The Cameroon Concord News Group has just learned of the explosion in one of the University of Buea’s Amphitheater. 

According to the Cameroon Concord News Group’s permanent correspondent in Buea, the explosion has injured some students and there is total panic in the University.

University of Buea authorities have not yet issued a release regarding this act of terrorism which targets young, ambitious, and determined Cameroonians who simply want to acquire knowledge in order to have the tools that will enable them to serve their country in the future.

The Cameroon Concord News Group Board of Directors has met in an extraordinary session and has roundly condemned such unprovoked acts of violence and intimidation which are intended to “roll back our youths and children into the dark ages.”

“We have been duly informed that a bomb has gone off in the University of Buea, Cameroon, wounding some students. This is an act of violence and intimidation that is unnecessary. We cannot be working very hard to roll back our own children and people into the dark ages,” the Board Chairman said

“We are headed in the wrong direction. Schools are places where students acquire knowledge to serve their nation and a place where terrorists should not be using to express their political views. While the Cameroon Concord News Group agrees that Southern Cameroonians have faced marginalization over the last 60 years in Cameroon, it cannot allow people who act under the cover of darkness to intimidate children and students. Without knowledge, no country will develop. We cannot bring this terror into our schools. The Cameroon Concord News Group will use its news platforms to bring those who are hurting students and children in any part of Southern Cameroons to shame. Our schools are not battlefields, they are sacred locations for the acquisition of knowledge,” the Board Chairman said.

 “Those who are behind this senseless and shameful act must put an end to any other plans they may have. The University of Buea is the hope of millions of Southern Cameroonians and destroying its property or hurting its students borders on the absurd. The University authorities and government officials should take appropriate measures to ensure that such acts of barbarism do not get imported into our universities,” a visibly annoyed Board Chairman stressed.

“This act of barbarism in our university is uncalled for. There are talks currently under way to bring together all the factions involved in the Southern Cameroons crisis and the Toronto retreat was very much welcome by millions of Cameroonians who strongly believe that such forums should be organized to ensure that the different factions talk to each other with a view to finding a long-lasting solution to the Southern Cameroons crisis,” the Board Chairman said.

“Now that talks are underway, it is preposterous to continue with the killing of innocent civilians. It is wrong to kill our own people and it is even stupid to intimidate and hurt students who are the future of our country. Southern Cameroonians are hurting themselves by bringing bombs to schools and universities. The talks that are underway should serve as an opportunity for all and sundry to express their views so that the final documents will bear the opinions of all the factions. We should be encouraging our children to go to school at this time after more than four years of education black-out. No nation ever develops when its people are not properly educated,”  the board Chairman said. 

Meanwhile, another explosive hit a taxi in Buea in the morning, killing the driver. For some time now, bombs have been going off in many parts of Buea, but nobody ever thought such an act could be committed in Cameroon’s citadel of knowledge.

By Isong Asu in London