By Boris Esono Nwenfor and Sonita Ngunyi Nwohtazie
BUEA, July 18, 2023 – There has been widespread condemnation after unidentified men “wearing military attire” opened fire on civilians in Atuh Azire, Nacho Junction, Bamenda 2 subdivision of the North West Region, killing 10 and injuring a further two persons.
A witness told Reuters that the attackers arrived in vehicles late on Sunday, ordered people onto the floor with accusations of failing to back local separatists, and opened fire as some obeyed while others ran.
The witness said men in military uniforms arrived in two vehicles to storm Nacho Junction, where restaurants, bars and shops are located, at around 7:30 p.m. They shot at people indiscriminately, the witness said, before taking off.
Cameroon’s anglophone separatists want to create a breakaway state they call Ambazonia, separate from Cameroon’s French-speaking majority. The U.N. says the rebel conflict has killed more than 3,300 people and displaced more than a half-million since fighting broke out in 2017.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) situation report of April 12, 2023, close to 700,000 persons remain displaced internally. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ March 2023 monthly brief reported over 87,000 refugees in neighbouring Nigeria. Thousands of civilians have been killed and more than 300 villages burnt down.
Government indicts separatist
In a strongly worded communique from Cameroon’s Ministry of Defence, Navy Captain Atonfack Cyrille, Head of Communication accuses the separatist fighters operating in the area to have carried out the attack.
He said: “A group of about a dozen secessionists, deceptively dressed in military gear similar to those of the Army and carrying automatic rifles, gathered a few innocent citizens before firing heavily and indiscriminately at them, leading to the death of a few customers comfortable seated around a table.”
Navy Captain Atonfack Cyrille further asserts that: “combing operations are ongoing to apprehend the perpetrator,” while investigations have been opened to shed more light on the perpetrators of the attack.
Separatist fighters deny responsibility
The Ambazonia Defense Forces (ADF), the main separatist group in the English-speaking region which has been fighting since 2017 to protest alleged marginalisation by the majority French-speaking government, denied responsibility.
Since the crisis started, more than 6,000 people have been killed in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions after protests were violently suppressed. Earlier this month, human rights group, Amnesty International slammed government troops, militias and separatists for killings, rapes, torture, burning of houses and other atrocities in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.
“There is the possibility that it could be revenge killing,” ADF spokesperson Lucas Asu said, suggesting the attackers could have been disguised as separatist fighters.
CHRDA Condemns Attack
“CHRDA is concerned about the recent killings in Bamenda (Awing Quarter and Nacho neighbourhoods) in the North West Region of Cameroon, where a total of 13 persons were summarily executed on the 15 and 16 of July 2023,” the Rights group said in a communique released on July 17.
“It is also reported that during the attack, the perpetrators accused the population of being “black legs” a phrase which is largely used by separatist fighters to refer to persons, not in support of their activities. However, we have not been able to confirm the real identity of the perpetrators of this gruesome act.”
“While still carrying out further findings to uncover more details about these incidents, CHRDA condemns in strong terms, these extrajudicial and summary executions of unarmed civilians. The horrific incidents are in gross violation of international human rights law. The extrajudicial or deliberate killing of unarmed civilians violates the most fundamental human right, the right to life,” CHRDA Concluded.
This latest attack follows that on July 15 in Awing Quarter, a locality in Bamenda II municipality and killed at least four persons in the course of the invasion. Reported indicts elements of the Cameroon Defense and Security Forces, though this cannot be confirmed by CHRDA and Pan African Visions. It is alleged that the invasion was to rescue two girls who were reportedly kidnapped by these youths (victims of the invasion).
