The 85 year-old President Paul Biya has appointed Ernest Nkwandze as interim Divisional Officer for the Batibo constituency in Momo Division following the abduction of Namata Marcel Diteng on February the 11^th by unknown gunmen.  Ernest Nkwandze was installed on February 14, 2018 by the North-West Governor, Adolphe Lélé Lafrique.

The governor reportedly held a working session with the traditional authorities and security officials of the Batibo district and pleaded with the chiefs as well as the population to work in collaboration with the security forces by providing them reliable information in the search of the sub-prefect.

The sub-prefect of Batibo, Namata Marcel Diteng was abducted with his driver in the morning of February 11, 2018 by unidentified men. So far a massive search is continuing to find them.

By Sama Ernest with files from CIN

Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, on Wednesday, February 13, 2018, celebrated his 85th birthday with very expensive cakes, even as the country and its economy continue their onward march to the bottom of the abyss. The Yaoundé strong man cut the huge cake in the presence of his wife while onlookers at the presidency cheered him on.

Mr. Biya who has been declared either critically sick or dead used the occasion to prove that he was still hale and hearty, and was still in command of things in the country.  The 85 – year-old dictator has been allowing his actions to shut up his critics who have been saying that he was either on life support or dead.

The dictator’s birthday has been celebrated with pump and pageantry at a time when the country is dealing with Boko Haram insurgency in the north, rebels in the east and Southern Cameroons separatists in the country’s English-speaking regions.

However, opponents of the dictator point out that the picture used to support the assertion that Mr. Biya celebrated his birthday was photo-shopped, arguing that Mr. Biya and his government are used to manipulating Cameroonians.

It should be recalled that the crisis in the country’s English-speaking regions has lasted for about 15 months despite government efforts to impose peace in the region.

Since October 2016 when the crisis started, more than 500 civilians have been killed, several villages torched by retaliating soldiers, and some 300 uniformed officers have been sent to an early grave.

Despite numerous calls by the international community for inclusive dialogue, Mr. Biya and his government have insisted on using military violence as their tool of choice to end the rebellion.

But their methods have only radicalized most Southern Cameroonian s and spurred the various armed groups into intensifying their attacks on soldiers and Gendarmes as a means of self-defense.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

Cameroon Intelligence Report has been reliably informed that the governor of the South West Region of Cameroon, Bernard Okalia Bilai, has moved out of his official government residence in Buea for fear of his life. The governor and his family have taken up temporal residence in Douala where he now commutes to Buea for work. The man who went on record for calling Anglophones dogs and terrorists had a strange manifestation at his official residence in Buea before he moved out for his safety.

We gathered that the “Odeshi Boys” stormed his residence last month and cautioned him to leave or face death within seven days. The loudmouth self-made macho pleaded for his life and spinelessly complied. The ailing governor who recently suffered a stroke has left his official abode which is currently being occupied by his kitchen staffs, security guards and cleaners.

It’s a massive setback for the government of La Republique as he is regarded within as a colossal figure who has the clout to impart fear and terror on the people in his region. As the resistance in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon continue to gain momentum and direction, his poor health and sudden fear for his life is a grave concern to Yaoundé. Some of his staff say they have noticed a considerable change in the governor’s countenance. “The thug who drilled considerable fear and verbal abuse into us when he was around the office has been suddenly very pleasant” said a worker who elected anonymity.

We must put on record that he was behind the decision to sever internet services in the Anglophone regions in Cameroon. His arrogance and obstinacy has seen him engage in unapologetic public name-calling of Anglophones. Suffering from a stroke, the ever increasing pressure from strong-minded Ambazonians and the encounter last month might just be proving too vicious a pill for this tyrant to swallow.

Sama Ernest in Buea

Since our last publication, Cameroon Concord News has received further information which if believed may incriminate many people in the conspiracy in the abduction of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and members of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. Cameroon Concord News is pleased that persons who have been adversely mentioned in the betrayal of the President and members of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia have taken to the social media and other communication channels to explain themselves or to clear their names. Cameroon Concord News encourages them to pursue this course. Cameroon Concord News similarly encourages Ambazonians to continue to pursue this matter until answers are found and solutions to this matter found.

