The crisis in Cameroon is an ongoing conflict between Paul Biya and the people of Southern Cameroon. The crisis persists despite tremendous mediation and international appeals to end the feud. This has led to the abduction of some Cameroonian activists who have remained languished behind bars.
By Comfort Yakubu
Cameroon (‘Kamerun’) was a German colony beclouded with the activities of Germany dating as far back as 1845. At the end of World War l, Germany’s colony of Kamerun was partitioned between France and Britain.
The Anglophone regions of Cameroon were then controlled by Britain as a mandate of the League of Nations, and then as a United Nations-trusted territory. While France controlled the region that became the francophone region of Cameroon.
In February 1961, a referendum organized by the United Nations presented British Cameroons with two options: Either joining the independent Federation of Nigeria or the independent Republic of Cameroun. Despite Southern Cameroons’ desire for self-determination, the United Nations excluded this option, citing economic concerns. As a result, the British Northern Cameroons opted to join Nigeria, while the British Southern Cameroons chose to join La République du Cameroun.
The Southern Cameroons thus became one of the two federating states of the Federal Republic of Cameroon.
The Foumban Constitutional Conference was then held to create a constitution for the new Federal state of British Southern Cameroon and the La République du Cameroun.
The conference brought together representatives from La République du Cameroun, including President Amadou Ahidjo, and representatives from Southern Cameroons.
The Foumban Conference in July 1961 saw negotiations concluded, with the delegation from the Cameroun Republic, aided by French advisers, achieving most of their objectives. However, the Anglophones, lacking the support pledged by the British and the UN, found themselves marginalized.
It was however supposed to be a partnership of equals,
By May 1972, Ahidjo converted the Federal Republic into a unitary state, an act that violated articles in the Foumban documents.
Paul Biya, his successor, went on to remove one of the stars from the flag and changed the official name of the country to the Republic of Cameroon (La République du Cameroon), replacing the name “United Republic of Cameroon” the name the francophone Cameroon had before her unification with Southern Cameroon.
These actions were perceived by the Southern Cameroonians as an attempt by the Francophone not to form a federal state, but to annex the Southern Cameroons.
Consequently, the English-speaking Cameroon over the years, suffered marginalization and were treated as second-class citizens.
The Crises
By 2016, lawyers led a protest in the Anglophone regions joined by other professionals and the general public. They peacefully protested the political and economic marginalization of the English-speaking regions by the government and the imposition of the French language on their schools and courts.
President Paul Biya’s government responded to the non-violent protest with the Cameroonian military firing live ammunition at protesters.
Biya had declared war on the “Anglophones” that were calling for separation, He said he would crush them if they did not surrender.
Videos were then circulating on social media showing how demonstrators were molested and forced to kneel on the ground by state security agents. To prevent the circulation of videos, the internet was cut off from the Anglophone regions for about three months.
The consequence of this crisis is that thousands of people moved to Nigeria and other neighbouring countries in droves because of the attacks by security forces.
Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has been a major voice against the injustice meted on the Anglophone regions known as “Ambazonia” and advocating for separation from La Republic du Cameroun.
In a move that appears to be a deal between Paul Biya and the then Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and nine others, which include six academics of a Nigerian university and other professionals were illegally abducted and repatriated to Cameroon and subsequently tried in Yaounde by a military tribunal.
They were handed life sentences with a fine of $525 million. They are currently being held at the Kondengui Maximum Security Detention facility.
This action has widely been condemned by rights groups and the international community who are calling for the release of the Cameroonian leaders.
In a letter addressed to the then Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Falana a human rights lawyer, said the deportees were not illegal immigrants, but Cameroonians who have sought political asylum in Nigeria. He stated that his clients were the leaders of the people of Southern Cameroon who have been living in Nigeria for several years and some are naturalized Nigerian citizens.
According to him, “they had sought political asylum in Nigeria due to persecution and repression under the Paul Biya regime in Cameroon.”
Falana described their extradition as “connivance” between the office of the national security adviser and the Cameroonian government.”
Their continued detention to date has been widely condemned globally with rights groups continuously agitating for the release of the 10 southern “Cameroonian leaders” being held in detention.
