UN Demands Probe into Ngarbuh Massacre

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Yaounde

The United Nations, UN, has in a statement issued Tuesday 18 February 2020 on recent killings of about 23 persons in Ngarbuh, in Donga Mantung Division urged government to conduct an independent investigation and bring the perpetrators to book.

               

UN wants Biya to order a probe into Ngarbuh massacre

"We urge the authorities to ensure that the investigation is independent, impartial and thorough and that those responsible are held fully to account," it said in a statement which, which, while citing information from UN colleagues on the ground, revealed two pregnant women and 15 children-nine of them under the age of five-were among those killed in the incident which many have blamed on government forces. 

                "We call on the Government to ensure that the security forces abide by applicable international law norms standards during the conduct of their operations," Tuesday's statement said.

                The body also cautioned non-state armed groups to steer clear attacks on civilians. "We similarly remind armed separatist groups of their responsibilities under international law and call on all parties to refrain from deliberate attacks on civilians," it cautioned, while, stating that the already tense situation in the Anglophone regions had worsened ahead of this month's parliamentary and municipal elections.

                The Ngarbuh tragedy the UN said marks latest deadly incident in the two conflict-plagued English-speaking regions where more than 3,000 people have died and at least 700,000 have fled their homes in the past two and a half years.