Prime Minister, Head of Government Dion Ngute Joseph has left Bamenda with a message from armed men fighting for the independence of a country they call Ambazonia.
The message was handed to the PM for onward transmission to the Head of State President Paul Biya by Ni John Fru Ndi, National Chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) party.
The fiery opposition leader had been kidnapped by separatist fighters in Kumbo on Saturday, April 27, 2019 and spent about seven hours with them. During his stay, the armed men gave a memo to Fru Ndi for the high attention of the Head of State, President Paul Biya.
When the opposition figure met PM Dion Ngute Friday, he handed the message from the fighters.
Fru Ndi said the fighters say they’ll only drop their arms when government calls back her soldiers to the barracks, release all those detained because of the crisis and as well as free their leaders, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe et al.
« Mr. Biya and your CPDM government has shown a lot of bad faith and these boys in the bushes cannot trust you because they are very skeptical. Just about a month and some weeks ago the few boys that attempted coming out of the bushes in Mamfe were killed by military forces because they refused to act as spies. How do you expect them to drop their weapons?” Fru Ndi asked the Head of Government.
Responding to the demands, PM Dion Ngute said: « The day there will be no problem in the North West Region, President Biya will decree military third category forces out and they will leave immediately. If government withdraws its forces, there will be chaos on the ground. And the same people who were asking for that will say government has failed woefully and that government has given the people up to be slaughtered.
« President Biya has sent me to reassure them to leave the bushes, drop their arms and come to the centres that he has created to receive them, give them free food, free clothing, so that they can go through the process of reintegrating into normal life.«
The PM visited and shared a meal with the SDF National Chairman at his Ntarinkon residence on Saturday. Touched by Fru Ndi’s act of generosity, PM Dion Ngute said the Head of State wishes that this problem goes away. « And that is why I came here to meet with all the different people who can influence the outcome of this situation, » Dion Ngute said before proposing a toss for the very speedy return of peace.
Before leaving the region Sunday, he paid a visit to wounded soldiers in hospital and also communed with some ex-separatist fighters.
