Cameroon clamps down on separatist movement

….Issues warrant arrest on 15 leaders

Cameroon, has firmed aggression and clampdown on Anglophone separatist movement group, with international arrest warrant issued on the group’s 15 leaders as more are detained in country’s top prisons.

Agency report disclosed that government of Cameroon have issued international arrest warrants for fifteen leaders of an Anglophone separatist party, the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC).

This was coming as the country’s government said that accused the separatists of fueling a raid on a security checkpoint that killed two gendarmes – paramilitary forces.

The report quoting a local website, said that Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the self-proclaimed president of the Anglophone group is among those country has placed on wanted list as he now faces arrest and extradition.

Also, the Cameroonian government accused the group of being promoting rising violence in the northwestern and southwestern regions. The two areas known as ‘Anglophone Cameroon’ has been at the heart of clashes between pro-government forces and secessionists.

The security situation has in the past led to the burning of schools, detonation of homemade bombs in the main cities of Bamenda and Douala. The most recent incident was the killing of three security officers in an overnight raid on a checkpoint.

The Cameroonian government says separatists were behind a raid on a security checkpoint that killed two gendarmes – paramilitary forces.

Information minister Issa Tchiroma told the AFP news agency that the attackers who were armed also took away the guns of the slain officers.

The attack on Monday evening took place in Bamenda the capital of the restive northwest region of the country, specifically in the town of Jakiri.

Local media portals have reported a mass exodus of young people from the town in the wake of the attack amid rising fear of reprisals and represssion by the security forces. Already droves of people have fled the region into Nigeria, the United Nations refugee agency confirmed last week.

People in Cameroon’s anglophone regions – Northwest and Southwest – have long protested marginalization from the French majority. An attempt at declaring a symbolic independence in early October led to clashes that resulted in deaths, injuries and mass arrests.