Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yaoundé government sets armed groups against each other ⁰

Noted for its manipulation and vindictiveness, the Yaoundé government, has succeeded to pit Southern Cameroonian armed groups against each other.

Over the last months, various armed groups that are supposed to be fighting against the Yaoundé government, have been at each other’s throat for reasons that are unclear to many observers.

The battles field of the northwest regions has become the graveyard of many young fighters because of internal conflicts and betrayals.

Southern Cameroonian armed groups have been infiltrated and the presence of huge amounts of money has triggered a lot of suspicion and enmity.

While Southern Cameroonians are clearly regretting what is happening, there is a group that is robbing its hand in glee – the Yaoundé government- as the bullets that were meant for army soldiers are now being wasted on fellow fighters due to disagreements and bloated egos.

The government’s plan is carefully being implemented by the country’s Territorial Administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, who is doing everything in his power to demonstrate to his Yaoundé pay masters that he is up to the task.

The chaos playing out in the jungles of the northwest and southwest regions is hurting many and even some on the government side are not happy with the way Southern Cameroonians are currently conducting their war.

Speaking to a Cameroon  Concord News Group correspondent in the Southwest regional capital of Buea on Monday, January 27, 2020, a gendarme officer who is aware of the tricks employed by the government said if the various armed groups did not clean up their mess, the revolution, which is a nightmare to the government, will fizzle out very soon.

The officer, who elected anonymity, said that he was surprised that Southern Cameroonians were not aware of the gimmicks the government was playing.

He stressed that the government was completely overwhelmed and if Southern Cameroonians could put their differences behind them and close ranks, the cash-strapped government would be obliged to head to the negotiating table.

He added that the Southern Cameroons crisis had delivered a massive blow to the government’s liver, making it hard for the desperate regime to be on its two legs.

He pointed out that the country’s economy had been serious hurt by the crisis, adding that the collapse of state corporations such CDC, PAMOL and SONARA which are located in Southern Cameroons had robbed the reckless  government of vital resources.

He said Yaoundé and Douala were shadows of their former self, adding that it was still a miracle that civil servants were receiving their salaries.

He stressed that the months ahead would be challenging, as government revenues keep on drying up, while whatever was still available was being used to buy weapons and to pay desperate soldiers who are longing to go back home, safe and sound.

The gendarme officer added that the government was silently targeting Southern Cameroonian activists, stressing that there was a plan in place to arrest those who lived abroad in case they came to Cameroon.

He advised that activists living abroad should continue sensitizing the world to the humanitarian catastrophe and genocide that are playing out in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

He said that many young men were being recruited into the military and given a three- month training that was grossly adequate to face the fighters in Southern Cameroons.

He stressed that many of them were from the South region and were ill-equipped to deal with the challenge they are asked to overcome.

He said some 2,028 soldiers had lost their lives as a result of the senseless war, adding that the government was doing all it could to ensure that the real figures never get released as this could trigger a violent reaction in East Cameroon.

He urged Cameroon Concord News Group writers to continue doing their job, as it remained the main source of reliable information which was really causing the government a real headache.

“They are confused that the Cameroon Concord News Group is always publishing genuine and disturbing news,” he said, adding that “if they could lay hands on the writers and their senior staff, they would heap a sigh of relief.”

“Cameroon Concord News Group is a real thorn in their side. They dislike the news portal, but they are always heading there to find out what is really happening within government circles. Some of them are in the dark of what is happening both at the Unity Palace and at the Star Building. It is the Cameroon Concord News Group that actually brings them the latest news,” he concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai