Editorial: Anglophone Crisis & Practicing Journalism With Threats: How Wanton Arrests, Human Rights Abuse and Press Censorship in Cameroon is the Order of the Day

How Wanton Arrests, Human Rights Abuse and Press Censorship in Cameroon is the Order of the Day

Ø Practicing Journalism Between the Barrel of Cameroon’s Military Gun and that of Ambazonian Restoration Force, What a Great Challenges

Practicing journalism in Cameroon, most especially in the crisis hit zones of the North West and South West Region that is Anglophone Cameroon has a lot to do with risk bearing, and being dare daring at the mercy of the regime’s axe of ruthless press censorship swinging over your head, in other words facing the bull by its horns and ready to shoulder the consequence.

Just like Mancho Bibixy of Abakwa Fm Radio was abducted to Kondengui central Prison in Yaounde for carrying out the “coffin Revolution” calling on the government Delegate and City Council officials to review governance to ensure a clean city council management program, Tim Finien of Life time Newspaper was picked and locked up for daring to report on how corpses of peaceful demonstrators are disposed of by the military in the name of enforcing law and order, Mimi Mefo of Equinox TV now hiding and seeking refuge in the UK was, arrested for activism reports, charged by the Cameroonian government for fanning the flames of the crisis through propagandistic reports suiting the interest of marginalized Anglophones. Mackati Elvis of Afrique Nouvelle radio FM and Mack chi now late, of radio Hot Cocoa were caught red handed and flung into jail for filming soldiers causing atrocities on unarmed civilians, Abam Mary Ayuk a second female in the same line of duty, suffered a similar prejudice to that of Mimi Mefo of Equinox TV, she was arrested and abducted to the Judicial Police Bamenda and later freed after pressure for advocacy repots and daring to expose through World Echoes news room the hidden hands behind the Menka massacre in Santa Sub-Division on May 2018 that recorded over 30 death cases.

 

As I report, many are in the dungeon, others death,  just as some have been granted Presidential amnesty out of ceaseless pressure from media men and women through outright respect of “Ghost Towns on ground Zero and campaigns over Social Media” which has rendered crisis hit areas ungovernable.

This is unfortunate but the rational truth, since to government press censor ship will help reduce propaganda and stop the fanning of the flames of the crisis which is escalating everyday in maximum ratio, according to them a gagged Press will reduce awareness and flaring tempers automatically tamed.

Hence saying any relevant truth about the crisis means your head. Not only from the regime force, but also from the restoration forces clamoring for independence. This explains why Ambe MacMillan of WakaAfrica TV was kidnapped. This reporter on the present Editorial, Tamukong Roland publisher/editor of world Echoes Newspaper cum President General of the confederation of Cameroon Anglophone Journalists (CCAJUSCAM) is also reporting from a bench of several attacks hipped on his person for daring to advocate for children’s rights to education and for embarking on peace building reports on the crisis. Early 2017 I was almost lynched for organizing a press conference calling on government to organize a broad base dialogue with striking Lawyers and Teachers at the early state of the revolution which today has gone to the uncontrollable ebb. Today, what was about trade unionism is about independence and armed groups taking up arms against whosoever stands on their way to victory, whether a soldier, a Civilian or a Journalist.

Today I must reiterate and confess, it is either as a journalist you are silence or you are silenced. If you take side with either of the warring party you are tagged, a threat to the regime’s peace and sovereign rights or a traitor to the Amba Struggle by Separatists. 

As I tender this resume in the form of an Editorial of what is actually happing on the ground, living the reality in play, whosoever reports on the ground does so at the mercy of his life and the barrel of the gun facing him or her.

It is heard of very often a time today that you can leave the news room straight to the prison or the forest where you have restoration forces for going contrary to the rules of the game.

It's unfortunate but actually the truth. Where we are before a confused regime, to them, cosmetic arrangements and solutions according to the system in place is the way out to the crisis. From the look of things, every blessed day in Cameroon's history has a story to tell about a journalist running for his dear life or been subjected to torture or brutalized.

This, the world must know, as the government goes about it’s counter offensive missions in what has gradually blanket the atrocities committed on the ground on journalists.

The socio political crisis hitting these two regions with over 100,000 displaced persons, recording so far a gross number of material and human lost, it must be noted comes from the foothills of a peaceful pacific operation or manifestations that the people of Southern Cameroon tagged Ambazonians embarked on since 2017 to restore their lost nationhood to French Cameroonians in a 1961 Union marriage that is today no longer binding because of unequal living conditions and too much marginalization.

As I make an appraisal of the unholy situation on the ground the atrocious actions of the regime is continues, as they are exploiting all avenues and sparing no efforts to lay to rest the one time  pacific revolution that has suddenly become confrontational leading to many deaths recorded day in day out on both camps and the journalist in the whole show has suddenly become a victim of circumstance since he or she must have something to say “and that will depend on how the presentation is done” if not, the next minute you will see them running for their dear lives. Affaire a suivre.