.
The leader of a Youth
association In Agborkem Village in Manyu Division of the South West Region is
nowhere to be found.
Wouwe Tchami went missing
ever since the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) of Manyu Division issued a
communiqué ordering villagers of some 16 villagers under his jurisdiction to
park out of their villages to safety as the government of Cameroon was planning
a crackdown against Anglophone separatists in that part of the country.
Wouwe Tchami Denis, leader
of the Agborkem Youth for the Fight against Marginalization of Anglophones, an
organization aimed at fighting against what it considers the grievous
marginalization of Anglophones by the francophone dominated Biya led regime disappeared
precisely on 8th December 2016, just a day after the SDO’s
controversial order was passed.
According to a close family
source, Wouwe Tchami Denis was within the village before the controversial
prefectural order was passed; and that ever since the broadcast of the
communiqué on local press organs, his whereabouts remain unknown hitherto.
He has also been
incommunicado since disappearing.
The Cameroon Report learnt
from the same source that all frantic and desperate efforts by the family of
Denis to uncover his whereabouts have drawn a blank.
According to another source
that opted for anonymity, prior to the disappearance of Denis, elements of the
national gendarmerie had stormed their family residence on several occasions in
search for him. This inspired conviction among family members that in the
course of the search, elements of the national gendarmerie might have succeeded
to arrest him, thereby causing family members to comb every detention unit in
and out of Mamfe in search of him but still could not find him.
On November 29, 2016, 4
soldiers were killed in an ambush blamed on fighters loyal to Anglophone
secessionists in Agborkem, a few kilometers off the town of Mamfe. Two police
officers were also killed the following night in a nearby town of
Eyoumojock.
The Ambazonia Defense Force of the
separatists, the armed wing of the Ambazonia Governing Council, claimed
responsibility for the attacks.
After the attack, the SDO for Manyu ordered
some 16 villages within his area of jurisdiction to evacuate in view of a
military crackdown therein. He made it clear that anyone found in the village
was going to be considered a terrorist and treated as such.
A crack down on members of
the Agborkem Youth for the fight Against Marginalization of Anglophones was
thus launched and some of its members were arrested. No clue on whether its
leader, Wouwe Tchami Denis was arrested was given but, he had gone missing even
before the launch of the crackdown.
Until now, it is still murky
whether or not he has been killed. Thousands of locals of Agborkem village have
already fled to Nigeria where some of them are currently registered as
refugees.
The UN refugee Agency in
Nigeria says about 5,000 Anglophone refugees, have been registered.
However, the family of
missing Denis has categorically debunked allegations that their son was a
fighter of the Ambazoina Defense Force, saying he was just an activist that was
fighting for the rights of his people and that he never was part of any
machinations to carryout an armed insurrection against the state of Cameroon.
Since the outbreak of
Anglophone Crisis, there has been a serious crackdown against Anglophone
leaders who dare to voice out their resentment against the marginalization of
Anglophones.
The international crisis
group accuses the government of Cameroon of using excessive force on protesters
and had warned that the crisis could escalate to an armed conflict.
Several international
organizations including the UN, have all call for dialogue to end the crisis
but the government of Cameroon through its spokesperson Issa Tchiroma Bakary,
said it was not going to dialogue with persons that want to divide Cameroon.
The leader of the coffin
Revolution who started the protest on November 21st 2016, Mancho
Bibixy, is still undergoing trial in the Yaoundé military court on charges of
terrorism.
The family of Wouwe Tchami
Denis fears that, if their son had been arrested and taken to Yaoundé, he will
face similar charges like Mancho Bibixy which may lead to a death penalty or
life imprisonment according to the country’s law on terrorism.
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