Monthly News Updates: Southern Cameroons – January 2021
By: Kristoffer Burck, Junior Research Associate, PILPG-NL
THIS POST COLLECTS UPDATES FROM THE PAST MONTH CONCERNING RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTHERN CAMEROONS. THE INFORMATION IS DRAWN FROM LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL ONLINE SOURCES.
VIOLENCE IN ANGLOPHONE REGIONS
Separatist Violence | Five People Killed in Separatist IED Attack
An improvised explosive device (IED) killed five individuals on January 6 in the anglophone North West Region. The government blames armed separatist groups for planting the device as a deliberate attack on a government convoy. The blast killed four soldiers and one high ranking government communications official and injured three other government officials. [January 7th, 2021]
Separatist Violence | Six Individuals Killed in Separatist Attack on Checkpoint
Armed separatists attacked a military checkpoint at the border between the anglophone North West region and the francophone West region on the 8th of January. The attackers reportedly killed three military gendarmes, two civilians, and one police officer, while injuring at least four other individuals. [January 8th, 2021]
Clashes with Soldiers | Thirty Villagers Arrested and Some Reportedly Tortured
Following the attack on a military checkpoint by armed separatist groups on January 8, 2021, security forces reportedly responded by retaliating against the civilian population of a nearby village. Locals report that military personnel arrested around 30 villagers and took them to a military base, while other villagers fled their houses into the bushes. At the base, the arrested civilians were interrogated and some allegedly tortured by soldiers. [January 11th, 2021]
Clashes with Soldiers | Nine Civilians Killed by Soldiers in Mautu Massacre
Nine people, including a six-year-old girl, have been killed on January 11th during a massacre in the anglophone South West region. Five others have reportedly been injured. The clashes forced a large number of local civilians to flee from their houses and hide in the nearby bushes. Local sources claim that soldiers indiscriminately killed villagers during an offensive against armed separatists. The Cameroonian Government released a statement acknowledging an encounter in Mautu but denying responsibility for the deaths of the nine civilians. The statement claims that soldiers responded to armed separatists in the villages and thereby killed “some terrorists”. The statement further mentions that armed separatists themselves, while fleeing from soldiers, opened fire on civilians and thus are responsible for the massacre. Local witnesses dispute this account and maintain that military personnel indiscriminately shot at villagers in order to punish them for hosting separatist fighters. The UN Office for Central Africa, the British High Commission in Yaoundé, and the French Embassy called for investigations into killings and prosecution of the perpetrators. [January 15th, 2021]
Clashes with Soldiers | Several Houses Burned by Soldiers in South West Region
Several civilian houses have allegedly been raided and burned by government soldiers in a village in the anglophone South West region on January 22. This marks another incident of attacks on civilian houses by government soldiers after government soldiers were accused of looting houses in a village in the North West region on January 12. [January 22nd, 2021]
Clashes with Soldiers | Four Schoolchildren Killed by Soldiers in North West Region
Soldiers reportedly killed four teenage schoolboys in the anglophone North West region on January 25 (BBC Africa Today reports here from min. 2:32 to min. 7:27). Government soldiers claim to have reacted to shots fired by separatist fighters. Several local voices, however, vehemently criticize the reckless response and lacking caution of the military personnel. [January 26nd 2021]
Reconstruction | National Reconstruction Team Evaluates Compensation Claims in North West Region
On January 23rd, following the Presidential Plan for Reconstruction and Development, a national reconstruction team started to evaluate compensation claims of citizens, who suffered material losses due to the ongoing anglophone crisis. Those who are eligible to claim compensation payments filed their claims with local authorities and are now screened by national officials. The majority of the compensation costs (up to 90%) will be covered by the UN Development Program. [January 23rd, 2021]
REGIONAL VIOLENCE
Nigeria/Cameroon | Boko Haram Attack Kills Twelve People in Cameroon
Members of Boko Haram killed twelve civilians, including eight children, in a suicide bombing in the Far North region of Cameroon. The attack on January 8th marks one of the deadliest attacks of Boko Haram in Cameroon so far. The terrorist group frequently crosses the border from Nigeria into Cameroon. [January 8th, 2021]
Central African Republic (CAR) | 5,000 Refugees from the CAR Flee to Cameroon
The UNHCR reports that nearly 5,000 refugees from the neighboring CAR fled to Cameroon. According to the UN agency, the refugees flee intensifying violence due to ongoing conflicts between the government of CAR and several armed rebel groups. The majority of the 60,000 refugees sought refuge in the bordering Democratic Republic of the Congo but some thousands also fled to Chad, the Republic of Congo, and Cameroon. [January 19th, 2021]
THREATS TO AFRICAN NATIONS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP IN CAMEROON
Soccer | African Nations Championship (CHAN) Kicks Off in Cameroon
January 16th marks the start of CHAN, the African soccer championships. Cameroon hosts 16 teams until February 7th. The government deployed the military to the anglophone town of Limbe after separatists threatened that the games scheduled there would not be secure. The tournament so far has not seen any violent interference by armed separatists despite these threats. [January 26th, 2021]