Monthly Archives: November 2021

Nigeria’s National Security Adviser says Ambazonia crisis enjoying global sympathy

13, November 2021

Nigeria’s National Security Adviser says Ambazonia crisis enjoying global sympathy 0

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (Retd), has said that separatist agitations in some parts of the West African region were gaining global attention due to international sympathy.

Monguno stated this in paper he presented at the Nigeria International Partnership Forum in Paris, France, titled: “Combating Persistent and Emerging Threats to Regional Peace and Security in Africa: Pivotal Role of Nigeria”.

He said most of Nigeria’s contemporary security problems are influenced or heightened by external threat factors in the global environment.

Therefore, “We are also exploring the feasibility of setting up a border security force in the foreseeable future to secure Nigeria’s border areas,” he said.

He added: “The activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Nigeria as well as the activities of Ambazonian separatists in Cameroon have attracted international sympathy mainly from sympathisers in the Diaspora.

“It should however be noted that the Nigerian government has never prevented the freedom of expression or agitation; however, the violent confrontation and engagement of security forces by these groups usually translates into fatalities and other grave consequences.

“While we continue to extend dialogue as the main medium for resolving conflicts in the country, the Nigerian government will continue to discharge its responsibility of ensuring the safety of lives and property against any criminal activity by IPOB or any separatist group.”

He expressed concern that rapid population growth which puts tremendous pressure on states to compete for energy, water and food to support life and economic and societal development; a growing cyber awakening in which perceptions of inequality and other grievances are heightened, leading to social tension and conflicts; a continuation of ideological extremism, driven by religious or ethnic differences; and climate change that could prompt shifts in agricultural patterns and food production are likely to trigger humanitarian crises, if not appropriately addressed.

“All these global security challenges have the potential to undermine national security and by implication national development,” he said.

The NSA said Africa’s porous borders remain a major source of concern as this has aided smuggling of prohibited items and irregular migration as well as other transnational organised crimes.

On present efforts, he said the Nigeria Customs Service has developed the E- Customs strategy while the Nigeria Immigrations Service has equally put in place an Integrated Border Management System (IBMS).

He noted that both strategies place premium on employing technology to complement other existing physical border security arrangements.

Source: Gistmaster

Tataw Brandy killing in Bamenda: Vice President Yerima statement

13, November 2021

Tataw Brandy killing in Bamenda: Vice President Yerima statement 0

Southern Cameroons Interim Government Statement on the Assassination of Tataw Brandy in Bamenda

Yesterday, Friday 12 November 2021, an armed rogue, Fagha Alain, employed by the crime syndicate in Yaoundé, opened fire on a vehicle at New Road Nkwen Bamenda, Northern Zone of Ambazonia, killing a seven-year-old toddler, Tataw Brandy. Brandy was on her way from school at about 1 pm local time, and she had a long and abundant life ahead of her. At this challenging time, the thoughts, and prayers of the Ambazonian people are with young Brandy’s family.

French Cameroun has a well-attested history, returning to the 1970s of assassinating children in the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia). Yesterday’s shocking murder follows a long line of other cowardly assassinations by Biya’s hired assassins going around in army fatigues. This latest execution comes barely one month after a Gendarme shot dead 5-year-old Caro Ndialle in Buea.

Yesterday’s shooting has brought to light the truth about last year’s assassination of school children in Kumba and several other cases of the slaying of children in our Homeland by Mr Biya’s terrorist colonial troops. Biya and his tribal regime lack the courage to take responsibility for their cruel crimes in each case, and deception is their stock in trade.

The Interim Government of Ambazonian condemns these war crimes in the strongest terms possible. We extend profound gratitude to the people of Bamenda who came out in their numbers and protested forcefully in the face of this barbarism and intimidation. When writing this statement, three other Southern Cameroonians were attacked by trigger-happy La Republique du Cameroun forces as they marched to the colonial governor’s office with the lifeless body of Tataw Brandy. The Interim Government of Ambazonia is calling on the people of the Northern Zone of Ambazonia to continue with demonstrations and protests over the coming days.

As a government, our position on schools has not changed. We have publicly observed that only parents can determine if the conditions are conducive for Southern Cameroons children to go to school. The Interim Government wants children to study in a safe and peaceful environment, not where Biya’s marauding assassins put children in harm’s way.

French Cameroun is a nation that has no respect for human lives and international norms. But we must continue our fight for freedom and justice with the belief that we shall overcome. We must remain bold and not succumb to intimidation or fear.

Thank you, God bless the little soul of Brandy Tataw. God Bless You All.

