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Tag: Cameroon

Amnesty urges Cameroon to investigate abuses in Boko Haram fight

Amnesty International urged Cameroon on Wednesday to investigate the death of 25 prisoners and disappearance of 130 people after raids by security forces, raising concern about possible abuses arising from a crackdown on Boko Haram militants.

Amnesty said the Nigerian insurgent group had committed war crimes in neighbouring northern Cameroon by killing at least 380 civilians since the start of last year.

In one attack in October, Boko Haram shot or slit the throats of at least 30 people in the border town of Ambchide, Amnesty said.

While providing protection to civilians in northern Cameroon, security forces had committed serious human rights violations, Amnesty said.

More than 1,000 suspects had been detained in raids by authorities on villages, in which homes were destroyed and civilians killed, it said.

Amnesty highlighted a raid by security forces in December on the villages of Magdeme and Double, in which 70 buildings were burnt down and at least eight people killed, including a seven-year-old child, according to residents.

At least 200 men and boys were detained in the raid. The government has said that 25 died in their first night of detention from asphyxiation, but Amnesty said that another 130 remain missing.

Steve Cockburn, Amnesty’s deputy regional director, appealed for Cameroonian authorities to launch an independent, impartial and rigorous investigation into the killings, disappearances and detentions.

“We can’t have a situation where the population is scared of the people who are protecting them,” he told Reuters. “What that means concretely is a change of tactics to avoid the type of operation that leads to the mass arrests we have seen.”

Amnesty found that overcrowding, lack of sanitation and inadequate health care in a prison in northern Cameroon’s main town of Maroua led to the death of at least 40 prisoners between March and May. The rights group called for a rapid improvement in conditions of detention.

Cockburn voiced concern that an offensive against Boko Haram due to be launched this year by an 8,700-strong regional force – composed of troops from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin — could lead to more abuses.

“That brings with it the risk of future human rights violations unless there are further measures taken to prevent the sort of mass arrests and other violations that we have seen over the last months,” he said.

September 17, 2015
Boko Haram has killed 400 in Cameroon, says Amnesty

Boko Haram has killed 400 civilians since last year in northern Cameroon, with dozens dying in a “heavy-handed” response by security forces, Amnesty International said in a report published yesterday.

The report titled: ‘Human rights under fire: Attacks and violations in Cameroon’s struggle with Boko Haram’ and published in Yaounde, is based on three research missions in 2015, Amnesty said.

It said the group has killed at least 380 civilians since January last year.

Cameroonian security forces have responded with raids on villages and the arrest of more than 1,000 people, including children, Amnesty said.

At least 25 people have died in custody with more than 130 people missing.

“As Boko Haram has brought its violence to Cameroon, civilians have come under fire,” said Alioune Tine, Amnesty International director for West and Central Africa.

“By killing indiscriminately, destroying civilian property, abducting people and using children as suicide bombers, they have committed war crimes and caused untold fear and suffering to the civilian population.”

But Tine said security forces had responded in kind.

“Cameroon’s security forces have killed civilians unlawfully or through excessive use of force. People have been arbitrarily arrested, and many held in inhumane conditions, which have led to dozens of deaths.”

Amnesty quoted one witness as saying Boko Haram fighters shot or slit the throats of at least 30 people in the border town of Amchide in a raid last October.

On April 17, Amnesty said another raid saw more than 100 Boko Haram fighters storm Bia, killing 16 civilians, including two children, as well as torching dozens of houses, while recent weeks have seen a slew of suicide bombings, using girls as young as 13, killing more than 70.

In listing the horrors of Boko Haram’s actions, Amnesty criticised the brutality of some security operations undertaken in response.

“The military have used excessive or lethal force. In one cordon-and-search operation, at least eight people, including a child, were killed and more than 70 buildings were burnt down in the villages of Magdeme and Double on December 27 last year.”

Many of those arrested “are held in appalling conditions at Maroua prison. Overcrowding, lack of sanitation and inadequate health care led to the death of at least 40 prisoners between March and May,” Amnesty said.

