The Ambazonia Defence Force (ADF), an armed separatist militia group in Northwest and Southeast regions of Cameroon have confirmed a “military” partnership and alleged border control cooperation with Easter Security Network (ESN), the armed wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist group that operate mainly in the Southeast region of Nigeria.
In an unverified new video on social media released Friday to mark its October 1st independence celebrations of the group, the Ambazonia separatist force showed its fighters in what looks like a show of strength.
In the two and a half minutes long video, its fighters were fully clad in camouflage uniforms with assault rifles as they marched in combat style.
In the background of the video, a narrator claims that the march is part of their activities to commemorate the 60th Independence of the former British Southern Cameroon, who gained independence on October 1st, 1961 from the British colonialists.
On February 11, 1961, a United Nations referendum was held in British Cameroons to determine whether the territory should join Cameroon or Nigeria. but the option of independence for the British Cameroon was not on the ballot as it was vehemently opposed by Andrew Cohen, the UK representative to the UN Trusteeship Council and the African and anti-colonial delegations, especially by E. M L. Endeley who favoured integration with Nigeria and John Ngu Foncha who canvassed reunification with Francophone Cameroon
In the referendum, the Muslim-majority Northern Cameroons voted in favour of joining Nigeria with 60 per cent of the vote while the Christian-majority Southern Cameroons voted by 70.5 per cent in favour of integrating with Francophone Cameroon. So, on June 1, 1961, Northern Cameroon officially became part of Nigeria while on October 1, 1961, Southern Cameroons became part of Cameroon.
In the viral video, the faceless voice claimed the Ambazonia separatists operate in the South West region of Cameroon and that they possess and control a large territory and are also in operational collaboration with IPOB’s ESN.
The conflict in the Anglophone side of Cameroon began in late 2016 when government security forces used lethal force to put down peaceful marches by lawyers and teachers protesting against perceived marginalisation by the country’s majority Francophone government.
The result was a protracted civil war-like situation which has pitted the Camerounian government forces against the separatist groups that are operating largely in the two English speaking regions of North West and South West.
The Ambazonia separatist movement relentlessly clamours for the restoration of the independence of former British trust territory of Southern Cameroons from The Republic of Cameroon, whose independence came on the same date, but a year later in 1961.
In October 2017, the English-speaking group declared autonomy over the two English-speaking regions – a move rejected by Cameroon’s President Paul Biya.
Clashes between the government and supporters of the separatist group followed. The leaders of the separatists group fled to neighbouring countries, including Nigeria, as the Cameroonian government clamped down on their campaigns and activities.
In January 2018, the leader of Governing Council of Ambazonia, the political arm of the Ambazonian Defence Forces, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, was arrested in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja by the Department of State Security (DSS) for engaging in a clandestine meeting against Cameroonian authorities.
He was later repatriated back to Cameroon.