Cameroon Concord News drew a tentative conclusion relating to the allegations made against Mr Milan Atam but has since received more information that raises more concerns on information posted by him in attempts to clear his name.  Due to public scrutiny this matter should not be swept under the carpet. No lead that may help in piecing together the pieces of the puzzle be ignored. Cameroon Concord News is aware of the treachery and corruption that facilitated the abduction and rendition of our leaders. The alleged involvement of persons who professed their commitment to the freedom of the Republic of Ambazonia; and relied on that to gain and abuse our trust cannot be a subject of a cursory investigation.  Cameroon Concord News therefore, revises and updates its tentative conclusion relating to Mr Milan Atam and others who have been adversely mention.

Like others who have been adversely mentioned, Mr Milan Atam benefits from the presumption of innocence.  Like others, he on his volition put out evidence to support his public statements in attempts to push back on suspicions cast on his conduct prior to, during and after the abductions.  Like in the case of others who have been adversely mentioned, there are critical matters he will have to clarify in relation to his role in the betrayal of the President, members of our Interim Government and the Ambazonia revolution.

Mr Milan Atam provided boarding passes to demonstrate his travel Itinerary from Kigali to Lagos and to Abuja. These boarding passes only establish that he travelled to Lagos and then to Abuja, nothing else.  He needs to factor the information on these boarding passes to the timeline of his activities once he arrived in Abuja vis a vis the timeline of the Abductions.  Mr Milan Atam needs to provide the name of the hotel in which he lodged while in Abuja, the day of the abductions and a record of the persons he contacted by phone or email or other means of communication and the timeline of the said communication contact.

Cameroon Concord News has not ruled out the possibility that some of individuals adversely mentioned might have been brought into the conspiracy to satisfy distinct interests, some in search of power, others for pecuniary motives, informants and others in a more coordinating role. The enemy might have recruited them separately with each playing a distinct role.  Once the crime was consummated they discovered themselves in their respective roles and realized the extensive web of conspiracy and the faces behind it.

Cameroon Concord News has it on good authority that had the captives been executed immediately after abduction as was preplanned, some of actors who had infiltrated the Interim Government and other layers of the Ambazonia revolutionary struggle would have been eliminated as well. The intention of the principal perpetrators of the crimes was to conceal all traces of incriminating evidence pointing to the corrupt cartel of government officials and members of the intelligence units involved.  It is the fear of this possibility of eliminating the conspirators in and out of the IG that probably scared some participants in the joint criminal enterprise to raise an alarm that prompted a change of plan and the rendition of our leaders to French Cameroon instead.  Cameroon Concord News is interested to know if any of the persons adversely mentioned established contact with person(s) within the corridors of power or the intelligence services in French Cameroons, before, during and after the abduction of our leaders.

Cameroon Concord News is aware of public a statement revealing the prospective abduction of the president prior to the holding of the reboot conference intended to delegitimate him and the Interim Government. The maker of that statement Ebenezar Akwanga has been vilified as an accomplice in the abduction and rendition, Cameroon Concord News. It may well be that he was privy to the information or the intelligence about the prospective abduction from accomplices who were seeking to secure his support to delegitimate the President and Interim Government.

The enormity of the crime committed jointly by Nigeria and French Cameroon requires that Mr Akwanga clarifies his statement on this matter.  Because the preplanned decision to execute the President and members of the Interim Government did not materialize, the possibility of the participants in this international crime being investigated and prosecuted at some point in time by any one of the several countries interested in the investigation became apparent. The elaborate corruption scheme and huge amount of money laundered must elicit legitimate concerns and enquiry from international investigation organs.  This is a potential nightmare to each of the coconspirators who hence will never know peace.   After the rendition of our leaders to French Cameroon, therefore the coconspirators seriously considered the possibility of reviving the idea of executing our leaders as opposed to putting to them to trial.  They feared that a trial will be publicly watched by the international press, members of the diplomatic community and international human rights organizations. They feared that a court-martial which they may likely face will be strenuously opposed by the international community because it violates International law. A court-martial will offer a tribune for the captives to lay out the restoration of the independence of the Ambazonia case.  The corrupt crime cartel in Nigeria and French Cameroun will come under scrutiny and the very ebullient Nigerian Press will bring the news to the attention of Nigerians and the world.  This option failed due to the mass demonstrations by Ambazonias at Nigeria Embassies worldwide.  That prompted Nigeria to seek and obtain guarantees from French Cameroun that the execution option was off the table.  Nevertheless, the energetic reaction of Southern Cameroons against Nigeria has exposed the hypocrisy of the Buhari/Osibanjo government who touted themselves are anti-corruption warriors and champions of human rights. Osibanjo on occasion flashed his credentials as a Pastor in support of his alleged intolerance to corruption. Prior to this case, those credentials had been called to question. The huge amount of money involved in this criminal deal, possibly the highest single corruption deal in Nigerian history in which he and Buhari and their intelligence chiefs are involved, will not go down without a thorough investigation as soon as they leave power. Buhari set the tone by investigating the Jonathan administration including his national intelligence adviser who is held in jail despite several court orders for his release.  Our prayer was  that Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and members of the Interim Government remain alive.  If they are, then it is not by the will of their abductors. It will be a victory for the people of Ambazonia ordained by God and God alone.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman and Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

