Ambazonia Governing Council

Last updated
Ambazonia Governing Council
Coat of the Ambazonia Governing Council.png
Coat of arms
Established2013
Leader Ayaba Cho Lucas
Armed forces Ambazonia Defence Forces
Website agovc.org

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. [1] 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. [2]

Contents

History

The AGovC was established in 2013 [1] by the merger of several independence movements, including Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL), Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), the Southern Cameroons Restoration Movement (SCARM) and the Southern Cameroons Peoples Organization (SCAPO). It is led by former SCYL Secretary General Ayaba Cho Lucas. [3]

The AGovC played a key role in initiating the separatist war currently raging between Ambazonian separatist militias and Cameroonian security forces. On September 9, 2017, the AGovC declared the deployment of the Ambazonia Defence Forces in Southern Cameroons and the launching of combat operations to achieve the independence of Ambazonia. [4] Three weeks later, the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (predecessor of the Interim Government of Ambazonia, henceforth IG) declared the independence of the country, but did not support the armed struggle that the AGovC had initiated, preferring civil disobedience and a diplomatic campaign. This stance would eventually change. [5]

The AGovC remains outside the IG, with which it has had a complicated relationship. Nevertheless, after initial reluctance, the IG supports the armed wing of the AGovC, the ADF. [6] In March 2019, the AGovC declined to participate in the All Southern Cameroons People's General Conference in Washington, D.C., and did thus not take part in the foundation of the Southern Cameroons Liberation Council. [7] However, it participated in a workshop in Brussels in May 2019, which ended with all Ambazonian independence movements - including the AGovC - promising to set aside ideological differences and form a common front. [8] In June, the AGovC sided with Ayuk Tabe against Samuel Ikome Sako when a leadership crisis broke out within the IG, [9] and in August it formally allied itself with the Ayuk Tabe-led faction. [2] However, when Cameroonian officials met with Ayuk Tabe to discuss a ceasefire in July 2020, the AGovC joined the Sako-led faction of the IG in declaring that prisoners cannot negotiate. [10]

Following the outbreak of an insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria in early 2021, AGovC moved towards a formal alliance with Biafran separatists led by Nnamdi Kanu. [11] The AGovC also declared that it would support Cameroonians who would take up arms to topple Paul Biya. [12] The AGovC-IPOB alliance was denounced by the Interim Government of Ambazonia as well as by other Biafran separatist groups. [13]

On January 21, 2023, the government of Canada announced that the warring parties had signed an agreement to enter a peace process facilitated by Canada. The agreement was signed by the Cameroonian government, the Ambazonia Governing Council (and its armed wing, the ADF), the African People's Liberation Movement (and its armed wing, SOCADEF), the Interim Government of Ambazonia, and the Ambazonia Coalition Team. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambazonia</span> Political entity proclaimed by Cameroons Anglophone separatists

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 have engaged in armed conflict with the Cameroonian military, in what is known as the Anglophone Crisis, attempted to set up a Government-in-exile and supportive militias have exerted control over some remote regions of the claimed territory. No country has recognized Ambazonia's existence as of 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayaba Cho Lucas</span> Ambazonian activist (born 1972)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglophone Crisis</span> 2017–present separatist conflict in Cameroon

The Anglophone Crisis, also known as the Ambazonia War or the Cameroonian Civil War, is an ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon's English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions between Cameroon Armed Forces and Ambazonian separatist 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Ikome Sako</span>

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.

Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe is an Ambazonian separatist leader from Ewelle village in Manyu division, and is the disputed first president of the unrecognized Federal Republic of Ambazonia. In January 2018 he was extradited from Nigeria to Cameroon, where he has been incarcerated ever since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President of Ambazonia</span>

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 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International reactions to the Anglophone Crisis</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebenezer Akwanga</span> Ambazonian activist

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 the former Southern Cameroons and Biafra.

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 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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">July 2019 Cameroon prison riots</span> Two prison riots in Cameroon

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major National Dialogue</span> Part of the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon

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.

This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2020.

This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis during 2021.

Ngong Emmanuel, better known by his pseudonym Capo Daniel, is an Ambazonian separatist and political activist who served as member of the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC) and deputy commander of the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) until 2023. Following his resignation from the AGovC and ADF, fighters loyal to him formed the Ambazonia Dark Forces. In 2024, he called for an end to the armed struggle. Daniel has generally operated from exile in Hong Kong.

References

  1. 1 2 Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis: How to Get to Talks?, Crisis Group, May 2, 2019. Accessed May 2, 2019.
  2. 1 2 Ahead of peace talks, a who’s who of Cameroon’s separatist movement, The New Humanitarian, Jul 8, 2020. Accessed Jul 9, 2020.
  3. ↑ "The Southern Cameroons Youth League" . Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  4. ↑ ADC Lands Ground Troops in Southern Cameroons, Declares War on LRC [ permanent dead link ], Cameroon Journal, Sept 10, 2017. Accessed Apr 19, 2018.
  5. ↑ Cameroon: Anglophone Crisis - Dialogue Remains the Only Viable Solution, AllAfrica, Dec 7, 2017. Accessed Mar 9, 2019.
  6. ↑ 3 most touching tributes offered to “General Ivo”, The National Times, Dec 24, 2018. Accessed Dec 25, 2018.
  7. ↑ Federalists Meet Restorationists, Which Group Will Perform The Osmosis?, Cameroon News Agency, Mar 29, 2019. Accessed Apr 10, 2019.
  8. ↑ Ambazonia: Willingness for Third-Party Mediated Negotiations with Cameroonian Government, UNPO, June 5, 2019. Accessed Jun 19, 2019.
  9. ↑ Cameroon: Sepratist hardliners react after impechment of detained Ambazonia leader, Journal du Cameroun, Jun 12, 2019. Accessed Jun 12, 2019.
  10. ↑ COVID-19 Ceasefire: The Big Four React, Cameroon News Agency, Jul 5, 2020. Accessed Jul 7, 2020.
  11. ↑ BREAKING: Nnamdi Kanu, Ambazonia leader to address joint world press conference April 9, Vanguard, Apr 5, 2021. Accessed Apr 7, 2021.
  12. ↑ Ayaba Calls On Cameroonians To Overthrow Paul Biya, Cameroon News Agency, Apr 22, 2021. Accessed Apr 22, 2021.
  13. ↑ Internal crisis threatens IPOB, Cameroon separatist union, The Sun Nigeria, May 25, 2021. Accessed May 25, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Canada says Cameroon warring parties agree to enter peace process". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.