Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe | |
---|---|
1st President of Ambazonia | |
Assumed office 2 May 2019 (disputed) | |
Preceded by | Samuel Ikome Sako (disputed) |
In office 1 October 2017 –4 February 2018 (de facto) | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Samuel Ikome Sako |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] Kembong,Manyu Division [1] | 2 May 1965
Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe (born 2 May 1965) is an Ambazonian separatist leader from Ewelle village in Manyu division,and is the disputed first president of the unrecognized Federal Republic of Ambazonia. [2] In January 2018 he was extradited from Nigeria to Cameroon,where he has been incarcerated ever since.
Ayuk Tabe was born in 1965 in Kembong,Manyu Division,Southwest Region. For a while,he worked for an electric company named SONEL in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon,and as Academy Manager for Cisco Systems. Eventually he started working for the American University of Nigeria,where he became Assistant Vice President in the field of Digital Services,Marketing and Recruitment. Ayuk Tabe also worked as a motivational speaker at several conferences worldwide. His involvement in charity includes the establishment of the Ayuk Tabe Foundation in the town of Eyumodjock,where he and his wife Lilian lived,and his involvement with the Adamawa Peacemakers Initiative. Ayuk Tabe and his wife owned a farm in Eyumodjock that employed 28 people,but they were forced to shut down in September 2017 after Cameroonian soldiers drove away the workers. [1]
His presidency started with Ambazonia's unilateral declaration of independence on October 1,2017,with Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (SCACUF) forming the Interim Government of Ambazonia, [2] and Tabe - chairperson of SCACUF - as president by acclamation. [3] By the time of this declaration,a separatist war between Ambazonian militias and Cameroonian security forces had been raging for three weeks. At first,Tabe and the Interim Government rejected the idea of an armed struggle,preferring instead to focus on civil disobedience and a diplomatic campaign to gain international recognition. [4] President Ayuk Tabe's stand was at odds with the declaration of war by President Paul Biya of Cameroon in November 2017 and the deployment of troops in the Anglophone regions.
President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and other Ambazonian leaders were arrested in Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon in January 2018. Samuel Ikome Sako won a subsequent election to serve as acting interim president a month later. [5]
Following the arrest,Ayuk Tabe and the other separatist leaders spent 10 months at a gendarmerie headquarter,before being transferred to a maximum security prison in Yaoundé. [6] Their case started on December 6,2018 at the Yaoundémilitary tribunal. When his name and nationality was read out,he rejected his Cameroonian nationality,and other separatist leaders followed suit. [7] The rejection of Cameroonian nationality led the case to be postponed. [8]
In January 2019,Tabe's lawyer said that his client was ready to negotiate directly with Cameroonian president Paul Biya,on the condition that the negotiations would take place outside Cameroon. Three preconditions were made:A ceasefire,the release of everyone who had been arrested,and a general amnesty. These conditions were repeated in May. [9]
In March 2019,a Nigerian court found his arrest and deportation illegal,and ordered that he and 68 others be returned to Nigeria and compensated. [10] Following this ruling,Tabe and fellow Ambazonian leaders issued a joint statement titled the "Ambazonia Freedom Protocol",in which they made nine commitments,including equality between tribes,equality for women,equal share of the riches of the land,respecting human rights,standing in solidarity with other peoples in a similar situation,and fighting for however long it takes to achieve independence. [11] On April 27,Tabe and the other nine accused Ambazonian leaders announced that they would start boycotting court sessions, [12] insisting to wait until the Appeal Court of the Centre Region decided on whether or not they should be returned to Nigeria. [13]
On May 2,a controversial document signed by Ayuk Tabe declared that the Sako-led interim cabinet had been dissolved,and that his own pre-arrest cabinet had been restored. The document expressed appreciation of the job the Sako-led cabinet had done since February 2018,but stressed that infighting had rendered it unfit to continue;the caretaker cabinet has lost the ability to reconcile our people and,in doing so,has imperiled the identity and mission of the interim government to complete the decolonization of Southern Cameroons through advancing our collective national interests. [14] However,the Sako-led cabinet refused to abide by the declaration,resulting in what became known as the Ambazonian leadership crisis. In June,the Ambazonia Restoration Council (a separatist movement dating back to the 1980s) impeached Ayuk Tabe for "treasonous misconduct",and declared that he no longer had a mandate to speak on behalf of the Interim Government. [15] The Ambazonia Governing Council,traditionally a rival of the Interim Government,condemned the impeachment and threw its support behind Ayuk Tabe. [16]