Unrest in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions intensified with arson attacks on schools and a city market as the government vowed to quash a secessionist movement whose leaders are in detention in Nigeria, saying it won’t negotiate with terrorists.

Ten leaders of the separatist movement, which calls the two Anglophone regions the Republic of Ambazonia, have been held in neighboring Nigeria since Jan. 6 at an undisclosed location, according to their Nigerian lawyer, Femi Falana. The crisis began more than a year ago with peaceful protests against the French language’s dominance in courtrooms and schools.

One of the movement’s interim leaders, Bobga Harmony, announced on Facebook “the multiplication of self-defense operations” because the government rejects talks. “We shall continue targeting anti-secessionists as well as burn down schools,” he said.

Source: Bloomberg

It has been revealed that the plight of Southern Cameroonians ever since President Biya declared war on the Anglophone communities is much worse than what the media and Cameroon government representatives portrays. The Ambazonia Secretary of Communication, Hon. Chris Anu was quoted as saying that the genocide in Southern Cameroons is a tragedy that’s worse than anything that Cameroonian and Nigerian media houses have been able to portray about what is happening to these people.

The UN is struggling to cope with the Southern Cameroons refugee crisis in the Cross River State in Nigeria. According to the UN, nearly 40,000 Ambazonians have fled their homeland since troops loyal to the regime in Yaoundé intensified violence on the civilian population committing killings and rapes, making arbitrary arrests, and carrying out mass arson attacks destroying houses in Kembong, Kwa Kwa and Egbekaw.

The UN has not been engaged in any diplomatic effort to resolve the crisis. The Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia have accused the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime of  “ethnic cleansing” of the British Southern Cameroons minority, saying the violent bloodshed in the Manyu and Meme states had shamed the government of the 84 year-old Paul Biya.

Yaoundé and Abuja finalized an agreement early this year which facilitated the arrest of the President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Aayuk Tabe including 10 of his top aides in Nigeria. The UN says thousands of persecuted Southern Cameroonians are expected in both Benue and Cross River States in Nigeria.

Ambazonian refugees have refuse to go back unless their safety can be guaranteed by an international military force and La Republique heeds their demands for an independent state of Southern Cameroons.

Yaoundé brands more than eight million British Southern Cameroonians in the country as “terrorists and immigrants from Nigeria. British Southern Cameroonians are considered as the “most persecuted minority group in Africa.”

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

President Paul Biya has ordered an investigation into what is now called, the business of PB HEV computers. The 84 year old announced a higher education vision two years ago and promised Cameroonian students a computer lap top each for their studies.

Cameroon Concord News has learned that the Yaoundé regime has summoned the boss of the Chinese company that manufactured and delivered the computers for an explanation. Our informant hinted that there is strong evidence of misappropriation of public funds, weighing on Jacques Fame Ndongo, the Minister of Higher Education and his entourage, who traveled to China to fulfill the promise of the head of the State.

The investigation is also targeting the role of some highly placed government stakeholders in the computer acquisition process. The cost of the transaction was 150 billion FCFA, or 300,000 FCFA per computer.  However, Cameroon experts now say instead of computers, students received notebooks and have been auctioning them on the local market for 50,000 and 75,000 FCFA, that is to say, 4 times cheaper than the price budgeted by the Biya regime.

IT students found out that the hard disks have a capacity of 32 instead of 500 GB.  Atsa Etoundi, Director of Computer Systems at the Ministry of Higher Education has been all over the place attempting a justification that “32 GB = 500 GB is a new technology”. Many Cameroonian computer experts have raised a finger against Mr. Etoundi.

The Biya computer affair has been painted in Yaoundé as a massive embezzlement scheme in which several members of the government are involved. Jacques Fame Ndongo is considered one of the pillars of the CPDM crime syndicate. He is sometimes presented as the chairman of President Biya’s speech committee. With a head of state, who intends to hold on to power in a full election year and committed to win back students, there are indications Biya will part ways with Minister Fame Ndongo.

