News

11, May 2018

US: Settlement reached in LA shooting of Cameroonian homeless man ⁰

A settlement of US$1.9 million was reached Thursday in a civil lawsuit stemming from the fatal police shooting of a homeless black man on Skid Row in Los Angeles three years ago, attorneys said.

A jury earlier in the day found two police officers liable for financial damages in the shooting death of Charly “Africa” Keunang, a transient from Cameroon.

Jurors were set to begin the damages phase of the trial when the settlement was announced. The agreement, which requires City Council approval, resolves all fees, costs and claims and closes any future litigation over Keunang’s death, City News Service reported. The settlement will go to Keunang’s family if approved.

“There’s no amount of money that’s going to bring back the loved one,” U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. said at the conclusion of the federal civil trial.

The eight-member jury unanimously determined that Officer Francisco Martinez deprived Keunang of his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable force and that Sgt. Chand Syed breached his duty as a supervisor to intervene during the fatal encounter.

Prosecutors in 2016 declined to file charges against the officers after it was determined the shooting justified because Keunang grabbed a rookie officer’s gun during a struggle March 1, 2015.

The Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement saying that it stands by the findings of the LAPD, the city Police Commission and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office that “the uses of force by our officers were consistent with the law and Department policy.”

LAPD officers “make every effort to safely take suspects into custody without the use of force,” the statement said. “In this situation, force was necessary because of the violent behaviour of the suspect.”

Officers were responding to reports that Keunang, 43, a Cameroon national, had threatened another man living on the street in the section of the city teeming with homeless people.

Video of the shooting by a bystander was viewed millions of times online and prompted protests in the city and drew comparisons with the deaths of other black men killed by officers in the U.S.

A lawyer representing Keunang’s family in the lawsuit disputed that the homeless man ever had hold of an officer’s gun.

The Police Commission cleared officers of the shooting, though it found one officer’s tactics violated policy. It did not publicly reveal what policy was violated.

Keunang’s family sued the city of Los Angeles and four officers, seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages on allegations of wrongful death, negligence and civil rights violations.

The jury cleared a third defendant, Officer Daniel Torres, while former Officer Joshua Volasgis — who was named as a defendant — had been expected to face proceedings in state court, but the settlement effectively ends that case, said Deputy City Attorney Christian R. Bojorquez.

Source: CTVNews

11, May 2018

Genocide in Southern Cameroons: Nigerian Spiritual leader says Ambazonian rural areas have become deserted ⁰

Bishop Emmah Isong disclosed how a man was recently shot despite pleadings that he was not a militant He said if the blood flow should not stop now, Cameroon might turn to another Rwanda. Emmah Isong, the national publicity secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, on Thursday, May 11, alleged the killings of Nigerians in Southern Cameroon. Punch reports that Isong, who condemned the act in a statement issued regretted that his brother-in-law was one of the innocent persons recently killed by the Cameroonian gendarmes. He said, “There are so many killings in Cameroon especially the southern part. Last Friday in Ekondo Titi, some gendarmes moved into the villages and assassinated my brother-in-law in broad daylight, shooting at sight on any male or youth.

“The entire rural areas have become deserted. In one of the operations, they shot a man who was lying on a sickbed right on the chest, despite pleadings that he is not a militant. “Much innocent blood has been shed silently and my worries are not that I have lost a relation but my questions are- What is the government gaining by arbitrarily eliminating the lives of the young Cameroonians. “Can’t the governments of France, United Kingdom or the United States of America intervene in this genocide? Do we still have the role of the United Nations in defending the poor harmless English speaking citizens of a poor African nation?

“How long will this last and can’t the President Paul Biya-led government look for dialogue which the people are requesting? “If these people are accused of killing soldiers in retaliation, how many civilians can the soldiers then kill to avenge and who will help us count? Please, help Cameroon not to turn to another Rwanda please, please, please, the blood flow should stop now.”

www.naija.ng

10, May 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Buhari-Biya Intelligence Accord fuelling Corruption in Nigeria ⁰

The intelligence cooperation deal signed between Yaoundé and Abuja that culminated to the abduction and subsequent extradition of the President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and 46 members of his administration to Cameroon has created an equally dangerous enemy: corruption deep within the Nigerian police force.

