georgia and across most of Alabama by Monday morning,” AccuWeather meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski said.

“Those without power who rely on electric heat need to find ways to stay warm,” she added.

(REUTERS)

4, March 2019

A Vatican meeting programmed for failure ⁰

Brace yourself. Tomorrow the Vatican begins a public-relations offensive in response to the sex-abuse scandal. Unless I am much mistaken, unfortunately, a public-relations effort is all that we can expect.

If the long-awaited meeting on The Protection of Minors in the Church adheres to the agenda set by the Vatican organizing committee, the event will not restore public confidence in the Catholic hierarchy. On the contrary it is very likely to do further damage to the bishops’ credibility.

The meeting, which draws together the leaders of all the world’s national bishops’ conferences, will last three days. Beyond that, not much can be predicted with any degree of certainty. Some ranking Church officials (including Pope Francis) have cautioned that we cannot expect too much from this meeting; others (including Cardinal Blase Cupich) have predicted that it could be a watershed moment.

In all likelihood the meeting will conclude with a strong statement—one more in a long line of strong statements—that the Church will not tolerate the abuse of the innocent. But the Vatican’s preparations for the meeting, with the careful delineation of subjects that will and will not be discussed, virtually guarantee that the meeting will not address the key elements of the scandal, unless some bishops deliberately break away from the carefully orchestrated program and demand a more substantive conversation. Cardinals Burke and Brandmüller plead for that sort of bold action in their last-minute appeal to the bishops who will participate in the Vatican conference.

Particularly in the United States, where the scandals of last summer outraged loyal Catholics, the results of another failed Vatican initiative could be disastrous. Bear in mind that the American bishops were poised to take action last November, to hold themselves accountable for negligence and to investigate the sources of the scandal, until their initiatives were tabled by a directive from Rome. Yet nothing on the set agenda for this 3-day meeting addresses the initiatives that the American bishops had planned to adopt.

In fact there are clear indications that the Vatican public-relations team wants to downplay American concerns. An article on the official Vatican News site, previewing the meeting, lists the stages in the universal Church’s response to the scandal without even mentioning the American bishops’ debates in 2002 or their adoption of the Dallas Charter. If any American Catholics hope that the meeting will help Vatican officials to learn from the American experience, those hopes will be dashed by a look at the prepared agenda.

Conspicuously missing from the program is any major address by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the chairman of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. It was shocking that Cardinal O’Malley was not included in the preparatory commission for the event; it is still more astonishing that he is not listed among the featured speakers.

But there is an odd sort of consistency here. Look through the web site created for this week’s meeting , and search for any mention of the commission that Cardinal O’Malley chairs. The organizers barely acknowledge the existence of this papal commission, and make no mention of the commission’s recommendations.

During the first day of the meeting, the topics for the two major presentations by ranking prelates are “Smell of the sheep” and “Church as field hospital.” Both of those titles are phrases made popular by Pope Francis; neither is particularly related to the sex-abuse scandal. On the second day, cardinals will speak on “collegiality” and “synodality.” Again, the topics are dear to the Pope, but there is no clear connection to the sex-abuse scandal.

Far more important, however, are the topics that are not on the agenda. Barring a change in plans, there will not be any discussion of:

homosexual influence within the clergy;
why the Vatican has eased penalties on abusive priests;
why the Pope himself has promoted bishops accused of covering up—and in some cases actively engaging in—sexual abuse;
canonical structures to hold bishops accountable for negligence;
how Theodore McCarrick rose to ecclesiastical influence, and who protected him.

In short, if the Vatican organizers have their way, the meeting will not discuss the issues that must be resolved if the Church is finally to resolve the scandal. The Vatican speaks of transparency, but on the eve of the meeting, organizers refused to answer direct questions about the status of a Vatican official who has been credibly accused of abuse. The organizers speak of accountability, but will not agree to look into the actions of Vatican officials who covered up for McCarrick.

Understand this: The purpose of the meeting that opens at the Vatican tomorrow is not to begin a serious inquiry into the causes of the sex-abuse scandal. It is to prevent a serious inquiry into the causes of the scandal. Now the question is: Will it succeed?

