Following the killing of 15 elite soldiers by the ARFs under the command of self-acclaimed Field Marshal No Pity in Bamessing on the 16th of September 2021, the government of Cameroon reacted by dispatching the Minister Delegate at the Presidency for Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo to Bamenda for an emergency security meeting.
This meeting took place on Wednesday, September 22, 2021, between the Minister, the Governor of the Northwest Region Adolphe Lele L’Afrique and the top military personnel in the region in Bamenda.
Critics think that the morale of the forces on the ground in the embattled Northwest and Southwest regions has been greatly weakened by the recent spate of attacks by the ARFs. Hence the visit of the defence boss was a necessity in order to encourage and strengthen the country’s troops.
Joseph Beti Assomo said, “The new paradigm in the security situation in the embattled regions warrants a change of approach for the Defence and Security Forces.”
Consequently, more troops were deployed to the Northwest region in particular two days after the meeting. The majority of the soldiers were sent to Ngoketunjia and Bui Divisions, where the worst casualties have been recorded by the military. The number of troops deployed and the armoured trucks in accompaniment was a clear statement by the government that the days ahead will be bloody.
In a video that has gone viral on social media platforms, a soldier can be heard commenting as an armoured truck passes by that “Since you declared war on the military, the most elitist of the army, the BIR, you are going to get what you asked for. Here is the war you bargained for, brace yourselves for it”.
Moreover, the number of government forces have been increased in the Northwest region in order to forestall any attempt for the restoration of the State of Ambazonia (formerly known as British Southern Cameroons) to celebrated the Day of Independence on October 01. It should be noted that it was on October 01, 1961, that the former British Trust Territory that was administered by Britain as part of Nigeria gained its independence by voting to reunite with the French Eastern Cameroon that had gained its independence from France one year earlier, to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon.
To ensure total control of the situation of Independence Day of Ambazonia, the government, through the Senior Divisional Officers, issued communiques banning and outlawing any public manifestations in all the 13 Divisions of the two English-speaking regions from September 24th, 2021 till further notice.
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