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27, November 2023

Bamenda: Attack on Nigerian actor leaves 5 dead ⁰

At least five people were killed and several others injured in a shooting just before midnight Saturday at a bar in Bamenda, the chief city in the North West region local and security sources said on Sunday.

Nigerian actor Sylvester Madu who is in Cameroon to shoot a movie was the target of the attack that took place in Bamenda.

“Madu was having a drink with other crew members when they (gunmen) arrived and attempted to kidnap him. Security forces were alerted and there was shootout that resulted in the deaths,” a security source in the region said.

The government has blamed separatist fighters who regularly operate in the town for the killings. Some of those who were injured in the raid were rushed to the hospital to receive treatment.

Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions have been experiencing a separatist insurgency since 2017. Separatists want to create an independent nation in the regions.

Source: Xinhuanet

25, November 2023

Ukraine war: Kyiv hit by biggest Russian drone attack since war began ⁰

Russia has launched its biggest drone attack on Kyiv since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year, the city’s mayor has said.

Residents were woken by explosions before dawn on Saturday, and for more than six hours, the booms of Kyiv’s air defences echoed through the city.

There was wave after wave of attacks from the north and east.

Officials said more than 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired at the capital – all but one were shot down.

With Russia’s dwindling missile stocks, Shahed drones are seen as a cheap alternative. They are slower than ballistic missiles and have a distinctive wingspan.

It was a night where the whines of their engines blended with the booms of the city’s air defences.

As ever, even if a missile or drone is intercepted, the falling debris can be lethal too.

There have been no reported deaths from this attack, but at least five people were injured, including an 11-year-old child, Kyiv’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said.

A kindergarten was among the buildings damaged.

Source: BBC

25, November 2023

Influx of Southern Cameroons refugees in Nigeria linked to Ambazonia crisis ⁰

The comptroller of the Taraba State Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Halid Usman Kwa, has asserted that the upsurge in the number of refugees in Taraba State is a direct consequence of the ongoing crisis in the Ambazonian region of neighbouring Cameroon.

During a meeting with Rev. Fr. Anthony Bature, the founder of the Foundation for Peace, Hope, and Conflict Management (FPHCM), Kwa highlighted the social challenges arising from the presence of these refugees in host communities.

According to him: “The influx of refugees in Taraba is due to the Ambazonian crisis in neighbouring Cameroon, specifically in Sardauna, Takum, and Kurmi. The presence of these refugees has reportedly led to social challenges in their host communities.”

Expressing the commitment of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to address the complex issues surrounding migration and the well-being of displaced populations in Taraba State, Kwa emphasised the necessity for collaboration with the Foundation for Peace, Hope, and Conflict Management.

The comptroller shed light on the intricate nature of migration, citing factors such as economic prosperity, safety, conflicts, and natural disasters as major contributors. He underscored the importance of a coordinated effort to navigate these challenges.

Rev. Fr. Anthony Bature echoed the foundation’s dedication to ensuring the safety of migrants and explored avenues for civil society organisations to positively impact the lives of the vulnerable population.

Calling for a robust partnership between FPHCM, NIS, and the government, Bature emphasised the need to address the multifaceted challenges faced by migrants.

Source: Daily Post

25, November 2023

Diocese of Buea: There are reasons why Retired Bishop Bushu and his acolytes should be on a “permanent sabbatical” ⁰

Members of the Clergy of Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Buea are supporting their Local Ordinary, Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi, who is facing social media attacks, which the Clergy dismiss as an unfortunate “smear campaign”.

In a statement issued, Wednesday, November 22, members of the Clergy of Buea Diocese weigh in on social media posts, including those from Nchumbonga George Lekelefac such as an ongoing apostolic visitation, Seeking Transparency and Accountability: An Examination of Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi’s Leadership, Bishop Michael Bibi, The Father, The Bishop, The Rock On Which Buea Diocese Is Built, The Truth and nothing but the truth about Buea Diocese under Bishop Michael Bibi, and Ex-cardination of suspended priests of Buea Diocese: a solution?

“For the past few months, much has been said and written about the Diocese of Buea and her Chief Shepherd, Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi,” the Catholic Priests say.

They express their support for Bishop Bibi, saying, “We, the Priests of the Presbyterium of Buea, have watched with dismay at the smear campaign orchestrated by some individuals and even some members of the presbyterium and groups on social media against the person of the Bishop and the work he is doing in the Diocese of Buea which is already yielding fruits in abundance.”

“Unfortunately, some of these publications have had a negative impact on the faith of many of our Christians,” the members of the Clergy of the Cameroonian Diocese lament.

They continue, “At this point, we want, as a Presbyterium, to affirm and declare our support for the Bishop, and in making this affirmation, dissociate ourselves from all those seeking to manipulate and mislead the people of God in the Church of Buea.”

