Border to close

The Government of one of Cameroon’s Anglophone regions ordered its border with Nigeria closed this weekend in response to calls by activists for protests to demand more rights for the country’s Englishspeaking minority.

The move yesterday represents an escalation in a crackdown on months of protest spurred by complaints about political and economic discrimination in the Anglophone regions of the predominantly Francophone country.

The Anglophone regions have strong ties to eastern Nigeria, and authorities may fear that allowing the border to remain open during protests offers the demonstrators a rear base and makes it harder to maintain order.

Anglophone activists have called for renewed protest tomorrow after thousands took to the streets last week, with some hoisting separatist flags. — Reuters