It said at least 130 of more than 200 men and boys arrested in July remained unaccounted for.

“It is unacceptable that nearly nine months after the mass arrest of 200 men and boys, most of their families still do not know whether they are dead or alive,” Tine said.

September 17, 2015
Eagles consider Cameroon friendly in Europe

Nigeria have proposed a friendly against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon next month in Europe as coach Sunday Oliseh steps up rebuilding the Super Eagles.

The Eagles recorded a disappointing draw in Tanzania in a 2017 AFCON qualifier at the weekend in Oliseh’s first game in charge.

And a top official has informed AfricanFootball.com that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) are working on the team to play a friendly against Cameroon in Europe early next month. There are two FIFA friendly windows left for this year – October 5 to 13 and November 9 to 17.

“The NFF are looking at getting the Eagles to face Cameroon in a friendly early next month and the game will most likely be played in Europe,” the official told AfricanFootball.com.

Both countries have clashed 19 times since April 1960.

Nigeria have won eight times and drawn seven times, while Cameroon were victorious on four occasions.

September 7, 2015
IPC condemns arrest of Journalist

The International Press Center, IPC Lagos has described as condemnable the arrest and the continued detention of a Lagos-based Cameroonian journalist, Simon Ateba, by Cameroonian authorities since Friday August 28.2015.

The journalist was said to have been arrested when he was investigating the conditions of Nigerian refugees camped in the country’s’ far north

Director IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade in a statement Monday noted that there is nothing wrong if a journalist investigates the ordeals and suffering of Nigerians who fled into Cameroon as their communities came under sustained attacks from the extremist Boko Haram sect.

“However if the authorities feel he has contravened the laws of the country he should therefore be charged to court or otherwise be released immediately,” he added

The director IPC demanded that the Cameroonian authorities should ensure his safety is guaranteed while in their custody.

August 31, 2015
Media groups demand release of detained Nigerian based journalist in Cameroon

Media groups in Cameroon and the Committee for the Protection of Journalists,
( CPJ) have condemned the arrest of a Nigerian based Cameroonian journalist, Simon Ateba who is being detained by the country’s military authorities on charges of espionage.
The groups in separate statements demanded for Ateba’s immediate release.
Ateba, a Cameroonian wo has worked as a journalist in Nigeria for over a decade, was arrested on Friday afternoon at the Minawao refugee camp and taken to Makolo in the far north of Cameroon and has been accused of spying for the Boko Haram insurgency group which is waging a Jihadist was in the north east Nigeria.
The President of the Cameroon Journalism Trade Union, Dennis Nkwebo, condemned Ateba’s arrest as high handed, observing that the journalist had not committed any offence by going to report on activities there.
“He is a Cameroonian even if he is working in Nigeria and he has not committed any offence by going to report the refugee situation at the camp. We condemn his arrest as he was arrested in the course of doing his legitimate journalistic work and demand his release”, Nkwebo stated.
According to the Cameroon journalists’ union president, there is no law in the country which forbids any journalist from reporting the refugee camps. Nkwebo added that the military authorities even had no right to arrest anybody for going into the refugee camps since the facility is controlled and run by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, and not the government.
“I have gone there to report events there at the camp many times and even taken photographs and nobody stopped me,” he observed.
He lamented that even local journalists suffer repression in the hands of the military authorities, noting that journalists in Cameroon had been dragged to military tribunals before for possessing information that the authorities think they should have shared with the government.
“Freedom of expression is under attack in Cameroon and journalists in this country will continue to resist all attempts to supress the Press,”Nkwebo asserted.
The President of the Cameroon Union of Journalists, Charles Ndi Chia condemned Ateba’s arrest and promised to do everything possible to effect his release as soon as possible.
In its reaction, the CPJ, in a brief statement issued Saturday by its West African representative, Peter Nkanga, said that the journalist’s arrest and continued detention was uncalled for as he was doing legitimate business of reporting an issue of public interest.
“Authorities should release Simon Ateba immediately and allow journalists access to the camp, and the people within, to report those stories of public interest which have remained shrouded in secrecy and underreported for too long,”Nkanga stated.
Ateba was arrested at the Minawao refugee camp in the far north of the country at about noon on Friday and taken to Mokolo, some twelve kilometres away, where he was detained.
He was in Cameroon to report on the conditions of refugees in the camp when he was arrested and accused of spying for the dreaded Boko Haram insurgency group.
He said he had been told that he would be taken to Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, and handed over to the secret police to be tried for espionage.
Dayo Aiyetan, executive director of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR, which awarded a grant to Ateba to conduct the investigation, expressed worry that the journalist’s whereabouts are no longer known as nobody has been able to reach him since Saturday afternoon.
“I was in contact with him even as he was detained but since about 4.00 pm or so I have not been able to reach him,” Aiyetan stated Saturday evening.
He added that Ateba complained that he had not been given food or water for over 24 hours and had not been allowed to buy drugs to treat a feverish condition that developed after he was beaten by rain.
When contacted over the matter, the Cameroon minister of information, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, said he was not aware of the journalist’s arrest. Although the minister was told that he had not been fed or given access to medication to treat a fever, the minister said that there was nothing he could do until Monday or Tuesday.

