Cameroon tense as separatists fly flag
Cameroon’s restive anglophone regions were in lockdown on Monday as separatists marked the first anniversary of a symbolic independence declaration just a week before a nationwide presidential poll.
A 48-hour curfew was imposed on English-speaking towns in the regions which have been rocked by deadly clashes sparked by the majority francophone country’s sensitive linguistic divide.
Gunfire was reported on Monday in the flashpoint town of Buea in the country’s southwest which has been at the heart of the nascent insurgency.
In other English-speaking areas, shops and bars were ordered to close, meetings of more than four people were banned and transport was suspended. On October 1 2017 at least 40 pro-anglophone protesters were killed by police, according to analysts at the International Crisis Group think-tank which said that tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets.
The worst-affected towns – Buea, and Bamenda, the capital of the northwest region – were flooded with security forces who arrested dozens of suspects following a symbolic independence declaration.
“The army killed lots of people on October 1,” the bishop of Buea, Emmanuel Bushu, said at the time.
“For nearly two weeks the army shot at people like they were birds.”
The flag of the self-styled Republic of Ambazonia replaced the Cameroonian colours in a number of villages in the anglophone region, with separatist fighters vowing to make the switch permanent.
The conflict continues unabated one year on.
Cameroonian security forces are deployed to the region in massive numbers and the strength of the secessionists has grown exponentially.
There are now more than 1,000 separatist fighters, according to the think-tank.
A spike in attacks on symbols of the Cameroonian state, including killings of police and kidnappings of civil servants, has forced functionaries in several areas to flee.
In an effort to limit the risk of attacks on polling stations, the Elecam electoral commission will relocate a number of voting centres. – AFP