“As Priests serving in the Diocese of Buea, we remain united with the Bishop as he continues to lead this Diocese with grace, compassion and integrity,” they further say.

The members of the Clergy express their awareness of the challenges involved in shepherding the people of God. They say, “The role of a Bishop is fundamental in the spiritual life of every Diocese and yet, pastoring a Diocese is a challenge and a huge responsibility before God and man.”

They call upon the people of God in Buea Diocese to “remain calm and united in the face of these attacks, because we are confident of the words of Jesus in Mt. 16:18, that the gates of the underworld shall never prevail over the Church.”

All Consecrated persons and the Laity need to “stand in support of our Bishop so that he may realize his vision for this Diocese, for the greater Glory of God, and for our Salvation,” they say.

The Clergy laud the 52-year-old Catholic Bishop who has been at the helm of Buea Diocese since December 2019, first as Apostolic Administrator, and since February 2021, as the Local Ordinary.

“My Lord Bishop, we admire your composure in the face of all these attacks and we encourage you to remain calm, confident that God is your strength,” the Catholic Priests implore.

As Apostolic Administrator of Buea, Bishop Bibi made administrative changes in the Diocese-owned Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB), leading to controversy among the members of the institution’s Council. The Vatican clarified his mandate as the Apostolic Administrator of the Cameroonian Diocese.

In September this year, Bishop Bibi was honored by the country’s NewsWatch Newspaper for his “exceptional skills” in leading the people of God and managing the property of his Episcopal See.

Earlier, in February 2022, Catholic Bishops in Cameroon’s Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province expressed their “solidarity and communion” with their colleague, Bishop Bibi following social media attacks.

In their collective statement dated 11 February 2022, members of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) said their “hearts were deeply saddened by the unfortunate turn of events in the Diocese of Buea, characterized by gross disrespect of the hierarchy of the Church, casting of aspersions on Bishop Michael Bibi.”

Source: aciAfrica

24, November 2023

Dublin: Police arrest 34 as PM says rioters brought ‘shame’ on Ireland ⁰

A night of torched vehicles and shop looting sparked in Dublin after a knife attack outside a school was of an “extraordinary” level of violence unseen in decades, police said Friday.

The violence started when a group broke through a police cordon Thursday in the area where three young children and a women who was caring for them were injured in a knife attack.

Groups went on to torch busses and trams and loot shops in one of Dublin’s most famous throughfares, O’Connell Street.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris told a press conference in the Irish capital on Friday that multiple Irish police officers were injured in a running battle with the group that stormed the crime scene in Dublin on Thursday night.

He said that one officer received a serious injury, with “numerous other members injured” as missiles were thrown at them.

“What we saw last night was an extraordinary outbreak of violence,” Harris said. “These are scenes that we have not seen in decades.”

Harris said “all lines of inquiry” are open to determine the motive for the knife attack.

Harris said 34 people were arrested after “huge destruction” by the “riotous mob” with 13 shops significantly damaged or subjected to looting.

A police cordon was set up around the Irish parliament building, Leinster House, late on Thursday night, amid concerns that the violence could spread.

‘Motivated by hate’

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that protesters who battled police and looted shops were motivated by “hate” and brought “shame on Ireland”.

“Those involved brought shame on Dublin, brought shame on Ireland and brought shame on their families and themselves,” Varadkar told reporters.

For his part, Harris blamed a “complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology” for the disorder.

“We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology, and also then this disruptive tendency engaged in serious violence.”

Harris said calm was restored in the city shortly after midnight.

Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the scenes of disorder were “intolerable” and that a “thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc”.

“We will not tolerate a small number using an appalling incident to spread division,” she said.

Some protesters carried signs reading “Irish Lives Matter” and waved Irish flags through a neighbourhood home to a large immigrant community.

One protester told AFP that “Irish people are being attacked by these scum.”

Ireland has been facing a chronic housing crisis, with the government estimating that there is a deficit of hundreds of thousands of homes for the general population.

Inflated rents, high interest rates and lack of supply create European housing crisis

Widespread dissatisfaction has fed into a backlash against asylum seekers and refugees, and far-right figures have promoted anti-immigration sentiment at rallies and on social media with claims that “Ireland is full”.

Source: AFP

23, November 2023

Ambazonia-La Republique Crisis: UN calls for abducted Bamenyam villagers to be freed ⁰

The United Nations called Thursday for the swift release of at least 10 civilians abducted during a deadly attack this week on a village in Cameroon, which is being blamed on Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces.

Cameroon’s primarily English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions have been gripped by conflict since separatists declared independence in 2017.

That followed decades of grievances over perceived discrimination by the country’s French-speaking majority.

Armed anglophone separatists killed nine villagers early Tuesday in western Cameroon, the scene of seven years of unrest, local officials said.

