Dozens of women in Cameroon's English-speaking southwest are protesting today against recent violence by suspected rebels. Women in the town of Buea say they are increasingly victims of the region's four-year separatist conflict.
About 70 women all wearing dark dresses sing as they march through the streets of the southwestern town of Buea on Tuesday. In the songs, they say they are tired of burying their children, husbands and recently, their sisters.
The Cameroon Womens Peace Movement organized the peaceful protest. Its spokesperson Agbor Magdalene says they were outraged by the recent slaughter of a 32-year old woman in the southwestern town of Muyuka on August 11.
"The women of the southwest express unreserved indignation at this murder which is one too many in the long list of senseless killings perpetrated by suspected separatist fighters," Magdalene said. "We call on the government to track down the killers of Tumasang Comfort Aferi while inviting the population to give full collaboration to the security forces{military} in their investigations."
Comfort, a mother of two, was gruesomely murdered in Muyuka and a video of her beheading went viral on social media, provoking widespread condemnation. The government of Cameroon, rights groups, the United Nations and embassies in Yaounde blamed separatists and asked for investigations to be carried out and Comfort’s killers punished. Cameroon said it was the 11th case of attacks reported on women and social workers in August.
43-year old Precious Mbuwel says she joined the women in the peaceful protest because she also lost her aunt in the northwestern town of Bamenda.
"I asked myself what is going on? Why are women being the target? I cried and I decided to come out to say enough is enough. Women should not be the target," Mbuwel said. "Our hearts are bleeding. They {separatists} are killing our children, killing our husbands, killing even us the women who gave birth to all of them."
Mbuwel said she wants all killers of women and children to be brought to justice.
Bernard Okalia Bilai, governor of Cameroon’s south west region where Buea is found, says he is delighted that women are increasingly rising up to denounce violence in spite of threats from separatists. He says the women should help the military to conquer the separatists by denouncing all fighters in their localities.
"I want you to go back to your various villages and quarters to tell the other women to go out and call those whose sons are killing our children, call them to stop it," Bilai said.
Bilai said women should consider the military as their partners and should not believe in what he called propaganda by separatists that the troops commit atrocities.
The women said they will continue their protests in other English speaking towns, but did not say when.
The four year separatist crisis in Cameroon’s English speaking North West and South West Regions began with lawyers and teachers protests over the overbearing use of the French language in the minority English speaking country. The military responded with a crackdown and separatists took weapons saying that they were protecting their communities from military brutality.
Over 3,000 people have been killed and 500,000 displaced according to the U.N. 50,000 others escaped to neighboring Nigeria.
