Ngarbuh Massacre: Desperate Government, Desperate Measures
Just as some Ambazonia leaders are embarrassed with the attitudes of some of their fighters who fail to toe the discipline lines, the government is totally helpless with the military atrocities. They are helpless and cannot do otherwise than protect the soldiers because they live by their grace not by a vote of the people. You cannot send your son to steal and when he is caught, you accept that you sent him, because if you do, when he must have served his punishment, he will come back for you.
“How can one believe for a moment that an army as disciplined and civic-minded as ours can loot civilian properties and kill the people whose protection and security is their mission?” This statement alone from the government spokesman shows that the Biya regime is indeed afraid to accuse the child of theft.
For how can the minister forget so soon that a Yaoundé tribunal is currently trying some soldiers who killed babies and mothers in the far north region which they said, was in Mali?
How can they easily forget the Azi incident in Lebialem division, where soldiers were caught on camera burning houses with fuel?
Or how can they easily forget the fact that soldiers raped a breastfeeding mother in Bamenda and were arrested?
The desperate government in an attempt to “clean its face” amidst accusations, soldiers were involved in the killing of 14 children and over a dozen men and women, have allegedly paid some newspapers to sabotage credible political actors and civil society who have stood firm on the incident with Maurice Kamto of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement political party and Barrister Agbor Felix Nkongho of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, insisting that soldiers carried out the attack.
The litany of newspapers with the same headlines on Wednesday’s newsstands shows how desperate the government is. In the newspapers, it is said that these personalities including Akere Muna have been dragged to court by the ministry of defense for false accusations. But how far can the court case go? Barrister Agbor Ball says that he cannot be intimidated.
Everyone including the UN has said at least 22 died but the government has said 5 civilians were killed with 7 separatist fighters. But no human rights organization has been permitted to investigate the killings in Ngarbuh, last Sunday, a team of local human rights organization was barred from taking the road to Ngarbuh by soldiers who said they needed to take permission from the Divisional officer of Ndu subdivision.
The UN has called for an inclusive dialogue between the government and the separatists, adding that the Major National Dialogue has proven to be futile.
