Cameroon: Anglophone Regions engulfed in traditional Monday lockdown as schools resume

Cameroon’s two English-speaking Regions remained engulfed in a lockdown on Monday, April 17, as schools resumed in the rest of the country for the Third Term.

Thousands of primary and secondary school children flooded schools in eight Regions of the country, but the picture in the Northwest and Southwest Regions was different.

Schools remained closed in most towns and villages, which have continued battling with a separatist conflict — that has been raging for over six years now.

In Buea, headquarters of the Southwest Region, most schools remained closed on Monday, although a number of transport vehicles were circulating.

“We are staying at home as always, today is back to school, but we couldn’t leave our homes, as has always been the case on any ghost town day (Mondays),” a Buea-based secondary school student told MMI.

In Bamenda, the atmosphere was quiet, with very little movement of people and vehicles. Several public schools, also, did not resume.

This has been the usual atmosphere in the two Anglophone Regions on Mondays, since January 2017.

The Ambazonia separatists have been resisting all attempts at restoring normalcy on Mondays, as people gradually defy their lockdowns.

Last week, Ambazonia fighters attacked Bolifamba, an outskirts locality in Buea, causing the death of a man and the burning of four vehicles.

The attack scared many from resuming economic and social activities this Monday.

Mimi Mefo Info