News

23, December 2017

Yaounde: Ahmed Abba is freeed ⁰

A Cameroonian reporter with Radio France International, Ahmed Abba, was Friday released from jail after 29 months in detention, his lawyer said. “Ahmed Abba left Yaounde prison around 9:15 pm (Friday). He has been with me since his release, he is doing well,” Charles Tchoungang told AFP.

RFI editorial staff confirmed his release. A military tribunal in April sentenced Abba to 10 years in prison and fined him the equivalent of about 85,000 euros ($100,000) for “laundering the proceeds of terrorist acts” and “failure to denounce acts of terrorism”.

On appeal, the military court in Yaounde on Thursday aquitted him on the first charge and upheld the second, handing him a 24-month sentence. He was released Friday having already been held for 29 months.

Abba leaving jail

Abba, who had been reporting out of the troubled north of Cameroon, a region repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram, was arrested in July 2015 in the far northern town of Maroua.

The Hausa language RFI correspondent was suspected of collaborating with the jihadist group and not passing on information to the authorities.

His trial had been postponed 18 times and his appeal was also postponed several times in recent months. On Thursday evening, the management of RFI said it was “relieved at the prospect of this imminent release allowed by the Cameroonian court”.

Stressing the “emptiness of the charges” against him, RFI said “Ahmed Abba has only done his job as a journalist”.

Source: AFP

23, December 2017

Trump says US ‘foolishly’ spent $7 trillion in Mideast, time to rebuild home ⁰

President Donald Trump says the United States has “foolishly spent $7 trillion in the Middle East,” stressing it was time to work “in a bipartisan fashion” instead to “rebuild our country.”

“At some point, and for the good of the country, I predict we will start working with the Democrats in a Bipartisan fashion,” Trump tweeted Friday. “Infrastructure would be a perfect place to start.”

The tweet came a day after Trump suffered a defeat at the United Nations General Assembly, which overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution calling on the US to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israeli “capital.”

Trump had threatened before the vote that Washington would cut foreign aid to countries that voted against his decision at the General Assembly.

Countries “take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us,” the president said Wednesday, adding “we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us, we’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley had echoed the same sentiment ahead of the vote, saying the US would “remember” the nations that voted “yes” at the General Assembly.

Haley noted that the US was the “single largest contributor” to the world body but the latest anti-Israeli measure could alter that.

Defying the threats, the UN voted 128-9 to make Trump’s decision “null and void.” Thirty five countries abstained and 21 were no-shows.

Trump appears to be turning the snub into an opportunity at home by stressing the need to spend more on America’s aging infrastructure.

He is expected to unveil his much-awaited 70-page infrastructure proposal next month, relying on a mix of federal, local and private spending.

Trump has also used Monday’s deadly train derailment in Washington state to call for more spending on infrastructure.

“The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly,” he tweeted after the accident.

“Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!”

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had promised to deliver a $1 trillion infrastructure plan to improve rebuild roads, bridges, airports and other public works in the country.

Source: Presstv

22, December 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Biya regime denies Nigerian border incursions ⁰

Cameroon has denied allegations that its soldiers crossed into Nigeria without permission and attacked villages said to be hosting and training armed separatist groups.

The media has reported that at least one incursion has been confirmed by the Nigerian government and military officials. However, Cameroon says that since President Paul Biya declared war on armed separatists about a month ago, it has attacked only border villages in Cameroon where the groups were hiding.

“The terrorists had taken advantage of the dense forests at the border with Nigeria to set up secret training camps from which they organized raids against our defense forces,” said Cameroon’s communication minister and government spokesman, Issa Tchiroma. “Following the dismantling operation thus carried out, the hideout of these murderers were literally destroyed and the villages previously taken hostage were liberated.”

Two weeks ago, Cameroon said the armed separatists advocating independence for the English-speaking northwest and southwest portions of the country were being trained in Nigeria. Lawan Abba Gashagar, Nigeria’s high commissioner to Cameroon and special envoy of president Muhammadu Buhari, visited Cameroon’s president and said they would collaborate in fighting the terrorists.

This week, Reuters and Nigerian local newspapers reported that Cameroon troops had crossed into Nigeria in pursuit of the armed separatists without seeking authorization from Nigeria, causing a fallout between the two governments.

Cameroon says it attacked separatist training camps in three of its border villages around Mamfe and Eyumojock.

Ojong Anslem, a resident of Eyumojock, says the separatists are still gaining a lot of support from the borders.

“What is now on the streets in the northwest and southwest is secession,” Anslem said.

