Search for return to peace in NW, SW: Biya, please thinking about them?.

No one can deny that the security challenges in the North West and South West Regions are the sparks of historical misnomers that have lingered in Cameroon since independence, reunification and post-reunification era till date.

How things cascaded in the last quarter of 2016, reaching extremes in 2017, and then showing signs of thawing in recent times; confusingly with pockets of deadly happenings today, remain a conundrum. 

But it is also clear that none of the parties in the conflict can exclusively put the blame for where we are today at the doorsteps of the other. Everyone must share in the blame and so too everyone must contribute to rescuing the nation out of the lethargies of a conflict that has been repeatedly described as senseless.

Bringing to the fore the challenges of the last six years and still counting, analysts have maintained and still continue to argue that the path to the Cameroon of the yesteryears and even building a more prosperous and attractive nation lies in a strong political goodwill. They say it is the gumption to do the unexpected for the common good that must be allowed to override ego and personal gains.      

Even with the Yaounde Military Court ruling at sunrise on August 20, 2019, that slammed a life sentence and a fine of over 250 billion FCFA on leaders of what some say is an “Anglophone revolution”, lovers of peace say, there is nothing wrong in looking beyond the heavy arm of the law in quest to building a formidable, indivisible and prosperous Cameroon.

The same observers are saying that could be what is needed to empty detention facilities of those jailed or detained in connection with the Anglophone crisis. 

They admit that, it may sound a difficult thing to do but, the man saddled with the responsibility of leading Cameroon, President Paul  Biya, could still decide in the spirit and the power the constitution bestows on him to think nationhood and open a new slate.

Many believe such is a decision that could be taken without anyone standing logic on its head; be it among the jailed separatist leaders or those in the corridors of power. 

It is a path to peace which conflict experts agree and strongly so, is needed to heal the country and open a new chapter for all to feel Cameroonian. 

If this is done, analysts believe, everyone will come under the influence of a new breeze of fulfilment in being Cameroonian. From here, those in leadership can then draw more strength to iron out the little issues that have for decades been threatening the very foundation of the nation.

As ideal and appealing as the opinion of many fits this thought, there are those who say it would be even more poignant if President Biya, given his age and wisdom, acts in such light. 

Some say even as he may be thinking about several key issues affecting the Cameroon of today and the future, the file of those jailed or detained in relation to the Anglophone crisis, deserves a re-look with the eyes of human grace and mercy; just for the sake of the fatherland, Cameroon. As it is often said, to err is human and to forgive is Divine. The later, many have heralded, is what is needed to arrest the madness in the two English-speaking Regions. 

Be that as it may, The Guardian Post, in this edition, captures the identity and personalities of some of the jailed separatist leaders and other Anglophones for the records and posterity. 

It is a dossier that will make meaning to our teeming readers across the world today and in the future as the occasion may warrant. 

Just like many are mooting peace and dialogue with different blueprints, there are those who are adding that releasing these persons could be brought into the equation. But the question unanswered remains; what is Biya thinking about them? 

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe Julius 

Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, also fondly called Tobo Tobo, by his village peers, was the first President of the putative Republic of Ambazonia. The cut-steeped-and-dried IT expert was born in 1965 in Ewelle village in Eyumojock Subdivision in Manyu Division of the South West Region. 

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was sponsored by his elder siblings after his father, a farmer, died. He did his primary education in Ewelle village and later at Ekok on the border with Nigeria still in Manyu Division. 

In 1978, after obtaining his First School Leaving Certificate, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe enrolled in Government High School, GHS Mamfe, where he obtained his GCE Ordinary and Advanced Levels in 1983 and 1985 respectively, after seven straight years of study. 

Having obtained his Advanced Levels in flying colours, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe gained a scholarship to study in the United Kingdom in 1985. Here, he obtained a BSc (combined honours) in Mathematics and Computer Sciences from Keele University, in 1988 and a Masters degree in Control Engineering from the University of Sheffield in 1989.

Upon returning to Cameroon, Julius Ayuk Tabe had a teaching stint at the Ecole Nationale Polytechnique in Yaounde before gaining employment as software developer with the then Electricity Production and Distribution Company, SONEL, in 1992. He was amongst the company’s first network administrators in the early 90s. 

While at SONEL, Julius Ayuk Tabe wrote applications for Billing Systems and Computer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resources Management, Bank Reconciliation Management and Technical Maintenance and Evaluation.

In 2002, after spending ten years at SONEL, Julius Ayuk Tabe was elevated to management level. He served successively as the Regional Manager for the Centre Region and later North Region.

During his time as software developer with SONEL, Julius Ayuk Tabe, also did part time consultancy with the Cameroon General Certificate of Education Board, GCE Board, where he designed and implemented an application for the management of the GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations. 

The application which Julius Ayuk Tabe designed, is still used today by the Board to manage the registration of students, production of candidates’ and school time-tables, as well as production of results and result slips.

