Cameroon: Separatist Fighters burn gendarmerie brigade, pickup at border village

A coalition of Ambazonia separatist groups in Cameroon’s North West Region has attacked and burned down a gendarmerie post at Lus, a small village in Donga Mantung Division bordering the Central African nation and Nigeria.

The separatists shared several videos online depicting the aftermath of the attack this September — but MMI could not independently verify the footage.

In one of the videos, a group of armed men who identified themselves as members of the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) in Buea and Donga Mantung brandished several items they said were “harvested” from the gendarmerie brigade.

Among the items were rifles, bullet-proof vests, two motorcycles, solar panels, military uniforms, helmets, and identification documents, among others.

The fighters said they seized control of the border village on September 6 after three days of fierce confrontations with the gendarmes.

“These are the materials we harvested from Kom Gendarmerie, and due to the poor situation, we weren’t able to capture everything that was there,” a separatist fighter commented in Pidgin English as he filmed the materials.

In a separate video, a so-called “Major General Capo”, who reportedly commanded the operation, could be seen setting fire to a military pickup that was packed in front of the gendarmerie post.

He and other fighters who were in the videos proceeded to burn the gendarmerie building and destroy barricades that were in front of the building.

The fighters praised the self-proclaimed “Major General Capo”, leader of the Bui Unity Warriors, for the operation. He reportedly led the fight alongside a number of self-proclaimed commanders, including “Commander One Mama,” “Commander Nasser Arafat, and “Commander Daniel,” among others.

The Cameroon Government has not yet released any statement on the said attack.

Uncertainty For Civilian Population

The dislodging of gendarme officers from Lus means separatist fighters will be the new administration in the area.

For the civilian population, this may not be anything to celebrate. In one of their videos, the separatists said they had “cleared the border between Cameroon and Nigeria” and that they were freeing the area from the gendarmes.

However, Ambazonia separatists have rather exploited the local population in the areas they have occupied. Rather than protecting the people they usually claim to be fighting for, they tax the local population huge sums and force people to obey their bid.

Those who try to raise any opposition or resist paying levies are termed “blacklegs” and are brutally punished or executed. This might be the fate that will befall the inhabitants of Lus in the days ahead.

Resurfacing Of Separatist Attacks

Separatist fighters have launched three significant attacks in the two English-speaking Regions within the last six days, killing at least four civilians and probably a number of military officers.

The first attack reported this month was the bombing of a military truck in Lebialem on September 3, which killed a civilian occupant and left a number of military officers feared dead. On September 7, another separatist attack in the Muea neighbourhood of Buea left three civilians dead. It is not known if there were any casualties on both sides of the attack.

The recent attacks contradict popular speculation that the armed conflict in the Anglophone Regions was cooling off.

The attacks are also coming at a time when schools were expected to resume in the two English-speaking Regions on September 4. But this has been impossible in most areas owing to an ongoing two-week separatist lockdown.

The government says soldiers will continue to hunt down separatist fighters who have refused to surrender their weapons and join disarmament centres created in the two Regions in 2018