UN chief, Guterres calls on Cameroon to investigate attacks on anglophones
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on Cameroon to probe deadly attacks in the country’s restless English-speaking region after protests leading to a symbolic declaration of independence.
At least 17 people were killed in weekend attacks in mostly French-speaking Cameroon’s southwest, a region once under British rule.
Guterres “calls on the Cameroonian authorities to investigate these incidents”, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement late Monday.
Amnesty International said “at least” 17 people had been killed by security forces.
On Sunday, separatists used the October 1 anniversary of the official unification of the English- and French-speaking parts of Cameroon to declare independence for “Ambazonia” — the name of the state they want to create.
Anglophones account for about a fifth of the West African nation’s population of 22 million.
English-speakers complain they have suffered decades of economic inequality and social injustice at the hands of the French-speaking majority.
Posted by Juliet Ekwebelam