Cameroon seizing 'farming tools' as separatist attacks get deadly

Security forces in Cameroon have been conducting raids in the homes across the southwest region in the wake of deadly attacks by separatists.

The country’s Anglophone regions – northwest (capital, Bamenda) and southwest (capital, Buea) are under curfew following deadly attacks on security forces last week.

The BBC reports that residents in Munyenge – a rural community in the southwest say they have lost their farming and hunting tools among other implements.

“How can they confiscate our farming tools? How do we clear our farms and prune our crops? Is there any home in this country without a knife?” one man lamented to the BBC journalist in the country.

Local media reports indicate that dozens have since last week been arrested and taken to the regional capital of Buea. Young people are said to be hiding or fleeing the two regions for fear of arrest and victimization.

People in the two Anglophone regions continue to agitate for independence from French majority Cameroon. What started out as protests from last year is now taking an armed turn.

The killing of four gendarmes – paramilitary forces – in the country signals the new turn where separatists are targeting agents of the state. The government has issued international arrest warrants for 15 leaders of the secessionist movement.