By Rita Akana

A woman in Cameroon has told BBC Pidgin that she was jailed for three months instead of her husband when the military couldn’t find him.

On 1 October, the military came in search of Delphine Dzelafen’s husband. “As I was about to go to bed, I heard a big knock on the door, I thought the door was going to break, I rushed to see, about 10 military men,” she said.

“As I opened the door, they jumped in and started searching, asking, where is he, as they looked for my husband, Njilah Jones. They searched they whole compound, then arrested me.”

She spent the night at Kumba police station and the next morning was blindfolded and taken to prison in Yaoundé.

Her family didn’t know where she was until she was released on 5 December. Barrister Agbor Balla Nkongho, founder of the Centre for Human Right and Democracy is documenting all the detainees connected with the Anglophone crisis.

He said unjustified detention is becoming more common: “This is how many people find themselves in prison in connection with the Anglophone crisis when they have not committed any crime.”

Authorities cracked down on months of protests in Cameroon where the English-speaking minority said they were being discriminated against by the French-speaking majority.

BBC

Minister Victor Mengot’s Manyu Solidarity Assistance Initiative for displaced persons in Manyu is ending in controversy today as the Mamfe population and tribal groups boycotted the event.  The youthful CPDM Member of Government arrived Mamfe, the chief town in Manyu amid growing anger and calls for “Odeshi” strikes on the ceremonial ground.

Minister Mengot was due to issue a policy statement projecting the CPDM crime syndicate as still in charge of affairs in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia but there was no one to listen to him.  A spokesperson for the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia said the boycott action was taken in response to Mr Mengot’s “inaccurate, misinformed, and disrespectful statement” regarding the genocide in Manyu.

Minister Victor Mengot has consciously denied the reality of the occupation and the killings of innocent Southern Cameroons civilians in Manyu by the francophone dominated armed forces.

“As Ambazonians and supporters of the Interim Government, we cannot in good conscience host Minister Mengot, a person who denounces Manyus and prioritises the feelings of our women and children” noted Agbor James Enow a local businessman in Mamfe.

By Judith Fon in Mamfe

With the number of people fleeing English-speaking areas of Cameroon for Nigeria growing, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is increasingly concerned at the plight of women and children among them.

Women and children represent about 80 per cent of the approximately 10,000 refugees registered so far in eastern Nigeria’s Cross River state. Thousands more are among the population of unregistered Cameroonians in neighbouring states.

Some of these are boys and girls who fled to Nigeria alone. Unaccompanied and separated children are particularly affected by difficult access to food and the lack of subsistence opportunities.

UNHCR staff have received numerous reports that children have to work or beg to survive or to help their families. Many children are unable to attend school, as they lack both the time and funds for education. Although schooling in Nigeria is free, there are still some basic costs, such as those for school materials.

UNHCR is working with the Nigerian authorities to assist with the reunification of separated children with their families, to provide unaccompanied children with protection services and to restore the basic right of all children to education. Some children arriving to Nigeria reported to UNHCR that they had been out of school in Cameroon for the whole of the past academic year.

For women, the lack of work combined with the over-stretched reception facilities, creates a higher risk of sexual and gender-based violence, particularly from survival sex. So far, only a limited number of such cases have been recorded, mainly in the Amana community of Cross River state. However, UNHCR is concerned that many more incidents go unreported or are referred only to community elders. Incidents of domestic violence, as well as cases of teenage pregnancies involving girls as young as 14, have also been reported.

In Nigeria’s Benue state, where two school buildings have been reserved by authorities to serve as temporary refugee hosting accommodation, women and their families are forced to sleep inside communal school halls, deprived of private space and the right to family dignity. For them – and for the rest of the population living in temporary tents hastily built next to local residences – sufficient and appropriate shelter is key to ensure adequate registration, systematic aid distribution and reduced protection risks.

UNHCR is currently working with the Nigerian authorities to identify sites away from the border, where the refugees can be hosted according to international standards. We are also establishing offices in the towns of Calabar and Adikpo to better provide assistance and protection to the women and children. Our support includes food, basic relief items, health, and water and sanitation facilities.

UNHCR recognizes the enormous generosity of the Nigerian border communities, opening their doors to Cameroonian refugees. Almost all of those registered reported that they had left their homes because of insecurity and that they would go back only when it’s safe to do so.

Source: The UN Refugee Agency