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Tears flow in Bamenda as police kills young girl

12, November 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Tears flow in Bamenda as police kills young girl 0

There was fear and apprehension at New Road Mile 2 Nkwen in Bamenda today Friday, when a Francophone policeman shot dead a 7 year-old girl Tataw Brandy who was heading home from school. The killing of the girl sparked off heavy protest as youths in the area gave the patrol team a hot chase, forcing the police to abandon their vehicle and flee the scene.

A witness said the police officers were stopping drivers of vehicles and demanding CFA 500 at a checkpoint in the Dreamlike Bar area and one of the officers reportedly opened fire and a stray bullet hit the young girl.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the killing of the girl sparked off serious protest by an angry mob that chased after the policemen who fired randomly to scare people away, and they escaped but abandoned their patrol vehicle.

Today’s incident brings some sad memories of the killing of a five-year-old girl by another Francophone gendarmerie officer in Buea last month.

By Fon Lawrence

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Mob justice on the rise in Cameroon’s restive regions

12, November 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Mob justice on the rise in Cameroon’s restive regions 0

As the Yaounde government demonstrates that it is incapable of providing security and justice to all Cameroonians, communities and vigilante groups are now taking matters into their hands and the outcomes are not heart-warming.

Over the last four years, cases of jungle justice in the two English-speaking regions of the country have been on the rise as rogue elements seek to make hay while the sun shines as the fighting in the country’s two English-speaking regions continues to escalate.

The country’s security forces are also to blame for some of the violence playing out in the regions and their crimes against the frustrated fatigued civilians makes it hard for the population to report any incidents, especially when the uniformed forces are known to outsource their guns and uniforms for commissions.

As the security  situation in the two English-speaking regions remains fussy, civilians have opted to take matters into their hands to deal with many young men who have become a menace to their own communities because of the Southern Cameroons crisis.

This was what happened to a young man in Bambui in the Northwest region of Cameroon. The population was sick and tired of his threats and had to take the law into its hands.

It beat and burned the young man  alive as a sign of frustration and a message to would-be criminals who would want to use the crisis to exploit the suffering masses.

The suspect, who had been tried and sentenced by the “court of jungle justice” was accused of robbing many residents of his neighborhood, especially students.

He joined his ancestors after a crowd mobilised and caught up with him near the National Polytechnic in Bambui.

The young man was operating on a slippery terrain and he forgot that in Southern Cameroons, justice delayed is justice denied and that was how he was summarily killed through mob justice.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda

Buea University: More scandals are emerging

11, November 2021

Buea University: More scandals are emerging 0

Many people thought the sex-for-marks scandal that shook the University of Buea to its core a few months ago was the only scar on the University’s face. But it is emerging that the sex scandal, engineered by Prof. Agborbechem and Prof. Molua, is simply the tip of a massive iceberg that is gradually melting and will certainly drown the university if higher education authorities do not step in to hem in the forces of evil that are determined to undermine efforts at making the University of Buea a real citadel of learning.

While Agborbechem and Ernest Molua are keeping a low profile, it must be pointed out that these dangerous elements will continue to spread pain and suffering among female students if they are allowed to operate within the same environment when the rules are still the same.

Agborbechem, in particular, is a satyr who sees casual sex as a ritual and last week he was caught looking at a young female student lustfully not far from the University. Agborbechem is still in the business of women and it is clear that he will not be retiring anytime soon from this nasty trade. He may be a dormant vulcano for now, but it will not be long for him to erupt, and  when he erupts, the young girls will feel his wrath and frustration resulting from months of abstinence.

If the fear of being caught in a hotel or in his office is still stalking him like a stubborn shadow, the learned professor is not relenting and is still having visual sex. It will not be long before he returns to his old ways. Old habits diehard. His sex syndicate is still active and it will stop at nothing to give the university a bad name.

But today, the enemies of the University of Buea are not Ernest Molua and Peter Agborbechem. The University of Buea is facing a new challenge and this seems to be receiving the blessing of some university dons who are putting their parochial interest above the university’s best interest.

The political science department has decided to organize a closed-door master’s degree defense for some student fradulently admitted into the department’s Ph.D programme without a master’s degree.

This appears to be a face-saving measure given that the department of political science has come under massive pressure from the university’s senate.

The Dean of the Faculty of Laws and Political Science had been instructed to regularize the situation of 13 students admitted into the Ph.D. program under the Department of Political Science and Comparative Politics without meeting the requirements.

