The Chairman and Editor-In-Chief of the Cameroon Concord News Group has announced the sad passing of his beloved father-in-law Chef Anang Zacharias in Wum, Menchum Division.

The Right Honorable Soter Agbaw-Ebai described how he was his rock and his inspiration after he got married to Odette Anang.

Agbaw-Ebai said that while he is completely heartbroken, it’s some relief knowing that Chef Anang will now be reunited with his ancestors.

Soter Agbaw-Ebai told our editorial desk in London that his wonderful father-in-law was his rock who adored his wife, children and grandchildren and was the most generous and selfless person he ever met.

‘It pains my heart to say goodbye but I know that my dad the late Maurice Pius Agbaw-Ebai will be waiting for you Chef Anang with open arms and that you will both continue to guide us all from above. Rest in peace Chef Anang. I will miss you always’

By Isong Asu in London

Ambazonia Restoration Forces have stormed the residence of the mayor of Wum and that of his dad and set both on fire, according to Cameroon Concord News sources in Menchum Division.

Cameroon government soldiers reportedly fired on some of the Amba fighters at the residence in Naikom Overside before fleeing.  The Francophone army soldiers loyal to the regime in Yaoundé have clashed repeatedly with Ambazonia fighters in recent days in Wum the chief town in Menchum Division.

Clashes erupted when a soldier serving with the Rapid Intervention Battalion was killed in the unrest that has rocked Southern Cameroons since 2016.

Hours after several Aghem people gathered outside the residence of Chef Anang Zacharias, a renowned gendarmerie officer in Wum who transitioned into the eternal glory on 6 October 2022, eyewitnesses reported that the residence of Mayor Dighambong Anthony Mvo and that of his late father were on fire and that Amba fighters, some wielding firearms ordered people to leave Naikom Overside.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that Cameroon government army soldiers fled from the mayor’s residence after shooting at the Amba fighters, according to a report which was filed from Wum. Many of the Ambazonia fighters who raided mayor Dighambong’s residence were heavily armed.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files

The talks on seeking possible solutions to the Southern Cameroons crisis which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Cameroons have come to an end in Canada; a country which has been seeking to help find peaceful solutions to the fighting that has ruined the economies of Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions.

The talks, which are a continuation of previous talks, enabled the various factions to agree on the need to pursue a peaceful approach to resolving the crisis.

The factions were also made to understand that nobody ever wins a war and that the key objective should be winning the peace that many people are looking forward to both in Cameroon and abroad.

According to our source which elected anonymity, the meeting organizers urged all the factions to embrace peace and to understand that they have to walk away from their original positions if anything meaningful has to be achieved.

From every indication, most participants are leaning towards a Canadian-style federal system which will grant the regions extensive powers to run their own affairs while the federal government will focus on matters related to foreign policy, armed forces and natural resources.

This year’s talks have been held under tight security and participants have been sworn to secrecy to ensure that there are no leaks which may jeopardize efforts at finding peaceful resolutions to the crisis which has already run for six years.

Since starting in 2016, the crisis has resulted in the death of some ten thousand Cameroonians, including both soldiers and civilians and, from every indication, the end is not in sight as both parties continue to hold that a military solution is possible.

Unlike previous talks, last week’s talks received the blessing of the Yaounde government which has shown clear signs of fatigue and is looking forward to an end to the bleeding and a return to normalcy.

The crisis has robbed the government of vital development resources and the existence of many armed groups and criminals in the two English-speaking regions of the country makes it hard for real development projects to be implemented.

Over the last two years, armed groups and criminals have resorted to kidnapping for ransom, with government forces sometimes implicated in some of the criminality which is blighting the lives of innocent civilians who have nowhere to go to.

Recently, five priests and some civilians were kidnapped in Nchang, a locality some five kilometers from Mamfe town which is the chief town of Manyu Division in the South West Region and the kidnappers have requested USD 100,000; an amount the Catholic Church has said it does not have.

 It should also be underscored that for more than five years, schools in rural parts of the two English-speaking regions of the country have remained closed and separatist fighters have been threatening teachers and students with death if they are seen in any of the government-owned schools.

By Chi Prudence Asong in Toronto

Cameroon government troops have opened fire in Naikom Overside, a popular neighborhood in Wum, the chief town in Menchum Division killing several people, believed to be civilians, eyewitnesses say.

The shooting came after a soldier was killed by Ambazonia fighters late yesterday.

Wum has been under the control of Amba fighters seeking to restore the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Eyewitnesses in Wum said soldiers began to indiscriminately open fire on residents and set fire to homes and businesses.

Our correspondent in Wum said the Francophone soldiers that came after their colleague was killed harassed residents and whipped them. But later they went on a shooting spree and started setting homes and shops on fire.

A Naikom Overside resident said the soldiers shot everybody in sight.

The number of people killed or injured in the incident has not yet been verified independently.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Wum

A senior aide to the Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dr Patrick Ayuk has condemned unlawful presence of Francophone army soldiers in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, calling for an immediate end to such presence.

According to the Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Cooperation (SCBC), Dr Patrick Ayuk made the remark recently in South Africa, saying, “The unlawful presence of Francophone servicemen and women in Southern Cameroons must end immediately and unconditionally.”

“The 1961 plebiscite,” the Vice President Dabney Yerima aide added, “does not mean occupying British Southern Cameroons land and killing its people.”

The Francophone dominated Cameroon government military have been actively involved in Southern Cameroons under the guise of fighting separatists since 2017. Yaoundé extended its troops’ presence last month through a decree signed by the 89 year old President Biya.

Numerous reports and international human rights organizations have pointed to Yaoundé’s role in the genocide currently going on in Southern Cameroons.

The Biya regime has stationed forces and equipment in almost every county in Southern Cameroons with Etoudi claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing Amba fighters from taken control of the entire Southern Cameroons territory. The Ambazonia Interim Government, however, asserts that the deployment is aimed at plundering Southern Cameroons rich resources.

By Toto Roland Motuba

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima has called on the Francophone dominated military to stop the war in Southern Cameroons by ousting the 89 year-old President Paul Biya as head of state and allowing the two Cameroons to hold genuine dialogue.

Speaking exclusively to Cameroon Concord News, the exiled Southern Cameroons leader said once Biya is removed from office, the army should get a moderate and decent French Cameroun political figure to lead a temporary administration on a strictly time-limited basis in Yaoundé with the aim of holding very intensive and productive discussions with the jailed Ambazonian leaders.

Dabney Yerima made it clear that Biya is now an X Factor and French Cameroonians were badly in need of a caretaker government in Yaoundé. Yerima furthered that Biya is not the person who is going to be able to build an even temporal structure that can accommodate the two Cameroons.

Vice President Dabney Yerima said he will offer talks with Yaoundé if Biya is kicked out.  “If French Cameroonians are serious about stopping the war in Southern Cameroons, then their military will have to get Biya out” Yerima concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

At least six separatist fighters have been killed in clashes with government forces in Cameroon’s war-torn English-speaking region of Northwest, security sources said on Sunday.

They were killed after the army raided their camp in Djotin of the region on Saturday, a military official in the region who asked not to be named said.

Three fighters were captured alive and ammunition was seized during the operation, the official added.

Northwest is one of the two English-speaking regions of the Central African country where separatists have been clashing with government forces since 2017 in an attempt to establish an independent state they called “Federal Republic of Ambazonia”.

Source: Xinhuanet