Julius Ayuk Tabe left SONEL in 2006 and joined the Cisco Systems in Nigeria. He was manager of the company’s Networking Academy for 23 countries in West and Central Africa, including Mauritania in North Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Eventually he started working for the American University of Nigeria, where he became Assistant Vice President in the field of Digital Services, Marketing and Recruitment.

As manager of the Cisco systems, Julius Ayuk Tabe visited Cameroon several times, installing Cisco applications in several public and private institutions, including Cameroon Telecommunications, CAMTEL and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, MINPOSTEL.

In 2011, Julius Ayuk Tabe moved from Cisco Systems to join the American University of Nigeria as the pioneer Chief Information Officer of the Institution. Here, he supervised the University’s technology deployment, use and maintenance. 

Julius Ayuk Tabe headed three departments; Department of Information Techonology, DIT, which was in charge of IT infrastructure, the Department of Information Systems, DIS, in charge of ERP applications and the Department of Auxiliary Services, DAS, which is in charge of professional and certification training amongst other things. 

As Information Officer, he also supervised Cisco certifications training programs like CCNA, CCNP, Wireless Video, Security etc. He has over 25 years of working experience in the ICT industry, 15 of which have been in senior management positions. 

Ayuk Tabe also worked as a motivational speaker at several conferences worldwide. His involvement in charity includes the establishment of the Ayuk Tabe Foundation in the town of Eyumodjock, where he and his wife, Lilian lived, and his involvement with the Adamawa State (Nigeria) Peacemakers Initiative. 

The culture and tradition enthusiast is a member of the Ekpe Society, a very revered traditional society of the Ejagham people in Manyu Division. He was promoted to the rank of Sisiku of Ekpe in 2015. 

Described by his contemporaries as levelheaded, respectful and jovial, Julius Ayuk Tabe is a farmer and an active player in the development of his village and his community. He owns a vast plantation in his native Eyumojock Subdivision. 

Sisiku AyukTabe and other Ambazonian leaders were arrested in Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon in January 2018. On August 20, 2019, Ayuk Tabe and the other nine leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Yaounde Military Tribunal. 

His ‘presidency’ started with Ambazonia's unilateral declaration of independence on October 1, 2017, with Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front, SCACUF, forming the Interim Government of Ambazonia, with Ayuk Tabe, then Chairperson of SCACUF, chosen as president by acclamation.

At first, Ayuk Tabe and the ‘Interim Government’ of Ambazonia rejected the idea of an armed struggle, preferring instead to focus on civil disobedience and a diplomatic campaign to gain international recognition. 

Prior to his imprisonment, he had regularly visited and sponsored inter-village tournaments to keep students busy during holidays in his Eyumojock Subdivision. He also gave scholarships to pupils and students of his village apart from contributing charitably to village development projects. 

Julius Ayuk Tabe is married to his enchantingly beautiful secondary school friend and classmate, Lilian Bakia. Both are blessed with five children; four girls and a boy.

Barrister Eyambe Elias Ebai

This Barrister-at-law and human rights advocate, was President of the Meme Lawyers’ Association, MELA, when the crisis sparked. That is how he became the Vice Secretary of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, CACSC, which government later outlawed.

He was called to the Bar in 1996. The human rights lawyer was born on June 19, 1969, in Manyemen, Nguti Subdivision, Kupe-Muanenguba Division of the South West Region; to Nzonguty Joseph and of Nzonguty Ann Babi.

Barrister Eyambe Ebai, who was based in Kumba, Meme Division, had made a name in the legal profession, serving as principal to dozens of pupil advocates who are today making their impact nationwide.

Barrister Eyambi Ebai escaped in the heat of the hostilities in the North West and South West Regions, to neighbouring Federal Republic of Nigeria, in 2017. Then, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, in Nigeria granted him a refugee status.

While out of the country, he was given other virtual appointments by the separatists like Ambassador to the African Union, AU of Southern Cameroons Governing Council, SCACUF. 

In addition, the Interim Government, IG of the Anglophone crisis fame also named him what it claimed was Ambassador to the African Union and Africa. 

The lawyer was among the separatist leaders arrested in Nigeria on January 5, 2018 and flown to Cameroon and later slammed a life sentence on August 20, 2019. Barrister Ebai is known to be married and has five children.

Dr Fidelis Ndeh-Che

This London-trained electrical and electronic engineer is another strong force that was within the separatist movement before being slammed a life sentence on August 20, 2019.

Dr Ndeh-Che, an associate professor, is known to have backed a PhD from the City University London in 1996 at the young age of 25. He will later move over to the United States of America, USA, where he engaged in many projects, working with an IT firm in the process for five years. This stint is said to have been in California.

Across Africa and Asia, Dr Ndeh-Che, who is also founder of Quanteq Technology Services Ltd, worked in at least 30 projects, serving in different capacities like Project Director, Project Manager and Principal Consultant, Project Manager and Project Director.

He is said to have founded his company in 1999. The company is said to have expanded to Nigeria, employing close to 200 persons and having an annual turnover of three million dollars. 

He is said to have long sought for asylum in Nigeria and registered with the United Nations High Commission for Refugee, UNHCR long before the current crisis.