That is according to Cameroon Intelligence Report correspondent in Calabar who recently found out that Nigerian police officers are enriching themselves by arresting innocent Southern Cameroonian refugees and ferrying them to Abuja.

We gathered that the Nigerian officers are given handsome financial rewards and in some cases they are accorded rank progression for any Southern Cameroonian arrested in Calabar or Ikom and taken to Abuja. Our senior intelligence officer in the Nigerian political capital who contributed to this report noted that the dollar payments are made by officials in the French embassy in Abuja.

Some of the officers who spoke to our undercover reporter in Calabar revealed that sometimes raids are staged in camps hosting Southern Cameroons refugees and the unlucky ones are immediately transported to Abuja. “It’s a money making venture and we are enjoying it” noted a Nigerian police officer at the Ikom police headquarters.

Much of this money is said to have come from deals negotiated with French multinationals drilling the Bakassi oil fields by the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé. A police constable who confirmed French embassy participation in the scheme but sued for anonymity revealed that some of his superiors ordered him to include “ghost police officers” who don’t exist resulting in inflated payments that benefit some police chiefs.

A senior aide to the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Dr. Samuel Ikome Sako contacted by our London desk declared that the Interim Government was aware of the situation and had hired a legal team in the Cross River State in Nigeria to counter the move.

Inside sources in Abuja say the Biya regime is losing millions of dollars on fraudulent policing action targeting the Southern Cameroons communities in Nigeria. A Roman Catholic priest in Calabar was quoted as saying that Corruption in Nigeria is worsening the Southern Cameroons conflict.

The Buhari administration has opened secret detention centers in Abuja for Southern Cameroonian activists arrested in Cross River State. Elsewhere, United Nations officials have completed registration in Sardauna Local Government Area, Taraba state bringing the total figures of Ambazonian refugees in Nigeria to 21,291. In Boki Local Government Area, Cross River, seven new villages are reportedly hosting an unverified number of new refugees. The UN is planning registration missions to the said villages.

On 24 April, UNHCR chaired the monthly technical coordination meeting in Calabar on Cameroonian refugees to assess the multi-sectoral response to the refugee influx in Nigeria’s southeastern states. As key outcomes of the meeting, the Ministry of Health (MOH) committed to taking measures to ensure that refugees receive free primary healthcare services in Cross River state. Also, the Cross River state Primary Health Care Development Agency indicated that it is recruiting additional healthcare workers to meet increasing demand as a result of the refugee influx across the state. Some 50,000 Southern Cameroonians have fled the conflict into neighboring Nigeria

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

10, May 2018

Persecuted just for speaking ENGLISH: Southern Cameroonians FIGHTING BACK ⁰

AN ANGLOPHONE region in Cameroon has erupted with demands for independence with residents claiming they have been persecuted by the central government for separatist ambitions. An English speaking region, known as Ambazonia, in Cameroon has been fighting for independence with dozens of people injured during protests since late 2017.

The unrest in Cameroon began in November, when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the north-west and south-west regions of Cameroon, frustrated with having to work in French, took to the streets calling for reforms and greater autonomy.

French is the official language for most of Cameroon but English is spoken in two regions that border Nigeria.

cameroon english language ambanzonia french independence protests

Ambanzonians protest against the Cameroon Government to gain independence

Protests by separatists prompted a violent crackdown by Cameroon’s military last year in which troops opened fire on demonstrators. There are currently six rebel groups in the forest fighting against Government’s troops.

But Cameroon President Paul Biya has so far ignored the protests. An anonymous independence activist told Deutsche Welle: “It is the only option because the people believe it is through these means that they can force the President into dialogue. “What Ambazonians are doing now is simply defending themselves, they did not start the violence.”

Dozens of people have been killed and many more injured in clashes following the region’s symbolic declaration of independence on October 1, 2017, which sparked a crackdown by the government.

Some leaders in the movement for independence have been forced to take refuge in neighbouring country Nigeria. Last November, the self-declared president of the republic Sisiku Ayuk Tabe Julius said that “all options are on the table” in the region’s bid for independence.

