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Cameroonian group storms Nigerian embassy in Washington DC, seeks release of separatists' leaders apprehended in Abuja


OREDOLA ADEOLA

A Cameroonian group have gathered at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC, United State, and calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to release leaders of Cameroonian anglophone separatists who were abducted by Nigeria’s intelligence agency.



The placards displayed at the embassy read:

"Abducted in Nigeria, Ambazonians deserve the right to freedom, Let our President go.

They urged President Buhari to prevail on the security agents who invaded Neras Hotel in Abuja on Friday, January 5, 2018 to release the separatist leaders.

Recall that the unrest by the separatists movement in Cameroon began in November 2016, when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the Northwest and Southwest regions took to the streets, calling for reforms and greater autonomy.

Those picked up in January at the hotel were Julius Tabe, Nfor Nfor, Fidelis Che, Henry Kimeng, Awasum, Cornelius Kwanga, Tassang Wilfred, Eyambe Elias, Ojong Okongho and Nalowa Bih.

The Anglophone part of the country has been accusing the government of President Paul Biya of indiscrimination against the Anglophone community in Cameroon.

Biya has been in power for 35 years. Dozens of them have been killed, with many arrested in anti-government protests.

In a statement by Chris Anu, secretary of communications, Cameroon’s English-speaking separatists' state of Ambazonia, the group called for the immediate release of those arrested in Abuja.

He said Southern Cameroonians would continue to assert their right to self-determination.

“The interim government of the Southern Cameroons condemns and calls for the immediate release of President Julius Ayuk Tabe,” the statement read.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria has been notified of the incident and it is currently investigating the situation.

“This criminal abduction happened during a meeting being chaired by H.E. Sisiku Ayuk Tabe. The President and his team were in a high command meeting in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria at the time the Cameroun Gunmen backed up by Nigerian Security operatives, showed up at the Hotel.

“The meeting started at around 5pm, Nigerian time. At around 7:30PM, the gunmen came into the Hotel and abducted all of them including the president.”

Anu said the meeting was about the welfare of those who fled to Nigeria as a result of the clampdown in Cameroon.

“The meeting was scheduled to discuss the Southern Cameroons Refugee crisis in Nigeria and to galvanise relief support for housing, medical and feeding in anticipation of the approaching rainy season.

“We call on Nigerian authorities to address this issue immediately and ensure that the Cameroun government does not do any harm to them.

"We also call on the Nigerian authorities to investigate this threat against its sovereignty by La Republique du Cameroun.

“We call on the Nigerian government to guarantee the security of the more than 20,000 Southern Cameroonian refugees in various camps in Nigeria," the separatists' spokesman said.

The Federal Government has claimed that it is not responsible for the arrest.

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