People cannot stop weeping as they lose their loved ones on a daily. On May 7, a Journalist sports writer and reporter, Anye Nde Nsoh was shot dead by gunmen at Che Street in Bamenda, in the North West Region of Cameroon.
Nde Nso was a reporter with Dream FM radio Bamenda and a sports contributor to many online platforms. He was also the North West Bureau Chief of The Advocate Newspaper.
Anye was killed for committing no crime, he was shot to death at Che Street Bamenda at a drinking spot called Don Simon. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), called on the government of Cameroon to investigate and hold those who were responsible for the death of Journalist Anye Nde Nsoh to account.
After a thorough investigation, it was confirmed that Anye Nde Nsoh was killed by separatist fighters reason being that they confronted him by a military who frequents the drinking spot.
Journalists are scared as they are no longer safe they find themselves under attack by both the government and separatist fighters. Both sides must respect the rights of journalists to report freely and ensure their safety because they have lost one of them regardless of the reason for his death.
Shameful how innocent people keep dying every day and the government is saying nothing about it.
Delving into history, I understood why our forefathers accepted to form a Union with La Republic du Cameroon in 1961 and formed the Federal Republic of Cameroon with the flag bearing two stars for better future generations as reflected in the anthem “Land of Promise, land of Glory! Thou, of life and joy, our only store!”: one for the British Southern Cameroons (formerly administered by Britain) and the other for French Cameroon (formerly administered by France). Unification failed to deliver the promises of glory, joy, love, and peace… Instead in a bid to control the natural resources of British Southern Cameroons, the chalice of a federation was emptied and refilled with the salty waters of a United Republic and later to the acidic vinegar of a complete Republic of Cameroon with one star, characterised by oppression, exploitation, suppression and marginalisation of the Anglophone minority by the Francophone majority government.
This fostered the emergence and propagation of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) whose main objective is the redemption of Southern Cameroons from the fangs of the gruesome and cruel political, economic, and social exploitation and marginalisation by the Francophone central government in Yaounde. In other words, the prime objective of the SCNC is to fight for freedom and Complete independence from French Cameroon. This Organisation sparked a dream in me which, like Martin Luther King’s was not only to wish for but to work for the complete liberation and independence of Southern Cameroons. I am in total support of Southern Cameroons advocated for by the forerunners of the SCNC most of whom are either in the diaspora, in prison, or in their graves killed by la Republique soldiers. How was I to exercise freedom of expression in the lion’s den? The SCNC which I cherished to belong to and really wanted to carry on its activities to the fullest, unfortunately, has been banned in Cameroon. Apart from secret meetings held by its members in the background, any of its members who dare mention the organisation, hold its banner in the streets or mention its objectives is either imprisoned or shot dead on the spot, irrespective of gender. Being an SCNC member in the Cameroon territory is synonymous with death.
I found myself confined in a room with inexpressible emotions bubbling but I dared not protest for fear of being killed by La Republique soldiers. Finding myself in the UK I could live my dreams of expressing my mind on the enfranchisement of my Southern Cameroons: where like the Biblical Moses I’m on a mission to liberate my people too, wishing to stop at nothing till I accomplish it. We will push the fight till we get our independence bearing in mind that freedom has never been served to anybody on a platter of gold.
The Anglophone crisis as we all know has been existing for seven years now and counting and there has been no solution to the issue to date. This has led to the loss of many lives as people are dying every day.
On Sunday, July 16 gunmen killed 10 people and injured two others at a busy junction in the city of Bamenda called Nancho Junction.
A witness said the attackers arrived in vehicles late on Sunday, ordered people onto the floor with accusations of failing to back local separatists, and opened fire as some obeyed while others ran.
The Ambazonia Defense Forces (ADF), the main separatist group in the English-speaking region which has been fighting since 2017 in protest of alleged marginalization by the majority French-speaking government, denied responsibility for this act which is where everyone is confused as the Military also deny responsibility of this act.
