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Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz flew to Senegal to meet with President Macky Sall after last-ditch talks in Gambia aimed at resolving a crisis over the transfer of power, a Senegalese presidential source told Reuters on Thursday.

Aziz left Gambia shortly before midnight, when Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh's presidential mandate expired.

Senegal, with backing from leaders in the region, has threatened to invade Gambia to depose Jammeh if he does not immediately hand over power to challenger Adama Barrow, who beat him in an election in early December.

After the talks, Aziz's plane left Dakar at about 1:45 a.m.(0145 GMT), a Reuters witness saw. Aziz had been talking with Barrow and Sall at the airport in Dakar. About 30 vehicles with tinted windows then sped away from where the talks took place.

The Gambian capital Banjul, a city of tourist hotels and sleepy streets shaded by mango trees, was silent apart from the occasional military helicopter buzzing overhead.

Facing almost total diplomatic isolation, a government that has all but collapsed from defections and the looming threat of a military intervention by his neighbours, it was unclear what might be Jammeh's next move.

"It is absurd," Barrow's spokesman said in a press conference on Wednesday. "The clear position is that the president-elect should assume office on the 19th".

But Jammeh, who took power in a 1994 coup and later vowed to rule for "a billion years", has so far ignored calls by world powers and regional leaders to step aside and avert a conflict.

He says the electoral commission was under the influence of "foreign forces," and has challenged the result in a court - which however currently has no judges to preside over it.

The African Union and West African regional body Ecowas have both said that as of Thursday they only recognise Barrow as Gambia's president.

Barrow was due to be sworn in later on Thursday, but plans to do so at the national stadium could not go ahead. Barrow's spokesman Halifa Sallah said he would be sworn in an undisclosed location.

Hours before the deadline for him to hand over, the Senegalese army said it had amassed troops at the border, ready to cross into its smaller neighbour, which it engulfs on all sides, if Jammeh fails to leave power.

Gambians celebrated in the streets when Jammeh conceded electoral defeat to Barrow, a real estate developer who once worked as a security guard at an Argos store in London.

But a week later, the president changed his mind, triggering international condemnation and threats of force.

It was the latest in a long line of eccentricities from a leader who had said only Allah can remove him from office, claimed to have a herbal cure for AIDS that only works on Thursdays and threatened to slit the throats of homosexuals.

Reuters

 

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Reuters

19.Jan.2017

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Akuroh John Mbah

18.Jan.2017

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Nigeria's air force killed 50 people and injured 120 in an air strike on a refugee camp in the northeast on Tuesday, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said. The military said the strike had targeted Boko Haram.

MSF said the strike occurred in Rann in Borno state, the epicenter of the jihadist group's seven-year-old bid to create an Islamic caliphate. Regional military commander General Lucky Irabor located it at Kala Balge, a district including Rann.

Irabor, who said it was too early to determine the cause of the mistake, told journalists an unknown number of civilians had been killed, adding that humanitarian workers from MSF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were injured.

"MSF teams have seen 120 wounded and 50 dead following the bombing," said Charlotte Morris, a spokeswoman for the medical charity. "Our medical and surgical teams in Cameroon and Chad are ready to treat wounded patients. We are in close contact with our teams, who are in shock following the event."

A spokeswoman for ICRC said six Nigerian Red Cross members were killed and 13 were wounded.

The insurgency has killed more than 15,000 people and forced two million to flee their homes, many of whom have moved to camps because it has been too dangerous to return home.

The air strike came amid an offensive against Boko Haram by Nigeria's military over the last few weeks. President Muhammadu Buhari said last month a key camp in the jihadist group's Sambisa forest base in Borno state had fallen.

A statement issued by the presidency said the air strike was a "regrettable operational mistake" that happened during the "final phase of mopping up insurgents in the northeast".

Boko Haram has stepped up attacks in the last few weeks as the end of the rainy season has enabled its fighters to move more easily in the bush.

A video featuring an audio recording purporting to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, which was posted on social media late on Monday, said the group was behind twin suicide bombings at a university earlier that day which killed two people and injured 17 others.