He said: “We are going to separate. We are going to restore our independence. “We are going to disclose the terms of that separation and then we will build a wonderful nation.” He has since been detained in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Culled from Express.co.uk

10, May 2018

Ambazonia Self-Defense Council Spokesman to address Southern Cameroonians ⁰

The spokesperson for the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council (ASC) is expected to make a public statement on Sunday the 13^th of May 2018 on the state of the resistance against the French Cameroun army. Cameroon Concord News gathered from reliable sources that Commander Nsoh Foncha will speak of the framework that was put in place in March 2018 by the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Dr Samuel Ikome Sako uniting all self-defense activities across the territory of Ambazonia.

Our senior political man, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai who contributed to this report, hinted that the leadership of the Ambazonia Self Defense Council will channel its message to Southern Cameroons freedom fighters on ground zero, the Southern Cameroons Diaspora including the international community.

The self-defense discourse, the first ever since the revolution started two years ago is also expected to detail operations on ground zero and to inform Southern Cameroonians of the defense strategy being implemented with the approval of the Interim Government. Commander Nsoh Foncha will also appeal to every Ambazonian to get involved in self-defense issues in their respective counties and constituencies. The address of the Ambazonia Self-Defense Council spokesman shall also bear a message to the governments of the United States, France and Great Britain.

This item is still developing

By Chi Prudence Asong in London

10, May 2018

France’s Macron says Trump made a mistake by leaving JCPOA ⁰

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that the US decision to leave the Iran nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was a “mistake.”

Macron made the remarks on Wednesday during an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle broadcaster.

He added that Europe needed to reaffirm its commitments to the JCPOA in an attempt to preserve regional stability.

“What’s most important is to maintain stability and peace in the Middle East,” he added.

“We stand today at a historic moment for Europe — Europe is in charge of guaranteeing the multilateral order that we created at the end of World War II and which today is sometimes being shaken,” he added.

Macron’s remarks came one day after US President Donald Trump declared that his country is pulling out of the JCPOA, saying Washington will not only reinstate the anti-Iran sanctions lifted as part of the deal, but will also “be instituting the highest level of economic” bans against the Islamic Republic.

The JCPOA came out of years of negotiations between Iran on one side and six world powers, namely the US, Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain, on the other, in July 2015.

Other signatories to the deal, as well as the United Nations and the EU had warned Washington against any bid to sabotage it. They call the JCPOA a pillar of regional and international peace and stability, and reiterate the multilateral pact cannot be simply terminated by a single party.

Source: Presstv

9, May 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 300,000 Euros for Ambazonian refugees in Nigeria ⁰

UNHCR appreciates the contribution of EUR300,000 by the European Commission’s department for overseas humanitarian aid (ECHO) towards the response to the Cameroon refugee situation in Nigeria.

NCFRMI and UNHCR completed registration in Sardauna LGA, Taraba state on 20 April bringing the total figures of Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria to 21,291. In Boki LGA, Cross River, seven new villages are reportedly hosting an unverified number of new refugees. UNHCR and NCFRMI are planning registration missions to the said villages.

The UNHCR Office organised a two-day training for partners from 26 to 27 April in Ikom LGA. Some 25 UNHCR partner staff including, BENGONET, FJDP, HIFAS, Rhema-Care, Caritas and Mediatrix, took part in the training, which focused on strengthening their knowledge on humanitarian principles, protection monitoring, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, among others. Meanwhile, a registration training was organised from 25 to 27 April for 10 NCFRMI staff. These trainings aim to enable an effective response to the Cameroon refugee situation.

UNHCR Response

During the reporting period in Cross River state, UNHCR partner, HIFAS, provided health care assistance to 17 refugees referred to three health centres in Ikom and Etung LGAs. The Ikom LGA has provided power supply for the borehole water pumping system at the transit shelter in Ikom as a temporary measure to assist some 300 refugees.

The absence of specialized healthcare services at referral health centres in Oban and Akamkpa LGAs will lead to referrals of special health cases to tertiary health centres in Calabar LGA. This will result in higher transportation costs and require an increase in health response envelope.

