A separatist leader from the anglophone west of Cameroon went on trial Thursday on charges of”terrorism” and “secession” over unrest that has claimedhundreds of lives.

Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, president of the self-declared “Republic of Ambazonia”, was arrested in neighbouring Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon in January this year along with 46 others.

The military court in the capital Yaounde is trying Ayuk Tabe and nine co-defendants on charges of “condoning and financing terrorism” as well as insurrection and “hostility against the motherland”.

Cameroon’s 22 million people are mainly French-speakers, but around a fifth are English-speaking, concentrated in the Northwest and neighbouring Southwest regions of the West African country.

Resentment at perceived discrimination against anglophones in education, the judiciary and the economy fanned demands for autonomy in 2016.

Then last year, as longtime President Paul Biya refused any concessions, radicals declared the independent state of Ambazonia and took up arms.

Attacks by the secessionists and a crackdown by the authorities have led to the death of at least 500 civilians as well as more than 200 members of the security forces, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).

More than 300,000 people have fled the violence, many of them living hand-to-mouth in the forests, and some across the border into Nigeria. Clashes persist on a near-daily basis. Ayuk Tabe and most of his co-defendants make up the political wing of the separatist movement, advocating negotiation with Yaounde.

The court rejected a demand for Ayuk Tabe’s release from detention in mid-November. The trial was adjourned Thursday to January 10 to allow the defence – comprising more than 80 lawyers – to study the charges. The prosecution plans to call 70 witnesses, according to a list seen by AFP.

Source AFP

On 30 November 2018, neigbouring La Republique du Cameroun’s (LRC) President Paul Biya signed a decree creating the “National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in the North-West and South-West Regions willing to respond favourably to the Head of State’s peace appeal by laying down their arms.” In response, Ambazonia Self-Defence and Restoration Forces Council (ASC/RF), the command and control system prosecuting the war against LRC, issued the following statement:

1. President Paul Biya needs to stop further provocative actions and illegal administration of the territory of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. On 5 January 2018, the Government of la Republique du Cameroun and Nigeria illegally adopted His Excellency Sisiku AyukTabe, President of the Interim Government of Ambazonia-in-exile, plus 9 top cabinet members in Abuja and rendition them to Yaoundé where they remained incommunicado for over 10 months until recently with deteriorating health conditions. Prior to their arrest and rendition, on 30 November 2017, President Biya declared war against the Federal Republique of Ambazonia. During the intervening one year, soldiers, gendarmes and police loyal to President Biya have deliberately killed over 10,000 unarmed civilians, within the internationally recognized territory of Ambazonia. In addition, at least 10,000 college and university students including their lecturers have been illegally arrested and are currently tortured in deplorable prison conditions and underground secret chambers across the territory of LRC. Over 2000 Ambazonians are now maimed; scores of disabled seniors have been roasted to ashes in their homes, and tens publicly beheaded by LRC soldiers as a war tactic to scare Ambazonia to submission. In addition, over 500,000 citizens of Ambazonia are internally displaced. On top of that, close to 200,000 Ambazonians, especially mothers and girls have escaped to Nigeria for refuge. More so, at least 1000 homes have been burnt to ashes in some 140 villages across Ambazonia.
2. The signing of a decree creating NDDRC on the same day that the CAF Executive Committee, which met in Accra, withdrew the hosting of African Cup of Nations (AFCON) from la Republique du Cameroun further undermines international call for La Republique and Ambazonia to negotiate political settlement to end the war. The decree further makes a mockery of the international organizations including the AU, the UN and the EU, foreign governments including the US, the UK, Germany and France; and other interested parties like Amnesty International and International Crisis Group that have urged President Biya to release all those in arrested related to the war, demilitarize Ambazonia and negotiate a lasting solution with the Interim Government of Ambazonia based on the boundaries inherited at independence. Yet it is no surprise that this Committee is created in the middle of a war and without consultation with the Interim Government of Ambazonia and the conditions are not ripe. While the citizens of LRC may be bound by this decree, the extension of the decree to cover Ambazonia violates our territorial integrity, which is further war.

