Cameroon’s military plans to redeploy troops to its borders with Nigeria and the Central African Republic after an increase in attacks from militants and rebels.

The military said hundreds of Boko Haram fighters are hiding in the bush after last week’s invasion of the Mayo Moskota district on the northern border with Nigeria. The Cameroon government reported several hundred homes were set on fire, leaving thousands homeless.

Joseph Beti Assomo, Cameroon’s defense minister, said President Paul Biya ordered him to convene an emergency security meeting in Yaounde this week to examine ways of stopping the attacks.

Assomo said a resurgence of Boko Haram attacks is causing untold suffering on civilians on the border with Nigeria after a long period of relative peace. He said militias created by civilians are struggling to combat thousands of Islamist extremists who have been crossing to Cameroon from Nigeria since January to commit atrocities on civilians and government troops.

Assomo, who spoke on Tuesday during the top security meeting also attended by police chiefs, said a week hardly goes by without large-scale attacks by the extremists.

Northern border villagers said Cameroon’s military began withdrawing troops when Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram terror group, was declared killed. Nigeria’s government confirms Shekau died in May 2021.

Cameroon’s military denied accusations that troops have abandoned civilians. The military said it has changed its strategy, but the protection of civilians and their property remains a priority.

Meanwhile, the military said the security meeting concluded that Central African Republic rebels fleeing clashes with the U.N. peacekeeping force known as MINUSCA are regularly crossing into eastern Cameroon for supplies. The rebels also abduct civilians for ransom.

Military officials said they have examined ways of fully stopping separatist attacks in Cameroon’s western regions. Separatists have been fighting to carve out an independent English-speaking state from the French majority nation since 2017.

Deben Tchoffo, governor of the Northwest region, said the military is in control of all 34 districts in Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest region, despite separatists attacking civilians and burning public edifices at regular intervals. Many civilians have returned to their villages, and children are returning to schools in huge numbers which, he added, is an indication that current attacks by fighters are like the last kicks of a dying horse.

Cameroon’s military said it will redeploy troops to western regions and the borders with Nigeria and Central African Republic. The government said troops will be deployed to new areas where separatists, terrorists and rebels are attacking, but did not say how many forces will be deployed or redeployed.

In March, 2,500 troops graduated from Cameroon’s military training institutes. The government said it will train 3,000 fresh troops within the next 20 months to protect civilians and their property all over the central African state.

Source: VOA

Six soldiers from the so-called 42 mechanized division were killed when a Boko Haram mine exploded early Monday April 24 2023 in the Mayo-Tsanaga Division.

The attack happened on the Bovongola-Zeleved road.

It comes two weeks after a Boko Haram assault on a military convoy in the same area that left four Cameroon government army soldiers dead.

The Islamist group is based in the Federal Republic of Nigeria but is being tackled by a multinational force, including soldiers from Cameroon.

In the latest attack, two other soldiers were wounded. Yaoundé deployed outdated military helicopters to try and track those responsible soon afterwards.

In the nation’s capital, President Paul Biya was busy celebrating 29 years of a ‘blissful’ marriage to his wife, Chantal Biya, who is noted for her flaming red hair.

By Nelly Epupa with files and additional reporting from Rita Akana and Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Family members of Desmond Ndale Tanteh a 34-year-old missing student have contacted Cameroon Concord News and spoken of the hell of still waiting for news seven days after he disappeared in Bamenda with each passing day becoming harder to bear.

The Catholic University of Bamenda student who is showing symptoms of “hearing loss” from an ongoing therapy has not made contact with his family since leaving Divine Mercy Center at Foncha’s street on Sunday April 16, 2023.

Cameroon Concord News is imploring the Bamenda public to remain vigilant and report any sightings to 677755554 or 677838872.

“It’s very difficult. Its hell,” a family member told Cameroon Concord News. “Not knowing where Desmond is, with his health condition as well, it’s a complete nightmare.”

