News

4, April 2017

Fire ravages SODECOTTON warehouse in the Douala Port ⁰

Devastating flames have consumed part of the Douala Autonomous Port. State radio and television reported that the fire which breakout at 1 a.m. early on Monday, 3rd April 2017 consumed a cotton warehouse belonging to the Cotton Development Cooperation, SODECOTTON.

SODECOTTON sources revealed that the fire ravaged about 2500 tons of cotton stocked in the warehouse deep inside the Douala Port. Fire fighters and marines stationed at the autonomous ports battled tirelessly with the flames to prevent it from spreading. The cause of the fire is still unknown but competent authorities are presently investigating.

By Eyong Johnson

4, April 2017

Protesting Southern Cameroon lawyers paralyze courts ⁰

Since October 2016, courts in Southern Cameroons have not been functioning. The lawyers announced a boycott of the courts after certain demands were not met by the Francophone regime in Yaoundé. With the support of the teachers, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium was born and the Anglophone regions plunged into crisis.

The Biya Francophone government has maintained a kind of deliberate silence and some Francophone magistrates have been hearing cases without the presence of counsels and have been delivering funny judgments. Cameroon Concord News gathered that most of the hearings are being postponed. Some of the French speaking judges were quoted as saying that in the absence of lawyers, their work lacks serenity and the hearing are painful.

Last week Laurent Esso, the Minister of Justice and a gang of other Francophone cabinet ministers held a press conference to present to the media the measures taken so far by the Head of State who has reportedly gone missing ever since his state visit to Italy.

Esso and his Francophone colleagues in response to the demands of English-speaking lawyers revealed that Mr. Biya has ordered a new assessment on the mastery of the Common Law by Magistrates serving in the North West and South West Courts of Appeal. Laurent Esso who earlier made a mockery of Southern Cameroonians that there was an emergence of a Chinese Cameroon community also noted that the 84 year old dictator has agreed to a redeployment of Magistrates in Southern Cameroons taking into account their mastery of the English language.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has said it will no longer react to statements and decrees signed by the Biya Francophone government as they are not relevant to Southern Cameroonians.

By Sama Ernest

3, April 2017

Russia: Blast hits St. Petersburg metro, casualties reported ⁰

Ten people have been reportedly killed and several others injured after a bomb blast hits a metro station in Russia’s St. Petersburg. According to preliminary information released by Russia’s TASS news agency, rescue teams were being dispatched to the site of the blast, with a witness telling Reuters that eight ambulances were seen near the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station.

Another Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, however, reported that there had been apparently two separate explosions at two metro stations.

Three metro stations have been closed, according to Fontanka local media outlet. “An evacuation from the stations is ongoing, there are people injured,” the St. Petersburg metro said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies, adding, “An unidentified object supposedly blew up in a (train) carriage.”

Another report by St. Petersburg emergency services indicated that there had been blasts in two train carriages at two metro stations.

Russia’s Interfax news agency cited a source as saying that at least one of the blasts involved a device filled with shrapnel, adding that at least 50 people had been injured.

Putin condoles with victims’ families, says all possibilities considered

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a message of condolence, sympathizing with the families of those killed in St. Petersburg subway explosion. Putin is currently in St. Petersburg for a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko.

An injured person is helped by emergency services outside Sennaya Ploshchad metro station, following explosions in two train carriages at metro stations in St. Petersburg, Russia, April 3, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Speaking to reporters, he said the cause of the blasts was not clear yet, adding that all possibilities, including terrorism, were being considered. “I have already spoken to the head of our special services, they are working to ascertain the cause (of the blasts),” Putin said at a meeting with Lukashenko, adding, “The causes are not clear, it’s too early. We will look at all possible causes, terrorism as well as common crime.”

Emergency vehicles and a helicopter are seen at the entrance to Technological Institute metro station in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

St. Petersburg metro closed after bomb attack

Early videos showed injured people lying bleeding on a platform to be treated by emergency services while others ran away from the platform amid clouds of smoke.

The metro network servicing Russia’s second largest city said in a statement later on Monday that it had closed all stations at 15:40 local time (12:40 GMT) to facilitate an ongoing evacuation operation. It is still unclear when the underground system will open again.

Following the incident, Moscow’s deputy mayor told media that authorities in the Russian capital were taking steps to tighten security on Moscow subway.

No group or individual has assumed responsibility for St. Petersburg metro blasts yet.

Men carry an injured person on a stretcher outside Technological Institute metro station in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on April 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

‘Only one blast between two stations’

Later on, an unnamed source in Russia’s emergency services was quoted by Reuters as saying that there was only one blast in St. Petersburg’s metro system, which happened on a train between two stations.

“There was one blast in one site in between (stations) as the train arrived at the Technology Institute station from Sennaya (Ploshchad) station,” the source added.

