BY CYNTHIA BIH
The crisis in the North West and South West Regions, which long escalated into an armed conflict, continues to take new twists.
As the conflict rages on, the government, through the defence and security forces, has intensified its manhunt for suspected Anglophone activists and others who are sympathetic to the Anglophone cause.
The defence and security forces have been arresting suspected Anglophone activists. Some of the arrested persons, we gathered, are being tortured and detained under inhumane conditions. Some are reported died in detention. Others have simply gone missing, but their family members believe they may have been killed.
One of those whom the defence and security forces are reportedly hunting is Bless Tangwan Fogwe.
His ordeal began as far back as September 22, 2017 when there were mass protests across the North West and South West Regions, as Anglophones denounced marginalizsation by the majority Francophones. Some of the protesters were also demanding the return to the federal system of government, while others wanted outright independence of the former Southern Cameroons into a country they have christened Republic of Ambazonia.
The government had clamped down on the protesters with brute force, with the defence and security forces firing life bullets at protesters, killing many. Many others were arrested.
Tangwan was among those arrested in Bamenda. They were severely tortured and detained under allegedly deplorable conditions. However, he was later released and warned to stop his activism.
However, it appears he did not heed the warning. On October 1, 2018, Tangwan is said to have again been arrested in Bamenda, while he was taking part in a peaceful demonstration commemorating the celebration of the independence of Southern Cameroons. He was later released.
Years later, on February 10, 2024, ahead of the Youth Day on February 11, Tangwan was arrested during a military raid that took place in his neighbourhood in Bamenda. There had been a peaceful protest demonstration against Anglophone marginalisation. The demonstration was met with brutal military clampdown.
The protest turned violent with battles between the defence and security forces and the protesters. Some protesters were shot, while a military officer was killed.
The military later carried out a raid in the whole neighbourhood, arbitrarily arrested all males in the neighbourhood including Bless Tangwan Fogwe.
Tangwan was detained, but he is said to have later escaped from detention, under circumstances that remain unclear. Since then, his whereabouts is not known.
