Southern Cameroons Crisis: Vice President Yerima calls for an end to infighting
Southern Cameroonians both in the diaspora and in Ground Zero remain skeptical despite plea for armed Ambazonia groups to halt violence Dabney Yerima, the Ambazonia Vice President, issued his strongest call for an end to infighting among restoration forces, saying only unity could lead to the dream of an Ambazonia state.
Faced with unprecedented international pressure coming from reports made public by the much respected Human Rights Watch and almost total diplomatic isolation, Dabney Yerima said in a statement issued in Geneva yesterday that Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora should pressure leaders of the various armed groups in Ground Zero to follow the directives of the Interim Government.
Dabney Yerima warned militant groups of severe consequences if they continued their attacks on other Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces, which he said, were used by the Biya Francophone regime to defend a brutal and unjust war on Ambazonians.
“I am again making this call to all front line Southern Cameroons leaders in Europe and the USA to completely halt all activities, especially attacks against our own people which we have condemned and always condemned,” said Comrade Yerima.
It is not the first time Vice President Dabney Yerima has called for unity during this struggle, but his recent Geneva plea was the most forthright. It was issued amid reports that clashes between Southern Cameroons groups have killed at least six fighters, with one of the groups allegedly abducting close to 40 fighters of another camp. Some of the so-called leaders reportedly blamed the clashes on infiltration by Cameroon’s military. But the military says the clashes are an internal rivalry for power among the Ambazonia groups.
Amid the infighting, Francophone soldiers now roam freely through Southern Cameroons territories, picking up wanted men, shooting innocent women and children and burning up houses. The army killed more than 35 Southern Cameroonians in raids on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Southern Cameroons European think tank reacted skeptically to Vice President Dabney Yerima’s call for unity, saying it wanted action, not words. The leaders of the dysfunctional extremist groups responsible for the infighting and chaos in Ground Zero said the attacks would continue.
The Vice President who avoided a Cameroon Concord News question in Geneva opined that all restoration forces should only respond to French Cameroun occupation, the humiliations and the killing of Ambazonia women and children. “No Ambazonia leader should tolerate these massacres” he concluded.
By Chi Prudence Asong in Geneva, Switzerland