Second explosive device ‘made safe’

Meanwhile, Russian security agencies reported that they had found an explosive device at a metro station in central St. Petersburg and made it safe.

An injured man is helped by medics outside Technological Institute metro station in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on April 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

A statement by the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in on Monday that the device was found at the Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro station, which was a different location from where a blast earlier took place.

‘Images of possible organizer of metro attack probably captured’

A later report indicated that surveillance cameras in St. Petersburg’s metro system may have captured images of the person suspected of organizing Monday’s deadly train blast, Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying.

“Images of the suspected organizer of the metro blast were captured on metro station cameras,” the source noted, adding that the explosive device may have been left in a briefcase in a metro train carriage.

Russia investigating suspected “act of terror” after metro attack

Russia’s Investigative Committee said later on Monday that it was probing a suspected “act of terror” after a blast in the Saint Petersburg metro killed about 10 people and injured dozens, AFP reported.

“Despite the fact that a criminal case under article 205 of the Criminal Code (act of terror) has been opened, the investigation intends to verify all other possible versions of this incident,” the committee said in a statement.Russia’s public transportation system has been targeted by attacks in the past.

EU condoles with Russia after blast: Mogherini

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has extended her “condolences to all Russian people” after a blast hit the metro system in Russia’s St. Petersburg.

“We have been following in the past hour the news coming from St. Petersburg, together with foreign ministers of all the member states,” Mogherini said.

She added, “”I expressed my condolences also to the Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov in a message we sent him earlier.” Mogherini continued by saying that EU foreign ministers will show a “more precise reaction” as further details about the blast transpire.

France beefs up Paris public transport security after Russia blast

France also announced on Monday that it was increasing security at public transport locations in Paris following deadly explosion in St. Petersburg. “Following the events in the St. Petersburg metro, and as a precautionary measure, Interior Minister Matthias Fekl has decided to redeploy security means in public transport across the Paris region,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

“Amid an extremely high terrorism threat, the government continues to take measures to protect the French people,” the statement added. Russia’s public transportation system has been targeted by attacks in the past. In December 2013, twin separate bombings a day apart claimed the lives of 34 people in Russia’s southern city of Volgograd.

Police and emergency services personnel carry an injured person on a stretcher outside Technological Institute metro station in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on April 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The first bombing at the main railway station of Volgograd killed 18 people while the second strike hit a trolley bus and claimed 16 lives. The attacks followed a bus bombing carried out in the same city two months earlier.

In January 2011, an attack on Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, claimed by militants from North Caucasus, killed 37 people.

Report by Presstv International News Desk

3, April 2017

Southern Cameroons State: Brussels Conference resolves leadership palaver ³

Southern Cameroonians in the Diaspora have unanimously agreed that all splinter groupings only go a long way to weaken efforts in the struggle. In a bid to combat the tactic of divide and rule that President Biya and his Francophone dominated government has been yearning for since the advent of multi party politics in Cameroon, Southern Cameroonians met in Brussels, Belgium over the week end and designed a new strategy on how to successfully hypnotized the Yaoundé regime.

Details of what was discussed in the meeting have not been made public. However, Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that participants who traveled to the Belgian capital from all over Europe, the US and Canada accepted that there is strength in unity.

The various representatives noted that there was an urgent need to have a leader. It was also revealed the leader will have a better hand in negotiating bilateral deals with the UN, AU and the rest of the world.

The Brussels Conference of Southern Cameroonians resolved that the leaders of the various movements should come up with a united front at the April meeting in Nigeria, to give more impetus to the drive to achieve recognition for a Southern Cameroons state from the International community.

Culled from CIR

1, April 2017

Bamenda: Biya has no control as home of TAC President comes under attack ⁵

Southern Cameroon activists have stormed the residence of Tameh Valentine, the so-called president of the Teachers Association of Cameroon (TAC) in Bamenda and burnt down his car. The corrupt Tameh Valentine was one of the leaders of the English-speaking teachers’ unions who announced a suspension of the Southern Cameroons strike action recently and was granted presidential protection.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the attack took place on the night of Wednesday at about 2 am in Bamenda. Fortunately, no loss of human life was recorded. The attackers also set fire on another car belonging to Tameh’s beautiful wife.

Southern Cameroons has been the scene of many fires since the beginning of the uprising in schools, homes, shops and other public places. These acts by unknown individuals are usually staged around 11 pm. Tameh Valentine reportedly had security protection ever since he betrayed the Consortium.

By Sama Ernest

1, April 2017

10,000 refugees stranded in Libya will be flown back to their home countries this year ⁰

Up to 10,000 refugees stranded in Libya will be flown back to their home countries this year, but the returns can only play a limited role in tackling migrant flows toward Europe, the head of the UN migration agency’s Libyan office said. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) program is one of the few ways EU states can fund action inside lawless Libya, which has become the main migration departure point for Europe, as they scramble to stem record flows across the central Mediterranean.