3. We know the spirit of the text and intention behind the decree. The decree is a two-faced machination of the government to pretend they are working to enforce peace and security while in fact they mean evil and this is well known to Ambazonians. The decree is a renewed effort by the Biya regime and its agents and ministries to stage a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process using fake the “Amba boys of Minister Atanga Nji” who have been terrorizing Ambazonia citizens, conducting kidnappings and requesting ransoms as a means of deceiving the international community that our restoration forces are terrorist. And finally, the Biya regime hopes that if successful to film their fake Amba Boys dropping den guns and confessing verbally, they can deceive both the citizens of Ambazonia and the global community that the war is over; thus, finally nailing the coffin of the “Ambazonia Liberation War” once and for all.
4. We want to unequivocally state for the umpteenth times that the decree NDDRC and any action coming from it is baseless and inconsequential. Our President, H.E. Sisiku AyukTabe has categorically said times without numbers that we are out to restore our independence and not to destroy a country or bring pain on our citizens. He said anytime you hear a gunshot, and it is said to be coming from our restoration forces, you should know that it is fake as we do not use weapons or violent tactics against our citizens to achieve our goals. We have one enemy, LRC government military, gendarmes, police and her appointed administrators in our territory.
5. By this evil design, the restoration of the independence of Ambazonia sovereignty now gaining momentum, will be done away with finally. This is a multi-faceted scheme with involvement of agents at various levels and layers. Recently, the Biya government gave usual false hope promises about, inter alia, humanitarian support, road construction projects and construction of burnt homes as an indication of executive authority over the territory of Ambazonia, when he knows fully well, that the Ambazonia Liberation War has long crossed the red lines for federation and decentralization. By now, the Biya regime must know that the Ambazonia Liberation War crossed the orbit of negative return for the quest of sovereignty when Ambazonians shed the blood of freedom on Ambazonia soil. The Commander-in-Chief of Ambazonia Restoration Forces H.E. Sisiku AyukTabe said sovereignty of Ambazonia is nonnegotiable.
6. For two years now, especially since January 2018, we have been staging peaceful protest marches and sit-in home strikes to press across the globe our demand for the freedom of our revered President Sisiku AyukTabe, nine members of his cabinet and scores of others in detention since the crisis started in late 2016 and morphed into a war in November 2017. We have not for once resorted to the use of terror tactics. This is not about to change. We therefore reject any form of violence or use of terror tactics in our name.
7. The bait here is to initiate some very alarming disruption of public peace and terrorization of Ambazonia citizens and residents in the name of the “Amba Boys,” LRC sponsored criminal gangs and armed merchants, in order to reach their goals. This evil design of linguistic and foreigner cleansing in our name is plotted to be of a magnitude and proportions as to sufficiently frighten the public and international community so that they will avoid anything about Restoration Forces like ebola plague. In the thinking of the Biya regime, such inhumane and barbaric actions like the Pinyin and Bali massacre will swing public opinion against us and push Ambazonia citizens into another half a century of slavery and servitude under the dominant French Cameroun government. The plots by the security forces have thickened to carry out series of attacks of such a large scale and proportions similar to the dreaded terrorist group Boko Haram, starting from the course of our peaceful activities using their agents within. In that way, the Biya regime hope to associate the self-defence to protect our citizens and their property with violence, and from there, the security forces will take it from there and escalate it to the scale and scope they desire.

8. In conclusion, the Ambazonia Restoration Forces is not and should not be held responsible for any breech of peace or violence that will result from any false-flag plots. We will continue to employ all lawful, legal, defence and constitutional means as we have done throughout these two years of LRC-perpetrated terrorist activities to achieve our goals and would neither be coerced nor blackmailed into submission or surrender. Our escalating and timely self-defense activities will continue as planned and in our ways without fear of intimidation. Rather than take risk to conduct any activity in Ambazonia that will only escalate the war and thereby further shed innocent blood, the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council and Interim Government urge any person, who so ever and especially from the Biya regime, to stay clear Ambazonia territory until such time when conditions become conducive to visit or conduct business. Ambazonia vehemently rejects President Biya decree creating the “National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee;” our Restoration Forces remain on hair trigger alert and continue to defend our citizens and homeland against any illegal occupation and foreign invasion.