Source: Catholic Culture.Org

4, March 2019

Government official kidnapped in Southern Cameroons ⁰

The Northwest regional chief of Cameroon’s Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection was kidnapped early Sunday by “unidentified gunmen” in Bamenda, Cameroon’s largest Anglophone city, local authorities said.

“The regional chief, Mr. Henry Awah was abducted alongside his wife by unknown gunmen. We are still trying to locate their whereabouts and secure their safe release,” a government official who asked not to be named told said.

Awah is among about six government officials that have been kidnapped in the Northwest, one of the two troubled English-speaking regions of Cameroon, since the armed conflict started in 2017.

Early last year, two top government officials were abducted in the restive region and were later declared “missing” by the government.

Kidnappings have become rampant in the two troubled Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest where armed separatists are fighting to secede from largely French-speaking Cameroon and create a new nation they called “Ambazonia”.

The United Nations estimates that at least 430,000 people in Cameroon have been displaced internally by the conflict.

Xinhuanet

4, March 2019

Cameroon army said to massacre several Southern Cameroons civilians ⁰

About 10 people were killed and several others injured early Friday in three separate localities in Northwest, one of the two troubled English-speaking regions of Cameroon, local sources said.

“Three civilians were killed in Ntem, three others were shot in Mbaw and four boys who were apparently traveling to Nigeria were also shot dead. All the three villages are neighbors. Some of those killed are women,” a local resident, who asked not to be named revealed.

There were conflicting reports of who committed the killings. Locals claimed that they were shot by government forces but the army said they were armed separatists killed in their hideouts.

“The military identified their hideouts and attacked. All of those killed have been terrorizing the people in the areas. Several others were injured and they escaped,” a military source, who also opted for anonymity, said.

On Thursday, one soldier and one armed separatist were killed when separatists attacked army camps in the localities of Mbiame and Bafut of Northwest, according to the army.

Since November 2017, government forces have been clashing with armed separatist forces who want the two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest to secede from the largely French-speaking nation and form a new country called “Ambazonia.”

Xinhua

3, March 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Young Southern Cameroonians find work on the other side of the Mungo ⁰

When many Southern Cameroonians were fleeing the military’s violent operations in the two English-speaking regions of the country, not many thought they could be useful on the other side of the Mungo.

Many had left their villages and cities for places they did not even know. Douala, Bafoussam, Dschang, Yaounde and Edea are some of the cities in which some of these young energetic, but idle internally displaced boys have settled.

Hunger and the stigma of being considered by their own government as terrorists have been robbing them of their smiles.

But this is gradually changing. The smiles are slowly returning, and hunger, considered to be their companion, is gradually migrating to other places.

The Ambazonian has finally found work in La Republique. Like Manyu people will say, if you don’t want to lose your kingdom, don’t have a daughter. The idle boys, whose biceps and triceps are hanging loosely as if meant for destructive purposes are now fully employed as women in East Cameroon who were undersexed and sex-starved have now found a huge pool of studs who are impregnating them at an unbelievable rate.

Sources in Douala say, the old men do not know what to do with the young Anvazonians whose muscles spell danger to them. The old expiring men whose sex lives are in chaos are scared of these young Ambazonians, especially as the news from the warfront speaks of the bravery and determination of Ambazonians.

While the men are scared of the boys, the women, for their part, are licking their lips and smiling . The women, who have been suffering in silence, are having a never-ending party and this can be seen from the number of women who are carrying distended stomachs.

Our sources say pregnancy rates in cities like Bafoussam, Yaounde and Douala have gone up by 10% and this number is expected to rise as women open up and Ambazonians grow in confidence.

She added that ever since she met a young helpless Ambazonian, the fighting in their home had reduced.

For more on this interesting story, check the Cameroon Intelligence Report as the Group Chairman, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, has promised to bring a smile to your faces through a detailed report on this.

3, March 2019

US: Sanders attacks Trump at campaign launch ⁰

At his first rally for the US 2020 presidential bid, Senator Bernie Sanders promised to defeat Donald Trump, calling him “the most dangerous president in modern American history,” in New York City on Saturday, March 2.

Back to his native neighborhood, Sanders was cheered by a crowd at Brooklyn College, where he studied for a year. Greeted with chanting and banners reading his name, the senator criticized Trump’s approach to immigration.

Sanders contrasted his spare upbringing with Trump’s privileged youth as the son of a New York real estate developer.

“I did not come from a family that gave me a $200,000 allowance every year beginning at the age of three.” Sanders said. “I did not have a father who gave me millions of dollars to build luxury skyscrapers, casinos and country clubs,” Sanders added in another dig at Trump.

The first weekend on the campaign trail signaled Sanders’ emphasis on expanding his support among minority voters, who he struggled to connect with during his 2016 campaign.

The twin rallies over the weekend also served as a reminder to Democrats of his ability to generate grassroots enthusiasm. During his 2016 campaign,Sanders frequently held big rallies with thousands of supporters, matching Trump’s ability to capture attention and generate large crowds.

Sanders was an outsider candidate three years ago. But with his massive political network, muscular fundraising capacity and resilient message, he is now a frontrunner. Sanders already has shown his fundraising ability this time around, as the campaign said on Tuesday he had raised about $10 million in the first week. But he also has faced new challenges – three of his top media strategists during the 2016 campaign split with Sanders this week over creative differences.

He promised that his campaign would say “loudly and clearly that the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, hatred and lies.”

On Sunday, Sanders heads to Selma, Alabama, to mark the anniversary of the 1965 clash known as “Bloody Sunday” and will also visit Chicago, where he graduated from college and was active in civil rights protests.

Over the next few weeks, his campaign said, Sanders will travel to states with early nominating contests, including Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada before returning to his hometown of Burlington, Vermont, for a formal campaign launch.

(Source: Agencies)

3, March 2019

Barcelona defeats Real Madrid for 2nd time in four days ⁰

La liga leaders Barcelona, have registered another El Calsico victory, beating Real Madrid 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Barcelona’s players celebrate their win at the end of the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on March 2, 2019. (AFP)

The Catalan giants had humiliated Los Balncos 4 days ago at Bernabeu in the Copa del Ray semis, and were looking for another triumph at Real’s home turf on Saturday Night.

Ernesto Valverde’s men managed to break the dead-lock when Ivan Rakitic lifted the ball over the Real’s keeper, 26 minutes into the match.

The league leaders held-on to the advantage, and with the full 3-points, temporarily moved 10 points clear of 2nd placed Atletico Madrid at the La Liga summit.

3, March 2019

Douala: Biya donates 50,000 euros cash to traders ⁰

President Paul Biya made a “cash donation” of 32.5 million CFA francs, 50,000 euros, to traders of a market in Douala ravaged by fire in February, state owned radio and television reported.

“The Head of State, HE Paul Biya, offers 32.5 million CFA francs to the traders of the Congo Market in Douala, whose shops were ravaged by fire on February 24,” said Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV, on social networks.

“The cash donation was given to the beneficiaries by (the Minister of Territorial Administration), Paul Atanga Nji,” continues CRTV on Twitter.

In Cameroon, where Paul Biya, 86, has been president for 36 years, presidential donations are common deep within the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

3, March 2019

The Judgement of the Federal High Court of Abuja: Unmasking Another International Conspiracy ⁰

HAIL THE RULE OF LAW

The judgment of the Nigeria Federal High Court in Abuja on March 1, 2019, declaring illegal and unconstitutional, the abduction and deportation to Cameroun of the President of the Interim Government of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, members of the Interim Government and several Southern Cameroons refugees carries significant symbolic weight.

The judgment has comprehensively determined the legal status of the abductees which was in controversy since Cameroun characterized them as terrorists on the account of alleged crimes committed against Cameroun from the territory of Nigeria; so, the Isa Tchiroma and the Court-martial alleged. The Federal High Court of Abuja Nigeria on the territory of which the crimes alleged in the court-martial were allegedly committed has decided that they are persons who were legally in the territory of Nigeria as refugees under the protection of international conventional law at the time of their abduction and deportation. They were not therefore terrorists nor did their presence and activities constitute terrorism to warrant their being characterized as terrorists to warrant abduction and deportation to face a court-martial. Even if they were terrorists, international law still outlawed the abduction and deportation without compliance with the municipal and international rule of law.