Around the year 2012, he returned to the amphitheaters by joining the American University of Nigeria, AUN. At the university, Dr Ndeh-Che taught students at the PhD, undergraduate, graduate and MBA levels. These were in the domains of ICT and Development, Information System Management, Computer Science, Software Engineering among others.

In the same school, he held the position of Vice Chairperson of the Institutional Review Board, Chief of Staff to the President, Program Chairperson, Executive Director Institutional Research and Effectiveness, Executive Manager of Projects and Proposals alongside other positions.

He also worked with African independent financial services institution, Afrinvest. He at some time served as the organisation’s Board Chairperson.

The 55-year-old had immersed himself in the Nigerian society. Little wonder, he was between 2012 and 2016, member of the Adamawa Peace initiative, API, in Northern Nigeria. 

The initiative catered for over 270,000 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, who were fleeing Boko Haram atrocities and attacks. He also sat on the board of a leading Nigerian NGO, PRAWA from 2009 to 2018.  The NGO works on training security officers on human rights, access to justice and curbing re-offense among others

In Nigerian localities like Yola and Jimeta in Adamawa State, he is credited with having introduced an adult literacy program, alongside Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMP, tutoring.

He was among those arrested at the Nera Hotel in Abuja Nigeria on February 5, 2018. This was done reportedly by the Nigerian Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA. They were held and kept out of touch with the world for three weeks. 

He was among peers flown to Cameroon, detained at the State Secretariat for Defense, SED, before being moved to the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison. He was sentenced to life jail by the Yaounde Military Court on August 20, 2019.

Barrister Shufai Blaise Sevidzem Berinyuy

This man of law and traditional ruler, was born some 59 years ago in Kumba, Bui Division of the North West Region. He is the son of Sebastian Lawong Berinyuy and Benedicta Shiyghan Berinyuy.

Chief Barrister Shufai Blaise Sevidzem Berinyuy, is said to be the occupant of the stool of Mbuh village in Bui Division. He is husband to Wiybaa Nyuydine Jacqueline Banfogha with whom he has four children.

He put his legal knowhow at the service of several Non-Governmental Organisations, NGOs like the Human Rights Defense Group, HRDG; Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture, ACAT; and the Cameroon Association for Rights of the Child, CARC. He also founded the Advocates for Human Rights and Environmental Conservation, ADHREC, organisation.

Barrister Sevidzem was also at one time adviser of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Dioceses of Buea and Kumbo.  He also founded the Berinyuy Women Development Cooperative Society, BERWODEVCOOPS.

The World Basketball Federation, FIBA, is said to have certified him as a Level 2 Basketball coach. He played active role in boosting the Regional League of Basket Ball in Buea. 

He was also President of the Volcanic Warriors Basketball Club, Buea.  He too was picked up in Abuja, Nigeria, on February 5, 2018 and later moved to Yaounde. He is serving a life sentence that was handed to him by the Yaounde Military Court.

Tassang Wilfred

Tassang Wilfred Fombang, before the Anglophone crisis, which has now morphed into an armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions sparked, was the Secretary General of Cameroon Teachers’ Trade Union, CATTU.

The son of Tassang Isaiah and Alice Akwi, Tassang Wilfred, was born on February 2, 1970, in Bamenda. Tassang is a college teacher.

At the advent of the Anglophone crisis, he was Programmes Director of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, CACSC, aka the Consortium, a grouping of Common Law lawyers and teachers of the English sub-system of education.

He was the lead negotiator and spokesperson for Anglo-Saxon Universities, secondary and basic education, parents and teachers’ unions (public and private) within the framework of the Education Ad Hoc Committee set up to proffer solutions to problems plaguing the English system of education as raised by the teachers’ unions.

When the Consortium was outlawed in February 2017 and some of its leaders arrested, Tassang went underground and later escaped to Nigeria from where he firmly endorsed the movement for the restoration of the statehood of Southern Cameroons. 

He was unanimously elected Secretary General of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front, SCACUF, and later, Vice Chair of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Governing Council.

Tassang was among nine other Ambazonia leaders who were arrested in the garden of NERA Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria on January 5, 2018, and later extradited to Yaounde. 

The father of four, is currently serving a life sentence at the Kondengui prison in Yaounde. Tassang and nine others were sentenced by the Yaounde Military Tribunal, on Tuesday August 20, 2019. 

They were convicted of charges including terrorism, secession, financing of acts of terrorism, revolution, insurrection and hostility against fatherland, internal and external attack on state security among others.

Dr Henry Tata Kimeng

Dr Henry Tata Kimeng is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, Nigeria.

He was born on July 12, 1967, at Alabukam, Mankon, Bamenda, to Mrs Agnes Gije Kimeng (late) and late Ta Fai Ngakonfor (nee Kimeng Jonas Ndi), who was a Sub Chief in Mbaa, Nwangri village in Donga Mantung Division of the North West Region. 

