02-07-2018, 11:43 PM
*** 8-Feb-18 World View -- Nigeria threatens Cameroon as 40,000 refugees cross the border
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Nigeria threatens Cameroon as 40,000 refugees cross the border
****
![[Image: g180207b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180207b.jpg)
Cameroon Francophone security forces (AFP)
Some 30,000-40,000 refugees from the Anglophone (English-speaking)
Southern Cameroons region of Cameroon have been flooding across the
border into Nigeria, to escape violence and atrocities by the security
forces of the Francophone (French-speaking) government of Cameroon's
president Paul Biya.
The violence started in 2016, but at the start is one almost entirely
one-sided violence, with the Francophone security forces violently
attacking peaceful Anglophone protesters.
In 2016, the peaceful protests began with claims by Anglophone lawyers
that the legal and court systems are biased toward Francophones, with
many laws passed without even being translated into English.
Anglophone teachers joined in, protesting that all courses in the
schools had to be taught in French, and that any use of English was
forbidden. The Francophone police responded by severely beating
several protesters, and shooting two of them dead.
Violence by Francophone security forces grew during 2017, and took a
particularly dangerous turn on September 22, when pro-Anglophone
activist forces began using small bombs to target local security
forces. On October 1, separatists staged a massive march, and
declared the independence of Ambazonia. In the increasingly violent
Francophone government crackdown that followed, hundreds of people
were arrested, and helicopter gunships were used to fire on innocent
civilians and kill them, resulting in the mass flight of refugees into
Nigeria.
The October 1 marches were led by separatist activist Sisiku Ayuk
Tabe.
On January 5, Nigeria captured Tabe while at a meeting in Abuja,
Nigeria. Tabe was arrested with 46 of his supporters. After much
political debate and calculation within the Nigerian government, a
decision was made to extradite Tabe and his supporters back to
Cameroon for trial. The extradition faced international criticism,
because it was feared that the Biya government would torture them and
give them an unfair trial.
It's possible that Nigeria gave in to the extradition hoping somehow
that it would calm the situation on the border, or whatever. With
tens of thousands of Anglophone civilians fleeing across the border
into Nigeria, the Nigerians may have been desperate enough to try
anything.
But now there's a major new complication. As Anglophone Cameroonians
have been fleeing into Nigerian, Francophone Cameroonian soldiers have
been crossing the border in violation of international law, following
the fleeing refugees, arresting some of them, and taking them back to
Cameroon.
Even worse, some of the people that the Cameroon soldiers arrested
were actually Nigerian citizens, infuriating Nigeria's government.
Nigeria's Senator Enoh alleged that over 80 Cameroonian soldiers with
various weapons crossed the international border of the
Danare-Daddi/Danre-Bodom axis and abducted five natives.
<QUOTE>"This is a calculated assault/offence from the
Cameroonian military on Nigeria and on outright defiance of
Nigeria territorial sovereignty, not minding the consequences of
crossing the international boundary to carry out intimidations and
harassment on the already alarmed citizens of Danare, with
warnings of further assault."<END QUOTE>
There are increasing fears that the situation in Southern Cameroons is
spiraling out of control, especially since Cameroon's 84-year-old
president Paul Biya is willing to use any amount of violence,
slaughter, torture and abuse to stay in power.
Cameroon's last generational crisis war was the "UPC Revolt,"
1956-1960, which was a bloody civil war by communists attacking the
French government in the Cameroun colony. The outcome was
independence in 1961, when the British Cameroons colony and the French
Cameroun colony were merged into a single country, and the Anglophones
became a disadvantaged and marginalized minority. Today, Cameroon is
right on the cusp of entering a generational Crisis era, which means
that it's possible that the current violence could spiral into a new
civil war, this time between the Anglophones and the Francophones.
Vanguard (Nigeria) and Independent (Nigeria) and Vanguard (30-Jan)
Related Articles
****
**** Nigeria sends army to curb violence between herders and farmers
****
On January 31, a group of young men believed to be from the Christian
Tiv farmer ethnic group attacked travelers waiting at the Gboko bus
station in central Nigeria. The travelers were said to have "light
skin and look like Fulanis," referring to the Muslim Fulani herder
ethnic group. The Tiv attackers used sticks, stones and machetes to
subdue the victims, and then set them on fire.
The attack is believed to be in revenge for an attack a week earlier
by armed Fulanis who stormed a Tiv farming village and opened fire on
the residents.
These are just two of a series of increasingly violent tit-for-tat
attacks between herders and farmers. Herders are mostly Muslims from
the Fulani tribe. Farmers are mostly Christians from a number of
tribes, including the Tiv, Mambila and Bachama tribes. About 168
people were killed in these tit-for-tat attacks in January alone.
