At least 100 Boko Haram militants killed by Cameroon army
December 2, 2015
Regional taskforce conducts sweep along border with Nigeria, freeing 900 captives, army says. Members of a local group set up to fight Boko Haram in Cameroon, pictured in February. Members of a local militia set up to fight Boko Haram in Cameroon, pictured in February. The far north of the country has suffered regular cross-border attacks in recent weeks. Cameroon’s army, backed by a regional taskforce, has killed at least 100 members of the militant Islamist Boko Haram group and freed 900 people it had held hostage, the west African country’s defence ministry has said. Cameroon is part of an 8,700-strong regional group, also comprising troops from Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin, that aims to destroy Boko Haram, which, though based mainly in Nigeria, has become a major threat to wider regional security. An army spokesman, Col Didier Badjeck, said on Wednesday that troops had conducted a sweep operation between 26-28 November along Cameroon’s long border with its western neighbour, Nigeria. Both Badjeck and the defence ministry, which gave a brief statement on state television, cited the same figures of militant deaths and the number of people freed. Other military sources in Cameroon confirmed that a military operation had taken place, although one expressed surprise at its scale. It was not immediately clear where the clashes with the militants had taken place or where Boko Haram’s captives had been held. It was also not known whether those freed included any of the 276 schoolgirls seized by the militants in their dormitories in Chibok, Nigeria last year. Cameroon has suffered regular cross-border attacks in its far north in recent weeks, including twin suicide blasts overnight that killed at least three people. Suicide bombings, often carried out by young women recruited by the militant group in Nigeria, have become almost daily occurrences in the region.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/02/cameroon-boko-haram-members-killed
Cameroon says 92 Boko Haram militants killed and 850 captives freed
February 26th, 2016
Two Cameroonian soldiers killed as troops seize arms and mines in border village during joint operation with Nigeria. A picture of what Nigerian troops said was a Boko Haram camp in the Gulumba area of Borno state that they destroyed last week. Cameroon’s army has killed 92 members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram and freed 850 villagers in a joint operation with Nigerian forces, the country’s government has said. The operation in the Nigerian village of Kumshe, close to the border with Cameroon, was conducted under the auspices of a multinational force fighting Boko Haram, according to the statement from Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Cameroon’s communications minister. Two Cameroonian soldiers were killed [during the operation] by an accidental mine explosion. Five other soldiers were wounded,” Bakary said, adding that the army captured weapons and ammunition and found a centre for production of homemade mines. There was no immediate comment from Nigeria or independent confirmation of the operation or death toll. Boko Haram is seeking to carve out an emirate in north-eastern Nigeria and has staged a campaign of suicide and other attacks in Cameroon, Chad and Niger over the past year, including killing as many as 1,000 in Cameroon. The US military calls Boko Haram the most violent extremist group in the world. The group gained global notoriety for kidnapping 276 schoolgirls in Nigeria in 2014 and is thought to have killed more than 15,000 people over six years.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/26/cameroon-says-92-boko-haram-militants-killed-and-850-captives-freed
Women freed from Boko Haram rejected for bringing ‘bad blood’ back home
February 16th, 2016
Women in north-east Nigeria are viewed with suspicion when they return home after leaving Boko Haram, and do not receive adequate support, finds new report. Women and girls freed from Boko Haram face discrimination and rejection by their families and communities when they return home and need better support from the Nigerian government and NGOs, according to a new report. As the military gain ground from the Islamic militant group, more women and girls, who have been subjected to sexual violence, are being released. But when they get home, they are viewed with mistrust and suspicion, and do not receive adequate support to help them cope with the trauma of what they’ve experienced, according to the report, Bad blood: perceptions of children born of conflict-related sexual violence and women and girls associated with Boko Haram in north-east Nigeria, published on Tuesday by International Alert and the UN children’s fund, Unicef. “These findings show a pressing need to do more to reintegrate those returning from captivity by Boko Haram. Many of these girls already face lasting trauma of sexual violence and being separated from their families, so we must ensure they get all the support they need when they finally return,” said Kimairis Toogood, peace building adviser for International Alert in Nigeria. “If the needs of these survivors and returning populations are not met, these factors could add another dimension to an already complex conflict situation.” Since 2012, more than 2,000 women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram, including more than 200 taken from their secondary school in Chibok, in Borno state in 2014. The kidnappings spawned the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, which attracted global high-level attention from the likes of Michelle Obama.