This judicial determination settles a key issue in the subsequent case brought against the victims by Cameroun, the state to which they were deported. The failure of the court-martial in Cameroun where the abductees are forcefully subjected over their objections, to take judicial notice of the Judgment of the Abuja Federal High Court will have bilateral relations and multilateral treaty obligations consequences on the two countries, in the short and long term. Nigeria and Cameroun are state parties to the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees and its Additional Protocol 1967. Both countries are state parties to the OAU 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa which came into force in 1974.

The refugee problem globally and in Africa is a matter of significant international emergency, if not a humanitarian crisis. Without the existing multilateral treaty regime to manage this humanitarian crisis, millions, of the world’s vulnerable refugee population will be pursued across international boundaries and slaughtered by the murderous regimes and criminal squads from whom they fled in the search for protection. International law mandates state parties to the Refugee Convention to open their frontiers to allow refugees fleeing from wars, genocide, crimes against humanity and other life-threatening conditions to their lives to provide them protection. International law outlaws the abduction, deportation, rendition or the refoulement of persons who have sought refugee status to the countries from which they fled. Once the status of refugees is sought or obtained, the person concerned becomes a ward of international law under the Refugee Convention and its Additional Protocol. State Parties to the Refugee Convention are mandated to ensure compliance and indeed are obligated to submit periodic reports on compliance with their treaty obligations under the convention. Nigeria and Cameroun had a multilateral obligation to ensure that the refugee status of the abductees in Nigeria was respected and protected. Their mandate and responsibility are to the international community, since the 1951 Refugee Convention has near world wide membership. By engaging in criminal conduct to abduct and deport the victims to face a court-martial that applies the death penalty to Cameroun, Nigeria and Cameroun betrayed, violated and endangered the multilateral treaty regime and a protected international human rights value system.

The Federal High Court Judgment provided an opportunity to Nigeria to explain to the world, the rationale and legality of the abductions. It is significant that Nigeria did not convince the court that the abduction and deportation was informed by any compellable reasons justifiable in municipal and /or international law. Nigeria did not convince the court of any legally justified reason to violate with impunity the Nigeria Federal Constitution (1969), its multilateral treaty obligations under the UN Refugee Convention and its Additional Protocol, the African Convention, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Rome Statute. There is no compelling reason to explain why Nigeria mortgaged its reputation, its influence in Africa and its claims to lead and represent Africa as a world power at the UN Security Council to fulfil the dictatorial and criminal proclivities of a regime baying for the blood of millions of Southern Cameroonians. Hundreds of thousands of Southern Cameroonians have been deported by Cameroun from their ancestral home which are systematically torched as a deliberate government policy as senior military commanders and civilian government officials have admitted, across the border with Nigeria. The victims who at a great risk of a genocide sought international protections within the territory of Nigeria are living under continuing threat of abduction and assassination, after Nigeria provided support to Cameroun to pursue the commission of international crimes against them in the territory of Nigeria.

The answer as to what endeared President Mohammadu Buhari to place Nigeria at the centre of an unfolding genocide, rather than acting as a facilitator of negotiations and peace may not be answered in this one critical historic judgment. Yet the judgment has the merit of laying an enduring foundation for answers to be provided within the compelling injunction of history. The truth, it is said, will never die with those who thought they could imprison it with sheer political chicanery and stealth transborder corrupt operations. Truth is as stubborn as a rock. Nigeria and Cameroun are aware, and this is important, that the underlying cause of the war declared by Paul Biya as a proxy of France, are the resources within the territory of the Southern Cameroons. These minerals are the umbilical cord to the perennial Nigeria misadventure that has devasted the Niger Delta, its ecosystem, maritime resources, economy and human health. Time will reveal if there are a convergence of economic and hegemonic interests by the known yet, invisible political god fathers enforcing the genocide using Nigeria and Cameroun proxies.

I learnt from my years as a lead counsel at the Special Court for Sierra Lone, in the case of the Revolutionary United from for Sierra Leone (RUF)-Morris Kallon that minerals are the curse of Africa. That is why Central Africa Republic has never been at peace since independence despite its mineral rich capabilities. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one case in point; so also, Burundi where abundant mineral resources have attracted the interest and wrath of neo-colonial economic and natural resource predators.

