The road to Buea, in Cameroon’s anglophone southwest region, is lined with abandoned banana and rubber plantations. The previous day, the “Amba Boys”, who are fighting to create a nation called Ambazonia, separate from majority francophone Cameroon, had snuck past the heavily-armed soldiers of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR). “Like a lion eating its own cubs,” says one preacher, who does not support the “Amba Boys”, even if he believes in independence “in my spirit”. His mother, father, three brothers and two sisters fled the village of Ekona after their houses were burned. In his view, the “Amba Boys” were protecting their communities.

Source: The Irish Times December 01, 2018 05:00 UTC