The Dean had reportedly asked the Head of the political science  department to dismiss  students admitted into the Ph.D. without a master’s degree in line with the university’s policies.

But Dr. Abangma, who seems to have a vested interest in the fake defense and who also doubles as the  president of SYNES-UB, has stood his ground, opting instead to organize illegal  defenses for the students.

The University of Buea is really facing major challenges. Under the new vice chancellor, things are really falling apart. His best efforts are not delivering the best results. There are many crime syndicates within the system and this is posing a huge challenge to university authorities.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files

Silicon Mountain Conference 2021 calls on young tech-savvy Cameroonians to develop talent

11, November 2021

Silicon Mountain Conference 2021 calls on young tech-savvy Cameroonians to develop talent 0

The Silicon Mountain Conference, which went under way on Tuesday in the Southwest regional headquarters of Buea, is urging young tech-savvy Southern Cameroonians to develop their tech knowledge by learning from their peers.

On Thursday, which is day three of the week-long event  which is holding at the Higher Institute of Management Studies-HIMS in Buea, various speakers called on the young participants to leverage their talent to help develop technology product which can help transform society and create jobs.

At the various panel discussions, participants were encouraged  to join tech communities which will enable them to learn from peers and get hands-on skills they may not acquire from their schools or universities.

Among the participants is Zito Financial which  is also promoting the use of online payment methods for those venturing into online businesses so as to make financial transactions easier.

It should be recalled that prior to the Southern Cameroons Crisis, Silicon Mountain was a fixture in Buea, but had to relocate its activities to the Littoral region when the conflict was at its peak.

But the aspiring Buea tech sector is back as the conflict in the two English-speaking regions of the country shows signs of slowing down.

It is generally held that Buea will be a major tech hub in the years ahead as many young tech startups relocate to the city.

By Stephen Mukake in Buea

There are reasons why Cameroonians hate President Biya and the CPDM

11, November 2021

There are reasons why Cameroonians hate President Biya and the CPDM 0

Millions of both French and Southern Cameroonians have known no other president than Mr. Paul Biya. More than half of Cameroon’s population were born or raised under Biya’s nearly 40-year authoritarian rule, and they have been hit hardest by the nation’s ever growing poverty and corruption and faltering education system.

Today, millions of Cameroonians are deeply worried about what could happen if Biya passes from the scene. That possibility was on every dinner table in Cameroon when the 88-year-old Biya underwent a major surgery in Geneva, Switzerland and was gone for a month and he has now spent several months in Yaoundé out of the public eye after returning home.

Interestingly, even with Biya in Yaoundé, Cameroonians still feel that they are a hair’s breadth away from complete and total chaos as many embittered by what they say is the Biya regime’s constant denial of democracy.

Now, many fear the unknown could be worse.  The senseless war in Southern Cameroons that has claimed the lives of some 10,000 Cameroonians, with army soldiers accounting for close to 35% of the deaths, a divided nation, numerous Boko Haram incursions, high rates of poverty and criminality in all major towns and cities, but with Biya gone there will be looting and killing on the streets.

Fear of the unknown is a safeguard that the Biya regime and his ruling CPDM party have intentionally cultivated. Biya has long prevented any political figure in the country (even from within his own party) from gaining enough prominence to stand as an alternative and he has rejected calls to name a vice president who could be seen as a successor.

Correspondingly, his ruling CPDM crime syndicate regularly dishes out warnings that without Biya, the way is open to power for political adventurism.

Biya reportedly told one of his top aides recently that only Jesus Christ knows who will be his successor confirming claims at home and abroad that democracy would never determine who comes after him.

Since his return from Geneva and with age greatly telling on him, Biya has not said whether he will run for a new term in presidential elections due in 2025 — but top CPDM officials said recently that they want him to and they will be appealing for a national consensus for Biya to seek a new term in 2025.

But Cameroonians’ uncertainty over the future only underscores how deeply Biya and his ruling CPDM party are entrenched in their lives.

The former prime minister, who became president when his predecessor Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned in 1982, has significantly destroyed every developmental structure that he inherited and he has auctioned the country to corrupt French investors. The result in recent years has been high rates of poverty, criminality and homosexuality.

To be sure, wealth in Cameroon has gone only to a small group of Francophone political elite from Biya’s Beti Ewondo tribe, while the Cameroonian middle class has been crushed under high inflation and other woes.

Frankly speaking, the generation raised under Mr. Biya has had a tough time even entering the economy. Unemployment has hovered for more than three decades pushing many young people to migrate to Europe and North America.  Democratic practices and freedoms have regressed and opposition parties are little more than figureheads set up by the Biya regime.