On Wednesday, Nigeria's army announced the launch of "Exercise Ayem
Akpatum," a phrase that is said to mean "Cat race" in the Tiv
language. The exercise will run from February 15 to March 31, 2018.
It is "aimed at curbing all cases of kidnapping, armed banditry,
cattle rustling in Kaduna and Niger states, sundry crimes in Kogi
state and herdsmen/farmers clashes in all respective states,
especially in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states." Focus will be
placed on raids, search operations, anti-kidnapping drills, road
blocks, check points and humanitarian activities such as medical
outreaches.
I have my doubts that "Exercise Ayem Akpatum" is going to do anything
to solve the problem, but that remains to be seen.
As I've described many times in Central African Republic, Rwanda,
Nigeria, Burundi, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, and even America in the
1800s, is that in country after country, there a classic and recurring
battle between herders and farmers. The farmers accuse the herders of
letting the cattle eat their crops, while the herders accuse the
farmers of planting on land that's meant for grazing. If the farmers
put up fences, then the herders knock them down.
As in the case of the Cameroon situation, there are fears that the
increasing violence between herders and farmers in Nigeria today will
spiral into full-scale civil war. Nigeria's last generational crisis
war was the Biafran War or Nigerian Civil War, fought between Nigeria
and the secessionist Republic of Biafra. The war began on July 1967,
and ended on January 11, 1970, with the surrender of Biafra.
Since that war climaxed only 48 years ago, Nigeria is in a
generational Unraveling era, and there are plenty of traumatized
survivors of that war still alive who will do anything to prevent it
from happening again. So there will not be a new civil war at the
present time, but this localized violence between herders and farmers
will continue and worsen. AFP and AFP (1-Feb) and Nigerian Eye and Nigerian Government
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Cameroon, Southern Cameroons, Francophone,
Paul Biya, Anglophone, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, UPC Revolt,
Benue State, Hausa, Faluni tribe, Tiv tribe, Mambila tribe,
Bachama tribe
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Nigeria threatens Cameroon as 40,000 refugees cross the border
- Nigeria sends army to curb violence between herders and farmers
****
**** Nigeria threatens Cameroon as 40,000 refugees cross the border
****
Cameroon Francophone security forces (AFP)
Some 30,000-40,000 refugees from the Anglophone (English-speaking)
Southern Cameroons region of Cameroon have been flooding across the
border into Nigeria, to escape violence and atrocities by the security
forces of the Francophone (French-speaking) government of Cameroon's
president Paul Biya.
The violence started in 2016, but at the start is one almost entirely
one-sided violence, with the Francophone security forces violently
attacking peaceful Anglophone protesters.
In 2016, the peaceful protests began with claims by Anglophone lawyers
that the legal and court systems are biased toward Francophones, with
many laws passed without even being translated into English.
Anglophone teachers joined in, protesting that all courses in the
schools had to be taught in French, and that any use of English was
forbidden. The Francophone police responded by severely beating
several protesters, and shooting two of them dead.
Violence by Francophone security forces grew during 2017, and took a
particularly dangerous turn on September 22, when pro-Anglophone
activist forces began using small bombs to target local security
forces. On October 1, separatists staged a massive march, and
declared the independence of Ambazonia. In the increasingly violent
Francophone government crackdown that followed, hundreds of people
were arrested, and helicopter gunships were used to fire on innocent
civilians and kill them, resulting in the mass flight of refugees into
Nigeria.
The October 1 marches were led by separatist activist Sisiku Ayuk
Tabe.
On January 5, Nigeria captured Tabe while at a meeting in Abuja,
Nigeria. Tabe was arrested with 46 of his supporters. After much
political debate and calculation within the Nigerian government, a
decision was made to extradite Tabe and his supporters back to
Cameroon for trial. The extradition faced international criticism,
because it was feared that the Biya government would torture them and
give them an unfair trial.
It's possible that Nigeria gave in to the extradition hoping somehow
that it would calm the situation on the border, or whatever. With
tens of thousands of Anglophone civilians fleeing across the border
into Nigeria, the Nigerians may have been desperate enough to try
anything.
But now there's a major new complication. As Anglophone Cameroonians
have been fleeing into Nigerian, Francophone Cameroonian soldiers have
been crossing the border in violation of international law, following
the fleeing refugees, arresting some of them, and taking them back to
Cameroon.
Even worse, some of the people that the Cameroon soldiers arrested
were actually Nigerian citizens, infuriating Nigeria's government.
Nigeria's Senator Enoh alleged that over 80 Cameroonian soldiers with
various weapons crossed the international border of the
Danare-Daddi/Danre-Bodom axis and abducted five natives.
