UEFA Champions League:

Ronaldo's stunning goal garnishes Real Madrid win over Juventus

Even by his own standards, this was obscene from Cristiano Ronaldo.

            The great Portuguese stunned the Juventus Stadium into silence on Tuesday night as he scored an overhead kick of wonderful power, grace and daring.

            The Real Madrid man had already opened the scoring after three minutes with a neat finish, but the experienced Italian side rallied well to have the better of the first half.

            After 64 minutes, however, Ronaldo produced one of the most delightful goals this competition has seen.

            A mix-up between Giorgio Chiellini and Gianluigi Buffon saw Ronaldo pounce on the ball. He slipped it to Lucas Vazquez, who struck a crisp drive. A fine save from Buffon looked to have restored order, but the ball dropped handily for Dani Carvajal on the right.

            He crossed the ball, high, and Ronaldo leaped like an immaculately coiffured salmon to bicycle-kick the ball into the corner.

            It was a perfect blend of beauty and timing. The mighty Buffon was powerless.

And there was no way back for a gutted Juventus.

            Shortly after that, Paulo Dybala was sent off for a second yellow card, his first half booking for diving compounded by a kung-fu kick to the chest of Carvajal.

            Relentless Madrid sought the third, and it eventually came when Ronaldo stabbed through a pass for Marcelo to clip over the keeper.

Front Page

UN worried over condition of Anglophone refugees in Nigeria

By Innocent Kum in Yaounde 

President Biya: Would it not be most politically expedient should he engage dialogue now?

The United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has bemoaned the deplorable conditions under which Cameroonians fleeing the Anglophone crisis are living in Nigeria.

            Antonio Canhandula, a Programme and Operation Manager and UNHCR representative in Nigeria made his reservations via his twitter handle after visiting some of the refugees in Nigeria’s Cross River and Benue States earlier last week.

            In tweet, the UN official disclosed how some women said they had so little food to feed their families that they had to carry bricks to earn money to supplement what relief agencies provided.

            Accompanying a photo of young children lined up in a school he wrote: “Beautiful Cameroon refugee students. Children do not deserve the unfortunate situation of a refugee. This is freedom and human growth arrested. Robbing children of a future. An urgent solution is called for.”

            Then there was the story of how an expectant mother who fled the crisis back home had delivered a day before the UNHCR visited, he also added.

            Ernestine Etoe, 23, gave birth at a clinic located in Cross River State, the UNHCR official recounted in his social media outing.

The UNHCR’s records indicate that 20,000 plus Cameroonians have fled the North West and South West regions due to what has become known as the Anglophone crisis.

            Canhandula’s reservations are the same as those of the agency he represents. The UNHCR aside pushing that a political solution be found to the crisis holds that it does not have enough funds to cater for the growing number of refugees.

            Earlier during speaking at a press conference last Monday in Makurdi, Benue state, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Nigeria, had urged the government of Cameroon to respect human rights of all citizens especially those in the two English-speaking regions of the country amid the ongoing socio-political tension in the regions.

Continental Recognition:

Agbor Balla Appointed President of AFBA Human Rights Committee

By Boris Esono in Buea

Bar. Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla is the new president of the African Bar
Association’s Committee on Human Rights, Rule of Law and Good Governance

Cameroon’s indefatigeable Human Rights Crusader, Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla, has added another red feather to his already crowded crown. The 48-year-old former legal consultant with the UNO has been designated to head the Committee on Human Rights, Rule of Law and Good Governance of the African Bar Association, AFBA.

            Balla was appointed during a working visit of the AFBA executive committe in Kenya. The visit saw the AFBA exco members holding talks with the President of the Supreme Court of Kenya, Chief Justice David Maraga, who is reputed to have created history by annulling the August presidential election in his country, something which was the first of its kind in Africa.

            In a chat with reporters upon arriving Buea from Nairobi, Kenya, Barrister Agbor Balla said “it is an honor to serve the African Bar in particular and the African continent in general. The protection and promotion of human rights is very close to my heart. The appointment is an opportunity to continue to contribute towards an Africa where human rights will be respected in each and every country”.

            He equally pledged to fight for the the respect of the rule of law and good governance in African countries.

            Nkongho Felix Agbor-Bala is also the African Bar Association (AFBA) Vice President for Central Africa; President of Fako Lawyers Association (FAKLA) and erstwhile president of the now outlawed Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC) that gave the government sleepless nights in the heat of the ongoing Anglophone crisis.

            As the Founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), the very widely travelled Barrister has remained unrepentant about his fight for the rights of Anglophones in Cameroon.  He played a leading role in organizing non-violent civil disobedience to protest poor conditions in schools and courts in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

Travel Ban for Citizens:

UK, France Declare S. Cameroons As No-Go Area

By Innocent Kum in Yaounde 

The United Kingdom has cautioned its citizens in the country to totally avoid travel to within 40km of the Cameroon’s borders with Nigeria, Chad and Central African Republic.

            In a travel alert issued recently, the UK also warned its citizens from travelling to the Bakassi Peninsula and specifically to the Ndian Division of the South West region. For the other parts of the Anglophone region, the directive said all but essential travel should be undertaken.

