The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
“If they had money to buy weapons, train and feed their people, they could raise an army.”
But amidst the chaos, one thing seems certain: the crackdown has radicalised many English-speakers, among them the farmers and managers who have long felt marginalised by Yaounde but have never been interested in politics — until now.
– ‘They are angry’ –
English-speakers in Cameroon have been marginalised for too long, said Pastor John Mbe, one of more than 33,000 refugees in Cross River State, Nigeria.
“Many people have died already, we can’t go back home,” he said, “young people may not have guns and bullets, but I can tell you they’re angry.”
A source close to the militants says they have adopted the guerilla philosophy of freedom fighters in Eritrea as well as that of Nelson Mandela’s anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.
In Manyu, a region at the epicentre of the conflict, separatists block roads with tyres and tree trunks to ambush and attack military bases.
The militants are armed mostly with homemade rifles, some Kalashnikovs, grenades and other improvised explosive devices.
The few sophisticated weapons they possess have been stolen from police stations.
As a result of the simmering violence, thousands of refugees are arriving in Ikom, a city just over the border in a Nigeria, raising fears that the conflict is spiralling out of control.
– Black magic –
No formal fighter camp has been identified, but according to several witnesses interviewed by AFP, young refugees are performing black magic rituals to prepare for war.
They gather in small groups for “juju” ceremonies, during which they cut their foreheads and rub the bleeding wound with “magic potions” to make them invincible, said a Nigerian soldier who attended one of the ceremonies.
Their presence is a growing concern for Nigeria, an ally of Cameroon, which last month arrested and extradited 47 separatist leaders and deployed soldiers along the border.
Yet that hasn’t stopped the rebels from launching attacks from Nigerian territory in recent weeks, according to security sources.
At the end of January, suspected separatists detonated an explosive device at the Cameroon border post of Ekok, partially destroying an office.
“The truth is that many militants are hiding among the refugees, and they just cross the border at will through the forest,” said Lawrence Asuquo, head of immigration at Ikom.
“They launch attacks on the Cameroonian army and they run back to Nigeria. It’s almost impossible to track them.”
