In Nigeria and Cameroon, Secessionist Movements Gain Momentum
- 7 years ago
In Nigeria and Cameroon, Secessionist Movements Gain Momentum
In Cameroon, 17 people were killed in recent days during protests in English-speaking areas, where some residents
have called for splitting off from French-speaking parts of the nation, Amnesty International said.
In Nigeria, a movement in the southeast seeking independence from the rest of the country has also gained steam — 50
years after a civil war over the same issue left one million people dead in one of the region’s deadliest conflicts.
It’s doable." Hostilities with the central government in Nigeria’s southeast have simmered ever since the Nigerian civil
war started 50 years ago, when a self-declared Republic of Biafra tried to break off from the rest of the nation.
As the country wondered about the health of Mr. Buhari, who has spent more than 100 days in London receiving medical treatment for a mystery illness, people poured
into the streets in the southeast to support a movement to create a new state or break off into a separate nation, as the area tried to do in the late 1960s.
John Fru Ndi, the chairman of an opposition party that has the support of many English-speaking
people in the country, estimated that as many as 30 people were killed.
Last month, Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, declared a separatist group, the Indigenous
People of Biafra, a terrorist organization and unleashed a military offensive in the region.
In Cameroon, the military has been deployed in English-speaking areas, where the
government blocked social media websites for at least the second time this year.
In Cameroon, 17 people were killed in recent days during protests in English-speaking areas, where some residents
have called for splitting off from French-speaking parts of the nation, Amnesty International said.
In Nigeria, a movement in the southeast seeking independence from the rest of the country has also gained steam — 50
years after a civil war over the same issue left one million people dead in one of the region’s deadliest conflicts.
It’s doable." Hostilities with the central government in Nigeria’s southeast have simmered ever since the Nigerian civil
war started 50 years ago, when a self-declared Republic of Biafra tried to break off from the rest of the nation.
As the country wondered about the health of Mr. Buhari, who has spent more than 100 days in London receiving medical treatment for a mystery illness, people poured
into the streets in the southeast to support a movement to create a new state or break off into a separate nation, as the area tried to do in the late 1960s.
John Fru Ndi, the chairman of an opposition party that has the support of many English-speaking
people in the country, estimated that as many as 30 people were killed.
Last month, Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, declared a separatist group, the Indigenous
People of Biafra, a terrorist organization and unleashed a military offensive in the region.
In Cameroon, the military has been deployed in English-speaking areas, where the
government blocked social media websites for at least the second time this year.