Politics

Maroua-Cameroon:Boko Haram reportedly is working to enlist traditional and religious leaders in northern Cameroon to recruit new members amid continued military pressure on both sides of the border.

Abdouraman Ousman, a Muslim religious leader, says members of the militant group kidnapped him from his home in Kerawa on the border with Nigeria last year.

The militants told him that he could go home if he would recruit for them, Ousman said. He refused, but was freed in February during a raid by soldiers. 

Imams and traditional rulers are being manipulated by Boko Haram fighters to convince naïve, young people to join the terrorist group, Ousman says, adding that Boko Haram targets traditional rulers, too — not only for ransoms, but to get them to help recruit members. 

Some imams reportedly return to Cameroon and lie to young people, telling them they will earn $500 per month if they join Boko Haram, or they try to trick youths into thinking they are joining the military.

The Islamic Council of Traditional Rulers and Muslim dignitaries invited Ousman and about 200 other community leaders from the north to Yaounde this week to talk about how to counter Boko Haram's influence.

The government needs the help of local leaders, according to Inoussa Assabe of the Islamic council.

"They have to go toward the traditional rulers,” Assabe said. “Government has to come in and send security people who are not in uniform just to get investigations and know exactly what is going on."

At Monday’s meeting, the council said several religious and traditional leaders in the north have been arrested on suspicion of working for Boko Haram. 

The government said the suspects are cooperating with authorities and will face charges in court, but would not say how many people have been detained.

VOA

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Elangwe Pauline

10.May.2016

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Two female suicide bombers were intercepted in the village of Homaka-Blabline (Mora-District)in the Far North Region of Cameroon.The first bomber was shot by a member of the local vigilance committee, while the second detonated her explosive device, killing herself instantly. Cameroon military later detonated the unexploded explosives strapped on the first bomber. There were no casualties apart from the pair. The two female suicide bombers were from Madawaya, a Nigerian village near Homaka-Blabline.

Boko Haram is based in Nigeria, where it has overrun villages, killed thousands of people and abducted hundreds of women and children in recent years. Nigeria began a major offensive against Boko Haram last year, prompting many of the militants to scatter across the border into neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon to carry out attacks. The four countries’ military forces have been trying to work together to combat the group.

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Jackson Tantoh

09.May.2016

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The Nigerian military has launched a military offensive aimed at putting pressure on the Islamist militant group Boko Haram as well as rescue unarmed civilians kidnapped by the militants, according to military spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman.

“We still have remnants of Boko Haram hibernating inside Sambisa Forest so the essence of it is to clear the remnants of Boko Haram in that forest and also intensify our rescue operation and so far the operation is progressing very well. Even though, the other time the [militants] attempted to attack our position…But of course our troops rose to the occasion, and dealt decisively with Boko Haram militants to the point of killing quite a number of them and recovered weapons anti-aircraft guns, and of course mortal bombs like 81 millimeter, ” said Usman.  

His comments follow reports that the United States is considering selling 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to Nigeria to help the West African country in the fight against Boko Haram.

Washington had refused to sell weapons to former president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration over concerns of human rights abuses by the military.

Critics of the Nigerian government say Islamic militants are active and still attacking civilians and soldiers, despite government pronouncements that Boko Haram has been effectively defeated.  They have also engaged in suicide bombings using civilians they had abducted. 

Usman disagreed. He said the military has been able to thwart numerous attacks from Boko Haram. He said a lot of the militants have either been killed or surrendered to the Nigerian military adding that groups is a shell of itself, incapable of seizing territories.

“If you look at it, the Boko Haram militant caught virtually everybody unawares because let’s say six years ago nobody in Nigeria ever thought that we will have a problem of terrorism let alone the magnitude of Boko Haram terrorism as it were…Within a short period of time let’s say from July last year up to this moment, all those gains made by the Boko Haram have been reversed to the point that we have even recaptured not only the villages and towns they hitherto called their caliphate including their spiritual headquarters.”

