A senior Southern Cameroons academic, Dr Patrick Ayuk, has called on Ayaba Cho Lucas and his gang to release Mr. Ndopping Roger Ndem, who was kidnapped 29 November 2021 while working for CamWater in Bamenda the chief city in the North West.

Ayaba Cho Lucas, leader of the notorious AGovC/ADF crime syndicate operating in the Southern Cameroons, has blatantly refused to order the release of Mr. Ndopping Roger Ndem despite collecting over USD 5000 as an initial ransom payment.

Addressing a group of Southern Cameroonians in Luxembourg via zoom, Dr Patrick Ayuk said, “To conceive that a criminal gang would kidnap a man and a breastfeeding wife is appalling and unacceptable. This crime has nothing to do with the Southern Cameroons struggle, and the leader of this criminal entity, Cho Ayaba, should order the release of this man immediately. Kidnap for ransom has no place in Ambazonia”

The Ndopping Roger incident has rightfully invited immense pressure on Ayaba Cho Lucas and his Ambazonia crime syndicate.  Our chief correspondent in Bamenda who contributed to this report opined that 97.4% of Southern Cameroonians are against kidnapping for ransom even if the proceeds are for the liberation struggle.

Dr Ayuk furthered, “even if the AGovC/ADF claims that the proceeds of their criminality will be used to buy tools that will eventually liberate Ambazonia, that doesn’t make their actions acceptable. We cannot intentionally punish the people we want to liberate. Cho Ayaba must know that his actions are tantamount to highway robbery and against international law. These actions diminish our struggle in the eyes of our international partners.”

The AGovC/ADF has been one of the many militias operating in Southern Cameroons ever since President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe declared the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia on October 2017. The group says its Defense/Kidnapping Unit is led by a certain Mr Capo Daniel an untrained motor mechanic, who regularly announces kidnappings and ransom demands on social media.

Many Southern Cameroonians have wondered aloud why SDOs and Governors representing the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé are braving the bad roads and the streets of Ambazonia, while private citizens are easy targets for AGovC/ADF.

Elsewhere, Ambazonian leaders at home and in the Diaspora have condemned Ayaba Cho Lucas over his disgraceful kidnapping-for-ransom activities in Ground Zero. They say his militia is taking advantage of the security vacuum and making life unbearable for ordinary citizens.

By Isong Asu in London with files