Cameroon is dealing with bloody conflict in the English speaking region and one of the worlds deadliest terrorist groups in the Far North

Since the crisis began in 2016, violence between armed separatist groups and the government’s army has led to more than 3,000 people being killed and almost 700,000 people have been displaced. People have sort refuge in neighbouring Nigeria, and many people are hiding out in the forests. 

In the Southern region, the government has shut off the internet for months at a time. A BBC report shows villages which have been burnt down, acts of torture and killing.

There are many pictures and videos on social media which are too graphic to show.

Faith Forbi, who now lives in the UK but has family in North-West Cameroon said: "So many have lost their lives and many are homeless. It is just right for the people to get what they deserve which is freedom. They have lived in bondage for so long. The future of Southern Cameroon should be what Southern Cameroonians want."

On 14 February this year, Cameroons military killed at least 21 people, including 13 children and a pregnant lady, in Ngarbuh village, a report by Human Rights Watch showed. The government at first denied the army was involved but has now admitted that three soldiers were involved with a vigilante group.

The killings came after parliamentary elections on the 9 February, elections marred by low turn out and disruption. The Anglophone regions were in lockdown either side of the election from the 7th to the 12th. Lockdowns enforced by separatists have become a regular occurrence for the English speaking regions over the last few years. Usually, on a Monday, markets are closed down, public transport is suspended, and people fear to leave their homes. 

Schools in the Anglophone regions have been shut for four academic years in a row. The United Nations Children’s Fund, Unicef, says more than 80% of schools have been closed, affecting more than 600,000 children. At least 74 schools have been destroyed, and any teachers or pupils that risk going to school fear violence and kidnapping. 

The Southern Cameroon region is still fighting to be an independent state and has self-declared itself Ambazonia.

Jihadist group Boko Haram formed in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 and spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad, and northern Cameroon.

Their campaign of terror has killed tens of thousands of people, thousands of children have been abducted, and over 2.2m displaced.

The conflict in the Far North of Cameroon has caused around 300,000 people to be displaced since 2014. In an annual report released December last year, Amnesty International reported at least 275 people were killed, women were mutilated, kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam, and villages were looted and burnt down. 

Attacks have not stopped because of Covid-19. On April 5, witnesses saw two teenage suicide bombers kill themselves and nine others in the centre of Amchide, in the Mayo-Sava division which borders Nigeria. There was also a reported attack by Boko Haram in the same division on the night of 15 April.

On the night of May 18, the group struck again, attacking Kolofata.

Tity Agbahey, who works for Amnesty West and Central Africa, said: "It's painful to say but for people there, this might be business as usual as the conflict is underreported and has been for years. They feel abandoned."