Hostilities in Kembong and Mamfe:

Manyu is victim of its porous border and strategic location

                                     – HRH Ayamba Ita, traditional ruler of Eyumojock

– HRH Ayamba Ita, traditional ruler of Eyumojock

According to the young, dynamic and out-spoken traditional ruler of Eyumojock town, if Manyu has easily become the centre of hostilities it is because of several reasons including notably the geo-strategic location of the division which has a long and porous land border with Nigeria, and the poor management of the crisis by local administrators. Ntufam Ayamba Ita suggests that government should adopt a more appropriate communication strategy to counter the very effective and well-oiled propaganda machine that the secessionists have used and continue using to lure more youths into their ranks.

By Tanyi Kenneth Musa in Y’de with field reports

The traditional ruler of Eyumojock town has expressed fears it will be difficult to convince Anglophone refugees in Nigeria to come back home, in so long as soldiers especially the BIR are still stationed in villages and towns in Southern Cameroon. HRH Ntufam Ayamba Ita Jacques says all efforts he and other concerned persons have made to try to convince the refugees to return home have gone in vain because the refugees hold strong to their position that they will not return home to be arrested by soldiers and gendarmes. HRH made these and other remarks Tuesday, during a telephone conversation with this reporter.

                “Even though the BIR have assured me that they came here with the sole objective to ensure that peace returns, it is difficult to convince the children who are in exile across the borders that the BIR are here for peace. On the contrary, the children believe that the BIR have come to arrest and kill them, especially those of them who have ‘odeshi’ marks on their bodies,” Ntufam Ayamba Ita explained, noting that the several trips he made to Nigeria to convince the youths to return home met with an adamant and evidently brainwashed youths.

                “Even though I told the refugees that upon returning home, they will first stay in my palace pending their eventual reinsertion into their communities, they would still not trust me. Most of them took me instead for an agent of government whose mission is to lure them into the dragnet of the soldiers and the BIR,” Ntufam Ayamba said, also noting that the continued stay of the refugees in Nigeria has only made it possible for the secessionists to brainwash them using their well-oiled propaganda machine.

                Ntufam Ayamba Ita recounted how during a recent trip he undertook to the refugee camps with car loads of rice and other food items, was sabotaged by the famous ‘internet general’, Mark Bareta, who quickly sent word to the refugee camps that the government in Yaounde has sent a delegation with poisoned food for them and that the refugees should not only reject the food but should also pounce on the delegation as soon as they arrived. Ntufam Ita said he was only saved the embarrassment and perhaps an attempt on his life, by Nigerian immigration authorities who had delayed the movement of his delegation for reasons of obtaining prior clearance from the Cross River State government.

                But the Chief admitted that the situation of the children in the three refugee camps of Ajasso, Ikom and Agborkem Waterfall is really lamentable. He expressed fears many more refugees may be forced to enroll in the Ambazonia defense force just to have what to eat.

                Asked why Manyu has become the epi-centre of hostilities between government forces and ‘Odeshi’ bolstered Ambazonia hit and run martyrs, Ntufam Ayamba said the reasons are varied and simple.

                “Manyu has a long and very porous border with Nigeria. Apart from the Manyu River that is a busy trade route linking the two countries, there are also countless footpaths in the forests that villagers and smugglers have since been using. Also the geo-strategic location of Manyu with its many rivers and thick forests only afford good hiding places for secessionist rebels. For instance the vast Akwaya subdivision which is literally cut-off from the rest of the country by road also affords camping and training ground for the Ambazonia forces, who take advantage of the absence of symbols of effective government presence (no gendarme posts, no schools, no hospitals etc) to brainwash the indigenes and lure them to their side,” Ntufam Ayamba explained, also adding that the believe by the local populations that once their country Ambazonia comes to be it is their own brother, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe who will be the president, only renders these unsuspecting populations gullible to the secessionist rhetoric dished out by Mark Bareta and others.

                Besides, Ntufam Ayamba Ita also blames the local administration in Manyu and Manyu elite and Chiefs for failing to act correctly during the turbulent days especially 22 September 2017 and 1st October 2017. He says if the youths had been allowed to march and hoist their flags that would have been it. But the authorities resorted to beating up and arresting the youths thus provoking the violence that ensued.

                Also, Chief Ayamba says the infamous and very unpopular prefectoral order of the Manyu SDO which called for people to evacuate their villages to safer neighborhoods also marked a turning point in the crisis; it made the locals to believe that Yaounde was out to eliminate them.

                “Ever since the SDO issued his order, the villages of Agborkim German, Nsanakang and Nsanarakati have been deserted by their populations. A village like Kembong which is arguably the most populated village in the whole of Manyu division now counts less than 40 persons in the entire village,” Ntufam Ayamba said, maintaining that the indiscriminate arrests that were carried out during the turbulent days scared many youths to escape and seek safe sanctuary in Nigeria.

                “It is these youths who now go and fortify themselves with ‘Odeshi’ to come back and fight the government forces whom they accuse of pushing them out of their country,” Ntufam Ayamba explained.

                As for Manyu elite and Chiefs, Ntufam Ayamba said they tried their best to arrest the situation but regretted that their actions could not cause a change of heart among the brainwashed youths.

                He dismissed allegations that the Chiefs of Manyu refused to dissuade their subjects from joining the secessionists because money that was sent to them by government did not get to them.

                “As Chiefs we do not need prior support from government to play our role of getting our subjects to do the right thing. For my part, I have not had any good sleep ever since this crisis started. I have invested all resources humanly possible to get my people to come back to their good senses, but unfortunately most of them instead accuse me of rallying with government against them,” HRH Ntufam Ayamba Ita regretted, suggesting to government to adopt a more appropriate communication strategy to counter the propaganda machinery of the secessionists instead of resorting to war.