Britain’s Minister for Africa Expresses Worry over Fate of Sisiku, Others

In an interview with a pan-African magazine this week, the British minister for Africa expressed her wish to see humanitarian institutions visit separatists repatriated from Nigeria in January 2018.

Harriet Baldwin, Britain's minister for Africa is worried about the plight of Anglophone “leaders” arrested in Nigeria five months ago.

Recall that on January 5, 2018, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the president of the self-proclaimed republic of Ambazonia and some other militants were arrested in line with the cause of Anglophone separatists in a hotel in Nigeria, while they had to hold a meeting therein.

These English-speaking leaders were then repatriated to Cameroon. Since then, the place of their detention has been kept secret. Moreover, they have been deprived of visitors, be they lawyers of national and international humanitarian organizations.

In an interview with Journalducameroun.com last February, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Cameroon's Minister of Communication, said he did not know where these leaders were being held. The member of government had however assured that, the rights of the arrested leaders were respected.

In the recent press outing, Harriet Baldwin categorically castigated some of the issues related to the crisis.

“The escalation of violence worries us, as well as the fate of the 47 returnees who are held incommunicado, presumably in Yaoundé. We hope that an international organization like the Red Cross can visit them,” said Harriette Baldwin in an interview with Jeune Afrique magazine this week.

Britain's minister for Africa paid a visit to Cameroon last February to discuss the Anglophone crisis. In addition to government authorities, she met with civil society actors, traditional and religious authorities.

At the end of these meetings, the British minister suggested an inclusive dialogue between the different actors of the crisis. She hoped, moreover, that Cameroon be inspired by the British model to ease tensions. “I went with members of Parliament and former police officers from Northern Ireland. We learned some lessons from our story and wanted to share them. We respect of course the territorial integrity of Cameroon, but we think that this kind of problem must be solved democratically,” she said in her interview with Jeune Afrique.