Cameroon has deployed troops and armored cars to towns that will be hosting matches of the Africa Football Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in its troubled Southwest region. Cameroon is hosting the continent’s top soccer tournament beginning Sunday, but the region’s anglophone separatists have threatened to disrupt the games.

Residents of Cameroon’s Southwest region towns of Buea and Limbe say in the past two weeks there has been a noticeable increase in troops and military trucks on the streets.

The troubled Southwest region is one area of Cameroon that will be hosting Africa’s top soccer championship, the Africa Football Cup of Nations (AFCON).

21-year-old University of Bueau student Fabrice Tobi says security in the city is becoming watertight.

He spoke to VOA Wednesday via a messaging application.

“I was surprised with the amount{number} of armored cars and the troops entering Buea with the ones that were already there,” said Tobi. “It is very difficult to leave from one area to the other in the city of Buea without meeting military or security men. In markets and even in student residential areas, they are everywhere. They do the controls. It is very difficult for you to leave your house without being checked or controlled.”

Cameroon’s military confirmed that troops have been deployed to Buea and Limbe to protect football players, officials, and fans for the tournament. A spokesman declined to comment on the number of troops and armored vehicles deployed.

The southwestern towns will host group matches for teams from Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, and Tunisia.

Anglophone separatists fighting in Cameroon’s west to break away from the majority French-speaking nation have vowed to disrupt the games.

Within the past two months Buea has reported at least six attacks by separatist fighters.

The rebels took responsibility for November and December bombings at the University of Buea and the town’s Great Soppo Market that wounded at least 14 people.

The governor of Cameroon’s Southwest region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, says civilians should report any rebel suspects hiding in their community.

“We will continue to sensitize the population, particularly towards vigilance. You know what happened in the Great Soppo market,” said Bilai. “It is the population themselves who seized the bag and called gendarmes to come and destroy it. That is the behavior, the action, we are expecting from the population.”

Bilai says residents and visitors should not be afraid of the separatists’ threats.

He says the separatists made similar threats when Limbe and Buea hosted matches of the African Nations Championship a year ago without incident.

Source: VOA

Cameroon is fully ready to host the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the country’s minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouelle Kombi said on Wednesday.

“There is no need to worry about all the preparations. Things are moving on very well. We are fully ready to host. All the commissions and the site supervisors are very committed,” Kombi, also president of the competition’s organizing committee, told reporters in the capital Yaounde after a meeting to assess last-minute preparations and address concerns about COVID-19, infrastructure and security in the host country barely three days before the tournament begins.

Cameroon has faced scrutiny and criticism in the lead-up to the tournament over the not-ready-Olembe Stadium which is scheduled to host the opening and closing match of the tournament.

Kombi said that works at the stadium were virtually done and it was set to host “a very beautiful opening ceremony of the tournament”.

Over 10 African teams have already arrived the Central African nation for Africa’s biggest sports festival.

“The teams have been well received and are very satisfied because they are in very good conditions and are busy in training stadiums,” said Kombi.

Featuring 24 teams, the tournament begins on Sunday with hosts Cameroon taking on Burkina Faso at the 60,000-seat Olembe stadium in Yaounde.

The biennial competition will end on February 6.

Source: Xinhuanet

Nigerian National men football team, the Super Eagles have arrived in Cameroon ahead of the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, tournament.

Naija News understands that the 2021 AFCON tournament will kick off on Sunday evening, January 9 with Cameroon playing the opening match against Burkina Faso.

The Nigerian squad and officials are said to have arrived in Garoua, Cameroon, on a chartered flight in the early hours of Thursday.

Super Eagles would be playing their first match against Egypt on Tuesday, January 11 at the Roumde Adjia stadium, Garoua.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 5:00 pm.

Meanwhile, Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa could not travel with the Eagles to Cameroon, Naija News understands.

It was confirmed that the 29-year-old player missed the Super Eagles’ last training session on Wednesday, December 5, after receiving the sad news that his relative died.

The National Team management sympathized with the Fatih Karagumruk of Turkey striker and subsequently granted him permission to leave the team’s camp to be with family members.

Musa is, however, expected to join his teammates in Cameroon ahead of Nigeria’s first game of the competition against Egypt on January 11.

Naija News had reported earlier that the shirt number for the players were made public on Wednesday by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

According to the disclosure, in the goalkeeping department, Maduka Okoye will wear the number one jersey, while Francis Uzoho will put on the 23, Daniel Akpeyi gets the number 16 jersey, while John Noble will wear 27.

Others are: Semi Ajayi – 6, Frank Onyeka – 8, Kelechi Nwakali – 25, Joe Aribo – 10, Odion Ighalo – 9

Chidera Ejuke – 13

Culled from Naija News

Attendances during the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will be capped at 80per cent for host nation Cameroon’s fixtures and 60per cent for other games due to COVID-19, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said.

The tournament will begin on Jan. 9 with Cameroon taking on Burkina Faso at the Olembe stadium in Yaounde, which can seat 60,000 people.

“After several consultations with the Cameroonian government … CAF and the local organising committee have agreed to cap stadium capacity between 60per cent-80per cent in the Africa Cup of Nations,” the governing body said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The 80per cent maximum capacity will only apply for matches of the host country Cameroon.”

The statement added that strict health protocols had been put into place for spectators, who must be fully vaccinated and present a negative test result to attend games.

Concerns about the readiness of stadiums and the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant have made headlines in recent weeks.

A number of teams preparing for the AFCON have also reported positive COVID-19 cases, including tournament favourites Algeria, Ivory Coast and Morocco.

Source: Reuters

There are threats by armed Anglophone separatists to disrupt the 2021 African Cup of Nations which is expected to open in Cameroon on Sunday.