August 30, 2015
Dangote inaugurates $250m plant in Cameroon

Dangote Cement Plc, yesterday, achieved another feat with the inauguration of $250 million (N48.75 billion) cement grinding plant in Douala, Cameroon.

Dangote Group also laid the foundation stone for a 200 metre jetty in Douala.

Speaking on the occasion, President/ Chief Executive, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote said the plant, with a capacity of 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa), was a great feat in the operations of the company.

He said: “The plant is our largest greenfield project in a neighbouring country with which we not only share a boundary but also a long history of brotherly relationship dating from our colonial days.”

He said the company signed the investment agreement for the development and operation of a quarry and cement grinding with the government of Cameroon on Sept. 19, 2011.

He said massive economic revolution of the Cameroonian government in the power sector, infrastructural development, industrial development and transportation industry had impacted positively on businesses.

“We can attest to this as we have been one of the major beneficiaries,” Dangote said.

He said Dangote Cement first came into Cameroon in 2008 but signed an Investment Agreement with the government in 2011.

Dangote said the investment had increased the country’s economic value through creation of thousands of jobs; supported the government’s aggressive infrastructural development.

Its other benefits include; conservation of scarce foreign resources through drastic reduction of importation of cement; creation of revenue for the government through payment of value added tax (VAT), royalties and taxes.

Dangote said plans were on the way to commence the second phase of the plant which would double its capacity from the current 1.5mmtpa to 3.0 mmtpa.

He said the company would soon open an additional quarry in the country and inaugurate more than 200 new trucks to enhance service delivery to its customers.

“Our desire to increase our investment with the Phase 2 project is based on not only the fast growth rate of the Cameroonian economy but also the warm welcome extended to us and the enabling environment created by its government.

“Our choice of Cameroon for this multi-million dollar investment is strategic because it is the largest economy in Central Africa and well endowed with abundant natural resources,” he said.

He said the country enjoyed political stability, adequate security and growing development of infrastructure.

Dangote also said the investment would further strengthen the bilateral ties between Nigeria and Cameroon and fast-track Africa’s economic integration.

“Africa has the lowest per capita consumption of cement, an important index in measuring development, and only deliberate efforts by Africans to produce more than current requirements to force down prices can remedy the situation,” Dangote said.

According to him, the company had on Aug. 26, signed a $4.34 billion contract with Sinoma International Engineering Company Ltd., a Chinese construction giant, for the construction of 11 new cement plants in 10 African countries, and Nepal in Asia.

Dangote said the total capacity of the proposed plants would be 25 mmtpa, projecting that the company’s combined capacity within Africa and outside the continent would hit 100 mmtpa by 2020.

