Cameroon Crisis: Group Draws World’s Attention to Impending Genocide
Alex Enumah
The attention of international bodies and particularly the African Union has been drawn to the deplorable conditions of the English-speaking parts of Cameroon, with a warning that if urgent steps are not taking it might result to genocide in the area.
A rights-base organisation in Nigeria Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity, which sounded the warning after it returned from its fact-finding mission in Cameroon, also warned Nigeria not to fold her hands as she may likely bear the brunt of a huge humanitarian crisis if conditions escalate.
Speaking through its National Coordinator, Mrs Margaret Udoh, the group urged Nigerian government to rise to the plight of over four million Nigerians residing in the affected region, and who are currently denied access to Internet and their fundamental rights.
As part of solution to ending the crisis, the group called on relevant authorities to compel the government of Cameroon to respect the Kilimanjaro Declaration, which guarantees social inclusion and environmental care for all parties.
They condemned the security crackdown on the people and called on President Paul Biya of Cameroon to take decisive action towards ending the crises. “In order to resolve this deepening crisis, the group recommends that the government immediately act to end the repressive actions and fear, by ending its militarised security operations in the Anglophone regions with immediate effect,”Udoh said.
According to her, a lot of Anglophone Cameroonians who for fear of been arrested and tortured are fleeing the area to neigbouring Nigeria, adding that in most instances the accounts of these people are blocked to prevent them from having access to finance.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, a fleeing native of Anglophone Southern Cameroon, Ashu Kingsley, stated that since the crises started in September last year, all the courts in the region have been shut down. According to him, though 90 per cent of the people of the region speak English, 40 out of the 64 judges are Francophone, who does not speak English.
Speaking further on the level of marginalisation of the Anglophone Cameroonians, Ashu disclosed that out of the 36 ministers in the country, only one is from the English-speaking region.
Recall that in October 2016, associations representing teachers, educators and lawyers, from two Cameroon’s Anglophone regions - South West and North West, embarked on an industrial action to demand greater inclusion and promotion of English-speaking people in the teaching and legal sectors.