At some point after his arrest,Tabe reached out to former SDF parliamentarian Wirba Joseph,asking him to assume leadership of the revolution. Wirba declined the request. [17]
On July 30,2019,Ayuk Tabe and the nine other detained members of the Interim Government declared that they would go on a hunger strike over the disappearance of convicts at Kondenguin Central Prison and the Buea Central Prison. The hunger strike would last until their lawyers could verify the whereabouts of each disappeared convict. The strike started at midnight the same day. [18]
On August 20,Ayuk Tabe and the other nine leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment by the YaoundéMilitary Tribunal. [19] Having expected this outcome,the separatists were singing in court while the sentence was pronounced. [20] A week later,a letter signed by Ayuk Tabe stated that the life sentences was not a setback for the separatist cause,but rather a "validation of (their) self-determination and claim to a sovereign and free Southern Cameroons". [21] In September 2020,the Court of Appeals upheld the sentence. [22]
Ayuk Tabe dismissed the Major National Dialogue outright,stating that "[President] Paul Biya does not have the power to determine the fate of Ambazonia". He did,however,welcome the release of Maurice Kamto. [23]
In November 2019,pro-separatist sources reported that Sako and his supporters had changed Sako's title from Acting Interim President to President,aiming to permanently replace Ayuk Tabe even if the latter would ever be released. [24]
In January 2020,newly-arrived prisoners broke into the cells of Ayuk Tabe and the nine other Ambazonian leaders,stealing food and money. Ayuk Tabe and the others accused the prison administration of complicity through inaction,and claimed there was a conspiracy to threaten their lives. [25]
In July 2020,Cameroonian officials met with Ayuk Tabe to discuss a ceasefire. Ayuk Tabe listed three conditions;a general amnesty,that the military pull out of the Anglophone regions,and that President Paul Biya himself announce the ceasefire. [26] Ayuk Tabe also demanded that if prisoners were released in phases,he would be among the last to be released. [27]
On January 1,2024,Ayuk Tabe wrote a letter calling for an end to the leadership crisis and unity among separatist factions. [28]
Sisiku Julius is married to Lilian Ayuk Tabe,and together they have four children. [1]
Ambazonia,alternatively the Federal Republic of Ambazonia or State of Ambazonia,is a political entity proclaimed by Anglophone separatists who are seeking independence from Cameroon. The separatists claim that Ambazonia should consist of the Northwest Region and Southwest Region of Cameroon. Since 2017,Ambazonian rebels are in an armed conflict with the Cameroonian military,in what is known as the Anglophone Crisis,setting up a government-in-exile and capturing some territory. No country has recognized Ambazonia's existence as of 2024.
Wirba Joseph Mbiydzenyuy,is a Cameroonian politician,humanitarian and social activist.
Ayaba Cho Lucas is an Ambazonian activist. He is the former Secretary General of the Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL) and is the current leader of Ambazonia Governing Council,a separatist organization in Southern Cameroons. Ayaba was expelled from the University of Buea in 1993 because he had led a one-man demonstration against tuition increases;he has been in exile from Cameroon since then. He eventually ended up in Norway,where he studied human rights and development at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences,and from where he has based his activism ever since. In January 2017,Ayaba was allegedly targeted for assassination in Brussels,Belgium.
The Anglophone Crisis,also known as the Ambazonia War or the Cameroonian Civil War,is an ongoing armed conflict between Cameroon Armed Forces and Ambazonian separatist rebel groups,part of the long-standing Anglophone problem. Following the suppression of 2016–17 protests by Cameroonian authorities,separatists in the Anglophone regions launched a guerrilla campaign and later proclaimed independence. Within two months,the government of Cameroon declared war on the separatists and sent its army into the Anglophone regions.
The Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) are a military organization that fights for the independence of Ambazonia,a self-declared independent state in the Anglophone regions of the former Southern Cameroons,Cameroon. It was formally established by the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC) on 9 September 2017,the same day as the organization declared a war of independence.