The witness further said the gunmen were in military uniforms when they arrived in two vehicles to storm Nancho Junction where restaurants, bars and shops are located, at around 7:30 pm (18:30 GMT).
They shot at people indiscriminately living everyone confuse still because the gunmen wore military uniforms. The witness said, “Before taking off that, there is a possibility that it could be revenge killing, considering what had happened in the same Nacho the previous day where six young boys were killed by the military, who were said to be separatist fighters”.
Civilians and people especially families who have lost loved ones plead with the Government of the country to look for a solution because they are tired of losing their loved ones to death every day.
The Anglophone crisis is a political and social conflict that has been ongoing in Cameroon since 2016. The conflict is centred on the country’s English-speaking regions, which are located primarily in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon. The crisis has been marked by protests, violence, and government crackdowns, and has had a significant impact on the country’s social and economic stability.
The roots of the Anglophone crisis can be traced back to Cameroon’s colonial history. Cameroon was originally colonized by Germany in the late 19th century, but after World War I, the country was divided between France and Britain. The French-speaking regions of Cameroon gained independence in 1960, while the English-speaking regions joined Nigeria.
Since then, the English-speaking regions of Cameroon have experienced a gradual erosion of their language and culture, as the government has promoted French as the sole official language and neglected the development of English-speaking regions. In recent years, this has led to a growing sense of marginalization and frustration among the Anglophone population, as they feel that their rights and interests are not being adequately represented by the government.
The crisis began in 2016 with protests by lawyers and teachers in the English-speaking regions, who were demanding better representation and the use of English in courts and schools. The government responded with a heavy-handed crackdown, which only fueled the unrest. In 2017, separatist groups emerged, calling for the creation of an independent state called Ambazonia with their fighters locally known as the “Amba boys”.
The government has responded with a military crackdown, which has been criticized for its brutality and indiscriminate targeting of civilians. Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the conflict. The crisis has also had a significant impact on the country’s economy, particularly in the English-speaking regions (northwest and southwest region) where businesses have been disrupted and tourism has been severely affected.
Efforts to resolve the crisis have been ongoing, but progress has been slow. In 2019, a national dialogue was held, which made some recommendations for addressing the concerns of the Anglophone population, but these have yet to be fully implemented. The government has also initiated a process of decentralization, which aims to give more power to local authorities in the English-speaking regions. However, separatist groups have rejected these efforts, insisting on the creation of an independent state.
The Anglophone crisis remains a major challenge for Cameroon, and its resolution will require a concerted effort by all stakeholders, including the government, and separatist groups. This is because despite all efforts put people die every day.
The ongoing crisis in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon has unleashed a wave of suffering and torment upon the people of Buea and its environs. As the heart of the English-speaking community in Cameroon, Buea has borne the brunt of government brutality and oppression, leaving its residents traumatised and scarred by relentless violence and intimidation.
For years, the Anglophone minority in Cameroon has been marginalised and discriminated against by the predominantly Francophone government. The crisis escalated in 2016 when peaceful protests against the imposition of the French language and legal system in Anglophone regions were met with harsh repression from government forces. Since then, the situation has deteriorated into a full-blown conflict marked by human rights abuses and atrocities committed by both government troops and separatist groups.
In Buea, the capital of the Southwest region and a symbolic centre of Anglophone identity, the government’s response to dissent has been particularly brutal. Military crackdowns, arbitrary arrests, and extrajudicial killings have become commonplace, instilling fear and despair in the local population. Civilians, including women and children, have been caught in the crossfire, facing indiscriminate violence and displacement.
Cases of military brutality in Buea are numerous and harrowing. Innocent civilians have been subjected to arbitrary detention, torture, and execution by government forces operating with impunity. The streets of Buea are often patrolled by heavily armed soldiers who employ excessive force against anyone suspected of supporting the separatist cause or voicing dissent against the government.