Our chief intelligence officer in the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons has hinted that there are numerous mines laid everywhere on the way to Bali and towards Wum.  A Francophone soldier was reportedly killed as he attempted planting a mine in Mfuni in Manyu.

Recently, four Ambazonian women were killed after stepping on a mine planted on the highway towards Batibo. Ambazonian commanders say Cameroon government soldiers have planted several anti-personnel mines in several Southern Cameroons districts in the last three months.

Engaged in long battles with Ambazonian Restoration Forces, the French Cameroun army has turned to landmines to block entry to areas where they operate. A Cameroon government army spokesperson in Bamenda, the chief city of the Northern Zone who confirmed the planting of new mines by Cameroon government army soldiers, said “Mines are only intended to cause harm to the Ambazonian fighters.”

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government through the Ambazonia Defense Council said in a statement that mines only kill or injure civilians – children, women and non-combatants. The Francophone dominated government in Yaounde import landmines and other weapons from European countries particularly France.

The Ambazonian Interim Government has identified the need for a public awareness campaign to inform people, particularly children, about the risks of mines planted by Francophone soldiers.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

President Paul Biya said on Friday that a committee has been created to disarm fighters of terror group Boko Haram and armed separatists and to help with their reintegration into civil life.

“The committee shall be responsible for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in the Northwest and Southwest regions willing to response favorably to the Head of State’s peace appeal by laying down their arms.” Biya said in a statement that was released Friday evening.

According to the 85-year old president, the committee dubbed National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) will take appropriate measures to collect and destroy weapons, munitions and explosives captured from the separatist and Boko Haram fighters.

The committee will provide the ex-fighters with better means of livelihood, he said.

“(The committee will) facilitate the reintegration of ex-fighters particularly by organizing, training and providing them with tools and means of production and assistance for the creation of income generating activities” Biya said.

Boko Haram has killed nearly 2,500 Cameroonians between 2014 and 2017, according to Cameroon’s defense ministry. On Wednesday, two Boko Haram suicide bombers detonated in a busy market in Amchide of the Cameroon’s Far North region, 29 people were injured, according to the national channel CRTV.

Fighting is still intense in two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest where more than 430,000 people have been displaced internally according to the United Nations. Armed separatists are seeking to secede from the Francophone-majority Cameroon and create a new Anglophone nation called “Ambazonia.”

In early November, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration said “many” armed separatists have surrendered and asked to be reintegrated into society. Separatists said the minister’s declaration was “fake” and insisted those who surrendered were “not fighters.”

Xinhua

Cameroon has reactivated village militias on its northern border with Nigeria after twin suicide bombings Wednesday wounded 29 people. Authorities say the bombers were Boko Haram terrorists who crossed over from Nigeria. It is hoped the armed locals can prevent further attacks.

A group of 200 young men, drawn from 20 villages around the town of Amchide, sing a song about initiation into the local militia. In the lyrics, they vow to defend their communities from all intruders who would disturb the peace they had enjoyed for the past five months.

That peace was shaken on Wednesday when two suicide bombers attacked a food market in Amchide, wounding 29 people,nine of them critically. The women bombers — the only ones killed — are suspected of having crossed over from the neighboring Nigerian town of Banki.

Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of this far northern region of Cameroon, which borders Nigeria., said the bombings prompted him to reactivate the village militias, known as self-defense groups.

He advised people to be extremely vigilant. He said Boko Haram fighters and suicide bombers may want to infiltrate at this time of year when people are traveling between Nigeria and Cameroon to buy goods in preparation for end-of-year feasts.

Twenty-nine-year-old Cameroonian businesswoman Rouga Amina said she barely escaped death when debris from the bombings hit her left leg.

