Streets quiet on 'Ambazonia independence day'

By Killian Ngala

Today, Thursday, marks three years since separatist fighters in Cameroon tried to declare the independence of the Anglophone regions and said they were creating Ambazonia.

But unlike previous years, when the separatists would hoist flags and sing the anthem to the putative state to mark their independence day, the streets of the main cities in the English-speaking regions were largely deserted.

The Cameroon army said that there had been no reports of separatist activity recorded across the region.

The same calm atmosphere has been reported in the country’s South West region, except for the rural community of Alo’o. A video circulating on social media from Alo’o shows suspected separatist fighters marching and waving flags, under the command of a certain General Ayeke.

From his prison cell in the capital, Yaounde, separatist leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has tweeted that no square inch of Ambazonian territory will be ceded, and warned that either the independence of the territory is restored, or the resistance will continue forever.

A teachers and lawyers strikes in 2016 morphed into political demands, with many English speakers asking for outright independence.

The government responded with lethal force and then a violent uprising began.

The ensuing fighting between separatists and government soldiers has so far led to the deaths of at least 3,000 people and forced over a million to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Journal du Cameroun