Negotiations for a refugee relocation site in Sankwala, Obanliku LGA were concluded during the reporting period. UNHCR partner, Rhema-Care, requested that local authorities seal the deal with a formal letter indicating the donation of the land site.

Some 171 unregistered refugees were identified during protection monitoring in Cross River. It was also noted that refugees in Cross River are undertaking secondary movements within the state in search of assistance and better living conditions. Meanwhile, new arrivals were reported in Boki, Ikom, Etung, and Akamkpa LGAs.

Despite response to the refugee influx in Cross River, gaps in assistance remain significant. The refugee shelter in Amana and Ikom are overcrowded and needs identified include lamps, mattresses, blankets and kitchen sets.

In Benue, Kwande LGA, UNHCR and partners undertook a multifunctional team mission to Abande and Anyake villages, Kwande LGA, on 2 May to continue refugee sensitization on relocation and mobilize host community support for relocation. The team included partners namely, MSF, FJDP, BENGONET and SEMA. Two bridges in the host community on the relocation route need urgent repairs. Host community requested renovation of the school where refugees are hosted and a borehole, among others, as a demonstration of appreciation for hosting the refugees.

The relocation of the refugees in Abande is tentatively set to start on 15 May, meanwhile, the digging of five wells has begun at the location, where three of the wells will serve the host community and two will serve the refugees.

Source: Reliefweb

9, May 2018

Manyu Diaspora Advisory Committee calls for a total boycott of May 20th ⁰

Manyu Diaspora Advisory Committee

Urgent Press release

#0010of 07thMay2018

Subject: GET READY TO BOYCOTT BLOODY 20THMAY

To: All Parents, sons, and daughters of Manyu:

The Manyu Diaspora Advisory Committee will like to draw your attention to this fake Celebration that the secret cult government of Paul Biya has continued to use to manipulate our minds, distort our history, reinforce our status of second class citizens/slaves, and uplift themselves as the masters over our territory.

Why celebrate 20hMay when thousands of our own youths have been forced into exile in Nigeria, and thousands of others are killed or imprisoned in concentration camps across La Republic du Cameroun territory, and our villages and towns burnt to the ground by the Terrorist regime of Yaoundé?

What are you going to be celebrating when our towns, villages, and streets are undergoing full scale terrorism by the illiterate soldiers of Paul Biya, who rape, kill, and steal from our farms and houses?

Why would you want Biya’s propaganda CRTV to broadcast images of your marching children to the world, portraying them as “happy kids”, when in fact these children are living in hell and have no future at all in Biya’s Cameroun, where his thugs continue to intensify their acts of aggression upon our people?

We know the shameless CPDM shall send its corrupt slaves like the ostracized Tabetando, Mengot,Mrs. Okpu, Senator Anja and Hon. Egeli Elias to come and convince parents to send their children go out and march on the 20th of May.

You love your children, no doubt. But we are afraid these greedy Manyu CPDM slaves love just one thing-Power and Money. They will sell all of us to Paul Biya so long as money gets into their accounts. These outlawed traitors already know about Biya’s secret plot to send out his military disguised as “secessionists” between now and the20thMay to kill your children aged 13 and above on that day, blame it on “Ambazonian Restoration Forces” and then arrest your surviving children.

Have you not already seen them burn your schools, markets, homes, entire villages, then turn around and blame you for their cowardly acts of cruelty? Do not give them another chance to kill your children. You can rebuild your houses, but you can never bring your dead children back to life.

Great People of Manyu, Keep your children far away from 20thMay Celebrations. Boycott it. Keep your children safe at home. There shall be time for us to name our own holidays and proudly celebrate together.

Sincerely thankful,

The Manyu Diaspora Advisory Committee

9, May 2018

Dozens dead as bandits, militia clash in Nigeria ⁰

Fighting between armed bandits and militiamen left 45 dead in northern Nigeria, police and a local militia said Sunday, amid escalating rural violence often involving cattle rustling, robbery and kidnappings.

