Gunmen suspected to be Ambazonian separatist group, Ambazonian Defence Forces (ADF), have attacked students and teachers of Government Bilingual High School (GBHS), Ekondi Titi, in the restive South West region of Cameroon.
Sources said that preliminary assessment of the scene indicated that the attack, which took place in the early hours of Wednesday, left three students and a teacher seriously injured. They include Emmanuel Orume (12), Iken Joycelyn (16), Kum Emmanuel (17) and a teacher named Fien Celestina.
Crisis had erupted in Southern Cameroun since an agitation for secession pitted the Central Government of Cameroon against the Ambazonian secessionists for more than five years now.
Though the motive behind the early morning attack is yet to be known as no group had claimed responsibility, however, local and security agency sources stated the mode of operation and the target has all hands pointing in the direction of the Ambazonian secessionists.
The separatist group has been accused of attacking soft targets like “Schools, while targeting children, staff and infrastructure during significant dates of lockdowns and ghosts towns”.
The Ambazonian separatists, who are fighting for an Independent State have often denied such accusations, accusing the Cameroonian Security Forces of directly or indirectly staging attacks on soft targets to tarnish the image of the Separatist Forces in and outside Cameroon.
The Ambazonian separatists are seeking independence for the former English speaking British colony of Southern Cameroons which unified as Cameroonians in 1961 after a referendum.
The crisis, which experts have warned may soon degenerate into a full blown civil war, has recorded tens of thousands of deaths of civilians and soldiers from both sides.