All Entries to Mamfe from Ekok, Kumba and Bamenda under Military Siege as it was meant to be a state funeral of its kind. But all plans appear to be on hold now pending when the Paul Biya’s regime decides to release the corpse of Chief Ayamba from a Mamfe mortuary and remove the security blockade of Kumba-Mamfe, Bamenda-Mamfe and Nigeria-Mamfe roads.
Friday, July 25, The Journal gathered that over 300 mourners attending the planned “State Burial” of the late Southern Cameroon’s statesman and former Chairman of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), Chief Ayamba, were arrested in Mamfe.
The arrests were made by a mixed contingent of gendarmes, elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion, the traditional military and the police.
Dependable security sources told The Journal that over 2000 troops were deployed to Mamfe and along all the entry points into Mamfe from Kumba, Bamenda and neighbouring Nigeria.
“We’re trained to work and we don’t care what we are asked to do. Arresting a few hundreds of people is no big deal,” a security officer on the Mamfe mission was reportedly overheard saying in a phone conversation.
“Truckloads of heavily armed forces have taken siege of Mamfe. Movement is near impossible,” an SCNC sympathizer told The Journal.
Though we have been unable to reach the Vice Chairman of the SCNC, Nfor Ngala Nfor by phone, reports have it that his delegation from Bamenda was denied entry into Mamfe.
We spoke to Ayah Paul Abine, Secretary General of the People’s Action Party (PAP) who was supposed to have left Akwaya to attend the funeral in Mamfe and to participate in an SCNC reorganization conference.
He spoke to the Journal from his hotel room in Bamenda after he couldn’t make it to Mamfe owing to the blockade of the Bamenda-Mamfe road. Ayah told the Journal that on Friday, security operatives got news that he was lodging at Abunaw hotel in Mamfe and invaded the premises arresting many innocent people. Asked how he got to Bamenda from Akwaya, he said he used a road track that stretches from Akwaya through Wum to Bamenda.
Ayah served for two terms as Member of the National Assembly for Akwaya on the ticket of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party and served as president of the High Court in Cameroon for over 18 years. He recently declared his interest to take up the leadership of the SCNC during its constituent assembly that was due for Mamfe this weekend.
Sources in Bamenda say that John Fru Ndi, National Chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) party was also supposed to be in Mamfe to attend Chief Ayamba’s funeral.
Ako Abunaw, former PAP Secretary for Communication and now a diehard member and supporter of the SCNC said security forces swooped on SCNC militants in their hotel room in Mamfe.
His words: "...about 30 security agents in combat gear armed to the teeth as though in a war zone from La Republique du Cameroun invaded my hotel premises without any search warrant, intimidated and arrested my customers. They've put me under house arrest. Currently, I cannot go beyond my living room..."
The Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for Manyu, Peter Tieh Ndeh has reportedly sealed the Mamfe Mortuary where the Mortal remains of Chief Ayamba lie.
Asked whether he ordered the sealing of the morgue and the several arrests, Tieh Ndeh retorted: "... what am I doing with the corpse of late Chief Ayamba? I was not invited to the funeral and only heard that there was some misunderstanding between the family members and friends. I don't know the details. Why should I seal the mortuary? ... I did not order the arrest of anyone. There were some thieves in town who burgled the post office and a credit union. We had to arrest some suspects. Did they tell you I issued a statement ordering the sealing of the morgue and for people to be arrested?" The SDO asked rhetorically.
However, Raymond Akoson, a resident of Mamfe wonders aloud “Why would the SDO need several truckloads of mixed contingent of heavily armed forces from neighbouring Bamenda to arrest a few armed robbers? Mamfe has, through the years, hardly experienced armed robbery of any such magnitude. Why would this only coincide with the eve of the funeral of late Chief Ayamba? While Boko Haram is giving Biya sleepless nights in the North, why not concentrate the 'military might' on this Islamist group from neighbouring Nigeria?” Akoson asked.
Thousands of Southern Cameroonians had made plans to converge at the funeral of late Chief Ayamba. The burial ceremony was slated for Saturday, while a forum to reorganize the SCNC and the entire struggle for the statehood of the Southern Cameroons was due for tomorrow, Sunday, July 27.
However, with the new developments of events, it is difficult to tell whether the funeral and SCNC conference will go on as scheduled. Ayah told the Journal from his Bamenda hotel room that it is obvious that nothing will go on account of the fact that the corpse of Ayamba are still locked down in the mortuary and all important dignitaries who are supposed to be there have been stopped from entering Mamfe. Asked whether there has been a formal announcement cancelling or postponing the event, he said no, but added that the blockade of all entries into Mamfe practically makes it impossible for anything to go on.
Some have argued that the SCNC provoked the military incursion of Mamfe by making a public statement to the effect that Chief Ayamba was going to be given a state funeral. “Is this a surprise? The SCNC announced publicly that it was holding a "state funeral" for the late Chief Ayamba in Mamfe. So how can it be taken unawares?” Wrote Tikum Mbah Azonga, lecturer, in a social media post “We will bring you developments as they unfold”