“The 45 bodies were found scattered in the bush. The bandits pursued residents who mobilised to defend the village after overpowering them,” said a vigilante who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.

“The dead included children abandoned by their parents during the attack” in the village of Gwaska, in Kaduna state.

“The attackers were obviously armed bandits from neighbouring Zamfara state who have been terrorising Birnin Gwari area,” he added.

The Kaduna state police chief, Austin Iwar, confirmed the attack, saying: “There was violence between the militias, who are very powerful, and bandits.”

He could not break down the casualties, saying only: “For now all we know is that 12 people were buried yesterday and 33 today.”

The vigilante said the bandits struck at about 2:30 pm (1330 GMT) Saturday and stayed for three hours before retreating to their base in the forest in Zamfara.

“They burnt down many homes,” he said.

The killings follow the death of 13 people in prolonged clashes between cattle thieves and local civilian militia in Zamfara last week.

The attacks underlined the diversity of Nigeria’s security threats that persist because of an overstretched army and security forces.

Rural communities in Zamfara have been under siege for several years from cattle rustlers and kidnapping gangs, who have raided herding communities, killing, looting and burning homes.

To defend themselves, villages and herdsmen form vigilante groups, but they too are often accused of extra-judicial killings, provoking a bloody cycle of retaliatory attacks.

Adding to the proliferation of violence due to these criminal groups, Nigeria is in the grip of a security crisis as nomadic herders and sedentary farmers fight over land in an increasingly bloody battle for resources.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been criticised for failing to curb the violence, which is becoming a key election issue ahead of presidential polls in 2019.

The military and police are fighting Boko Haram jihadists in the north, militants and pirates in the oil-rich south, a simmering separatist movement in the east as well as the bloody conflict between herdsmen and farmers spanning the vast central region.

(AFP)

8, May 2018

Biya regime batting Insurgencies, Illegal Weapons ⁰

Cameroon is cracking down on weapons proliferation as it battles two insurgencies and prepares to hold important nationwide elections this year. The military says it discovered a large cache of illegal weapons in a warehouse in Awae, near the capital.

Cameroon’s military raided the warehouse April 30 after locals reported suspicious movements to and from it. Adjutant Chef Major Patrice Bella is a military official who led the operation.

He says five gunmen working with the arm dealers fought back but were overpowered by the military. He says they will be investigating to find out the true owners of the weapons cache and what the weapons were to be used for.

Inside the warehouse, soldiers discovered 10,500 rounds of ammunition, as well as an undisclosed number of explosives, guns, cutlasses and knives. So far, all those arrested are Cameroonian nationals.

The location of the warehouse has sparked concern. Awae is 55 kilometers from the capital. The town hosts an international school for security forces called EIFORCES that trains African militaries on peacekeeping techniques.

Officials suspect the weapons came overland from neighboring countries, in particular Nigeria. However local residents wonder how they got past police and gendarme posts around Awae.

The discovery remains a hot topic of local conversation. 41-year-old road engineer Joseph Mbida says he is frightened because the discovery of ammunition and weapons amassed so close to Yaounde could mean people are planning to try to destabilize the country. He says he is counting on the military to track down those responsible.

Cameroon heads to presidential, parliamentary and local council elections starting in October. Meanwhile the country is grappling with instability in the Far North, where troops continue to battle Boko Haram, and in the two English-speaking regions, the northwest and the southwest, where separatist rebels are demanding independence.

In April, the government banned even the legal sale of weapons to civilians.

Paul Atanga Nji, minister of territorial administration, addressing a security meeting in Yaounde, said there are as many as 30,000 war weapons and small arms in circulation in Cameroon.

He says the use of weapons is reaching alarming proportions in Cameroon, threatening the security of everyone. He says some criminals even rent weapons to kill, steal and create disorder and that armed gangs are now found in all major cities and towns. He says the government must control its borders and stop the sale of arms.

In Cameroon, a 2016 law made the unlawful possession of a firearm punishable by a prison term of five to ten days and a fine.

However, the use of illegal firearms and weapons is judged by a military tribunal, with a possibility of life in prison if the tribunal decides the offender meant to disturb public order and peace.

Source: VOA