Other plans have been held up by poor security, political resistance and a lack of government control in Libya, where powerful militias and smuggling networks act with impunity. The IOM scheme is meant to offer a way out to those stuck in Libya without money, work, or a means to move on, said Othman Belbeisi, the agency’s chief of mission for Libya. It is voluntary, with each refugee interviewed individually and able to change their mind at any time.

“This program provides a window or an option for these people to go back home and start a new life,” Belbeisi told Reuters. “It is a contribution to a solution, mainly for the refugees. We don’t believe in closing borders, stopping movement or stopping migration.”

Some of those who opt to return have been intercepted by the Libyan coastguard at sea and sent to detention centers. Some leave without trying to reach Europe. Most do not have documents. The IOM flew 2,775 refugees back last year, and is expecting to increase that number to between 7,000 and 10,000 in 2017, with new European funding.

This year, 1,795 refugees have already been sent back, and another 5,000 are seeking assistance to return. The agency has received a higher rate of requests since late 2016, something Belbeisi attributed to worsening conditions inside Libya.

Most are flown to West Africa, with Nigeria, Senegal and Mali topping the list. There have also been returns to East Africa and Bangladesh. Because returning can be seen as a failure, the IOM supports reintegration in home communities, Belbeisi said, with half those returned last year receiving such help. The average cost of returning and assisting a refugee is about 2,000 euros ($2,135). Funding for the program comes mainly from European states.

The agency still faces challenges interviewing refugees, checking their identity, and transporting them across and out of Libya. It plans to raise awareness about the returns program in the coming months, without actively promoting it.

“We are not promoting a return home because we know sometimes the situation back home can be even worse … and we do not want to promote shifting a problem from one side, or country, to another,” said Belbeisi. “That’s why we don’t advertise the program or promote it as a solution for migration to Europe.”

Presstv

1, April 2017

Yaounde: Governor Naseri Bea takes command ¹

The man who was until March 13 Senior Divisional Officer for the Department of Wouri has now taken the reins of the Center region. Paul Naseri Bea has replaced the late Joseph Wilson Otto as governor of the Center region headquartered in Yaounde, the nation’s capital. The Central Region was born from the break-up of the former Central-South Province, following a presidential decree of 22 August 1983 and it covers an area of 69 000 km2.

Its population is estimated to a little more than 3 million inhabitants. Administratively, the region of the Center has ten departments and 70 districts. This is the highest number in the administrative division in Cameroon. Yaoundé, Mbalmayo, Monatélé, Bafia, Nanga-Eboko and Akonolinga are the main urban centers in the Region. Although the available statistics indicate that the majority of the urban population is located in the department of Mfoundi.

The Center is an agricultural-dominated region that draws most of its resources from farming. Like the other Regions of Cameroon, Naseri Paul Bea is now faces a number of problems such as the unavoidable problem of the urban disorder facing the different municipalities, and especially the city of Yaounde which has the delicate task of housing the main institutions of the country and diplomatic representations accredited in Cameroon.

Urban agglomerations in the Region are also facing rising levels of crime and other forms of delinquency, which the new Governor will certainly tackle. Naseri Paul Bea carries with him a long experience of territorial command which should probably allow him to draw the best from the game at the head of this region so special to the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

1, April 2017

Barrister Harmony Bobga says the masked French State terrorism will never stop ¹

STATEMENT ON THE SITUATION OF THE SOUTHERN CAMEROONS

REVOLT IGNITED BY COMMON LAWYERS’ STRIKE.

Harmony BobgaMbuton (Esq.)

It is now almost 5 months since the Common-Law Lawyers of Cameroon ignited a peaceful strike action that quickly gained the acceptance and instant participation of virtually all Southern Cameroonians, both within the homeland and in the diaspora. The ensuing revolution has settled on one clear goal: the speedy RESTORATION OF THE INDEPENDENCEOF SOUTHERN CAMEROONS.

It must be recalled that the strike action of Common Law Lawyers that took off on October 6, 2016, did not only focus on the restoration of the Common Law juridico-cultural system, it included a demand for proof of whether or not there has ever been an ACT OF UNION between Southern Cameroons and La République du Cameroun. This second arm of the raison d’etre for the strike action provided the legal window for ending the colonization of Southern Cameroons.

It has been a colonization that has entailed the destruction of our economy, government, and now is ferociously devouring our cultural identity and remaining values. In short the people of Southern Cameroons, have born the burden of threat of extinction from our colonizers, more like African tribal societies suffered from 19^th century European colonizers.

The revolution has continued to be fueled by the defiance of Southern Cameroonians within the homeland and the committed support of Compatriots in the Diaspora.