In Biya’s 39 years as head of state, elections are routinely rigged or fraught with irregularities and gendarmerie brutality is common. Security agencies hold wide powers and top military officials in the police, gendarmerie and the army also have considerable political influence. The result is a generation that is deeply frustrated, and while millions of Cameroonian young men and women will grumble about Biya, at the same time Biya is the only one they can turn to.

Over the last decade, the politically docile French speaking Cameroonians have been protesting in Douala and Yaoundé camping out to press demands for jobs and to air personal grievances. However, many of these protests don’t criticize Biya, but rather appeal to him for help. Some of the suffering Francophone protesters shout slogans accusing Biya’s close aides within the regime and the ruling CPDM party of stripping authority from Biya amid his illness and old age.

Indeed, Biya is the only one who can save the Cameroonian youth from their predicaments. But he’s own family is crumbling right in front of him! He has all along been isolated from the Cameroonian people and at 88, he can no longer make a difference.

Isolation from their leaders is something French speaking Cameroonians have never complained about but have always blamed Southern Cameroonians for raising the issue about Biya’s prolonged absence in the country.  Today, the growing sense of an administration out of touch with people’s problems is eroding Biya’s image. If economic and social reforms don’t reach the people, then those policies have not succeeded. The Beti media gurus on Vision 4 are very much unaware of this assertion.

In Biya’s Cameroon, you can bang your head against the door for years seeking a government job, and still lose out to an ill-equipped rival who has better CPDM connections.  We of the Concord Group understand that this is the widespread feeling among the young in Cameroon that a job depends on who you know, not what you know.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Next retreat to be held in Dublin, Ireland

11, November 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Next retreat to be held in Dublin, Ireland 0

After the Toronto retreat, which received the approval of millions of Cameroonians, especially Southern Cameroonians in their majority, there are already discussions on the next retreat which will hold in Dublin, Ireland.

According to a source close to the organizers, Dublin has been chosen to be the next venue of the next retreat because of its location and  membership of the European Union and the seat of Greenclee which brokered the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland which ended the IRA military action in the country.

Currently, negotiations are underway to ensure that all factions get represented at the retreat which will help the different factions to further narrow their differences so as to deal with the Yaounde government which organizers sayp must demonstrate good faith and must immediately engage in confidence-building endeavors.

Among the endeavors organizers say will reduce mistrust and set the country to the path to recovery are:

– the release of all those arrested within the framework of all those arrested and are being held in jails across the country;

– the engagement of talks with the leaders of the revolution who are currently in jail in Yaounde;

-the gradual withdrawal of soldiers from areas considered to be safe;

-the approval of dual nationality; and

-the granting of a general amnesty to all those who have been directly or indirectly involved in the struggle.

It is believed that these confidence-building measures could defuse tensions and improve the atmosphere which will make it possible for even extremist groups to participate in future talks whose agenda should include secession.

However, opponents of secession hold that no country will willingly let any group or groups  to walk away from the country as such a move could trigger a movement that might cause the country to implode.

But proponents of federalism hold that the onus is on the government to demonstrate good faith and convince separatists that the country could still be federally united through significant reforms that may lay the hyper-centralized system to rest.

The organizers of the retreat are open to all ideas and they hold that only talks and negotiations can help the country to find a sustainable solution that will bring peace to the entire sub-region.

A source close to the Presidency has told the Cameroon Concord News Group that there is a huge appetite for peace within government circles, as the country’s leaders are scared that the prolonged fighting might  disintegrate a union which initially seemed to have been made in Heaven.

The use of both English and French in Cameroon has given the country a unique position on the African continent, but bad faith and greed have made this rich cultural asset to look more like an apple of discord whereas, originally, it was designed to make the country the apple of all eyes.

As the conflict prolongs, the number of casualties has continued to rise steadily. Many explosions have been going off in many parts of Southern Cameroons and this is spreading dead and destruction across the two English-speaking regions of the country.

Yesterday in Buea, two explosions went off, with one going off in the University of Buea, resulting in eleven students being injured. Those injured are currently in hospitals in Buea and are reported to be in stable condition.

Speaking to journalists in Buea on Wednesday after the explosion went off, the university’s vice chancellor, Prof. Horace Ngomo Manga, expressed his disappointment with the situation, underscoring that it was unfortunate that some terrorists could bring their terror to a university campus where young students only want to acquire knowledge to serve the country in the future.

He pointed out that university authorities were not in the know of those who had committed such a heinous act, stressing that there would be investigations to determine those responsible for the crime.