The UNHCR says the violence has pushed thousands of Cameroonians across the border to Nigeria since October 1, the day the separatists said they had declared their independence and their humanitarian needs were growing.

Source: VOA

22, December 2017

“Commonwealth Secretary General has no idea on the happenings in Manyu” ⁰

A group of Southern Cameroons political elites including human rights activists who met with the visiting Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland today in Buea, failed to deplore the atrocities committed by the Francophone dominated army in Manyu Division. Fru Ndi, Akere Muna and Co did not also urge for punishment of the perpetrators.

Our senior intelligence officer in Yaoundé revealed that President Biya and his gang of Francophone political elites approved the audience granted to the SDF Chairman Ni John Fru, the former Chairman of the outlawed Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, Barrister Agbor Balla and the renowned Barrister Akere Muna by Mrs Scotland. None of the Southern Cameroonians reported the harrowing tales of torture, killings, abduction of women and children and sexual violence currently going in Manyu Division to the Secretary General of the Commonwealth.

A well-placed source in the Roman Catholic Church hinted Cameroon Intelligence Report that, the Bishop of the Mamfe Diocese His Lordship Bishop Andrew Nkea is very deeply disturbed by what he witnessed and heard throughout his visit to Kembong village in Eyumojock Sub Division. The deprivation and range of sexual violence are hard to describe, people are targeted and suffering just for being Anglophone.

The Buea meeting is the last lapse of the Secretary General’s five day official visit to the divided nation. No deal, according to the interim government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has come out of the Patricia Scotland trip which was interpreted by some political commentators as a “last chance” to stop the genocide going on in Southern Cameroons.

Fru Ndi and Akere failed to provide any accountability for serious crimes which is fueling impunity throughout West Cameroon. The leader of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has said that those responsible for this war against Southern Cameroonian civilians must be stopped with the perpetrators of these horrific acts brought to justice.

In Dadi in the Akwaya Sub Division, a mother told CIR that her husband and her two sons were shot in front of her by Cameroon government forces and she was gang-raped by several soldiers. Young men in Otu village were forced to rape relatives in front of family members.

The interim government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia will be releasing a detail report soonest. Southern Cameroons has been gripped by conflict ever since the 84-old President Biya declared war against Anglophone Cameroonians. Hundreds of Southern Cameroonians have been killed and thousands have fled to neighboring Nigeria.

Culled from Cameroon Intelligence Report

22, December 2017

Catalan separatists win absolute parliamentary majority ⁰

Catalan separatists won a crucial snap poll Thursday, plunging their region into further uncertainty after a failed independence bid rattled Europe and triggered Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.

With turnout at a record high and 99.6 percent of the ballots counted, the election handed a mandate back to the region’s ousted separatist leaders, even after they campaigned from exile and behind bars.

In a clear indicator of the huge gulf over independence afflicting Catalan society, anti-secessionist centrist party Ciudadanos was meanwhile on course to win the biggest individual result with 37 of the 135 seats in the regional parliament.

“It’s a strange feeling. We won the majority of seats, but we lost in votes. As such both sides will be able to claim victory,” 26-year-old doctor and separatist supporter Fran Robles told AFP after the results were announced.

“It’s a good reflection of the reality that Catalonia is politically divided,” he added. But unless the three pro-independence lists fail to clinch a deal to work together in the coming months, they will rule Catalonia with 70 of the 135 seats in parliament — two less than their previous tally of 72.

For Catalans on both sides of the divide the day had been a moment of truth, following weeks of upheaval and protests unseen since democracy was reinstated following the death in 1975 of dictator Francisco Franco.

“This is a result which no one can dispute,” deposed leader Carles Puigdemont said from self-imposed exile in Belgium, as he celebrated the separatists’ win.

“The Spanish state was defeated. (Spanish Prime Minister Mariano) Rajoy and his allies lost,” he told reporters.

Upset for Rajoy

The Spanish government called the election after it took the unprecedented step of stripping Catalonia of its treasured autonomy in the aftermath of an independence declaration on October 27 that rattled a Europe already shaken by Brexit.

At stake was the economy of a region that has seen its tourism sector suffer and more than 3,100 companies — including the largest banks, utilities and insurers — move their legal headquarters out of Catalonia since the referendum.

The declaration came weeks after a banned independence referendum on October 1, which saw a police crackdown that sent shockwaves around the world.

Rajoy and his conservative cabinet tried to nip the independence movement in the bud, sacking the regional government and dissolving its parliament.

In a further obstacle for the separatist cause, the judiciary pressed charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of funds against the secessionist leaders.