Samuel Ikome Sako is an Ambazonian politician and incumbent president of the internationally unrecognized proto-state of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. He was elected president of the Interim Government a month after Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe,the first president,was abducted in Nigeria and extradited illegally to Cameroon. From captivity in Yaoundé,the former president Ayuk Tabe announced that he had dismissed Sako in May 2019,a decision that started the long-running Ambazonian leadership crisis.
The president of Ambazonia is the head of state of the unrecognised breakaway state of Ambazonia,which claims the Northwest Region and Southwest Region of Cameroon. No country has formally recognized Ambazonia's independence and the various pro-independence armed groups have not consistently controlled any territory,but are engaged in guerilla campaigns against pro-government forces. The territory claimed by Ambazonia is currently the site of an armed conflict between Anglophone separatist guerillas ("Ambazonians") and the Cameroonian military known as the Anglophone Crisis.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2017.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2018.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2019.
From 2018,the Anglophone Crisis drew increasing international attention,and became a challenge to Cameroon's foreign relations. Triggered by a violent crackdown on the 2016–2017 Cameroonian protests,the conflict escalated from a low-scale insurgency to a civil war-like situation. While Cameroon enjoys support from African countries,no country has openly supported the Ambazonian independence movements. However,many countries have put pressure on Cameroon to talk to the separatists. In addition,the separatists enjoy support from officers in the Nigerian Army,who have helped arrange arms deals for them.
The Interim Government of Ambazonia is an Ambazonian independence movement,and claims to be the provisional government in exile of the internationally unrecognized state. Formed in the early days of the Anglophone Crisis,the movement has since splintered into several factions that claim to be the legitimate Interim Government.
The Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC) is an Ambazonian independence movement. The movement has been known as "hardline" compared to other major Ambazonian separatist movements,and unwilling to engage with federalists. Starting off with a complicated relationship with the larger Interim Government of Ambazonia (IG),following the 2019 Ambazonian leadership crisis,the AGovC officially allied itself to the faction of the IG loyal to the first President of Ambazonia,Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe.
Red Dragon is an Ambazonian separatist militia loyal to the Interim Government of Ambazonia,and is part of the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council. It was led by Lekeaka Oliver,and controlled most of Lebialem Division in the Southwest Region,driving away the traditional rulers and local administrators. The group was greatly weakened in 2022,with Oliver being killed.
The Ambazonian leadership crisis is an ongoing internal conflict within the Interim Government of Ambazonia (IG). The crisis started on 2 May 2019,when a document signed by the first president of Ambazonia,Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe,acting from detention in Yaoundé,declared the dissolution of the cabinet of interim president Samuel Ikome Sako and the restoration of Ayuk Tabe's cabinet. This effectively led to the existence of two interim governments,with neither recognizing the other.
The Kondengui and Buea prison riots occurred on July 22 and 24,2019,respectively. While the first riot started off as a protest against poor prison conditions and unjust detainment,the second riot was carried out in support of the former. Both riots were violently quelled by security forces,and hundreds of prisoners were transported to undisclosed locations. The fate of these prisoners and rumors of casualties during the crushing of the riots had political implications in the ongoing Anglophone Crisis,and brought international attention to the prison conditions. Following the riots,many suspected participants were subjected to torture,and were brought to court and sentenced without their lawyers present.
The Major National Dialogue is the official name of a dialogue between the Government of Cameroon and various opposition parties,aimed at resolving the Anglophone Crisis. The event took place between September 30 and October 4,2019.
Lekeaka Oliver,popularly known as Field Marshall,was a Cameroonian army soldier and later an Ambazonian separatist commander and the leader of the Red Dragon militia. His armed group is part of the loosely-structured Ambazonia Self-Defence Council,and is loyal to the Interim Government of Ambazonia. The Red Dragon is mainly active in Lebialem Division,Southwest Region. Oliver was the brother of Chris Anu,former Secretary for Communications of the Interim Government. Throughout his time as a separatist leader,Cameroonian forces erroneously reported that he had been killed three times. He was killed on 12 July 2022,though it remains unclear whether he was killed by Cameroonian forces or in an incident of separatist infighting.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2020.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2021.