Southern Cameroons Youth League

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Southern Cameroons Youth League
Seal of the Southern Cameroons Youth League.png
Logo
Leaders Ayaba Cho Lucas [1]
Ebenezer Akwanga [2]
Transformed into African People's Liberation Movement

The Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL) was an Ambazonian independence movement, led by Ayaba Cho Lucas and Ebenezer Akwanga. While Ayaba went on to become the leader of the Ambazonia Governing Council, Akwanga saw SCYL transform into the African People's Liberation Movement.

Ambazonia secessionist entity in West Africa

Ambazonia, also known as Amba Land, is a secessionist entity claiming the Anglophone portions of Cameroon as its territory. The territory previously comprised Southern Cameroons. The Southern Cameroons was formerly the United Nations Trust Territory of Southern Cameroons under United Kingdom administration (1922–1961), which in 1961 voted to become independent from the United Kingdom by federating with the French-speaking Republic of Cameroon.

Ayaba Cho Lucas is an Anglophone Cameroonian commander in chief of Ambazonian Defence Force (ADF). 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 targeted for assassination in Brussels, Belgium.

Ebenezer Akwanga

Dr. Ebenezer Derek Mbongo Akwanga is an Ambazonian independence activist. He is the chairman of the African People's Liberation Movement, an Ambazonian separatist movement, and heads its armed wing, SOCADEF. A former student at the University of Buea, he and fellow activist Ayaba Cho Lucas founded a pro-independence student association. Their movement was soon outlawed, and in 1997, Akwanga was imprisoned for six years. Following his escape from prison, he joined forces with the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC). When the SCNC split into several factions, he became the leader of the Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL). The SCYL eventually transformed into the African People's Liberation Movement (APLM). In March 2019, he oversaw the APLM taking part in founding the Southern Cameroons Liberation Council, in an attempt to form a united front. Akwanga is also an advocate of the Biafran case, and has spoken in favor of an alliance between Ambazonian and Biafran independence movements. He has called for referendums on independence in both Southern Cameroons and Biafra.

SCYL was one of the organizations that arose from the split of the Southern Cameroons National Council. [3]

Southern Cameroons National Council

The Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) is a self-determination organisation seeking the independence of the anglophone Southern Cameroons from the predominantly francophone Republic of Cameroon. It is a non-violent organization with the motto "The force of argument, not the argument of force." Because the SCNC advocates separation from Cameroon, it has been declared an illegal organization by the government of Paul Biya. Security forces regularly interrupt SCNC meetings, arresting members and typically detaining them for several days before release.

Related Research Articles

Anglophone Crisis

The Anglophone Crisis, also known as the Ambazonia War, or the Cameroonian Civil War, is a conflict in the Southern Cameroons region of Cameroon, part of the long-standing Anglophone problem. In September 2017, separatists in the Anglophone territories of Northwest Region and Southwest Region declared the independence of Ambazonia and began fighting against the Government of Cameroon. Starting as a low-scale insurgency, the conflict spread to most parts of the Anglophone regions within a year. As of the summer of 2019, the government controls the major cities and parts of the countryside, while the separatists hold parts of the countryside and regularly appear in the major cities.

The Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) are a military organization that fights for the independence of Ambazonia, a self-declared independent state in the Anglophone region of Southern Cameroons, Cameroon. It was formally established by the Ambazonia Governing Council on 9 September 2017, the same day as the organization declared a war of independence.

Ivo Mbah

Ivo Mbah was an Ambazonian general who fought in the Anglophone Crisis. Reportedly one of the first separatists to go to war against Cameroonian authorities, he fought for more than a year before he was killed in combat with the Cameroonian Armed Forces.

Dr. Samuel Ikome Sako is the interim president of the unrecognized Federal Republic of Ambazonia. He was named interim president a month after Julius Ayuk Tabe, the first president, was arrested in Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon. He was unilaterally dismissed by Julius Ayuk Tabe in May 2019, a decision he refused to recognize. This triggered the Ambazonian leadership crisis.

Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe is an Ambazonian separatist leader, and the first president of the unrecognized Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2017.

International reactions to the Anglophone Crisis

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 and France, 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 the provisional government in exile of the internationally unrecognized Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

The Ambazonia Governing Council (AGC) is an Ambazonian independence movement.

The Southern Cameroons Defence Forces is the armed wing of the African People's Liberation Movement, an Ambazonian separatist movement. It is led by Ebenezer Akwanga, who is based in the United States, and its ground forces were commanded by General Andrew Ngoe. Together with the Ambazonia Defence Forces, it is one of the most prominent militias fighting in the Anglophone Crisis.

The Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (SCACUF) was a nonviolent movement seeking the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. It was an umbrella organization, consisting of several separatist movements.

The African People's Liberation Movement (APLM) is an Ambazonian independence movement. It is the successor movement of the Southern Cameroons Youth League, with which it shares an almost identical logo. It is led by chairman Ebenezer Akwanga, who also commands its armed wing, SOCADEF.

The Southern Cameroons Liberation Council (SCLC) is an Ambazonian umbrella movement, aiming to unite all Anglophone groups on a common front. As of April 2019, it consists of seven movements.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC) is an Anglophone Cameroonian federalist movement.

The Major National Dialogue is the official name of an upcoming dialogue between the Government of Cameroon and various opposition parties, aimed at resolving the Anglophone Crisis. The negotiations are scheduled to take place between September 30 and October 4, 2019.

References

  1. ↑ "The Southern Cameroons Youth League" . Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  2. ↑ Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis: Dialogue Remains the Only Viable Solution, Reliefweb, Dec 21, 2017. Accessed Apr 4, 2019.
  3. ↑ How one part of Cameroon still wants to hold on to its Anglo-Saxon roots, International Business Times, Dec 7, 2016. Accessed Mar 15, 2019.


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