Some armed groups have vowed to disrupt the competition and sent threatening letters to the teams in Group F (Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania and Gambia) who will play in Limbe and train in Buea, the seaside resort and capital of the south-west region respectively.

“The threats are very serious,” said Blaise Chamango, head of the NGO Human Is Right, based in Buea. “On Wednesday, there was an explosion in Limbe in a takeaway, it is a strong message,” he said by phone to AFP.

“The government has deployed heavily armed soldiers on almost all the intersections of Buea and Limbe in particular. The defence and security forces are carrying out arrests and systematic searches in several areas,” Chamango said.

Already, there are speculations of a possible postponement of the tournament due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the new wave of the Omicron variant.

For the past four years, the regions – inhabited mainly by the Anglophone minority – of the South-West and North-West have been in the midst of a bloody conflict between armed groups demanding independence and the security forces, who have carried out a ruthless crackdown.

According to international NGOs and the United Nations, the violence has left more than 3,500 people dead and more than 700,000 displaced in the west, mainly civilians.

President Paul Biya, on Friday, mentioned “several cases of surrender” in the armed groups. But they “continue to engage in criminal activities, multiplying attacks with improvised explosive devices and murders of unarmed civilians”, warned the head of state, who is criticised by NGOs for being absolutely inflexible on the issue of the Anglophone regions.

In the face of the threat, the government repeatedly insists that “security will be ensured”.

– Arrangements” –

In the capital Yaounde, some 250 km east of the border with the English-speaking areas, the atmosphere was relaxed with few security agents observing the final preparations around the brand new stadium of Olembe, built purposely for the CAN.

“The security situation is really only a concern in the North West and South West but I think our defence forces have enough experience to deal with it,” said James Mouangue Kobila, president of the Human Rights Commission and professor of public law.

“The security arrangements are exceptional considering the stakes and we had the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in January 2021 without incident,” he argues.

Cameroon also faces another threat, in the far north, with jihadist attacks, which have however decreased in intensity since the death last May of Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram.

Source: Africa News

Club legend Samuel Eto’o has been immortalised at the Visit Mallorca Estadi with the unveiling of a personalised mural.

The former striker was in attendance with RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona and LaLiga directors for the unveiling of our tribute painted by local artist René Mäkelä ahead of our hosting of La Blaugrana.

“It’s incredible to come back home and see all this,” Eto’o told club media. “It brings back beautiful memories and it seems like it all happened yesterday. The truth is that RCD Mallorca gave me everything, everything I am.

“My love has always been for RCD Mallorca – everyone knows that. I love Barcelona very much but Mallorca comes before all the other clubs in the world.”

Club president Andy Kohlberg was also in attendance for the visit paid by the recently nominated president of the Cameroon Football Federation to witness the super-imposed image of Eto’o come to life on a 10 by seven metre mural.

“Samuel Eto’o is an icon for our club,” Kohlberg said. “I am very happy and proud to present this tribute to him. It is a great honour to have him here with us. The mural by René Mäkelä was an idea we had several months ago and here we are now – it’s wonderful.”

Mäkelä is a renowned artist who has painted contemporary personalities and celebrities around the world, but could not resist the opportunity to create something with his local club.

“This work is a gift from all Mallorquinistas to one of the most important icons in the club’s history,” the artist said. “It has been a complicated challenge due to the size and weather conditions, but I think that the mural captures the idea that we wanted to transmit.”

“We are very proud that René Mäkelä has collaborated with us,” added Alfonso Díaz, CEO of Business. “We think that he has been able to represent in this mural the importance that Samuel Eto’o has had for RCD Mallorca.” 

Culled from RCD Mallorca

Droves of armored vehicles are patrolling the streets of Limbe in Cameroon’s conflict-torn southwest region ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) soccer finals starting on January 9 that separatist militants have vowed to disrupt.

Cameroon is hosting the tournament in six cities, but security is potentially most at threat in Limbe, a city on the tropical Atlantic coast whose surrounding region has been rocked by armed attacks since war broke out in 2017.

The conflict, in which armed groups are trying to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia, has killed at least 3,000 people and forced nearly one million to flee.

Violence has worsened this year as separatists increase their use of improvised explosives.

“My fear … is that the recent phenomenon of bomb blasts which have been happening in other parts … could be a common phenomenon during this AFCON period,” said local journalist Honore Kuma.

Insecurity is just one issue facing the tournament. Concerns about the readiness of stadiums and the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant have also made headlines in recent weeks.

Limbe’s Omnisport Stadium will host matches from Group F comprising Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania and Gambia. The group’s first game will be between Tunisia and Mali on January 12.

The nearby regional capital of Buea, where some Group F training will take place, was struck by two explosions in November including one in a university that wounded 11 students.

Authorities have kept security plans under wraps, but promised there will be no disruption to Group F matches.

Armed police, gendarmes and soldiers are already positioned at major intersections. Checkpoints have been set up on roads into the city.

“AFCON will take place in very good conditions. There are no grounds for concern,” said Emmanuel Ledoux Engamba, senior official of Fako territory, which includes Limbe and Buea.

The separatist conflict began in the English-speaking northwest and southwest regions in 2016 when teachers and lawyers protested against their perceived marginalization by the primarily French-speaking national government.

A violent crackdown by security forces radicalized the movement. Armed groups formed amid the regions’ forests and cocoa plantations.

As Limbe readies for an influx of fans, some residents said they are not focused on soccer.

“How will I enjoy it while my brothers and sisters are suffering because of the Anglophone crisis? Every day, they are dying,” said 33-year-old Roland, who lives near the Limbe stadium.

Source: Reuters