She said she now feels the pain Boko Haram victims have gone through. With Boko Haram’s unpredictability, she said death is very near and pain very likely.

Suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers last attacked Amchide in July when three blew themselves up, wounding five civilians.

Cameroon reopened most of its border with Nigeria in January, five years after it was closed due to Boko Haram attacks.

Rigobert Galdima, leader of an Amchide militia, said the self-defense groups were disbanded when attacks waned, but they don’t want further suffering inflicted on their people.

He said they are ready to help stop suicide bombers and fighters from coming to their villages. But he added that it is not an easy task because most self-defense groups don’t get paid and lack training and basic communication tools.

In addition, he said some are also traumatized when their family members and houses are targeted by Boko Haram supporters.

The militias live on donations and what support they can get from Cameroon’s government. In recent years, authorities arrested some militia members suspected of being Boko Haram supporters.

Rosaline Ngwesse, a politics and crime analyst at the University of Yaounde, said the militias are vital if Boko Haram is to be defeated. But she said those who seek to join them should be thoroughly screened.

“They must be reliable and competent, diligent, assiduous, available and willing to work,” she said. They are supposed to know the rules and regulations, ethics and deontology [moral thory related to duties and rights]. If they are not, then there is a problem somewhere.”

Cameroon and Nigeria recently said they have reduced Boko Haram’s ability to organize large-scale attacks, with none reported for the past year. But they also warned the terrorist group was restocking its ranks by recruiting vulnerable young people.

VOA

At least 29 people were wounded Wednesday when a women bomber blew herself up in a border town in Cameroon’s Far North, a region frequently hit by Boko Haram jihadists, security sources said.

But a second bomber was shot dead by troops deployed in the town before she could detonate her explosives, the source said.

“A suicide bomber blew herself up this morning in Amchide” on the Nigerian border, a regional security source said, speaking on condition of anonymity and giving a toll of 29 wounded.

The attack occurred on market day when the town was filling up with early-morning shoppers, a local civil defence group official said. “There were many people hurt, I saw about 20,” he said. “After the attack, the market emptied.”

A once-bustling trade hub, in 2014 Amchide was thrust into the forefront of a major battle between Cameroonian troops and Boko Haram militants who held the nearby Nigerian town of Banki for several months. The violence forced most residents to flee the town, although some have now begun to return.

After pushing back Boko Haram, the Cameroonian army dug long trenches around Amchide and even inside the town to foil new incursions by the jihadists, with Wednesday’s attack the first in many months.

AFP

Ten Cameroonian separatist leaders extradited from Nigeria earlier this year will face trial next month on terrorism charges that could lead to the death penalty, one of their lawyers said after a court hearing on Tuesday.

The accused include Julius Ayuk Tabe, the leader of an Anglophone separatist movement in western Cameroon fighting to break away from the Francophone-dominated central government.

Hundreds of people, including civilians, separatist fighters and Cameroonian security agents, have been killed in the past year’s violence, which has emerged as the most serious security threat to President Paul Biya, in power for 36 years.

“Ten charges have been brought against them, including terrorism, advocating terrorism, secession, civil war and revolution,” lawyer Christopher Ndong told Reuters after the charges were read out at the capital Yaounde’s military court.

The trial is scheduled to begin on Dec. 6, Ndong added.

Tabe and his co-defendants were among 47 Anglophone Cameroonians arrested in Nigeria and deported to Cameroon in January. The remaining 37 suspects are still being held by the authorities and have not been charged, said Ndong.

Cameroon’s government spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

A separatist insurgency gained pace in 2017 following a government crackdown on peaceful protests by Anglophones, who complain of being marginalized by the French-speaking majority.

Violence from both sides of the conflict intensified this year, forcing thousands of civilians to seek refuge in Francophone regions.

Biya, re-elected to a seventh term in October, said in his inauguration speech last month the separatists must lay down their arms or face the full force of the law. Cameroon regularly sentences people to death but has not carried out an execution in years.

Reuters