The bazaar auctioning of the Southern Cameroons at independence as my late friend Dr Bate Besong stated, or the Mc McLeod slave deal, as the father of Ambazonia Fon Gorgi Dinka described it, was intended to silence the liberating ambition of Ambazonia patriots. For the record, the slave and bazaar dealers did not know that Ambassbay from which Ambazonia derived its name, stood watch over the liberating spirit of its Ambazonia offspring. Ambassbay is a natural environment for the sharks in the Ambazonia sea as opposed to the neighbouring sea which is inhabited by “crayfish”. Those with a good sense of aquatic life know that a shark is not an ordinary fish, surely not a crayfish. And this is where the difference lies.

This judgment of the Abuja Federal High Court conveys an underlying message to the abductors that the abduction of Southern Cameroons leaders and citizens will have consequences that may potentially threaten peace and security in the Gulf of Guinea. That Nigeria has become a key ally of the state actor that declared the war of choice that have the capacity of igniting a conflagration in the Gulf of Guinea affecting its own citizens and interests on both sides of the borders, is a matter of profound concern.

The judgment is a municipal judgment on compliance by Nigeria of its multilateral treaty and constitutional obligations. Finding that Nigeria violated its municipal laws and treaty obligations, is an important contribution to international law. This judgment therefore must be served on the United Nations Secretariat, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, all the permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council through their permanent representations in New York, all ECOWAS state parties through their diplomatic representations in Abuja, the EU state parties present in Brussels, the AU Commission, and give wide publicity.

This judgment negates the charge by Cameroun that the abductees were and are terrorists. Nigeria did not make this charge before and during the hearing. Nigeria should be concerned that persons found to be refugees by its own judiciary are facing a court-martial based on international and municipal violations of its own government. With this judgment, the blood of the abductees and other Southern Cameroonians will lay on the hands of Nigeria should they be further held in violation of this judgment or should they be executed pursuant to the court-martial.

International law mandates that any offence committed on the territory of Nigeria can be investigated and prosecuted by Nigeria failing which Nigeria can send the refugees to a third country willing to accept them but not to the country from which they fled and sought refuge in Nigeria. Will Nigeria submit itself to a court-martial in Cameroun to provide evidence of acts alleged in the charges before the court-martial that were allegedly committed in Nigeria? Does Nigeria recognize a court-martial for civilians which is international human rights jurisprudence has characterised as torture and thus illegal? Does Nigeria by the abductions give legal approval to the crime of abduction which criminalised under the Rome Statute which Nigeria is a state party? Is abduction of civilians not one of the crimes alleged against Boko Haram in which hundreds of thousands of Nigerian civilians have lost their lives? The Abuja High Court trial was an occasion for Nigeria to prove that abduction is legal when conducted by a state actor but illegal when carried out by non-state actors. Nigeria failed to prove this or even convince the court that this crime may be legal under such or other circumstances.

Nigeria under President Mohammadu Buhari tends to disobey court orders and indeed disobeyed the order of the Federal High Court in Abuja made by Justice Gabriel Kolawole dated December 2, 2016 ordering the release of Ibrahim el Zazaky the leader the Shiite Muslim Movement who was abducted by the DSS on December 13, 2015. The DSS alleged that he was detained at his own request for protection. The Judge was unpersuaded on the grounds that protective custody was unknown to law or National Security Agencies Act establishing the DSS. Since December 29, 2015, Colonel Abubakar Malami former National Security Adviser of President Goodluck Jonathan has remained in jail despite court orders for his release.

However, in a suit brought by a constitutional lawyer Johnmary Jideobi praying the court to void the SAN of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami for professional misconduct for advising the Federal Government to disrespect court orders, the Attorney General refused being held accountable for advising the Federal Government to disrespect court orders and that he was not informed about the detentions and so his advice was never sought in the cases. The Attorney General argued in his defence that in cases where his advice was sought, he advised, and the Federal Government complied with court orders. He cited the release on bail of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu the leader of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) and that of the survivals of an attack on an uncompleted house in Abuja which was stormed and murdered by some operatives of the National Intelligence Services after the Nigeria Human Rights Commission ordered that victims and their dependents be compensated.

This defence by the attorney therefore begs the questions, if he was never informed how then did, he enters appearance to defend the illegal actions of the Nigeria Government?

Africa, and African leaders should hail the Judgment of the Federal High Court of Nigeria in Abuja and pressurise Nigeria and Cameroun to execute it without delay. This judgment protects the municipal and international protections of refugees afforded by multilateral treaties and municipal constitutional provisions. The international multilateral treaty regime has been tested and proved to be critical in checking the excesses and exactions of the world refugee crisis and the humanitarian calamity that is rocking the conscience of humanity. In their imposed inhuman dungeons Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the Ambazonia abductees represent the face of humanity at risk. This judgment protects that human value represented by Sisiku Ayuk Tabe. African leaders and the international community should applaud this judgment and pressurise Nigeria and Cameroun to obey and execute it.

This judgment should be a shock reminder to everyone, the powerful and the weak, that a refugee is a protected ward of humanity and the legal regimes emplaced to protect him or her attest to this fact. Abducting and deporting refugees to be court-martialled or placing them in harm’s way tantamount to driving a sword on the collective conscience of humanity. This should not be allowed to happen without consequences.

I have a message for those responsible for the abduction and court-martial of civilian victims. Respecting this judgment may be the only opportunity for them to avoid placing their own poisoned chalices to their own lips. Babatoura Ahmadou with the use of terror pursued nationalists who sought refuge in foreign lands but died a refugee himself in solitude in distant Senegal. The refugee status he imposed on others and pursued, abducted and killed or assassinated them was the status that protected and sustained him until he died. In 1968, Joseph Desire Mobutu otherwise called Mobutu Sese Seko lured and murdered Pierre Mulele over strong world-wide appeals and condemnation. Mobutu died a miserable refugee in Morocco. The extensive empire he acquired through, murder, looting and plundering the mineral resources of his country are in ruins. The blood of the thousands he slaughtered to keep himself in eternal power still haunts the memory of him. His countrymen and women are even traumatised, turning his extensive empire into the memorial for his innocent victims.

This recorded history may already have extended a hand of invitation to the actors in the theatre of criminality and violations that the Federal High Court High Court in Abuja addressed in this judgment. Whether they will on their own volition abide by this judgment, is not known to me. However, this judgment is addressed to the collective conscience of Humanity represented by the multilateral treaty regime which the court found was violated. The multilateral treaty regime must demonstrate that it has teeth and that it must not condone or encourage the impunity of state violators of their treaty obligations, lest it wrongly encourages non-state actors. Nigeria itself has a refugee problem in far and distant lands, including Cameroun. It will be unfortunate if Nigerians allow their government to determine their fate through the legitimisation of the violations found in this judgment.

I wish to conclude by addressing a few words to Ambazonians who should be strategizing on how to rely on this judgment to highlight their predicament worldwide where ever they find themselves. I am appalled by how much social media activism and sideshows are distracting them from following the rapidly evolving events that may determine their fate yet again while they are asleep or self-destructing in search of power. While internal squabbles must be addressed, that cannot override rallying behind the Interim Government that instructed the lawyers working on this and other cases to raise the profile of the cases to the highest levers of international intervention. While not trivialising the complaints or matters which some components of the struggle may hold dear to their hearts, and I will not and never get involved in such squabbles, I strongly advise all Ambazonians, to henceforth recognize that the Abuja abduction of Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and others and their deportation to Cameroun requires a strong international legal intervention. It is a crime against the Rome Statute which Nigeria is a state party. The unwritten underpinning of the Judgment indeed has this implication. It has violated the UN multilateral treaty regime and that of the AU.

Social media activism alone will not get this judgment executed, enforced. It will not rely on the judgment to pursue all international crimes and violations in which hundreds and thousands of civilians are systematically exterminated and civilian settlements, places of worships and hospitals are torched and reduced to rubbles. It is therefore advisable to support the IG to move quickly to fulfil these tasks while other weighty issues are internally reviewed and quickly redressed without the intension of rocking the boat for the sake of power. Protracted disagreement empowers adversaries. Clearly established areas of agreement should be identified, and prioritised and collective action sought to attain the position outcomes while perennial disagreements struggle for institutional solutions. What cannot wait even for a minute are contributions intended for the collective good, the protection of victims, refugees, vulnerable categories and preventive and protective strategies.

By Chief Charles A. Taku