Two gendarmes killed in northwest Cameroon, police disrupt Yaounde peace march

Two Cameroonian gendarmes – paramilitary officials – were killed by suspected separatists in the North West region. Local media reported that some gendarmes had been abducted bu unkown gunmen early on Saturday.

Reports emerged later in the day that the lifeless bodies had been found in the Bali Nyonga area of the restive region riled by pro-secessionist elements pushing for independence from French majority Cameroon.

The incident according to a local journalist covering the Anglophone crisis, Mimi Mefo of Equinoxe TV, had led to heavy deployment of soldiers as at Saturday evening.

On the same day, police in the capital Yaounde violently disrupted a religious peace march. They are said to have used live bullets to disperse the marchers. It is not immediately known why the police dispersed the group. A journalist with Equinoxe TV, however, said the march ended in a ‘bloody’ way.

Police had in March 2018 disrupted a similar protest. Over twenty broom wielding women were arrested for protesting but were later released.

The Anglophone region (Northwest and southwest) has been the epicentre of separatist agitation which started as a protest against marginalization of the regions by French-majority Cameroon.

Security forces numbering over thirty have so far been killed in guerrilla-style attacks claimed by separatists. The government has since ramped up the military option to deal with the crisis.

People in the regions continue to flee into nearby forests and into Nigeria. Talk of mediation has often come up but there is yet to be any concrete action in that regard.