Puigdemont, who had fled to Belgium where he tried to rally international support for the separatist cause, has not since returned to Spain, where he faces arrest. His Together for Catalonia list nonetheless secured the best result of the three separatist groupings — in a major upset for Rajoy’s government.

“Puigdemont president!” chanted Puigdemont’s campaign manager Elsa Artadi at a rally celebrating the result.

“The result we have obtained is heroic, we have won, Mr Rajoy,” Together for Catalonia candidate Eduard Pujol said.

What still remains unclear, however, is whether Puigdemont will be renamed president, and if so, whether he will return from Belgium and how he might govern.

(Source: AFP)

21, December 2017

Thousands flee violence in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Thousands of people are fleeing unrest in English-speaking areas of southern Cameroon into southern Nigeria.

The government has banned public gatherings, suspended transportation and shut businesses as activists seek a state independent from the majority French-speaking areas.

The more than 30,000 refugees now in southern Nigeria are being looked after by the Nigeria refugee agency and a few non-governmental organizations.

But many say they don’t have much to eat or anywhere suitable to live.

Source: Aljazeera

21, December 2017

Ferry with 251 aboard capsizes off Philippines, 3 killed ⁰

A Philippine ferry carrying 251 people capsized on Thursday off an island south of Manila, the capital, a coast guard spokesman said, amid a storm bringing heavy downpours.

Three people were killed in the accident, domestic radio said. Rescue operations were hampered by bad weather and huge waves caused by a typhoon in the south.

Coast guard boats and army helicopters rushed to the vicinity of Polilio Island in the province of Quezon to rescue passengers, taking advantage of daylight, spokesman Armand Balilo said on television.

“We heard about casualties, but we are still trying to get a complete picture,” Balilo said, adding that the ferry, which had the capacity to carry 280 people, had not been overloaded.

Boat accidents are common in the Philippines, which is frequently lashed by storms and typhoons.

(Source: Reuters)

21, December 2017

Abuja says Cameroonian troops crossed into Nigeria without seeking authorization ⁰

Cameroonian troops this month crossed into Nigeria in pursuit of rebels without seeking authorization from Nigeria, causing a falling-out between the governments behind the scenes, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

At least one incursion was confirmed by a Nigerian government official, two Nigerian military officers and two foreign diplomats, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.

Nigerian security forces were deployed to the border to stop any further crossings, said a military source. The Cameroonian and Nigerian governments said in separate statements there were no incursions. Relations between the two countries are good, Cameroon said.

Cameroonian military officials and pro-government media accuse Nigeria of sheltering Anglophone insurgents. For the past year they have been based in the dense equatorial forests that straddle the border between the two countries, fighting for an independent state they call Ambazonia.

At least 7,000 people have fled as refugees from Anglophone Cameroon to Nigeria following a crackdown ordered this year by President Paul Biya to quell the insurgency, which represents the gravest challenge yet to his 35-year rule.

French is the official language for most of Cameroon but two regions speak English and these border Nigeria, which is also Anglophone. “Cameroonian troops were in Nigeria,” said a foreign diplomat. “Zero warning, zero authorization.”

The troops crossed into Nigeria at least twice this month, the diplomat and a Nigerian military official told Reuters.

The incidents have caused anger on both sides and could sour diplomatic relations further as Cameroon increases pressure on its Anglophone regions, according to the diplomat and a Nigerian government official.

“Tensions are high and could escalate,” the government official said.

Cameroon government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary denied that troops had crossed the border illegally.

“Relations between the two countries are cohesive when it comes to fighting against terrorism. Cameroon and Nigeria are on the same wavelength.”

Nigeria’s foreign minister, speaking to Reuters after a cabinet meeting in Abuja, also denied the incursions.

“The (Nigerian) government had investigated and discovered that it’s not true,” said Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria’s foreign minister.

But the Nigerian government official and a diplomat said Cameroon had threatened to suspend senior Nigerian embassy officials in Yaounde after they lodged complaints. Tchiroma and Onyeama denied this.

Governments in Africa often play down diplomatic disputes and present a show of harmony even during bitter rows.

On Monday, rebels killed four gendarmes, Cameroon’s government said, the latest raid on police and military positions in the country’s southwest region.

“TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY”

Nigeria has for decades been West Africa’s powerhouse but the militaries of the two countries have cooperated extensively to confront a threat posed by Islamist militant group Boko Haram. The group has staged attacks in Nigeria for years but more recently it has also conducted deadly assaults in Cameroon.