By Fon Lawrence

One soldier has been killed and three others wounded in an attack by the terrorist group Boko Haram in the Far North region, local and security sources said Monday.

The attack took place overnight into Monday in Zeleved and Krawa-Mafa villages of the region where a military post is located.

“They were heavily armed and came in their numbers. The terrorists burned down houses and stole property. They also abducted two children,” a military official in the region who asked not to be named told Xinhua on the phone.

Some of the militants escaped with wounds during the attack, said the official.

There have been rampant and recurrent raids by Boko Haram on civilian communities in the region in the last two months, according to local authorities.

Source: Xinhuanet

Former Boko Haram fighters and members who return to communities in Cameroon pose a significant security threat to civilians. The lack of effective reintegration increases the chances of former combatants returning to violence, encouraged by the rise in lucrative organised crime, the circulation of illicit weapons and inter-communal conflicts.

The first step in successful reintegration is the screening of defectors. But this process is lacking in Cameroon, where the roles of Boko Haram associates who surrender are not clear. By distinguishing between fighters, hostages, couriers, slaves or logisticians, those who remain radicalised and dangerous, are identified. For example, in Amchidé near the Nigerian border, community sources told ISS Today that former combatants sometimes threatened civilians.

A National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (CNDDR) was created in 2018, but the law establishing it doesn’t mention those kidnapped by Boko Haram. Hostages who escape and return home are often mistaken for ex-combatants. Managers at the Méri disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration centre in northern Cameroon say the facility houses both former hostages and fighters. So, in addition to the legal gaps, the lack of screening makes it difficult to resolve the problem.

Deficiencies in the reintegration process are detrimental to those who leave violent extremist groups. Former associates can face reprisals from Boko Haram’s victims because no prosecutions or reconciliation have taken place to prove their innocence or guilt. For example, many cases were reported of innocent former members being stigmatised in Mayo Moskota.

There is also a lack of clarity around prosecuting Boko Haram fighters, even though the Lake Chad Basin Regional Stabilisation Strategy and international standards cover this. Prosecution is important for reintegration, as it helps counter impunity and allay the fears of Boko Haram’s victims. But since the Méri centre was opened in 2020, no residents have been pardoned, exonerated or convicted of a terrorist act before being reintegrated into the community.

This highlights another problem – the lack of legal harmonisation in Cameroon. The 2014 law that imposes the death penalty on anyone found guilty of, or complicit in, acts of terrorism doesn’t promote reintegration. And the CNDDR decree is silent concerning amnesty or legal proceedings against former fighters.

Infrastructure such as cantonment centres – where returnees stay before being reintegrated – is also lacking. Méri’s secondary prison was transformed into a deradicalisation centre, but despite having space for only 150 residents, it houses over 2 500, according to the CNDDR. It also lacks training materials to facilitate former combatants’ economic integration. A regional cantonment centre should be built in Mémé in the commune of Mora, which has been declared the regional CNDDR headquarters for the Far North.

The lack of infrastructure means that many who leave Boko Haram prefer to integrate directly into communities. In 2021, the communes of Mora, Mayo Moskota, Kolofata, Mokolo, Makari, Waza, Logone-Birni and Fotokol alone were home to 584 former fighters and members. That number has since increased.

Many former combatants and members also live among internally displaced persons in Zamaï. They could become targets for reprisals from Boko Haram victims, or be attacked by insurgents who consider them traitors.

National guidance on reintegrating former members is essential. In 2017, the Far North Region governor encouraged Boko Haram fighters to defect, offering an outreach programme and a three-part protocol involving screening, deradicalisation and reintegration. On returning home, they pledged to abandon all interaction with Boko Haram, swearing on the Koran in the presence of community members and traditional and religious authorities. This initiative fell away when the CNDDR was created, but its achievements and lessons should inform ongoing reintegration processes.

Community sources say over 100 former fighters and members – disillusioned by their treatment at the Méri centre or left unmonitored in communities – have returned to Boko Haram since leader Abubakar Shekau died in 2021. The poor conditions in the Méri centre would also deter many fighters from surrendering.

