Prior to Sunday’s municipal and legislative elections elections in Cameroon, there was a marked increase in violence in the restive North West and South West regions.
Intensified military raids left more villages razed to ashes and homeless villagers seeking shelter in the bushes.Going by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, about 8,000 people have since fled from Cameroon into Nigeria within the past two weeks.
This huge increase in the number fleeing the bloody crisis prior to last Sunday’s elections the New York Times reports brings the total number of Cameroonians who have fled to Nigeria to almost 60,000 says the UNHCR.
The refugee agency highlighted that the refugees had to trek through savannah and forests to make it to neighboring Nigeria, with some arriving with gunshot wounds.
On Sunday February 9 which was the election day proper, several instances of fighting between the military and Ambazonian separatists were recorded, leaving residents in fear.
Government after the exercise however lauded the process, stating that voting was successful in all subdivisions nationwide.
Over 600,000 people have been displaced since the crisis escalated into an armed conflict with about 3,000 killed.
MMI