He is married to Dr Florence Azie Mbuh, who holds a PhD in Microbiology from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Windsor University School of Medicine, St. Kitts, United Kingdom. They are blessed with a 19-year-old son, Brian T. Kimeng, a final graduate from the Department of Architecture, ABU, Zaria, Nigeria.

Dr Kimeng is a scholar and teacher. He has published several papers in local and international journals and conference proceedings. He has also won several prizes and awards for his research work. 

In 2011, Holcim International, Switzerland, awarded him and his research team a prize for their research work on recycled agricultural waste for producing particle boards. 

In 2012, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, recognised him as one of its outstanding researchers in the past 50 years during the Golden Jubilee celebration of the University. 

As a Consultant Engineer, he has consulted for several organisations and designed and built large buildings, cities and roads all over Nigeria. He has also consulted for National Space Research and Development Agency, Abuja, Nigeria, Abucons Zaria, and Gamji Nigeria Ltd, among other firms.

As a philanthropist, Dr Kimeng has provided scholarships, financial assistance and help to many students from Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Liberia and other countries. In 2017, he was nominated Coordinator of Anglophone crisis refugees in Nigeria. 

Dr. Kimeng was among the 10 Ambazonia leaders who were arrested in the garden of NERA Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria on January 5, 2018 and later extradited to Yaounde. He is currently serving a life sentence at the Kondengui prison in Yaounde after having been sentenced by the Yaounde Military Tribunal on Tuesday August 20, 2019.

Dr Egbe Ogork Ntui

Dr Egbe Ogork Ntui was born on March 3, 1964, to the family of Pa Samuel Ntui Ogork and Mrs Lucy Ntoh Ogork (both deceased), at Ewelle village, Eyumojock Subdivision, in Manyu Division of the South West Region.

He was Associate Professor of Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. He trained and graduated many students at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. 

He was the Departmental Postgraduate Coordinator for three years before his arrest on January 5, 2018. He also held other positions in the department and in the Faculty of Engineering. He is a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (MNSE) and also a member of Materials Society of Nigeria (MMSN).  

Dr Egbe Ogork Ntui is the President and Patron of many Associations including, the Southern Cameroons Community in Nigeria Kano Chapter. He is also an adviser for Justice and Peace Committee of St. Peter Catholic Church Janguza military Barracks Kano, Nigeria.

Dr Ogork was among the 10 Ambazonia leaders who were arrested in the garden of NERA Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria on January 5, 2018 and later extradited to Yaounde. 

He is also currently serving a life sentence at the Kondengui prison in Yaounde, after having been sentenced by the Military Tribunal, on Tuesday August 20, 2019. Dr Ogork is married to Chinyere Ogork. They are blessed with one child.

Prof Cheh Augustine Awasum

Another incarcerated separatist leader is erudite scholar, researcher and Professor of Surgery, Cheh Augustine Awasum.  The community servant, especially in the aspects of environmental health, public health, and Philanthropy, was arrested as a member of the Ambazonia Interim Government in Nigeria and repatriated to Cameroon on January 5, 2018.

As an activist right from the age of 17, he has been involved in party politics and the struggle for the emancipation of the Anglophone Cameroonian. He has been president and leader of several such advocacy groups, student unions and civil societies. 

Alongside nine others, he was ‘abducted’ and detained by Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Nigeria. They were later repatriated to Cameroon. He and others were incarcerated on over 23 count charges. He is a registered asylum seeker in Nigeria and is married and father of one.

Prof Cheh Awasum worked with the Nigerian educational system for over two decades. There, he trained hundreds of veterinary surgeons. 

He served as Head of Surgery Unit of the Department and the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the University in the Department of Veterinary Surgery and Diagnostic Imaging at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Nigeria. 

He was also Postgraduate Coordinator of the Department and Member of the University Senate (apex academic body) as well as Fellow of the College of Surgeon Nigeria (one of the highest Academy of Surgery in Africa). 

For his achievements in kidney transplants, he received commendations from President Buhari, the then Executive Chairman of the Nigerian Petroleum Trust Funds (PTF), General Yakubu Gowon-former Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Born May 4, 1968, in Bamenda, Mezam Division of the North West Region, Prof Cheh Awasum holds a PhD in Surgery on defective kidney urethral reconstruction by Monti mathematical model (ileoureterplasty).

He has Masters Degrees in several other disciplines including International Affairs, Diplomacy, Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice and postgraduate diplomas in Education. 

He was Head of Surgery Unit VTH, Postgraduate Coordinator and Member of the ABU University Senate. Prof Cheh Awasum was Fellow and Instructor in the College of Surgeons Nigeria. 

He was a visiting scholar and Chief External Examiner to several universities national and international. In professional practice, he rose through the ranks from Registrar, Consultant, Senior Consultant to Principal Consultant Surgeon in 2012.

He was member of several departmental, faculty, university and national research committees including the World Bank sponsored research on Neglected Tropical Diseases. His novelty is the use of Monti’s mathematics in graft surgery. 

He has contributed over 110 articles in peer reviewed journals, conference proceedings and seminars at both national international levels. He has co-authored several chapters in books/material in surgery. 