National guidance on the organised reintegration of former members is essential

In the absence of successful reintegration, terrorism continues in the region. At the same time, armed robbery, hostage-taking and road ambushes are rising. Weapons are circulating, increasing insecurity and fuelling community conflicts. Reintegration is vital to reduce the threat of violent extremism and mitigate the upswing of organised crime linked to the presence of former Boko Haram associates in communities.

A clear process must be defined, including steps, objectives, outcomes and indicators. An inclusive, transitional justice approach should involve local communities, traditional leaders, community-based organisations, the media, researchers and the private sector.

Counter-terrorism legislation must also be harmonised at the national and regional levels. The principles for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration in the Lake Chad Basin Regional Stabilisation Strategy must guide this process.

Source: Defense Web

The Chairman and Editor-In-Chief of the Cameroon Concord News Group has said that an uneasy calm  now prevails in Southern Cameroons but French speaking Cameroonians are living in an unprecedented fear as Biya regime approaches its end.

The Right Hon. Soter Agbaw-Ebai, a Cameroonian Journalist told Cameroon Concord News London Bureau that for the time being, things are quiet in Southern Cameroons.

This calm, according to Agbaw-Ebai, comes as a result of the fact that there is a disconnect between the diaspora and Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero.  

“There is so much fear among French speaking Cameroonians today! The Biya regime is now a thing of the past,” Agbaw-Ebai told Cameroon Concord News London Bureau.

Agbaw-Ebai said that Southern Cameroonians are still steadfast in face of Yaounde’s aggression with ghost town operations.

He added that with the killing of some 3000 Cameroon government army soldiers, the Francophone dominated army seems to have retreated in its violence against the people of Southern Cameroons.        

According to Soter Agbaw-Ebai, Cameroon as a nation is living a different reality today.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Two journalists in northern Cameroon are calling for government protection after witnesses say a mayor publicly threatened to kill them for investigating corruption in road construction contracts. The Cameroon Journalists Trade Union has condemned the threat, which came after the killings in January of two reporters who were outspoken on corruption.

The journalists say Sali Babani, the mayor of Maroua, a city near the northern border with Chad and Nigeria publicly threatened several times this month to kill reporters there.

The Cameroon Journalists Trade Union in a statement April 8 said the mayor threatened freelance reporter Ousman Alh Boubakari for asking about accountability on development projects.

Boubakari had accused the mayor on Facebook of abandoning some road construction projects in Maroua.

Mahamat Hamidou said that during a public ceremony at Kakatare last week, he heard Babani threatened to punish or kill journalists for reporting that some public projects have been abandoned. Hamidou said Cameroon’s government should investigate why the mayor threatened to kill journalists instead of explaining why the road projects have not been completed as the Maroua Council promised.

The journalists’ union said the mayor also threatened to kill Douala-based Channel 2 International’s correspondent, Aminou Alioum.

Alioum and Boubakari said they received several anonymous calls threatening violence if they do not stop critical reports against the mayor.

Alioum told VOA that Boubakari received death threats from Babani for reporting that some roads in Maroua and construction work on the Kakatare junction in the same city have been abandoned. Alioum also said the mayor threatened him for taking pictures of the abandoned projects. He said the death threats from Babani add to other threats and intimidation reporters along Cameroon’s northern border with Chad and Nigeria regularly get from Boko Haram militants.

Babani refused to respond to VOA’s questions on the threats, which journalists also took to the police.

The spokesperson for Cameroon’s police would not comment on the threats, but told VOA it was their duty to protect all citizens.

Alioum and Boubakari said the threats will not stop them from carrying out their work as reporters but joined the journalists’ union in calling for the government to ensure their safety.

Cameroon’s government has not yet commented on the journalists’ plea for protection.

Babani’s threats of violence against the media come less than two months after two journalists were killed in Cameroon.