Asked about the efforts to locate and free the abducted Chibok school girls and others kidnapped by the militants, Usman said the military is still working hard to bring the girls back home to their families. He said the military has been able to rescue Boko Haram kidnapped victims including foreigners.

“We have been able to rescue over 12,000 people and I believe that we have more people that are being held hostage by the Boko Haram militant in some of these their hideouts… We have been working to also ensure that we rescue them, including the abducted Chibok school girls. And we are hopeful, definitely, wherever they are we will definitely rescue them,” said Usman.

VOA

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Elangwe Pauline

07.May.2016

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This is a picture from Mr Biya's recent visit to Nigeria. Nigeria's President, Mr Buhari shows Paul Biya the various Presidents Nigerians have had since independence in 1960. Mr Biya is laughing out his lungs. He could be saying to himself how foolish Cameroonians are.

He should be thanking his stars for being lucky or maybe he should be proud for being the smartest African Presidents. However, the Cameroons people are the only factor to be blame.

No end to African strongman era

Biya  has ruled Cameroon since November 1982, he is the oldest sub-Saharan African president after Robert Mugabe. The Zimbabwe leader, who turned 92 in February, has headed that country since late 1987.

The end of the African strongman era was predicted back in 2014, when mass protests in Burkina Faso ousted President Blaise Compaore after 27 years in power.

Biya became president on November 6, 1982 after serving seven years as prime minister. In 2008, revised the constitution to remove presidential term limits.

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Mark Bareta

06.May.2016

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The two-day State visit President Paul Biya accompanied by his wife, Chantal Biya paid to the Federal Republic of Nigeria ended Wednesday, May 04 with a dual press conference at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel. Not only did the press conference enable the two leaders to clarify certain issues on relations between the two countries, it was equally occasion to make brief assessments on the visit.

In his preliminary speech, President Biya underscored the importance of his coming to Nigeria, describing it as “very useful and friendly.” The visit, he told reporters, was useful because it enabled them to discuss different issues of mutual concern and friendly because it was occasion to underscore and take note of each country’s position on bilateral, regional and international issues. The meeting in Abuja, he said gave them another opportunity to lengthily examine problems concerning Boko Haram and to assert their determination to eradicate the phenomenon right to the end.

He said the military and security components of cooperation between Cameroon and Nigeria was quite important but that it was equally necessary to focus on the economic development component. Against this backdrop, they came to the conclusion that efforts have to be made to ensure that economic programmes see the light of day or are enhanced. 

President Buhari on his part, said the issue of security and economy will remain topical for the two countries. Nigeria, he said is experiencing the effect of the fall in the price of oil on the international market because it has not very well diversified its economy in spite of the country’s  rich natural resources. In this light, he told reporters, his country is envisaging enforcing its turn towards other sources of income notably agriculture which will help the country step up its employment. 

Going back to the basics will mean working together with neighbours such as Cameroon, he said. On security, he expressed his gratitude to the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Multinational Task Force that has worked tirelessly in the fight against Boko Haram and for occasionally coming into Nigerian territory and securing it against Boko Haram.

Clarifications

The question and answer session was virtually characterised by clarifications and putting things in their rightful perspectives for the two leaders. President Biya in answering to the question from the Nigerian press on media reports and accusations on Cameroon for lack of cooperation with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism and for “harbouring” terrorists chased from Nigeria, said Cameroon has never been indifferent at any moment on issues that concern Boko Haram. He expressed his surprise on this accusation which he said, he had equally heard during a conference in Europe.

“What can bring us close to Boko Haram; ideology, financial interest or religion? This is unimaginable”, he said, dismissing that as wrong information. Cameroon, he assured has always fought terrorism and has amplified this action and today everyone can see that Cameroon is fully engaged in the fight in collaboration with Nigeria, Chad and Niger.

The Nigerian leader on his part assured reporters while responding to the question on why Nigeria has continued to tap maritime resources in the Bakassi area, notably hydrocarbon, that his country is law abiding and respecter of international law. The International Court of Justice made its ruling and gave the disputed part of the peninsular to Cameroon. But the technical part of the extent of international waters is being worked upon by the Cameroon-Nigeria commission of experts whose recommendations are being awaited for a decision to be taken. “I will like the government and the people of Cameroon to put their mind in peace on this issue”, he said.  