“We deplore the November 21 attack on Bamenyam market in western Cameroon in which nine civilians were killed. Those responsible must be held to account,” UN rights office spokesman Seif Magango said in a statement.

“Suspected armed separatist fighters from the English-speaking Northwest region stormed the market in the French-speaking Bamboutos area, shooting randomly and setting businesses on fire. They also abducted at least 10 civilians and looted property.

“Attacks against civilians are unacceptable. We call for the prompt release of all those abducted, and for thorough, impartial, and independent investigations into all attacks on civilians with a view to ensuring justice and accountability.”

Cameroon’s state television said the dead included a woman, adding that two security guards were wounded in a gun battle.

Magango noted that it was the second major attack by armed groups this month, after at least 25 civilians were reportedly killed in Egbekaw village in western Cameroon on November 6.

“Thousands of civilians have been killed, injured, or displaced since the crisis began,” he added.

Both the separatists and government forces have been accused of atrocities in the years of fighting.

Armed groups are regularly accused of abducting, killing or injuring civilians whom they accuse of collaborating with Cameroonian authorities.

Security forces are also often accused by international NGOs and the UN of killings and torture against civilians suspected of sympathising with the rebels.

In July, Amnesty International reported that security forces, separatist rebels and ethnic militiamen had committed “atrocities” in the Northwest region, including executions, torture and rape.

President Paul Biya, 90, who has ruled Cameroon with an iron fist for 41 years, has resisted calls for wider autonomy and responded with a crackdown.

The conflict has claimed more than 6,000 lives and forced more than a million people to flee their homes, according to the International Crisis Group.

Source: AFP

23, November 2023

Ambazonia Restoration Forces will emerge victorious against La Republique ⁰

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima says he is confident that Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces will emerge victorious in their journey to Buea and that the French Cameroun regime even after Biya will suffer a decisive defeat.

Dabney Yerima made the remarks in a meeting with members of the Southern Cameroons Department of Foreign Affairs in Den Hague on Tuesday, during which they discussed the latest Ambazonia attack deep inside French Cameroun’s West region.

Yerima hailed the resistance of people in Ground Zero and hinted that support will soon resume from the Southern Cameroons diaspora to Amba fighters in various fronts.

Professor Carlson Anyangwe, for his part, outlined diplomatic efforts and consultations over recent months about possible ways to help Southern Cameroons women and children in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and in the rural areas of the Ambazonian homeland.

Anyangwe said nothing has come out of the Canadian peace initiative and no agreement has been reached between the Francophone government in Yaoundé and the Ambazonia Interim Government leaders in the Maximum Security Prison in Kondengui.

The Den Hague meeting also focused on possible future events in French Cameroun amid speculation that the 90-year-old dictator is on his way out.

By Chi Prudence Asong

23, November 2023

China expands crackdown on mosques outside Xinjiang, Human Rights Watch says ⁰

The Chinese government has expanded its campaign of closing mosques to regions other than Xinjiang, where for years it has been blamed for persecuting Muslim minorities, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday.

Authorities have closed mosques in the northern Ningxia region as well as Gansu province, which are home to large populations of Hui Muslims, as part of a process known officially as “consolidation,” according to the report, which draws on public documents, satellite images and witness testimonies.

Local authorities also have been removing architectural features of mosques to make them look more “Chinese,” part of a campaign by the ruling Communist Party to tighten control over religion and reduce the risk of possible challenges to its rule.

President Xi Jinping in 2016 called for the “Sinicization” of religions, initiating a crackdown that has largely concentrated on the western region of Xinjiang, home to more than 11 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.

A United Nations report last year found China may have committed “crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang, including through its construction of a network of extrajudicial internment camps believed to have held at least 1 million Uyghurs, Huis, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.

Chinese authorities have decommissioned, closed down, demolished or converted mosques for secular use in regions outside Xinjiang as part of a campaign aimed at cracking down on religious expression, according to Human Rights Watch.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately answer faxed questions seeking comment on the report and its official policies toward Muslim minorities.

One of the first known references to “mosque consolidation” appears in an internal party document from April 2018 that was leaked to U.S. media as part of a trove of documents known as the “Xinjiang Papers.” The file instructed state agencies throughout the country to “strengthen the standardized management of the construction, renovation and expansion of Islamic religious venues” and stressed that “there should not be newly built Islamic venues” in order to “compress the overall number (of mosques).”

“The Chinese government is not ‘consolidating’ mosques as it claims, but closing many down in violation of religious freedom,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch. “The Chinese government’s closure, destruction and repurposing of mosques is part of a systematic effort to curb the practice of Islam in China.”