            The March 27 travel alert issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,FCO  reads in part “the FCO now advise against all travel to within 40km of the Cameroon/Nigeria border and Ndian division, and against all but essential travel to the rest of the North West and most of the South West regions; updated information on kidnaps and clashes in the North West and South West regions.”

The alert also cautions against all but Cameroon’s borders with Gabon and Congo.

            It specifically mentioned Kupé-Manengouba, Lebialem, Manyu and Meme divisions in South West region and the rest of North, North West and Adamawa regions as places that citizens should be careful when going to.

Ambazonia Liberation Struggle:

The Mystery of Odey-Chi & the Crimeless ‘Amba Boys’ 

With no record of rape, looting or extortion, the Odey-Chi fighters could be fighting the most crimeless war by a very disciplined “army”

By Franklin Sone Bayen

Franklin Sone Bayen, tracking the Odey-Chi war in NW & SW

In a village along the Kumba-Mamfe-Bamenda road, a curious trial took place one of these past weekends. At a funeral I attended, village youths gathered for grave-digging, witnessed the trial (in my presence) of three young men who the previous day had assaulted two other young men over a negligible social issue. From the brutality of the fight, it looked like a gang fight. Eyewitnesses said the attacking “gangsters” were under the influence of marijuana and Tramadol.

            The first among the “gangsters” to be brought to the “dock” and ordered to kneel down, told the “jury’ that their assault was intended to punish the victims for snatching someone else’s girlfriend – she is not the girlfriend of any of the gang members.

            The leader of the village youths said he wanted to know in what capacity the three took upon themselves to “discipline” the “woman-snatchers”. The gangster kneeling before the jury said they simply sought to teach the woman-snatchers a lesson as they had warned them repeatedly to leave someone else’s girlfriend alone. But word had gone around the village that the gangsters claimed they were “Amba Boys” seeking to impose order in that capacity and that they were acting under the influence of their newly acquired “Odey Chi” powers. Odey Chi is believed to be a charm that renders its users invincible and provides them protection against machete cuts and bullets.

            It turned out that their claim of belonging to the Ambazonia Defence Force (ADF) or its related factions had reached the ears of “authentic” Ambazonia separatist fighters in the bush, otherwise called Amba Boys or Odey Chi Boys. Credible sources say the ADF boys visited the village at night to enquire after claims that “some rascals are using our name to commit atrocities in the village”. The graveside trial was thus staged for the attention of the “authentic Amba Boys”.

            The Amba Boys stood right opposite the youth “judges”, behind the litigants and observed quietly as they testified. Someone standing by elbowed me discretely and whispered to me, “Those are the real Amba Boys.” They all carried strange amulets that looked like charms. Confused, I asked, also whispering, “Real Amba Boys how? Who are the fake ones?” Then I was told about the Odey Chi/Amba Boys claim by the gangsters.

            As the trial proceeded, the other two gangsters walked to the scene. Ordered to join their “accomplice” in kneeling down, only one of them obeyed. The third resisted, haughtily ranting, boasting and daring anyone with guts to force him to his knees.

I saw one of the “VIP guests” closing in on the ranting young man. Short and stout and looking vexed, the “authentic Amba Boy” grabbed the stubborn village youth by the legs, lifted him with ease and flung him to the ground, head first. He pulled out a machete from… his trouser pocket, it seemed and made a gesture like to slaughter the young man he had flung to the ground. At this, the entire “jury”, the rest of the youths present and even his fellow Amba Boys, rose like one man and pounced on his machete.

Appeasement and Reconciliation:

Atanga Nji Extends Olive Branch To SW Populations

-Preaches Peace, Dialogue, Unity

By Boris Esono and Yollande Mbombe in Buea

Minister Atanga Nji extends Olive Branch as a sign of peace and reconciliation

The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji has urged the population of the SWR to collaborate with the forces of law and order so as to drive away terrorists from the region. The minister was speaking in Buea Tuesday 27 March 2018 during a meeting with the living forces of the region as part of a two-day appeasement mission in the region.

            The minister told the people he had come to the region with a message of Peace and dialogue from the head of state. He reiterated the point that Cameroon is and must remain one and indivisible.

            He noted with satisfaction the successful holding of the senatorial election across the national territory on 25 March 2018.

“From my discussions with the administrative authorities, I go back with the conviction that the SW region is calm. Last Sunday 25 March, all the councilors voted in the senatorial election and from the evaluation that was done in Yaoundé, I can tell you that the entire process went on in perfect tranquility”.

            Atanga Nji hailed the forces of law and order and the administrative authorities for their skillfulness in managing the present crisis.

            “I thank the forces of law and order and the administrative authorities for their professionalism because since the disturbances started, they have been able to manage the situation and everything is now under control. The forces of law and order have remained level-headed despite losing some of their colleagues in their effort to contain the activities of the terrorists. They have also not done anything that could jeopardize the situation of the republic”. 

            Atanga added: “We have to bring peace and serenity to the region. What has been done so far is very good and the population should collaborate with the forces of law and order because we must all be united against the terrorists because no one can accept that disorder should continue”.

            He went on: “If dialogue is well understood, the concept of dialogue should be held within the framework of state institutions. People should understand that when things are done properly and with respect for state institutions, then we can move ahead.”