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By Tata Mbunwe
Ex-separatist commander, commonly called General Nambere, said harassment from uniform officers makes him regret why he dropped his arms.
Talking during a program on My Media Prime Television, the ex-combatant cited a recent encounter with a Gendarme officer in Yaounde, who mocked him for provoking the Anglophone crisis, just to drop weapons afterward.
The Gendarme officer, whom he said is Commander at the Bankomo Gendarmerie Brigade in Yaounde, told him to go back into the bush if he wants to fight a war.
“It made me regret why I dropped my weapons. And this is because the government does not discipline these people (uniform officers),” Nambere said.
“If the government considers uniform officers too important, then they should tell us to go back into the bush. Or if they want to kill us then let them kill us. If uniform men are honored, then the respect has to be reciprocal. Everyone has the right to respect his brother,” he said.
Nambere added that he denounced the separatist camp because of love for his fatherland, Cameroon, where he is now fighting for a return to peace.
“We dropped our weapons because we love our country; we can die for this country and we are working to restore peace in our country. Any uniform officer has the right to accord us (ex-fighters) the maximum respect we deserve,” Nambere said.
Nambere joined the Ambazonia war of independence in 2017 and grew into the ranks of Commander before giving up in 2019.
Since he decamped, he has been crusading for peace and an end to separatist-imposed Monday ghost towns in his former area of command, Meme Division, in the Southwest Region.
In November 2020, the ex-General was in Kumba where he campaigned for an end to Monday ghost towns which have been observed in most parts of the English-speaking regions since January 9, 2017.
“Since I laid down my weapons I have not harmed anyone but the amount of torment I get from uniform officers is enormous,” Nambere said. “They (military men) are the one causing us to think this country is divided,” he furthered.
The recent statement by Nambere comes following agitations by ex-separatist fighters in Buea on February 1, during which they blocked one of the city’s streets, decrying poor conditions at the DDR centre where they are lodged.