One of the most notorious incidents of government brutality in Buea occurred in February 2019 when security forces opened fire on unarmed civilians participating in a peaceful protest. The massacre, known as the Buea Massacre, resulted in the deaths of several demonstrators and left many others injured. Despite international condemnation, the perpetrators have yet to be held accountable for their actions, further underscoring the culture of impunity that prevails in Cameroon.
The impact of government torment on the people of Buea extends beyond physical violence. The psychological toll of living under constant fear and insecurity is immeasurable. Families are torn apart, livelihoods are destroyed, and dreams of a peaceful future are shattered. The once vibrant city of Buea has been transformed into a ghost town, its streets deserted as residents flee for safety or languish in fear within their homes.
Amidst the chaos and suffering, calls for dialogue and reconciliation have fallen on deaf ears as both sides remain entrenched in their positions. The government’s heavy-handed approach has only served to fuel resentment and deepen the divide between Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians. Without a genuine commitment to addressing the root causes of the crisis and upholding human rights, the cycle of violence and oppression in Buea and the wider Anglophone regions is destined to continue unabated.
As the world looks on, it is imperative that the international community holds the government of Cameroon accountable for its actions and demands justice for the victims of government brutality in Buea and beyond. The people of Buea deserve to live in peace and dignity, free from the torment of violence and oppression inflicted upon them by those entrusted with their protection and well-being.
The 1993 All Anglophone Conference that took place in Buea the administrative Capital of the former British Southern Cameroons saw a huge sense of euphoria amongst Southern Cameroonians from all ages, all works of life etc converged in Buea on this historic day to tell the entire world that the time has now come for the inevitable, irrevocable and irreversible discussion on the perennial Southern Cameroons struggle to be heard.
Great minds in our struggle
Great minds within Southern Cameroons particularly those who have for over the years champion the Southern Cameroons struggle in the likes of Solomon Tadeng Muna, George Ekongtang Elad, Ngeka Luma, Chief Ayamba Etta Etun, Dr Frederick Alodwede, Pa Nfor Ngala, Pa Njoh Litumbe just to name a few spoke very passionately about the systematic and endemic marginalisation, severe enslavement and the subjugation of the people of Southern Cameroons not forgetting the persecution they have endured over the years from the French Cameroon military.
The above Conference was a harbinger and a great opportunity for inspiring brilliant minds from Southern Cameroons to talk with focus and gregariousness about the injustices the peaceful people of Southern Cameroons have been facing since the botched plebiscite of 1961 which was the genesis of the occupation, colonisation and the annexation of Southern Cameroons by French Cameroon under the whims and caprices of the then President Amadou Ahidjo.
At the above Conference there was a unified voice intertwined with patriotism from leaders about the urgent need for the Anglophone problem to be immediately resolved by the government of Cameroon. The decision from this Conference was unanimous and efficacious through which they called on the Cameroon government to without prejudice engaged with the people of Southern Cameroons in a meaningful dialogue thereby urging the two States to go back to the Federal system that was in place that gave autonomy to each side to manage its affairs and remain two nations of equal status. But sadly as usual the government of Cameroon choose to ignore the demands of the people of Southern Cameroons and ever engaged in any form of dialogue with them rather they continue to treat them as slaves and second class citizens.
Sufferings of the Anglophones
Confronted and bewildered in frustration and living in limbo, our leaders again in 1994 organised another All Anglophone Conference this time in Bamenda and at this Conference they again echoed the demands they had tabled in front of the government of Cameroon which was the burning issue of the suffering people of Southern Cameroons who have been living as slaves in their country since 1961. The discussions were very frank, focused and entered on one thing and one thing only the long standing Anglophone problem.
The people of Southern Cameroons through their leaders wrote to the government of French in a memorandum detailing the genuine grievances of the people of Southern Cameroons and that it was imperative for the Cameroon to act accordingly by yielding to the demands of the people of Southern Cameroons.
Their demand was a return to the federal system that was unanimously agreed by the two parties during the unification process of 1961 and insisted that the federal Constitution should never be tempered with or changed according to article 47 which clearly stipulated that at no stage or in any manner should the above constitution be changed.