In Liaoqiao and Chuankou villages in Ningxia, authorities dismantled the domes and minarets of all seven mosques and razed the main buildings of three of them between 2019 and 2021, according to videos and pictures posted online and corroborated with satellite imagery by the group’s researchers.

Additionally, the ablution hall of one mosque was damaged inside, according to videos obtained by the group.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the changes described in the report.

The policy of “consolidating mosques” was also referenced in a March 2018 document issued by the government of Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia. According to the paper, the government wanted to “strictly control the number and scale of religious venues” and called for mosques to adopt “Chinese architecture styles.”

The paper suggested the “integration and combination of mosques” could “solve the problem of too many religious venues.”

In Gansu province, several local governments have detailed efforts to “consolidate” mosques.

In Guanghe County, where the majority of the population is Hui, authorities in 2020 “canceled the registration of 12 mosques, closed down five mosques and improved and consolidated another five,” according to the government’s annual yearbook, referenced in the Human Rights Watch report.

News reports also suggest the Chinese government has closed or altered mosques in other places around the country, occasionally facing public backlash. In May, protesters in Nagu town in southern Yunnan province clashed with police over the planned demolition of a mosque’s dome.

Source: AP

22, November 2023

Ghanaian MP has apologized to Manchester United’s Maguire after mocking him ⁰

A Ghanaian MP has apologised to Manchester United footballer Harry Maguire after mocking him last year.

MP Isaac Adongo was debating the budget when he compared Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia’s economic management to Maguire’s performances on the pitch.

Maguire has come in for heavy criticism from some fans but fellow footballers have come to his defence.

On Tuesday, Mr Adongo said he wanted to correct the record and hailed Maguire as a “transformational footballer”.

He was a “key player” for Manchester United, Mr Adongo said during a budget debate.

But he did not let up in his criticism of Vice-President Bawumia.

“As for our Maguire, he is now at the IMF, with a cup in hand,” he added.

Mr Bawumia is the head of the government’s economic management team as Ghana faces its most severe economic crisis in years.

As government debt has soared, the country had to take a $3bn (£2.4bn) loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In December 2022 inflation in Ghana reached a record 54% but has since fallen to around 35%.

A year ago Mr Adongo compared Mr Bawumia to Harry Maguire, who Mr Adongo said “became the biggest threat at the centre of the Manchester United defence”.

The video of the speech was widely shared on social media.

It came amid a torrent of criticism of the footballer.

England manager Gareth Southgate has condemned the mockery as “ridiculous treatment” and said he’s been “an absolute stalwart” for the team.

Mr Maguire’s mother also defended her son and said the abuse he has faced has been “disgraceful” and “unacceptable”.

Some Ghanaians have been reacting to Mr Adongo’s apology, saying that the Manchester United player has really improved, but the same cannot be said of the managers of the Ghanaian economy.

Others feel such a comparison should not have been made.

According to Mr Adongo, the Ghanaian government has had to increase taxes and tariffs on services as part of the agreement with the IMF.

This caused widespread anger among voters and triggered protests over the rising cost of living and unemployment in the country.

Despite this, Ghana’s governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has selected Mr Bawumia as its candidate for the 2024 elections.

He will be the first Muslim to contest the presidency under the NPP’s banner since multi-party democracy was restored in 1992.

Mr Bawumia has promised to lead a “united and energised” NPP into the election and that it is “the only party that can transform Ghana”.

Source: BBC

22, November 2023

Biya regime receives first shipment of GSK’s Mosquirix malaria vaccine ⁰

Cameroon received its first shipment of Mosquirix malaria vaccines manufactured by British drugmaker GSK Plc late on Tuesday, as the nation struggles with the mosquito-borne disease that kills more than 600,000 each year globally.

A batch of 331,200 doses of the vaccine – also known as RTS,S – was offloaded at Yaounde’s Nsimalen International Airport, making Cameroon the first African country to receive the vaccine after the pilot programmes in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.

Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases, according to the World Health Organization, killing nearly half a million children under the age of five, and accounting for approximately 95% of global malaria cases in 2021.

The initial consignment of vaccines will go to 42 out of 203 health districts in the country, Cameroon’s health minister Manaouda Malachie said.

“We lose many compatriots who die because of this disease. Today, we have a vaccine which comes to add to the panoply of measures already rolled out,” Malachie told reporters at Nsimalen.

Inoculations will begin next month or early next year, according to a health official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

GSK says more than 1.7 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have already received at least one dose of the shot, and that it would be rolled out in another nine malaria-endemic countries, of which Cameroon is one, from early next year.

UNICEF representative Juliette Haenni said it was a historic moment to protect children.

“Children are the most concerned. The ones we are targeting are the six to 24 months old – the most vulnerable,” Haenni said.

The WHO says a second malaria vaccine developed by Britain’s University of Oxford, R21/Matrix-M, will become available by mid-2024.

Source: Reuters