The mutilated remains of Martinez Zogo, a popular radio announcer and journalist, were found January 22 in Yaoundé.

Police arrested 20 people in connection with the killing, including senior police intelligence officers and a well-known media mogul, Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga.

On his radio program, Zogo had accused Belinga and several government ministers of planning to kill him for his reporting on their alleged corrupt deals.

Radio presenter Jean-Jacques Ola Bebe was also found shot dead on February 2 outside his home in the capital.

Like Zogo, Bebe was an outspoken critic of government corruption.

Source: VOA

Villagers in southern Cameroon are complaining about the destruction of farmland by wild elephants in areas bordering Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and are calling on authorities to help.

Villagers say elephants have chased people away and made it impossible for farmers on both sides of the border to plant this season’s crops. Officials blame farmers for occupying the elephants’ habitat, provoking human-wildlife conflict.

Officials on Cameroon’s southern border with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea say scores of villagers came out in market squares at Vema and Nkol-Efoulan on Thursday, protesting the destruction of several hundred hectares of their farmland by elephants.

The villagers say the stray elephants chase civilians and make it impossible for farmers to plant on either side of the border with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea since the planting season started six weeks ago.

Speaking to VOA via a messaging app, Justin Enam Ntem, the traditional ruler of Nkol-Efoulan village, said locals are angry and hungry because they can no longer go to their farms since the elephants positioned themselves about 500 meters south of the village from the border with Gabon this week. He said seven of the several hundred hectares of plantain, banana and cassava plantations belonging to his family have been destroyed by the stray elephants.

Ntem said it was difficult for villagers, who are scared and escaping from their homes and farms, to know the number of elephants that are destroying their crops.

The villagers say no civilian has died in an elephant attack but warn that hunger will loom if the government does not step in to force the animals back to their natural habitats.

The Cameroonian government says there are more than 220 forest elephants in the nearly 700,000-hectare Campo Ma’an National Park located near the border area with the other two countries.

The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and the National Parks of Gabon report that Gabon harbors about 95,000 forest elephants. Equatorial Guinea says it has about 900 elephants.

The three countries say elephants have been destroying plantations on both sides of their common border within the past six months. Cameroon says at least eight of its border villages and several hundred plantations, especially in Vema and Nkol-Efoulan villages, have reported regular attacks.

The elephants are leaving their habitat because of a lack of food and water due to climate change and the occupation of their living environment by civilians, according to Cameroon’s Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife.

Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea say many plantations opened by the governments and civilians reduce the elephant habitat.

Kenneth Angu Angu, a forest program coordinator with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said central African nations should work together to stop conflicts between humans and elephants.

“We need the governments of the countries to sit together and reinforce cross-border projects so that they can contain these elephants not to encroach in communities and in agricultural land,” said Angu, who spoke to VOA by phone from Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. “But if it is the communities that are encroaching, we start asking the questions: why are they doing so? Is it that their lands are no more fertile? Is it because there is poverty? So, this is where you would have livelihood activities to enable the communities to remain in their respective lands,” he added.

He said human-wildlife conflict remains a major conservation concern in elephant range countries.

Despite the attacks, Cameroonian wildlife groups have been urging civilians not to kill the animals, which are classified as endangered.

Source: VOA

Southern Cameroons exiled leader Dabney Yerima has said that very harsh and crushing punishment from all Ambazonia self defense groups awaits troops still loyal to the occupying regime in Yaoundé over its barbaric violence in Southern Cameroons.

Dabney Yerima made the remark during a conversation with Cameroon Concord News on Monday.

Yerima observed that in the last six years, the French Cameroun regime has turned into an unrestrained and increasingly criminal killing machine by violating all international laws.

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government called on all Southern Cameroonians across the world to stay united in support of their valiant and resistant brothers and sisters in Ground Zero.

“The regime in La Republique du Cameroun knows that, based on the strength of the Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards, a harsh and crushing punishment awaits them in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia” Yerima concluded.

By Isong Asu in London