Cameroonian authorities have banned public gatherings in Bamenda, the capital of the restive Northwest Region, where armed separatist conflicts are underway.

Simon Emile Mooh, the prefect of the Mezam division where Bamenda is located, said in a statement issued Wednesday that “undeclared meetings and public manifestations” have been banned in the city until further notice.

The statement came after separatists announced plans to hold a public manifestation Saturday to mark the “independence” of the country’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.

Any individual or group that violates the provisions of this order “shall be punished in accordance with the rules and regulations in force,” Mooh warned.

Bamenda, the most populous and largest city in English-speaking Cameroon, is also the stronghold of separatist fighters who want to establish an independent state in the country’s two Anglophone regions and have been clashing with government forces since 2017.

Source: Xinhuanet