By Christopher FON
ACHOBANG
My
Beti in-law, Francis Olinga reminded me in 1988 that no matter how long a log
remains in water, it never becomes a caiman. I had arrived Yaounde in September
of 1987 for further studies at the lone university in Cameroon. By 1988, I had
immersed myself totally in the life current of my host family to the discomfort
of their youngest son, who promptly reminded me that I would never become part
of them.
Margaret
from Nyen, Meta, in Anglophone Cameroons got married to Bruno from Yaounde, on
the Francophone side. When I qualified for university that was the only family
I knew in Yaounde. I was admitted to live in the family while Margaret and
Bruno were away in NDOP, Northwest Region.
Thirty
years after Francis reminded me that a log does not become a caiman because it
fell into water and remained there forever, Ambazonians learnt sadly that after
57 years of being with Francophones, they would never be part of them.
Anglophones have since 1961 been reminded that no matter how long they remained
in the union with French Cameroons, they would never be part of the country.
The
Anglophone crisis came to a head in 2016 when bands of protesters took to the
streets. Thousands were killed, and hundreds of thousands went into exile,
while others travelled to the same francophone part persecuting them as
Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs.
At
the beginning of the conflict, Cameroun government and its military believed it
would overrun and crush the dissenting Anglophones within weeks. Provocation
and torture ensued as Cameroun soldiers invaded villages killing even unarmed
civilians and burning down their homes and property. The peaceful Anglophones
quickly learnt the violent tactics of their oppressors and swore by their lives
to defend their communities.
Young
men with no military training nor equipment took on the fire power of the
superior trained Cameroun soldiers inflicting heavy casualties among the
military. The Amba Boys, as the Anglophone defence forces came to be called,
took on the military, making nonsense of their training and numbers.
Since
the conflict, the military has bled profusely and their numbers reduced on the
warfront, to a point where new recruitment was announced for 2,600 more
soldiers. The remaining numbers have become a shadow of the very determined and
violent Cameroun soldiers people saw a few months earlier. Fear of their total
demise has gripped the military and a bare mention of the name, Amba sends
soldiers fainting and fleeing for their dear lives. From catapults and Dane
guns, Amba Boys have seized sophisticated weapons from the neutralized
soldiers. They now match fire power to that of the regular army.
Hundreds
of thousands of Anglophone IDPS are presently in francophone towns. With mixed
fortunes on the warfront, the Minister of Defence has authorized soldiers to
hunt out Anglophones IDPs wherever they are hiding in Yaounde, tagging them as
secessionists and terrorists. Their hosts have been described as accomplices.
These IDPs are to be adopted and executed.
When
I left Yaounde, a month back, I felt some gloved hostility in the voice of my
Beti nephew who said Cameroun soldiers were right in killing Anglophones like
mad dogs. PATOU wondered how civilians would be killing military personnel,
without blinking. Even though I reminded him that the military had to
stay in their barracks, he expressed his desire to see more Anglophone
civilians killed. That was my nephew, my own blood celebrating the killing of
his mother's brothers and sisters, his own uncles and aunts. Fear gripped me.
Genocide was ready. I had to return to my own backyard and fight with my back
to the wall, hoping for the assistance of my ancestors, the owners of the
land.
Ambazonia
has millions of its ghosts roaming the streets, on a look out for the enemies
of its sons and daughters. A confession from Cameroun soldiers who have been
lucky to leave the warfront alive, indicates that they are not sure Amba Boys
are human beings. “Those fighters are ghosts.” Declared a soldier in fright. If
ever the sons of Amba are killed in Francophone Cameroun, Amba ghosts would
ride on their blood to revenge their killing, as far as in Yaounde.
There
is now overt invitation for targeting and cleansing of Anglophones in
Francophone towns. The attached document is signed by the Minister of Defence
attached to the Presidency of Cameroon. This is confirmation that even
President Paul BIYA sanctions the killing of Anglophones in Francophone towns.
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