Worsening Insecurity

America declares Cameroon a no go destination
- Lists Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization
- Predicts additional Boko Haram attacks in North Cameroon
- Considers security in the North, East and West of Cameroon as precarious 
- Warns American citizens to quit North Cameroon immediately
By Njodzefe Nestor Nyuykighan 
The US Embassy in Yaounde has issued a statement warning of an impending danger in Cameroon. The statement posted on the Embassy website warned American citizens of the risks of travelling to Cameroon especially the Northern regions of the country, where it says the Islamic Sect Boko Haram is effectively present and orchestrating attacks that target mostly citizens of Western countries and the US.
     “Boko Haram’s leaders have stated and demonstrated through their actions over the past year that they are actively seeking to kidnap “Westerners” and U.S. citizens,” stated the statement, which noted that “several large weapons caches attributed to Boko Haram were discovered in Cameroon and confiscated by authorities in 2013 and 2014.”
    US Embassy authorities affirmed that “this signals the active presence of Boko Haram and points to the likelihood of further attacks by the group.”
    US Embassy authorities have therefore imposed restrictions for its citizens wishing to travel to Cameroon, especially the Northern parts of the country. US citizens were also warned to leave North Cameroon with immediate effect.

    “The U.S. Embassy has placed restrictions on travel by U.S. officials to the North and Far North regions of Cameroon, as well as any travel north of Ngaoundere in the Adamaoua region.  All U.S. officials must receive advance clearance from the U.S. Embassy to travel to these regions,” the statement reads.
    It also urged extreme caution for citizens when travelling in the North and Adamaoua regions of Cameroon, especially within areas 100 kilometers of Cameroon’s border with Adamaoua state of Nigeria and north of Ngaoundere in the Adamaoua region of Cameroon.
     The warnings also concern countries bordering Cameroon on the East, West and North consisting of Nigeria, Chad, and the Central African Republic.
     Embassy authorities advised U.S. citizens to consult travel warnings for these countries as well as when considering travel in areas of Cameroon bordering these countries, “as violence and banditry in border areas can quickly spill over into Cameroon.”
    It is worth noting that in November 2013, the US State Department listed Boko Haram and Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
    11 expatriates have been kidnapped since 2013 in Cameroon with the most recent on April 4, 2014, when attackers kidnapped two Italian priests and a Canadian nun from their residences in Tchere, near the city of Maroua, located approximately 60 kilometers from the Nigerian border. 
    A French priest was kidnapped from the town of Nguetchewe in November 2013, and a French family of seven was kidnapped while travelling near Waza National Park in February 2013.
    Only recently, in the night of May 4 to May 5, at about 2 a.m. about 30 Boko Haram gunmen rocketed the Gendarmerie Brigade in Kousseri in the Far North region of Cameroon, killing an officer on guard, one Boko Haram suspect and freeing one other of their members who had been arrested and kept in custody at the brigade.