 

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Rita Akana

17.Jan.2017

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Consortium President Dr. Balla Agbor and SG Dr. Fontem of the Consortium have just been arrested and taken to GMI Buea, meanwhile he Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary says that government has decleared the SCNC and the Anglophone Consortium illegal. The Ministry of Territorial administartion and Decentralisation is charged with enforcing the ban.

Government says the SCNC and Consortium are acting contrary to the constitution, jeopardizing the territorial integrity, national unity and integration of the country.

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Peter Nsoesie

17.Jan.2017

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CATTU SG Tassang Wilfred who is Programs Coordinator of the Banned Anglophone Consortium has just confirmed the arrest of President of the Consortium who doubles as President of Fako Lawyers Association, Barrister Agbor Felix Nkongho and the Secretary of Consortium Dr Fontem Neba.Hesaid they were arrested in Buea this evening.

The arrest comes a day after the head of the Inter ministerial Ad hoc commision charged with seeking solutions to the worries of teachers, Prof paul Ghogumu announced that he has ended his mission with his report compiled and forwarded to the Prime Minister.This move also comes on the heels of fruitless attempts to reach a concrete deal with striking teachers and lawyers of the North West and South West regions who have grounded schools and court sessions for close to three months.

Anglophone Cameroonians took to social media to express their anger immidiately after news of the arrest went public.

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Peter Nsoesie

17.Jan.2017

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As the ghost town declared by the Anglophone Cameroon Civil Society Consortium enters day two today, rubrics of yesterday’s operation is still pretty fresh in the minds of denizens of the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon who are ready to give up just anything for a brighter future for their children.

While at the time of this report, the ghost town operation is recording a resounding success in the North West and South West and taking place with a lot of calm and serenity, that of yesterday did produce a lot of fireworks in some major towns of the Anglophone region. Not only did it go violent but dozens were arrested and the angry youths took to the streets.

Revisiting Ghost Town Operation Day one

In the North West Region regional capital of Bamenda which has been championing this fight from day one, business activities where all grounded as the ghost town recorded a resounding success. All the markets, banks, fueling stations, commercial centers, travel agencies among others remained closed while the streets completely deserted with very few people and private cars rushing to their various destinations.
In Ndop, angry youths who were aggrieved by the fact that some business premises were opened, decided to match shutting down business premises and government offices but they were later disperse by arm to the teeth riot police officers whose brutality cannot be over emphasized.

The Divisional Officer for Fundong, this reporter gathered was blocked by irate youths from going to work. They questioned if he was not current with the political atmosphere in the country to know that there was a ghost town.

Cruising West of the Mungo to the South West Regions, which until yesterday exercise relatively calm was the epitome of unrest as the ghost town took a different dimension in the sea-side city of Limbe formerly called Victoria.

Even though the consortium had earlier called for no violence during the ghost town, Limbe, which harbors the lone oil refinery in Cameroon took everyone by surprise. Not only were roads within the town barricaded by angry youths, but equally any commercial bike rider or taxi driver caught working had to face the angry youths.
 
Matters reach climax when hundreds of angry Limbe youths stormed French schools in Limbe which had classes going on unperturbed. Hundreds of Francophone students and pupils were forced out of their various school premises by angry youths as police fired tear gas and gun shots in an attempt to disperse the ramping crowd.

While it is reported that over twenty were arrested ,a resident of Limbe who spoke to Cameroon Concord narrated that they had to go out to ensure that the ghost town was respected by all especially those French schools who have since the strike remained indifferent.

Today’s Ghost Town Operation

Today January 17, 2017 is the second and last day of the tow day ghost town operation as declared by the consortium headed by barrister Agbor Felix Balla, who spent a greater part of his career working as a legal adviser to the United Nation.
 
At the time of this report, day two of the ghost town is relatively effective and no violent has been reported as at now. From Buea, Limbe, Mutengene and Kumba in the South West Region to Bamenda, Nkwen, Nitop, Commercial Avenue, Small Mankon et al in the North West, one can conclude that the ghost town operation is 100% effective. Now the question Cameroon Concord could not answer is what happens after the ghost town?

While we all wait on the Consortium leaders on what next, time is fast running out as this academic year risk being declared as null by UNESCO. Affair a suvire…

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17.Jan.2017

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