Also, he was cited in 2002 in Who is Who in Veterinary Surgery from across the continent. He made research breakthrough in the area of elucidated animals as the forgotten victims of Boko Haram insurgency. He is recipient of several awards from Civil Society organisations, NGOs and governments.

Mancho Bibixy

Popular radio animator in Bamenda, Mancho Bibixy, fondly called BBC, is now serving a 15-year sentence in Kondengui Central Prison in Yaounde for anti-state and false news charges.

Mancho Bibixy, who sparked what was known as the Coffin Revolution,  is accused of being the man who instigated the Bamenda public to turn a peaceful teachers and lawyers strike into a violent protest. He is said to have led a protest from the Bamenda City Chemist Junction to the office of then Bamenda Government Delegate. 

Attempts at setting the Government Delegate’s building on fire and other acts of vandalism in Bamenda, forced security forces to intervene. That was when the teachers and lawyers strike, hijacked by Bibixy and his protesters, turned bloody. 

He was sentenced in 2019 to an additional two years in prison, to run concurrently with his original sentence, for his alleged role in a prison protest. The broadcaster for the private radio station, Abakwa FM in Bamenda, was arrested January 17, 2017. 

Bibixy hosted three different shows on Abakwa FM, including a popular weekday news and current affairs program in pidgin called “The Comedy Show,” which was critical of government’s social and economic marginalisation of Anglophones. 

Weeks preceding his arrest, Bibixy was repeatedly summoned and briefly detained by authorities, including the security police and police intelligence in Bamenda.

A military court in Yaounde sentenced Bibixy to 15 years in prison on May 25, 2018. He was found guilty of terrorism, secession, hostility to the fatherland, spreading false information, revolution, insurrection and rebellion.

He was part of a protest in Kondengui Central Prison in July 22, 2019. Then, inmates protested over poor living conditions, including chronic overcrowding and delays in their cases getting to court.

The Community to Protect Journalists, CPJ, reported that he was hauled out of his bed and forced to lie down in a prison courtyard while female guards reportedly poured dirty water on him and other inmates after the prison protest. 

Bibixy was charged by the Ekounou Court of First Instance on August 8, 2019, with group rebellion, arson, attempt to escape, looting, and causing bodily harm. He was on September 9, acquitted of all charges except group rebellion and was sentenced to two years, to run concurrently with his original sentence. 

On August 16, 2019, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Bibixy was being detained arbitrarily and directed the Cameroonian government to take remedial action, including his immediate release, according to a statement by Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada.

Bibixy is reported to have suffered from chronic abdominal pain in 2020 and had an ultrasound, which did not find any abnormalities. On August 19, 2021, a military appeals tribunal overturned Bibixy’s conviction on charges of terrorism and rebellion but upheld the other charges.

The tribunal maintained the original 15-year sentence but dropped one fine of 268,000,000 FCFA and reduced the court fines from 31,708,480 to 2,504,000 francs to be divided among seven defendants.

Tsi Conrad 

Tsi Conrad is a Bamenda-based freelance journalist, writer and filmmaker also serving a 15-year sentence on anti-state charges. In 2019, he was sentenced to additional time in prison, to run concurrently, for allegedly taking part in protests by inmates over poor prison conditions. 

He was arrested at gunpoint on December 8, 2016, while filming a rally of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM party, that had turned violent.

CPJ reported that he was transferred to Yaounde half-naked in his boxer shorts and chained in the back of a military vehicle. The same organisation said he was detained without outside contact for two weeks at the Directorate for Territorial Surveillance, the police’s secretive intelligence arm. 

His camera was destroyed, and he was held and interrogated by the Bamenda judicial police because of the images he took and the media organisations he distributed them to. 

Conrad worked for Ruphina’s House, a news agency and film production company that he started in 2013, and Cejay Productions, a multimedia company involved in news collection. He published videos and images of Anglophone protesters on his blog, personal Facebook page, and other Facebook pages. 

Conrad also provided video and images to the pro-separatist news website, Bareta News. His images were also used by Abakwa FM radio, CNTV in Bamenda, and several journalists working for privately owned Bamenda-based outlets like Horizon TV, Rush FM Radio, and Ndefcam Radio, according to Bareta News outlet owner, Mark Bareta who spoke to CPJ. 

The freelance journalist’s trial began on December 23, 2016, and dragged on for over a year, with at least 16 adjournments. Conrad was sentenced to 15 years in prison on May 25, 2018, by the Yaounde Military Court.

He was found guilty of terrorism, secession, hostility against the state, contempt for civil authority, rebellion, and spreading false news, including by electronic means. Conrad’s appeal before the Military Tribunal in Yaounde began in June 2019 but was repeatedly adjourned.

He was part of a July 22, 2019, protest at the Kondengui Central Prison, over poor living conditions, including chronic overcrowding and delays. On August 6, 2019, the Ekounou Court of First Instance in Yaounde, charged Conrad and other inmates with rebellion, attempted prison break, destruction of property, and theft. 

On September 2, Conrad was acquitted on three charges but was found guilty of group rebellion and sentenced to an additional 18 months in prison, to run concurrently. 