The Cameroon Common Law Bar Association was created on November 8, 2016 in Bamenda, in defiance of the occupier government of La République du Cameroun. This was done with the maximum of courage in spite of the counter posture of the brutal forces of La République du Cameroun.It was the brutality of the Police and Gendarmerie Para-military forces that transformed our peaceful demonstration into a popular revolution.

The Cameroon Common Law Bar Association thus born, held its first Bar Conference in Kumba on January 13, 2017. At this Conference, we recommitted ourselves,as initiators of the ongoing revolution,to continue providing leadership to the revolution.

Following the arrest and incarceration of one of us, Barrister Nkongho Felix AgborBalla,along with Dr. Fontem Neba,a Buea University Lecturer, both of whom I had been collaborating with,in directing the revolution, I fled from Cameroon. By this flight, I did not just take myself out of harm’s way,I also took along with me the leadership of the revolution as President of the Common-Law Bar, now christened the Southern Cameroons Bar Association. This move follows in the foot-steps of Oliver Tambo of the African National Congress (ANC) who left South Africa and continued his organization’s revolution from the diaspora.

I therefore carry with me the leadership and commitment of the Southern Cameroons Bar Association within the homeland and across the world.This will allow us to deliver on our promise to the people of Southern Cameroons. We will restore their rights to the dignity of their human persons and guarantee that restoration with an independent Southern Cameroons. This is a strict project to deliver justice to a people re-colonized by France, employing the mask of La République du Cameroun for over 55 years now.

This masking was accomplished under the aegis of an obnoxious “accorde de cooperation” that was forced on La Republique du Cameroun as a precondition that left intact her continued colonization while falsely dressed up as an independent nation on January 1, 1960.

Let me reassure the members of the Southern Cameroons Bar Association within the homeland, that the masked French State terrorism will never stop us. I hereby equally enjoin all Southern Cameroonian Lawyers, and other Professionals in the Diaspora,to partner with us in providing the much needed professional and organizational leadership required for the delivery of independence to the entrapped people of Southern Cameroons. By doing this we shall be tapping from the successful experiences of the ANC and the PLO.

To the people of Southern Cameroons in general, I am reassuring you that your men and women in wigs and black robes are poised,stronger than ever, to deliver on their promise to you all as declared at the beginning of our revolution.

God Bless Southern Cameroons.

31, March 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government retreating ⁶

Justice Minister, Laurent Esso seen here with a sea of Francophone cabinet members of government announced on Thursday some measures taken by President Biya, for a definitive exit from the socio-political crisis in Southern Cameroons.

Known for his anti-Anglophone stance, Laurent Esso made public the creation of a section of Common Law at ENAM, the National School of Administration and Judiciary and the Supreme Court. Esso and his Beti Ewondo gang also announced a massive recruitment of Southern Cameroonians into the magistracy and vowed to respect the bilingual nature of the country in the appointment of magistrates into courts in British Southern Cameroons.

It is evidently clear that Southern Cameroonians are winning as the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government is retreating. The government had declared that there was no “Anglophone problem” in Cameroon. The Biya regime is taking the last kicks of a dying horse. In order to make up for the time lost by schools since November 2016, in the English-speaking part of the country, the Francophone government decided to cancel the holidays of the second quarter of the school year 2016/2017.

Students in high schools and colleges in the North West and South West regions will not have the second trimester holidays, which run from March 31 to April 17, 2017. The Francophone authorities intend to recover the hours lost during the strike period which is still on-going. According to Biya and his CPDM acolytes, Southern Cameroon students will now have 17 hours of additional classes.

The Arithmetic is that from March 6 to May 31, students will receive two additional hours of teaching on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The students will also have classes on Wednesday three o’clock and Saturday, 6 o’clock. It is vital to state in this report that the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society has made it abundantly clear that only the detained leaders have legitimate authority to dialogue with the Biya regime.

By Besong Esther Agbor

30, March 2017

Fire destroys food market in Limbe ⁰

Fire has consumed seven shops at the Limbe New market early Thursday, razing all its contents to ashes. According to some Motor Bike riders who were the first to arrive the scene, the fire started around 4am. They recounted how they saw chunks of smoke in the air accompanied by sudden light that pierced the darkness sending an unusual signal that all was not well.

The people of Church Street Limbe accompanied by many bikers struggled to put off the fire three hours after. They did so with local means due to the absence of fire fighters. Cameroun Info.Net reported that the Fire fighters from the Limbe City Council and SONARA did not show up despite incessant calls.

Roofs of some of the shops got burst and the fire found its way out of the shops, several goods especially palm oil, clothes were consumed by the flames. The Divisional Officer for Limbe One, Epalle Seraphine together with some Francophone Gendarmes visited the site but refused to talk to the press saying on the Senior Divisional Officer, Zang III was in best place to issue a public statement. The cause of the tragic incident has not been established yet but traders are suspecting a criminal act.

Cameroun Info.Net