“In Nigeria, we contributed to the successful transformation of the country from being the biggest importer to a major producer and net exporter of cement,” he added.

He commended the Nigerian government for the encouragement and nurturing of the company from inception.

Dangote said the company owed its existence to the favourable investment policies of the government which encouraged the growth of import substitution industries, especially in areas with comparative advantage like in cement.

Also speaking, President Paul Biya of Cameroon, lauded Dangote for contributing to the country’s development.

Biya, who was represented by Mr Philemon Yang, the Prime Minister, said that the company had contributed massively to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through the investment.

August 28, 2015
Nigeria, Cameroon, others to deploy 8,500 troops against Boko Haram

•Regional military chiefs finalise deployment

Military chiefs from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger Republic and Benin have finalized details of the deployment of their joint force to fight Boko Haram.

They agreed to set up three command posts in Nigeria and Cameroon, military sources said yesterday.

At a two-day meeting in N’Djamena, which concluded late on Friday, military commanders from the five countries resolved to accelerate the deployment of the 8,700-strong force, which will have its overall command centre in the Chadian capital.

A disjointed campaign by Nigeria, Chad and Niger swept Boko Haram out of the towns Borno State earlier this year but the terror sect has killed hundreds of people in the last three months in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Regional governments have since dragged their heels in establishing the integrated taskforce, supposed to start operations on July 31.

“We have finalised the details of the deployment of troops,” said one officer who took part in the meeting. “The force commanders will inspect the sites of the barracks in the coming days.”

The military sources said the two command posts for the joint force in Nigeria would be in Baga, on the shores of Lake Chad, and in Gamboru, on the border with Cameroon.

The third command post would be established further south in the Cameroonian town of Mora, on the other side of the border from the Nigerian settlement of Gwoza, where Boko Haram formerly had its headquarters.

The chiefs of staff also ordered officers seconded to the headquarters of the force in N’Djamena to report immediately to their posts, as it was almost ready to become operational.

August 23, 2015
Flood looms in Nigeria as Cameroon releases water

The Federal Government yesterday urged those living in flood plain areas to relocate ahead of the release of excess water from Lagdo dam by Cameroon.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Mrs. Fatima Mede, warned that the impending water and massive rains in the coming months pose serious threat to lifes and properties.

States most likely to be affected by the release of excess water from the dam include; Adamawa, Gombe, Taraba, Bauchi, Benue and Kogi.

Mede, at a press briefing in Abuja, said the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) had warned of massive rainfall, which could lead to loss of lives, property, outbreak of diseases and disruptions of socio-economic activities.

She said: “Earlier in the year, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) made its predictions, forecasting among other things that the rains will come late, but when it does, it will be massive and could also be disastrous in terms of the environmental impact such as flooding with its attendant consequences of loss of lives, properties, livelihoods, outbreak of diseases and disruptions of socio-economic activities.

“The impeding gradual release of excess water from the Lagdo dam by our neighbouring country, Cameroon, which they have hinted could take place anytime soon and the massive rains in the coming months poses serious threat to lives and property. The states that are likely to be affected are; Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe, Bauchi, Benue, and Kogi.

“Rains are also expected to cause flooding in the following states as follows; Soko Rima, Niger, Benue and Anambra. Coastal flooding resulting from sea level rise and tidal surges, this is likely to occur in Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta and Lagos states.”

Mrs. Mede said N17 billion was spent by government following the 2012 flood.

Mede said the ministry has called for an emergency meeting of stakeholders to discuss on elaborate strategies for tackling the impeding flood.

She, therefore, appealed to those living in flood plain areas to take action by clearing drainages, culverts, and canals.

Mede said: “You will recall that in 2012. Nigeria experienced one of the most devastating floods in decades, with its attendant consequences. This unfortunate incidence cost government about N17 billion, distributed to various states and relevant MDAs, to tackle the disaster occasioned by that flooding.