Cameroon Tribune

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Elangwe Pauline

05.May.2016

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A giant red banner proclaiming, “Let’s not forget” goes up in a Yaoundé neighbourhood in the heart of the Cameroonian capital. The fine print below the headline lists 1,200 names of Boko Haram victims.

Pointing to a name, Eric Benjamin Lamere, a member of the activist group United for Cameroon, explains that the youngest victim was just four days old and the oldest was 87. “These are not the only victims in Cameroon, but we managed to gather enough information on those ones so that they could be identified accurately," he explains.

Accurate statistics of Boko Haram victims across the Lake Chad basin do not exist – a reflection of the remote regions the jihadist group target as well as the weaknesses of the West African governments struggling to cope with the crisis.

But the humanitarian toll has been huge. The Washington DC-based Council on Foreign Relations estimates around 28,000 people have been killed in Nigeria alone since 2011, while 2.8 million have been displaced in the Lake Chad region, which includes Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.

‘We're there – finishing the war’

In Yaoundé, far from Cameroon’s northern border, the Boko Haram threat seems remote – and that’s why the activists at United for Cameroon are on a national awareness mission.

At a military hospital in Yaoundé though, the conflict feels all too real.

A group of special forces officers are visiting Cameroonian soldiers wounded on the frontline. Around 700 soldiers are being treated at the hospital, many of them amputees injured by landmines planted by Boko Haram militants.

"Our hearts are with you. Even if you don't see us, we're there – finishing the war,” a senior Cameroonian military officer tells a wounded soldier lying on a hospital bed. 

Too early to proclaim victory

On May 14, the four Lake Chad basin states and their international partners are meeting in the Nigerian capital of Abuja for a regional security summit. The meeting is an opportunity for the affected states – as well as international partners such as France, the US, UK and the EU – to address vital policy issues including the humanitarian situation.

Cooperation between the affected countries in recent years has seen some success in the military counter-insurgency targeting Boko Haram. The number of attacks have decreased with the jihadist group going after smaller, softer targets with reduced success, according to a recent report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG).

In December 2015, for instance, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari declared that “technically” Nigeria had “won the war” against Boko Haram.

But the ICG has warned that although “the military response to Boko Haram has become more cogent, the Lake Chad states should not too quickly proclaim 'mission accomplished'."

The report, titled, “Boko Haram on the Back Foot?” noted that even if the militant group was forced to “abandon all territorial pretensions in Nigeria’s northeast and the Lake Chad area, or are forced to abandon their guerrilla war, some Boko Haram militants at least are likely to seek to continue their insurgency in some form, probably through terror attacks.”

Joseph Vincent Ntuda Ebode, head of the Centre for Political and Strategical Studies in Yaoundé (Centre De Recherche Des Études Politiques Et Stratégique de Yaoundé), agrees with the assesment. "This is a nonconventional war and even if we defeat the enemy nobody will come to sign a treaty or peace agreement. Also, you know that this war against Boko Haram has another ugly face: the terrorist attacks. And nobody knows for certain if they'll ever stop."

Boko Haram is not the only jihadist group threatening the region.

The January 15 Ouagadougou attack in Burkina Faso – which killed 30 people – and the deadly March 13 shooting in the Ivorian resort town of Grand-Bassam have heightened security concerns across West Africa.

The two attacks were claimed by al Mourabitoun, a militant group allied to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Coming in the wake of the November 2015 attack on the Radisson Blu in Bamako, Mali, the recent terrorist surge has underscored the rise in Islamist violence across West Africa.

Experts warn that regional capitals are particularly vulnerable to terror attacks by jihadist groups targeting poorly secured “soft targets”. The solution, the ICG maintains, would be for authorities to “move beyond military cooperation and design a more holistic local and regional response, lest Boko Haram or similar groups remain a long- term threat.”

France24

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Elangwe Pauline

05.May.2016

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