Cameroon has repeatedly pressed Nigeria to allow it the right of hot pursuit for Boko Haram militants and the issue has left the countries at loggerheads. After Cameroon’s military crossed the border this month in pursuit of separatist insurgents, Nigeria sent security forces to deter any future attempts, said one of the military sources.

“We were not for war but keeping the peace and protecting our territorial integrity. They were asked to leave and they did and everything has been brought under control,” the source said.

“Many refugees have crossed into Nigeria and many more are still crossing and the Cameroon authorities appear to be concerned that the situation may escalate if they keep coming into Nigeria.”

Two Cameroonian military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters separatists had set up bases and launched attacks from Nigeria.

One attack was on Dec. 14 and involved two groups of at least 100 separatists, one of the officials said.

“How do you explain that these guys come to attack us and then leave without being troubled across the border? When we drive them back, these separatists withdraw toward Nigeria,” the official said.

Julius Ayuk Tabe, the Nigeria-based chairman of the Ambazonian Governing Council, the political wing of the armed resistance, said he was not aware of any separatist military bases in Nigeria.

Cameroon’s linguistic divide harks back to the end of World War One, when the German colony of Kamerun was carved up between allied French and British victors.

The English-speaking regions joined the French-speaking Republic of Cameroon the year after its independence in 1960. French speakers have dominated the country’s politics since.

Source: Reuters

21, December 2017

Revealed: Top officials in US government undermining Trump ⁰

US President Donald Trump’s son suggests that officials serving at “the highest levels of government” are undermining his father’s efforts to take on the US establishment.

Donald Trump Jr. made the comments among a group of young conservatives in Florida on Tuesday.

“There is, and there are, people at the highest levels of government that don’t want to let America be America.”

Trump’s eldest son made the comments as his father and some of his closest allies were being investigated for alleged collusion with Russia by special counsel Robert Mueller.

“My father talked about a rigged system throughout the campaign, and people were like, ‘Oh, what are you talking about?'” Trump Jr. said. “But it is. And you’re seeing it.”

Earlier this month, Mueller dismissed Peter Strzok from his team after his anti-Trump text messages in 2016 were revealed.

Trump’s son asked the audience to “imagine what would happen if we rolled back the clock to 2008” and a politically compromised group of FBI officials sought to undermine a potential Obama presidency.

“What do you think would happen?” Trump Jr. asked. “Do you think the media would cover that? Yeah. Do you think it would be brushed under the rug like, ‘Oh, it’s nothing. It doesn’t mean anything.’ There’d be revolution in the streets. So I’m glad that this is coming out now, because it is good, because real people have to see this.”

In one exchange in August 2016, Strzok wrote, “There’s no way he gets elected — but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.”

An investigation has been launched to find out whether the Russian government coordinated with Trump’s aides after the intelligence community’s conclusion that the Kremlin helped with the New York billionaire’s campaign effort ahead of winning the White House, an allegation dismissed both by Moscow and the president.

The president’s son arranged a meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in the summer of 2016 to find damaging information about his father’s contender, Hillary Clinton

Reports emerged in June that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was also present at that meeting.

Source: Presstv

20, December 2017

UN says over 7,000 Southern Cameroonian refugees arrive Nigeria ⁰

The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is stepping up its presence in Southern Nigeria, to provide life-saving support to thousands of people fleeing unrest in English-speaking areas of Cameroon. UNHCR spokesperson, Andrej Mahecic, said tensions between security forces and pro-independence demonstrators in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone region intensified in October.

Mahecic said “Joint UNHCR and government teams had registered some 7,204 arrivals in remote areas of Nigeria’s Cross River state. “As they report, thousands more are awaiting registration. “Some 70 per cent of the registered asylum seekers come from the area of Akwaya in South-west Cameroon.

“Women and children in their majority, they are hosted by local communities near the border. “As the unrest in Cameroon continues and more asylum seekers arrive, UNHCR is concerned that the local population’s capacity will soon be stretched to its limits”.

According to him, heavy wet season rains have worsened the state of the road network in the remote region, hampering efforts to deliver aid.

The UNHCR spokesperson said the UN refugee agency and partners distributed food, basic relief items and medical aid. Mr. Mahecic said UNHCR was also deploying more staff in the region and coordinated with partners, national and local authorities to ensure that the needs of all affected people were met.

According to him, however, additional resources will be necessary to support the arrivals and reinforce UNHCR’s coordination and response efforts.

“Currently, UNHCR in Nigeria and partners have elaborated a contingency plan in the event of new arrivals,” Mr. Mahecic said.

Source: Premium Times Nigeria