“The federal government is deeply concerned about the like loss of lives and property as well as other negative environmental consequences. It is in the light of this that the Federal Ministry of Environment is appealing to citizens living along the flood plains to immediately take action.

“Clearing of drainages, culverts, canals in their area of jurisdiction, prepare for relocation to areas considered to be safe and remain at alert for any eventuality.”

August 11, 2015
13,000 REFUGEES BACK FROM CAMEROON

Federal Government officials and those of Adamawa and Borno States yesterday visited the over 12,000 Nigerian refuges repatriated by the Cameroonian authorities at their temporary camps in Mubi, Adamawa, preparatory to their screening for rehabilitation.

The officials were led by Alhaji Sani Sidi, the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency.

Sidi said the government delegation was in Mubi to officially receive the refugees, assess their conditions and provide for their basic needs.

They are expected to be moved to designated Internally Displaced Persons Camps in Yola.

“While in the camps, you will undergo screenings in order to identify the areas where you come from,” Sidi told them.

Ninety-five per cent of the victims are natives of Gamboru, Ngala and Bama in Borno.

The deputy governor of Borno, Alhaji Zanna Mustafa, also addressed the IDPs, saying the state authorities would move its people to Maiduguri after screening to enable them link them up with their families.

He advised them to expose any member of Boko Haram living in their midst.

About 80 per cent of the IDPs are women and children.

August 9, 2015
Suicide bombers spread fear of Boko Haram in Cameroon

Empty streets, body searches and tips to police embody the fear that the terror sect Boko Haram has instilled in northern Cameroon, where they killed more than 40 people in suicide bombings last month.

The insurgents later kidnapped 135 villagers and killed eight others in a pre-dawn strike across the border last Tuesday, police and local sources said.

Boko Haram has attacked villages in Cameroon’s Extreme North region for about two years, but the horrific bombings mark a change of tactics, while Cameroonian troops have joined a regional force to tackle the extremists.

The suicide bombers can be young women and even teenage girls, who behave like locals and blend in at crowded places to cause maximum casualties.

Residents of Maroua, the main town in the Extreme North, were spared until successive blasts tore though the bustling central market and a bar on July 22 and 25. Those bombs killed 33 people and wounded dozens more.

“We’re very worried and no longer know where to turn,” says Albert, a worried father.

“Should we send the children to school when the next school year starts?” he ponders. “Boko Haram is against Western education and may very well carry out attacks on schools.”

The sect’s name loosely translates as “Western education is forbidden”, and Boko Haram notoriously abducted 276 Nigerian schoolgirls in April last year.

Some managed to escape but more than 200 are believed to be held in the large Sambisa forest, where the Nigerian army this week said it had freed 178 captives.

“When you see somebody who isn’t familiar in the neighbourhood, you call the police,” says Oumarou, who works for a Maroua logistics firm.

He has sent his family away to Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital on the Atlantic, more than 1,300 kilometres away.

Information Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary has meanwhile heaped praise on an astute taxi-motorcycle driver who turned in a 15-year-old boy carrying explosives last week.

The driver found the teen was behaving suspiciously and decided to drive him to a police station, where he was detained. Two other suspects were picked up.

“Their objective was to blow up inside a mosque,” Bakary said.

Security has been tightened repeatedly in Maroua. When the market closes at 5:00 pm, “everybody goes home. There is nobody left on the streets apart from the soldiers,” Oumarou says.

Sources in the security forces believe that Boko Haram infiltrators and sympathisers have operated in Maroua for months, relaying information to their chiefs.

“They are people like you and me,” a Cameroonian army officer says. “It’s almost impossible to identify them.”

Bus terminals catering for southern destinations, notably big cities like Douala and the capital Yaounde, are closely watched. Passengers are always frisked as they board their coaches.

“You feel the threat most because of all the checkpoints on the roads,” says Olivier, a young French expatriate in Douala.

“The police have tightened up their searches. They make us empty our cars completely, and our bags.”

August 9, 2015