The number of internally and externally displaced persons due to the armed conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions in Cameroon (NoSo) keeps spiralling even if bloody confrontations between the armed separatists and the government military has declined recently. According to a recent UNHCR report (February 2021), 63,333 refugees have been officially registered in 4 states of Nigeria namely Akwa-Ibom, Benue, Cross River and Taraba.
our source in Cross River State, Innocent Efoghe, says “there are hundreds or thousands of refugees still pending registration and more keep pouring in on a daily basis as a result of the crisis. The official list of registered refugees looks this minimal because some of the unregistered refugees are hosted by family and friends in different parts of Nigeria.”
In addition, a recent report of Reliefweb of March 22, 2021, states that there are over 1 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the other major cities of the French-Speaking regions of Cameroon. In their report, Reliefweb quote Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) director Alexandra Bilak when she said “There are reports of thousands of new displacements since the beginning of the year [2021] and school attacks that have left children dead show that this is now a reality.”
Although violent clashes between the armed separatists have reduced in recent weeks, teachers and students have been major targets of the separatist fighters. The result of this is has seen the mass exodus of whole families, fleeing in order to avoid repeated kidnappings and harassment from the hands of armed separatist fighters.
Updates on Nwa subdivision make it clear that Cameroonians fleeing Fulani invasions, who are at the villages of Warkaka and sarkaka in Taraba State of Nigeria are living in deplorable conditions. “3 children are reported dead due to malnutrition and bad drinking water”, says the priest on the ground. The priest also says it’s extremely difficult to document atrocities and even do a head count of the people displaced from different villages as a result of Fulanis since they are everywhere, ready to attack and kill at will. Another factor is that anyone who tries to access these areas is tagged by the administration as conniving with the separatist fighters. Local sources describe the situation as “ a modern day genocide”.
Recent Comments