<QUOTE>"This is a calculated assault/offence from the
Cameroonian military on Nigeria and on outright defiance of
Nigeria territorial sovereignty, not minding the consequences of
crossing the international boundary to carry out intimidations and
harassment on the already alarmed citizens of Danare, with
warnings of further assault."<END QUOTE>
There are increasing fears that the situation in Southern Cameroons is
spiraling out of control, especially since Cameroon's 84-year-old
president Paul Biya is willing to use any amount of violence,
slaughter, torture and abuse to stay in power.
Cameroon's last generational crisis war was the "UPC Revolt,"
1956-1960, which was a bloody civil war by communists attacking the
French government in the Cameroun colony. The outcome was
independence in 1961, when the British Cameroons colony and the French
Cameroun colony were merged into a single country, and the Anglophones
became a disadvantaged and marginalized minority. Today, Cameroon is
right on the cusp of entering a generational Crisis era, which means
that it's possible that the current violence could spiral into a new
civil war, this time between the Anglophones and the Francophones.
Vanguard (Nigeria) and Independent (Nigeria) and Vanguard (30-Jan)
Related Articles
- Cameroon Catholic Church splits over government 'barbarism' and 'growing genocide' (15-Jan-2018)
- Brief generational history of Cameroon (15-Feb-2017)
****
**** Nigeria sends army to curb violence between herders and farmers
****
On January 31, a group of young men believed to be from the Christian
Tiv farmer ethnic group attacked travelers waiting at the Gboko bus
station in central Nigeria. The travelers were said to have "light
skin and look like Fulanis," referring to the Muslim Fulani herder
ethnic group. The Tiv attackers used sticks, stones and machetes to
subdue the victims, and then set them on fire.
The attack is believed to be in revenge for an attack a week earlier
by armed Fulanis who stormed a Tiv farming village and opened fire on
the residents.
These are just two of a series of increasingly violent tit-for-tat
attacks between herders and farmers. Herders are mostly Muslims from
the Fulani tribe. Farmers are mostly Christians from a number of
tribes, including the Tiv, Mambila and Bachama tribes. About 168
people were killed in these tit-for-tat attacks in January alone.
On Wednesday, Nigeria's army announced the launch of "Exercise Ayem
Akpatum," a phrase that is said to mean "Cat race" in the Tiv
language. The exercise will run from February 15 to March 31, 2018.
It is "aimed at curbing all cases of kidnapping, armed banditry,
cattle rustling in Kaduna and Niger states, sundry crimes in Kogi
state and herdsmen/farmers clashes in all respective states,
especially in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states." Focus will be
placed on raids, search operations, anti-kidnapping drills, road
blocks, check points and humanitarian activities such as medical
outreaches.
I have my doubts that "Exercise Ayem Akpatum" is going to do anything
to solve the problem, but that remains to be seen.
As I've described many times in Central African Republic, Rwanda,
Nigeria, Burundi, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, and even America in the
1800s, is that in country after country, there a classic and recurring
battle between herders and farmers. The farmers accuse the herders of
letting the cattle eat their crops, while the herders accuse the
farmers of planting on land that's meant for grazing. If the farmers
put up fences, then the herders knock them down.
As in the case of the Cameroon situation, there are fears that the
increasing violence between herders and farmers in Nigeria today will
spiral into full-scale civil war. Nigeria's last generational crisis
war was the Biafran War or Nigerian Civil War, fought between Nigeria
and the secessionist Republic of Biafra. The war began on July 1967,
and ended on January 11, 1970, with the surrender of Biafra.
Since that war climaxed only 48 years ago, Nigeria is in a
generational Unraveling era, and there are plenty of traumatized
survivors of that war still alive who will do anything to prevent it
from happening again. So there will not be a new civil war at the
present time, but this localized violence between herders and farmers
will continue and worsen. AFP and AFP (1-Feb) and Nigerian Eye and Nigerian Government
Related Articles
- Tit-for-tat violence between Nigeria's Muslim herders and Christian farmers becomes more serious (11-Jan-2018)
- Violence in Nigeria grows over clashes between herders and farmers (03-Nov-2017)
- UN Human Rights chief warns of 'genocide' and 'ethnic cleansing' in Central African Republic (11-Aug-2017)
- United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur Sudan to be cut almost in half (16-Jun-2017)
- Pope Francis apologizes for Catholic Church's role in 1994 Rwanda genocide (21-Mar-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Cameroon, Southern Cameroons, Francophone,
Paul Biya, Anglophone, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, UPC Revolt,
Benue State, Hausa, Faluni tribe, Tiv tribe, Mambila tribe,
Bachama tribe
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
