Persecution of Ambazonia Leaders Continues: US and Norway Target Freedom Fighters While Cameroon Escapes Scrutiny
In a stark display of selective justice, two pivotal figures in the Ambazonian liberation struggle—Dr. Cho Ayaba and Dr. Benedict Kuah—find themselves ensnared in what appears to be a coordinated international effort to silence voices demanding self-determination. As the world grapples with ongoing conflicts rooted in colonial legacies, the arrests and indictments of these leaders raise profound questions about the motives of powerful nations like the United States and Norway. Why do they relentlessly pursue Ambazonian advocates while turning a blind eye to the atrocities committed by Cameroon’s regime? The Ambazonian people, undeterred, vow that their fight for independence will not falter.
The latest blow came just yesterday when Dr. Benedict Kuah, Chairman of the Ambazonia War Council and a cornerstone of the independence movement, was indicted in the United States on charges that his supporters decry as entirely fabricated. Accused of “organizing, directing, and financing kidnappings, bombings, and killings in Cameroon,” Kuah’s legal troubles echo a pattern of demonization aimed at dismantling the Ambazonian resistance. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Dr. Cho Ayaba, another founding voice in the struggle, remains detained in Norway on equally spurious allegations of inciting crimes against humanity. These developments are not isolated; they are the latest chapters in a decades-long saga of persecution designed to protect exploitative interests.
To understand the depth of this injustice, one must revisit the harrowing events of 1998, as chronicled in Dr. Ayaba’s 2006 memoir, Not Guilty. At just 20-something years old, Ayaba and Kuah—both young idealists fueled by the Anglophone crisis of the 1990s—fled Ambazonia aboard a cargo ship to evade capture. Their escape was no act of cowardice but a desperate bid for survival amid a brutal crackdown. Back then, as Ayaba recounts, France and Britain weaponized Cameroon as a proxy to hunt them down. The goal was unambiguous: quash the burgeoning call for Ambazonia’s decolonization and safeguard the imperial stranglehold on the region’s vast oil reserves and natural resources.
This historical pursuit mirrors today’s indictments with chilling precision. The real quarry is not Ayaba or Kuah as individuals, but the very essence of Ambazonia itself—its land, its wealth, and the sovereign aspirations of its people. By targeting these leaders, Western powers and their allies seek to perpetuate a system where Cameroon’s government, accused of widespread human rights abuses including mass killings and forced displacements in Ambazonia, faces no such international reckoning. Why the double standard? Cameroon, a compliant partner in resource extraction, enjoys impunity, while Ambazonian defenders are branded terrorists. The United States, with its global reach, and Norway, often hailed as a beacon of human rights, now stand complicit in this hypocrisy, prioritizing geopolitical and economic interests over justice for an oppressed minority.
The Anglophone crisis of the 1990s, which Ayaba’s memoir so vividly illuminates, was the seed of today’s #AmbazoniaConflict—a righteous battle against marginalization and exploitation. Ambazonians have endured cultural erasure, economic plunder, and violent suppression, yet their resolve remains unbroken. As Dr. Ayaba himself noted in Not Guilty, the pursuit of freedom demands endurance against all odds. Supporters worldwide are rallying, calling for the immediate release of both leaders and an end to the biased interventions that prop up Cameroon’s regime.
In the face of these adversities, the message from Ambazonia is clear and unyielding: We shall not give up. The spirit of resistance, forged in the fires of 1998 and tempered by years of struggle, burns brighter than ever. The international community must awaken to the truth—that true peace lies not in silencing dissent, but in honoring the right to self-determination. Until then, the Ambazonian people will continue their fight, refusing to yield their destiny to imperial whims.
