Military Response to Anglophone Uprising:

A Bloody & Costly ‘War’ That Profits No One

-How Many More Cameroonians Must Die Before We Consider Ending The War?

President Biya said in a recent address to the nation that “the situation in the NW and SW is stabilizing” and that the security forces are doing a great job keeping the separatist ‘terrorists’ in check. The President made these remarks despite the bloody gun battles, kidnappings, indiscriminate killings, arson, looting, waylay etc etc that have continued to be reported almost daily in some parts of the two restive regions. Observers reckon that the ‘war’ has become too ghastly and very costly in terms of financial and material losses; it should be brought to an end now. They say the President must review his narrative and take alternative courses of action, however politically expedient, if he must avoid the worst.

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

President Biya

The ‘Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary’ defines the word expedient as “an action that is useful or necessary for a particular purpose, but not always fair or right”. The ghastly nature of the ‘war’ in the Anglophone regions and the burden it is putting on the state treasury speak to the need for alternative, politically expedient actions to be taken if the danger that is looming large on the horizon must be avoided.

            Whichever way you look at it, the military option since adopted by the President as response to the crisis is evidently inadequate and ill-adapted to the guerilla tactics of the Ambazonia fighters. And the casualty on both sides is heavy, very heavy indeed, that is if reports from the war-fronts are anything to be relied on.

            Time has proven that the more we think that we are winning and escaping the worst the more the separatist fighters are becoming more and more invigorated and deadly. Like the retro virus that causes HIV/AIDS, the Ambazonia fighters have continued changing their tactics and moving the target of their deadly attacks, and this only makes things evidently difficult for the government forces.

            Our military chiefs should be honest enough to tell the President that what they thought would be an easy ride over the rather untrained, unprofessional and very poorly equipped Ambazonia fighters is turning out to be anything but easy.

            Many government soldiers coming from the war front have been fair enough to admit to this reporter off the record that “those Ambazonia boys are deadly…They are protected with magical powers that make things very difficult for us.”

            And what these soldiers are saying might be true considering that in a recent video post on social media, a group of young men calling themselves the ‘Lebialem Ambazonia Defence Forces’ were seen brandishing Kalashnikov rifles and boasting how they killed government soldiers and took away the weapons. When the Ambazonia fighters started their military adventure months ago they were reported as using mainly den-guns and other artisanal weapons. That they now possess modern war guns should be a matter of great concern for the authorities.

            There is no question therefore for the government to think that we are winning the war and escaping the worst in this crisis. The Ambazonia fighters have proven in many ways and in every way that they are very determined and far from being daunted. And the fact that they enjoy considerable sympathy from the population only plays to their advantage, and to the disadvantage of the government forces.

            Reason why no one should rest assured that the military reprisals, however sustained, will very easily annihilate the resistance of the separatists anytime soon.

            Perhaps what should trouble the President the more is the fact that all the killings, arson, kidnappings, looting etc are taking place in a house that he has so painstakingly struggled to build over 35 or more years of his reign. The President must admit that today that house doesn’t look as strong and solid as it should, and a collapse could be catastrophic.

            There is every reason therefore for the President to change his rhetoric about the crisis and adopt expedient courses of action if he must put back the house in order especially in this critical year of multiple general elections.

The first productive step could be for the President to call for a ceasefire to pave the way for sincere, inclusive dialogue. He could do this by way of a message to the nation in which he calls on all those who are now fighting a fratricidal war with the government from their hideouts in the bushes and Mountains to come out and drop their weapons so that dialogue can be engaged.

            Then the President should instruct the military court to speed up the trials of persons arrested in connection to the crisis this so that those guilty can be punished, while those found not guilty should be freed. Alternatively, the President could consider granting general amnesty to all arrested persons if just to sweeten the bitter mood of the Anglophone community.

            The worrying issue of the thousands of Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria and the situation of the internally displaced persons should also be urgently looked into so that these people can come back to their villages and homes.

President Biya could copy from his Nigerian counterpart, Mohamadou Buhari, who said recently that he is contemplating negotiating a ceasefire with the Boko Haram sect. President Biya could ‘negotiate’ a ceasefire with the Ambazonia fighters if just as an expedient measure to bring an end to the war.

            And like Nigeria that granted pardon to the leader of the 1967-1970 Biafran secessionist revolution, Major Chukwu Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and permitted him to return to Nigeria from exile and to actively participate in the political evolution of the giant West African nation, President Biya could consider granting amnesty to the leader(s) of the Ambazonia Interim Government, Sesekou Ayuk Tabe and others who were arrested in Abuja Nigeria. And this could be after the leaders pledge on oath to abandon the secessionist struggle.

            The President must not undermine the fact that, until the escalation of the ongoing crisis, Cameroonians, divided as they are, have always unanimously conceded to him the ability to keep the nation together and in peace. Many say it was thanks to the President’s level-headedness that Cameroon escaped a civil war during the desperate opposition confrontations in the early 1990s and despite the history of acrimonious elections in the country.

            But today, that peace cannot be guaranteed anymore. Quite regrettably! Reason why this newspaper is beckoning the President to do everything constitutionally possible, if for nothing else, to restore the legendary peace and harmonious living together of Cameroonians that until recently has been the hallmark of his 36-year reign.

            The world is watching, and time is of the essence.