Conrad appealed the “group rebellion” charge, and on October 29, the judge reduced Conrad’s concurrent prison sentence from 18 to 16 months.

In November 2019, Conrad was reportedly diagnosed with third-degree hemorrhoids by a doctor at the Yaounde Central Hospital. The CPJ said the medic had recommended surgery for Conrad. 

On April 17, 2022, Conrad was finally operated upon. He spent a month in the hospital. On August 19, 2021, a military appeals tribunal overturned Conrad’s conviction on charges of terrorism and rebellion but upheld the other charges.

The tribunal maintained the original 15-year sentence but dropped the fine of 268,000,000 FCFA. It reduced the court fines from 31,708,480 to 2,504,000 FCFA to be divided among seven defendants.

Thomas Awah Jr

Thomas Awah Jr is an activist and journalist born in 1969. Awah schooled in Cameroon Protest College, CPC, Bali, and later University of Dschang. He was arrested in 2017 and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on charges of terrorism, spreading false news, hostility to the fatherland, secession, insurrection and revolution.

Awah is a journalist and a former correspondent for Equinoxe TV and Afrik 2 Radio. He is also Publisher of the monthly Aghem Messenger magazine.

Awah was arrested in Bamenda on January 2, 2017 during a "Ghost Town" demonstration, when residents closed their businesses as a form of protest. 

He was hoping to interview residents of Bamenda for Afrik 2 Radio, when he was arrested by officers. 

After his arrest, Awah was interrogated on the Anglophone movement and sent to Kondengui Central Prison to be held in pre-trial detention. He was tried alongside eight other detainees linked to the Anglophone crisis.

A Military Court in Yaounde, sentenced Awah to 11 years in prison on May 25, 2018. The journalist was found guilty of terrorism, hostility to the fatherland, secession, revolution, insurrection, spreading false news, and contempt for civil authority. He was tried alongside journalists Tsi Conrad and Mancho Bibixy and four other Anglophone detainees. 

On September 17, 2018, an-increasingly frail Awah, who suffered from poor physical and mental health before his arrest, was admitted to the Yaounde Central Hospital, after a social media campaign. He suffered from chronic tuberculosis and pneumonia. Awah was discharged and sent back to the Kondengui Prison on October 16, 2018.

In December 2018, the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, wrote to President Paul Biya, requesting that he considers releasing Awah from jail on medical grounds, but did not receive a reply.

On July 22, 2019, a protest by Kondengui Central Prison inmates over their living conditions, including chronic overcrowding and delays in their cases getting to court, resulted in Awah’s special detention within the jail.

Awah was charged by the Ekounou Court of First Instance in Yaounde on August 8, 2019, with group rebellion, arson, attempt to escape, looting, causing bodily harm, and theft, among other charges. 

He was sentenced on September 9 to another three years in jail to be served concurrently with his original sentence on charges of group rebellion, destruction of property, and resistance to the administrative order.

Awah appealed the charges, and the Yaounde Appeal Court delivered a judgment on October 29, 2020, when Awah was not present. As of October 2022, neither Awah nor his lawyer, who represented him, had received a copy of the judgment.

CPJ and 80 other organisations wrote to President Biya on April 6, 2020, urging that he frees Awah and other jailed journalists amid the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that many imprisoned journalists suffered from ill health exacerbated by overcrowding. 

On August 19, 2021, after repeated delays, a military appeal tribunal overturned Awah’s convictions on terrorism and rebellion charges but upheld the others, according to Awah’s former lawyer, Ngang Ngu Fonguh, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

On October 8, 2020, the rights organisation, Freedom Now, filed a petition with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, arguing that Awah’s detention violated the Cameroon government’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Awah’s continued detention has physically, financially, and emotionally drained him. Prison conditions had exacerbated his pre-existing health issues, including toxoplasmosis, tuberculosis, and pneumonia. Awah’s father died in 2021. Since then, the family’s finances have prevented his mother from visiting him in prison.

Tah Emile Agwe

Tah Emile Agwe is one of those who are currently serving prison terms under the context of the Anglophone crisis. When the crisis sparked in 2016, Tah dropped out of University as teachers boycotted lectures. 

On December 8, 2016, he was arrested in Bamenda, and transferred to Yaounde. He was subsequently detained at the Kondengui prison from where he attended trial at the Military Tribunal.

On May 25, 2018, the Military Tribunal in Yaounde, sentenced Tah Emile Agwe and others to 15 years in prison and a fine of 268 million FCFA as damages requested by the civil party and 204 million as damages requested by the State. 

Tah and the others were sentenced on charges of “acts of terrorism”, “hostility against the homeland”, “secession”, “revolution”, “propagation of false information”, “contempt of public bodies and public servants”, “resistance”, “depredation by band”, “failure to hold his national ID card” and “insurrection” under the Law on the Suppression of Acts of Terrorism No. 28 of 2014 and Cameroon Criminal Code.

The sentence came after several months of detention and a trial during which the hearings were postponed under different pretexts for more than fourteen times.

Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka

Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka is a journalist and Network Marketer. Before his arrest on May 15, 2020, in Douala, Njoka had worked with Magic FM in Yaounde and the Catholic newspaper, L’Effort Camerounaise. He was at one time the North West Bureau Chief of the newspaper.

As a Network Marketer, he was Orientation Leader at TIENS Cameroon. He also worked at Global Opportunity Network Cameroon. Njoka studied Journalism and Mass Communication at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. 

He was arrested at his home in Douala on May 15, 2020, and held incommunicado. Njoka was arrested by four armed men on 15 May. His wife said at the time that three laptop computers were seized.   

It was only on June 11, 2020 that he was charged with secession and complicity in an armed gang. Njoka was suspected of managing pro-secessionist WhatsApp groups, including the Bui Warriors group based in Kumbo, Bui Division of the North West Region. He is currently awaiting trial at the Kondengui prison in Yaounde. Njoka is a father of children.

In May 2022, the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, pleaded for Njoka to be allowed to go and bury his father, Shey Rudolf Verla Njoka, who died on April 25 of that year.

CPJ said then that government should allow Njoka to leave prison on compassionate grounds to attend his father’s funeral, and should ensure that he and other jailed journalists are finally released so that they can live and work freely.

“At the very least, Njoka, who is the eldest son in his family and has yet to be tried or convicted after nearly two years behind bars, should be allowed compassionate leave to mourn and bury his father,” CPJ had said. 

Abdul Karim Ali

Abdul Karim Ali is a Bamenda-based Anglophone activist, who is being held in detention in Yaounde. Reports by international rights organisation, Human Rights Watch, indicate that Yaounde is dangling terrorism charges over him.

He was arrested August 11, 2022, by soldiers in the Ntamulung neighborhood in Bamenda in the restive North West Region and taken to a local Gendarmerie station.

He was held incommunicado and denied access to his family members till August 13 when he was allowed to see his wife following “sustained pressure from his lawyers”. 

Human Rights Watct cited Abdul Karim’s lawyers as saying he is “accused of “apology of terrorism” for possessing a video on his phone showing alleged human rights abuses committed by Cameroonian soldiers against civilians in the country’s English-speaking Regions.”  

Human Rights Watch, HRW also quoted Abdul Karim’s lawyers as revealing that they were not permitted to view the file of their client and that he was questioned in their absence, in violation of Cameroonian law. 

The rights group quoted one of Abdul Karim’s lawyers, Barrister Awah Joseph Fru, as saying “jailing Ali instead of working with him is a missed opportunity for the government”. 

“Arresting a peace advocate stifles an environment for genuine dialogue,” Awah Joseph Fru is quoted as having told HRW. 

The prominent activist had in September 2019, been arrested and held without access to a lawyer for five days before authorities released him weeks later. 

They detailed that Abdul Karim was after his arrested in 2019 “taken to the State Defense Secretariat (Secrétariat d’État à la défense, SED).

The activist was held incommunicado until he appeared before the Yaounde Military Court. He was “charged with acts of terrorism, financing terrorism, and secession” and later release November 1, 2019”.

Months back, reputable international rights organisation, Amnesty International, mounted fresh pressure on Yaounde authorities to “either charge” Abdul Karim Ali and two of his friends who were arrested and taken into detention alongside him “with a recognisable criminal offence or immediately release them”.

He has been arbitrarily detained without charge since 11 August 2022 while the authorities have provided no formal reason for his detention, the rights organisation detailed. 

As at February 2023, Abdul Karim Ali had spent 200 days in detention without charge. He had openly denounced the actions and rights abuses of Chief Ewome John, also a soldier and popularly known as Moja Moja.

Dr Cornelius Kwanga

Dr Kwanga Njikimbi Cornelius is among the separatist leaders currently serving a life sentence following a judgement passed in 2019. He is amongst ten persons who were arrested at the Nera Hotel in Abuja on January 5, 2018, and extradited to Yaounde.

He, alongside ten others, were charged with secession, terrorism, hostility against the state of Cameroon, revolution and the non-possession of their identity cards among other charges. He was sentenced to life imprisonment alongside Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.

Dr Kwanga Cornelius hails from Bum in Boyo Division of the North West Region. Born in Wum on March 22, 1970, he is the third of 10 children of Pa Kwanga Samuel Nkan and Mama Kwanga Priscilla Mbong.

Dr Cornelius Njikimbi Kwanga is a Researcher. He served as Senior Lecturer of the Department of Economics, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, UMYU Katsina, Nigeria.

He joined UMYU from Yobe State University, YSU, Damaturu, Nigeria. In YSU, he was one time Acting Head of Department of Economics and later on appointed Coordinator of Research and Innovation, R&I Unit of the University.

He has taught various economic courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Before engaging in full time lecturing, he was one of the pioneering staff of United Bank for Africa, UBA Cameroon and served the bank in various capacities.

