US Ambassador to Cameroon says violence won’t solve anglophone crisis
US ambassador to Cameroon, Christopher John Lamora has said that using soldiers in the crisis-hit North West and South West regions will not solve the crisis which has been rocking the region for over five years now.
The Ambassador was speaking to state media this December 12 and used the opportunity to call on government authorities to initiate real, open and honest dialogue:
“I personally do not believe in violence and the Cameroonian government should stop using soldiers to instigate more violence. Dialogue is best and the United States of America is here to help stop all the killings and burning down of schools. Any individual or group of persons who deliberately burn down schools making young persons to stay at home should stop. We arrested some Cameroonians in the USA suspected of fueling the crisis by funding terrorist movements and we will search for more.Cameroon is one of the best African countries with much resources to explore. Stop the killings.”
He went on to urge President Biya to go for dialogue once he returnd from the USA where he is attending a USA-Africa summit:
“I watch all the violent videos and see all the pictures and sometimes I get emotional. The crisis has gone on for more than 4 years now with too many lives lost already and innocent children dropping out of school. Families are rendered homeless, people are scared to move freely with others vacating their home towns to strange places.We try using our World Food Program to feed the affected areas specially the internally displaced and we recently shipped more food items. No one should enjoy instigating war, ” John Lamora explained.
The socio-political crisis which gradually became known as the anglophone crisis has been going on in the North West and South West regions since 2016 and ever since then, there has been very little effort made by government authorities to put an end to the grievances of the people of these regions. So far, official figures show than over 3,000 people have been killed on both fighting factions and over 700,000 have been internally and externally displaced.
