World leaders, especially from African countries, have been called upon to lend their voices towards curbing the alleged genocide in Ambazonia, a former British Southern Cameroons territory.
This call came from the self-declared Ambazonian President, Dr Samuel Ekome Sako on Sunday during a world press conference via Zoom, where he made the call to the leaders, especially Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, after the killing of a five-year-old named Caroline at a checkpoint on her way to school because her mother refused to part with money, an unfortunate event which he described as the latest effect of the conflict that was now eating into the very fabric of the country, Ambazonia.
He also noted the continued intellectual flight of its brightest minds to neighbouring countries like Nigeria, in bids to survive.
Dr. Samuel, as he explained Ambazonia’s stance in the Cameroons, declared that they were not successionists looking to divide up the territory for their own selfish gains, but rather were merely asking to be recognised officially as an independent country. With a population of over eight million citizens, he stated that the constant fightings and killings by the Cameroonian government made it difficult for their citizens to stay on in Ambazonia, as many of them resort to migrating abroad due and could not contribute to the achievement of the country.
Sako recognised Nigeria’s hospitality to the citizens who sort refuge in its lands, while he also pleaded for more compassion for the others who were being rounded up and dealt with. He maintained that Nigeria t5ndiplomatic service in Ambazonia, and could use its influence as an established country to make a case for them at the world court to stop the killings.
Explaining the genesis of the crisis, Sako said, “The root cause of the present conflict is the non-implementation of the procedures outlined in UNGA resolution 1608(xv) of 21st April 1961 on the future of the UN trust territory of British Southern Cameroons, and the consequent annexation by La Republique Du Cameroun due to the failed decolonisation process of the territory.
“Genocide has been ongoing in Ambazonia since 2017. Since then, the death toll keeps increasing as a result of crimes perpetrated by the military forces of French Cameroon, coupled with the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war.
“As of now, more than 30,000 civilians have been killed. About 500 villages have been burned to the ground. More than 120,000 refugees in neighbouring countries and more than 1,500,000 refugees/IDPs in French Cameroon and Ambazonian territories.
“About 10,000 enforced disappearances of Ambazonian citizens, likely massacred and buried in mass graves across both territories by French Cameroonian genocidal forces.
“Several massacres are well-documented in Ngarbuh, Mautu, Santa – Pinyin, Bali, Bafut, Kumba massacres etc.”
He added that in 2019, Switzerland proposed to mediate between Cameroun and Southern Cameroon (Ambazonia) as a way forward to justice and lasting peace. An initiative endorsed by the U.S., UN, EU, Canada and other countries. However, French Cameroon supported by France has refused to commit to the Swiss-led negotiation process, despite Southern Cameroons’ (Ambazonia) commitment to it.
Sako insisted: “We will continue to defend our people being massacred in this largely ignored genocide, as we persist in the quest for the restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) as was intended on October 1, 1961.”
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