He is the founder and promoter of Global Association for Sustainable Development, GASD-a rural based CSO that fights against rural poverty. Dr Kwanga who is an apt coordinator and organizer, is also an advocate for the restoration of the independence of the Former Southern Cameroons.

He is the Under Secretary of State for Economy and Finance for the Interim Government of Ambazonia. Apart from being a legal resident in Nigeria, he was also UNHCR registered asylum seeker in Nigeria. He is married with three children.

Nfor Ngalla Nfor

Nfor Ngalla Nfor is one of the brains behind the now proscribed Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC. Currently serving a life sentence at the Kondengui Prison in Yaounde, Nfor Ngalla Nfor, was born on December 31, 1952, in Kup, Nkambe in Donga Mantung Division of the North West Region. 

He was born into the family of HRH Ta Nfor Ngala Tarndap (late) and Ma Winto Mbebu. He obtained a Masters degree in Political Science from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria, in 1980. 

He was employed into the Registry of the University and rose to the rank of Senior Assistant Registrar. He resigned and returned home in 1986. While in Cameroon, he was employed by the Ministry of Territorial Administration until 1992.

In 1998, he was the Secretary of United Nations Habitat Afrique Conference, hosted by A.B.U Zaria with Prof Shuetfegua (late) as the Chairman and General Mohammed Buhari (rtd) as Patron. 

Nfor Ngala Nfor was a key member during the launch of the opposition party- Social Democratic Front, SDF, in Bamenda on May 26, 1990. 

He served the party in various capacities including being Chairman of the Constitutional and Political Affairs Committee up to 1999. 

Thereafter, he dedicated his entire life and service to the pursuit of the restoration of the statehood of the Southern Cameroons from what he termed, “foreign annexation by La Republique du Cameroun”.

His pursuit has been under the platform of the now proscribed Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, which he served in various positions including being the National Vice Chairman in March 2000 and the Chairman from 2014.

Penn Terence Khan

Terence Penn Khan was sentenced to twelve years in jail with a fine of FCFA five million. The judgement was passed by the Yaounde Military Tribunal in 2018.

He was found guilty of acts of terrorism, rebellion against the state. Penn Terence is a father of four children. Until his arrest, he was serving as Vice Principal of a Government High School in Bambili. 

He was arrested in January 2017 for following a call to boycott and strike action organised by a consortium of civil society activists, teachers, and lawyers. Penn Terence was arrested from his car by 10 Gendarmes.

In April 2018, Penn Terence was sentenced to 12 years in prison for ‘complicity in secession, financing of terrorism and complicity with the rebellion’. 

Ngalim Felix

Ngalim Felix is one of the leaders of the “Coffin Revolution” which took place in Bamenda. He was arrested alongside the initiator of the movement, Mancho Bibixy.

In an emotional letter released in May 2021, Ngalim Felix, who has been in bad shape had called on government to respect the rights of prisoners and provide health care to him and other prisoners in Cameroon.

Ngalim Felix, speaking from his cell at the Kondengui Central Prison in Yaounde, had said he needs medical assistance. 

“I have been suffering from an ulcer for over two years now with no intensive medical attention. My leg was operated in February 2019 at the Yaounde General Hospital. But two days after, a mixed military contingent bundled me out of the hospital to the prison,” he narrated.

To Ngalim Felix, since then, his health situation has deteriorated. “I need medical attention to avoid the situation worsening,” he added. Besides poor health, Ngalim Felix has repeatedly complained of the overcrowded nature of the Kondengui Prison.

Arrested on November 29, 2016, in Bamenda in the North West Region, Ngalim Felix and other members of the “Coffin Revolution” were transferred to the Yaounde Judicial Police Station on the December 1, 2016. 

They were then dragged to court to face trial on charges of rebellion, inviting violence and terrorism. The trial suffered several adjournments before they were finally sentenced.

Away from that, Ngalim Felix, alongside other inmates was sentenced to 18 months in prison by the Yaounde Court of Appeal, in 2019 following a prison mutiny at the Yaounde Central Prison Kondengui.

Aselecha Martin

Aselecha Martin was slammed a 13-year jail term in 2018. He was jailed by the Yaounde military tribunal. Aselech Martin was imprisoned for for hostilities against the fatherland, secession, secession, insurrection, acts of terrorism and propagating false information.

The court hearing of May 24, 2018, was the last for the accused and the defense lawyers to speak in court, and the last before the court made pronouncements on the jail terms of those found guilty. 

Aselecha Martin and other detainees who took the floor during the court session, lamented on their close to 16 months trial before presenting their vision to see the crisis contained and resolved for peace to return to the nation.

Aselecha Martin started his presentation in court by questioning whether or not he is still a Cameroonian or should consider himself one following the treatment they had received since their arrest, detention and trial.

Guingah Valentine

Guingah Valentine is currently serving a 10-year jail sentence. He was jailed in 2018 alongside Mancho Bibixy and other members of the ‘coffin revolution’. He was arrested in the wake of the Anglophone crisis and ferried to Yaounde to face trial.

By Doh Bertrand, Solomon Tembang, Maxel Fokwen & Mua Patrick