At this very historic Conference of 1994 that was held in Bamenda, our leaders gave the Cameroon government an ultimatum that should they choose to again ignore the demands of the people of Southern Cameroons, they will have no choice but resort to an all-out restoration of the independence of our homeland the Southern Cameroons. In the same characteristic style of the Cameroon government they again wilfully ignored the demand and the wishes of the people of Southern Cameroons.
SCNC way of operation
It was at this point in time that our leaders had no other window of discussion with the government of Cameroon bearing in mind they have ignored them twice and in 1995 our Leaders formed the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) with its Motto “THE FORCE OF ARGUMENT, NOT THE ARGUMENT OF FORCE” which became a non-political peaceful liberation movement meant to fight for the restoration of the independence of our Country the Southern Cameroons.
The creation of SCNC became a thorn in the flesh of the Cameroon government for according to the Cameroon authorities the SCNC is a terrorist organisation that has come to destabilised the peace in Cameroon and divide the Country. The Cameroon government declared the SCNC the number one enemy of the State and from this point they unleashed venom on the SCNC and those who are members. Here we can clearly see the genesis of the brutalisation of the SCNC and its members by the state of Cameroon.
The Cameroon government declared war on SCNC and President Paul Biya who has been in power for more than 38 years ordered the systemic annihilation of SCNC and those affiliated with it. Cameroon became no safe havens for SCNC members who were routinely and arbitrary arrested, detained, tortured, imprisoned and other simply eliminated from the surface of the earth.
The SCNC has been banned in Cameroon by the State and declared a terrorist organisation and with impunity they began the tragic persecution of SCNC members in Cameroon and abroad. True to this is the horrific and horrendous persecution SCNC Chairmen and members began to face from the state of Cameroon who consider them as enemy of the state.
Such was what happened to some of the Chairmen that led SCNC in the likes of M Luma Ngeka who was tortured on many occasions by the military of French Cameroon and this led to his tragic death. So too is the case of Dr Frederick Alodwede who after storming the Radio House in Buea in 1999 and announced the restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons, immediately went on exile via Nigeria where he lived on exile for over 20 years and finally died in the US as the Cameroon government went hunting for him and burnt his House in Buea.
I cannot easily forget the inferno faced by one of our eldest Chairman Chief Ayamba Etta Ottun who was a true hero of our revolution. He too endured a lot of persecution from the Cameroon government and later died in 2015 as a result of the brutalisation he got from the military of French Cameroon.
Genocide in Southern Cameroon
Since the inception of the genocide on the people of Southern Cameroon in 2016 and counting the brutalisation of SCNC members has quadruple and testimony of this is the systemic persecution our current SCNC National Chairman and other SCNC members have been enduring from the brutal French Cameroon military.
The dictatorial and vindictive nature of the Cameroon government was again confirmed on the 5th of January 2018 when the government of Cameroon conspire with that of Nigeria, and brutally arrested a cross section of SCNC top members including our National SCNC Chairman Mr Nfor Ngalla Nfor were abducted and transferred to Cameroon in defiant of international laws.
This shows and affirms to what length this junta government is prepared to go just to eliminate the SCNC and its members. Our Leaders thought they were safe in Nigeria but they were naïve and as i put pen to paper our National Chairman Mr Nfor Ngala Nfor among other leaders have been sentenced to life imprisonment by the French Cameroon military Tribunal of Yaoundé. They are now locked up in a highly secured prison for political detainees in Yaoundé called Kondengue.
The SCNC was again banned in January 2017 by the state of Cameroon and the brutalisation of SCNC members is even very severe and so dreadful coupled with some SCNC members that have been locked up in dungeons all over Cameroon. Cameroon is therefore no safe havens and no go area for SCNC as the brutalisation of the SCNC and its members has been intensified with orders from President Paul Biya who has given clear instructions for those affiliated to SCNC to be hunted down and killed as he accuses them for masterminding and starting the war in Cameroon through their calls for secession.