WWF accused of facilitating human rights abuses of tribal people in Cameroon
March 3rd, 2016
WWF, the world’s largest conservation organisation, has been accused by leading tribal defence group Survival International of inadvertently facilitating serious human rights abuses against pygmy groups living in Cameroonian rainforests. In a 228-page formal complaint to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, (OECD), Survival alleges that anti-poaching eco-guards who were part-funded and logistically helped by WWF, victimised the hunter gatherer Baka people, razed to the ground their camps, destroyed or confiscated their property, forced them to relocate and have regularly used physical force and threats of violence against them. The complaint, which covers several years and is the first to be taken against a conservation group, alleges that WWF broke both OECD guidelines for the conduct of multinational companies and the UN declaration on human rights. WWF has responded saying it provides human rights training for the eco-guards. “WWF is not aware of any direct involvement by WWF staff in abusive activities or any of such activities taking place in WWF offices, and would take immediate and direct action if this was verified.”The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, which have been adopted by 44 countries, are the most comprehensive set of government-backed recommendations on responsible business conduct in existence today.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/27/suspected-suicide-bomber-claims-to-be-one-of-the-chibok-girls-abducted-by-boko-haram
Nigerian boxers in Cameroon for 2016 Olympics Qualifiers
March 9th, 2016
The Nigeria boxing team have arrived Cameroon ahead of the qualifying competition for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, reports Completesportsnigeria.com. A total of 10 boxers will fight to earn their slots in the boxing event of the Games in the competition which will start in Yaounde on Thursday and end on the 19th of this month. The 10 boxers, Completesportsnigeria.com learnt, are made up seven men and three women. Three of them won gold medals at the last All-Africa Games in Congo, Brazaville, while two were silver medalists. Top on list are Efe Ajagba who won gold medal at the All- Africa Games and Efetobor Apochi. Others are Korede Adeniyi, Kazeem Soyoye, Muyideen Oyakojo, Sadiq Umar and Abua Christian. In the Women’s category are All- Africa Games gold medalists, Edith Ogoke-Agu, Kehinde Obareh, as well as Caroline Linus. The team will be tutored by four coaches: Tony Konyegwachie, head coach and three assistants, Adura Olalehin, Wahab Sabo and Friday Ossai.
Cameroon sentences 89 Boko Haram fighters to death
Cameroon has sentenced 89 members of Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram to death, local media report. They were convicted on terror charges by a military court for their roles in several attacks in Cameroon’s northern region which borders Nigeria. Cameroon passed an anti-terror law in 2014 which introduced the death sentence. This is the first time the death sentenced has been used since that law was passed. The 89 are among 850 people arrested in Cameroon on charges of links to Boko Haram. Following the death sentences, a local human rights group has called for reforms to Cameroon’s justice system. Hundreds of people have been killed in a spate of attacks in Cameroon since it joined a regional force set up to tackle the militants last year.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35831432
Suspected suicide bomber claims to be one of the Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram
March 26, 2016
Parents of the 270 schoolgirls seized by Islamic militants two years ago will travel to Cameroon to verify her identity. The Nigerian government is sending parents from the Chibok community of north-east Nigeria to neighbouring Cameroon to verify whether a suspected female suicide bomber is one of the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram nearly two years ago. Garba Shehu, spokesperson for Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, said Cameroonian authorities had shown a willingness to assist the Nigerian government. The abduction of about 270 school girls by Islamic militants from a school in Chibok on 14 April 2014, sparked international outrage and the campaign #bringbackourgirls. While about 50 of the girls managed to escape, 219 of these girls remain missing. Military and local government sources on Friday reported that one of two girls arrested in northern Cameroon carrying explosives claimed to be one of the missing Chibok schoolgirls. The girls were arrested after being stopped by local self-defence forces in Limani near the border with Nigeria that has been the target of frequent suicide bombings in recent months. “We hope that the Chibok parents will be able to identify the girl and determine whether she is indeed one of their missing students,” Shehu said on Saturday. Shehu said the government was keen to ascertain the girl’s identity so she can be brought back to Nigeria and possibly assist the government in investigations regarding the fate and whereabouts of the other missing Chibok girls. He said the two parents from Chibok selected to embark on the trip to Cameroon are Yakubu Nkeki, chairman of the Chibok Abducted Girls Movement, and Yana Galang, the group’s women leader, whose 16-year-old daughter Rifkatu is among the missing. The trip is being arranged by the government in partnership with the Murtala Muhammed Foundation in Nigeria, a non-government organisation which has been supporting the parents association and has offered to partly sponsor the trip to avoid any delays. “If it is true, we are very happy about it. If we see her with our eyes, we will know where our girls are,” Galang said. Shehu said the two girls will be brought by the Cameroonian government to Douala, the country’s largest city, on Monday for further checks into their identities. Former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan was criticized for his slow reaction to the Chibok abductions, seen by many as indicative of his response to Boko Haram, which at its strongest held large swathes of northeastern Nigeria. Muhammadu Buhari, who defeated Jonathan in a 2015 election, ordered a new investigation into the kidnappings in January. Joint operations between Nigeria and neighbouring countries succeeded in driving Boko Haram from many of its strongholds last year but the Islamists have stepped up cross-border attacks and suicide bombings, many of them carried out by young girls.
Cameroon 