Imminent Civil War and Regional Crisis as Cameroon Borrows Soldiers From Chad to Help Fight Restoration Forces

When the International Crisis Group (ICG) late in December 2017 warned against the absence of meaningful dialogue and the worsening of the so-called Anglophone crisis in Cameroon, pro-government prominent officials accused the ICG of being part of an international conspiracy to destabilize the country. State controlled media organized countless roundtable discussions on how; finally the crisis was coming to an end and how 2018 was going to be a better year.

Less than two months now into 2018, it is safe to say, the ICG has been vindicated by the state of the crisis. Many more killings from both sides of the conflict have taken place in less than two months in 2018 than in the whole of 2017. Raids on villages by armed forces, arrests and abductions have increased including the arrest of the leader of The Interim Government of Ambazonia and his cabinet members on January 5th in questionable circumstances. The number of registered and unregistered refugees combined has risen from about 30,000 last year to over 50,000 with many surviving in the wilderness. Radicalized anti-government groups have multiplied, swelled in numbers and fortified their bases, more determined than ever before.

Cameroon’s armed forces are bewildered, as the war proves tougher than they had thought initially. In a bid to create peace by force and intimidation, they have adopted a scorched earth military policy involving the destruction of entire villages and cutting off sources of livelihood. The most appalling of such raids led to the burning to death of a grandmother in her home in a village called Dadi. News has now surfaced that elite soldiers from Chad have been sent in at the request of President Paul Biya to help fight the separatist movement as reported by AllAfrica Media. Reports from the battlefront say that this strategy aims at reducing the number of defections in the ranks of Cameroon’s military as reported late last year. “The foreign soldiers from Chad shoot to kill and follow orders more accurately than some disgruntled Cameroon soldiers. They face the separatists with no feelings”. A commander on the ground requesting anonymity stated. It should be noted that this is the second time in recent years Cameroon is borrowing soldiers from Chad to help its military in combat.

Cameroon has also dragged neighboring Nigeria into the crisis by illegally transferring registered refugees and arrested leaders of The Interim Government of Ambazonia to Yaoundé to be judged in the military tribunal. This has caused a bitter outrage both in the region and around the world from governments, international organizations and media outlets following the crisis. The US Department of State on February 5th issued a release condemning the illegal transfer of the detainees, likewise the United Nations. Social media activists are on a frenzy criticizing what they see as a regional and even international conspiracy aimed at abusing and suppressing the people of the territory of Southern Cameroons, now known as Ambazonia.

New Consequences as the crisis worsens

The dragging in of French-speaking Chadian soldiers to fight the English-speaking people of Ambazonia is seen by many as a justification of the fact that, linguistically speaking, they consider French as the language of oppression or the oppressor’s language. The French-speaking soldiers are deployed to round up, capture or shoot to kill “neutraliser”, to quote Cameroon’s Colonel Didier Badjeck, the anti-government fighters. Effective communication is barely possible during the raids due to language barrier. Chad is now considered an enemy country to the people of Ambazonia.

With Nigeria that used to be considered as a safe haven or escape route for those fleeing Cameroon’s government crackdown on anti-government critics now conniving, many displaced persons from the crisis are now seeking refuge in other destinations. Neighboring towns like Mbouda, Bafoussam, Mbanga, Dschang, Douala, etc. are bound to see a greater influx of persons fleeing their villages due to military raids. Sooner or later the crisis will spread to these neighboring towns since armed forces have the habit of pursuing and capturing the fleeing victims in their desperate attempt to avenge the deaths of fellow soldiers.

The Nigerian government’s action of handing over registered refugees and detainees to Cameroon while preventing their lawyers and families from contacting or visiting them has sparked growing resentment for the big Nigerian community resident in Cameroon. To express their anger, sympathizers of the Ambazonia cause around the world have taken to street rallies and peaceful demonstrations in front of Nigerian embassies and consulates around the world.
Unregistered refugees in Nigeria and new arrivals now run away from United Nations Refugee registration centers as well as any offers to help them. They see these as snares to round them up and send back to the crisis they are fleeing from. More and more refugees, many wounded and some with women and children now prefer to live in hideouts in the forests.

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana has condemned the non-respect of both the Nigerian law and the international law in the whole process from the January 5th arrest to the illegal transfer of the detainees to Yaoundé. The government has been sued both at the national level and at The African Union Commission through The African Bar Association.

International organizations like The United Nations, The European Union, The African Union and The Commonwealth even though have all expressed concerns, condemned the abuse of human rights in the crisis and called for inclusive dialogue, are still considered by many as toothless bulldogs and worse still, complacent. Loss of credibility and reliability in these organizations peaked when the Secretary General of The UN as well as that of The Commonwealth visited Cameroon late last year and fell short of meaningful action that could have helped solve the crisis. Grandstanding and speechmaking in return for expensive gifts and accolades from the protagonist of the conflict were disappointingly the highlights of the visits and only helped to fuel the crisis. This is also one of the main reasons why the crisis has shifted a lot from the peaceful demonstrations that characterized it before to self-defense and sporadic attacks growing in numbers by the day.

Events like The Youth Day usually celebrated in Cameroon on February 11th, that is, in a few days time are bound to propel the crisis to new heights. The people of Ambazonia consider the celebration of this day as a mockery to the cause they are fighting for and are already calling for a boycott of the festivities. If nothing is done to resolve the crisis the same boycott call will be made for all other events throughout the rest of the year and come to think of it, talking about events, at least three elections are supposed to be organized in Cameroon this year 2018 and Cameroon is scheduled to organize The African Football Cup of Nations in June 2019.

Many countries around the world have blacklisted Cameroon as a travel destination including Canada, the US, the UK, Germany and China. The risk of being caught in a gunfight or military raid is high. Basic services in the crisis regions like Internet connectivity, grocery stores and other services are barely available due to the civil disobedience campaign that has been instituted by the anti-government population in order to express their resentment.

Will mass arrests of leaders, tactical raids on villages, killings of armed forces and civilians solve the crisis? Will dragging in neighboring countries to fight anti-government forces do the trick? Will the aloofness of the international community and issuing of press releases expressing concern and calling for dialogue solve the crisis? Will the anti-Cameroon people of Ambazonia run out of resources and motivation soon and give up the fight or sought help from external parties too? Will meaningful dialogue ever take place? If yes organized by whom, how, where and when? Only time will tell.

Written by Ndoh Emmanuel