He added that security within the university would be beefed up, stressing that school resumption and other activities would continue regardless of attempts by terrorists to strike fear in the minds of staff and students.

It should be recalled that over the last three months, many soldiers and a few civilians have been killed through the use improvised explosive devices (IEDs); a situation which has caused the government to rethink its military strategy.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in the UK and Joachim Arrey in Canada

Buea attacks: Fako Ghost fighters claim responsibility for the taxi blast

10, November 2021

Buea attacks: Fako Ghost fighters claim responsibility for the taxi blast 0

An improvised explosive device went off Monday in Cameroon’s war-torn English-speaking region of Southwest, killing one person, according to the police.

Buea Ghost fighters, an armed separatist group, claimed responsibility for the blast which happened in the town of Buea.

A separatist fighter disguised as a passenger stopped a taxi and then dropped the explosive device in the vehicle which exploded and killed the taxi driver identified as Feugang Baude-Laire.

A senior policeman at the scene said the explosion, which sent passersby running, was unusual in the relatively peaceful town.

“This sort of attack is very rare in Buea,” he said.

Separatist fighters said that they were targeting taxi drivers who disobey the order to stay home Mondays.

Every Monday, residents in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest stay home following “ghost town” or sit-at-home order, a form of civil disobedience which separatist leaders instituted since 2017.

Separatist insurgents are seeking to form a breakaway state called “Ambazonia” in the two English-speaking regions. They have been clashing with government forces since 2017.

Source: Xinhuanet

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Cameroon Concord News Group strongly condemns the explosion in the University of Buea

10, November 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Cameroon Concord News Group strongly condemns the explosion in the University of Buea 0

The Cameroon Concord News Group has just learned of the explosion in one of the University of Buea’s Amphitheater. 

According to the Cameroon Concord News Group’s permanent correspondent in Buea, the explosion has injured some students and there is total panic in the University.

University of Buea authorities have not yet issued a release regarding this act of terrorism which targets young, ambitious, and determined Cameroonians who simply want to acquire knowledge in order to have the tools that will enable them to serve their country in the future.

The Cameroon Concord News Group Board of Directors has met in an extraordinary session and has roundly condemned such unprovoked acts of violence and intimidation which are intended to “roll back our youths and children into the dark ages.”

“We have been duly informed that a bomb has gone off in the University of Buea, Cameroon, wounding some students. This is an act of violence and intimidation that is unnecessary. We cannot be working very hard to roll back our own children and people into the dark ages,” the Board Chairman said

“We are headed in the wrong direction. Schools are places where students acquire knowledge to serve their nation and a place where terrorists should not be using to express their political views. While the Cameroon Concord News Group agrees that Southern Cameroonians have faced marginalization over the last 60 years in Cameroon, it cannot allow people who act under the cover of darkness to intimidate children and students. Without knowledge, no country will develop. We cannot bring this terror into our schools. The Cameroon Concord News Group will use its news platforms to bring those who are hurting students and children in any part of Southern Cameroons to shame. Our schools are not battlefields, they are sacred locations for the acquisition of knowledge,” the Board Chairman said.

 “Those who are behind this senseless and shameful act must put an end to any other plans they may have. The University of Buea is the hope of millions of Southern Cameroonians and destroying its property or hurting its students borders on the absurd. The University authorities and government officials should take appropriate measures to ensure that such acts of barbarism do not get imported into our universities,” a visibly annoyed Board Chairman stressed.

“This act of barbarism in our university is uncalled for. There are talks currently under way to bring together all the factions involved in the Southern Cameroons crisis and the Toronto retreat was very much welcome by millions of Cameroonians who strongly believe that such forums should be organized to ensure that the different factions talk to each other with a view to finding a long-lasting solution to the Southern Cameroons crisis,” the Board Chairman said.

“Now that talks are underway, it is preposterous to continue with the killing of innocent civilians. It is wrong to kill our own people and it is even stupid to intimidate and hurt students who are the future of our country. Southern Cameroonians are hurting themselves by bringing bombs to schools and universities. The talks that are underway should serve as an opportunity for all and sundry to express their views so that the final documents will bear the opinions of all the factions. We should be encouraging our children to go to school at this time after more than four years of education black-out. No nation ever develops when its people are not properly educated,”  the Board Chairman said. 

Meanwhile, another explosive hit a taxi in Buea in the morning, killing the driver. For some time now, bombs have been going off in many parts of Buea, but nobody ever thought such an act could be committed in Cameroon’s citadel of knowledge.

By Isong Asu in London

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