The Manyu County has again become an important battle constituency not just for the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime but for all the parties involved in the war in Southern Cameroon. The French Cameroun government army — backed by elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR and the local gendarmerie is fighting Ambazonia Restoration Forces to take over the Eyumojock area. However, in the garb of fighting the Southern Cameroons Self Defense groups, the pro-Biya regime forces are attacking civilian settlements. The Ambazonian Vice President Dabney Yerima has condemned the recent French Cameroun land assault in the Manyu County.

On the 17^th of May, three houses were burnt in Nchang village and five civilians were killed by Francophone soldiers. The Cameroon government army deployed in Manyu also fired shots at several homes in Ntenako killing scores of young men and reportedly arrested dozens.

“We have not gotten any strong condemnation from the so-called Prime Minister, the mayor of Mamfe including the Bishop of Mamfe whose voices are pretending to be interested in dialogue” noted a senior traditional ruler in Manyu who sued for anonymity.

The leader of the Manyu County government Seseskou Dr Ako Peter has been quoted as saying that

“Our girls and women have been raped. Thousands of our young men and women have been slaughtered and mostly buried in unmarked mass graves. Others have been maimed, while an even greater number has been displaced both internally and externally, being not sure of where their next meal is to come from. To crown all of these atrocious and dehumanizing treatment of our people, Mr Biya has now turned to humiliating our Chiefs, with the intention of ultimately desecrating our culture and rendering useless. This inhuman treatment of our people MUST be stopped.”

A recent report by the US Under Secretary for African Affairs, Tibor Naggy, on the threat posed by the war in Southern Cameroons to international peace and security, comes to the conclusion that the Biya regime will not be able to win the war via military force.

The Tibor Naggy report also raises ‘major concerns’ about not engaging the Southern Cameroons Diaspora and by extrapolation, the Ambazonian Interim Government to influence and impact the outcome of the crisis.

While the numbers of Ambazonian attacks against Cameroon government forces in recent times have become relatively low, Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that this could rise with the appointment of Vice President Dabney Yerima and his push towards reconciling all Southern Cameroons groups.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Rita Akana and Sama Ernest