President Biya orders the strengthening of Cameroon military positions in Mayo-Tsanaga Division

Under the direct supervision and command of Cameroon’s Head of State President Biya, the Cameroonian army has strengthened its military positions in the Mayo-Tsanaga Division. Cameroon state radio and television has confirmed the news stating that the military presence on the southern front of the war has been strengthened following directives from the Commander-in-Chief. More operation command centres have been installed along the Mandara Mountains which is the natural border with Nigeria. The Cameroon army has also strengthened its mechanized divisions in the Mabass locality found in the district of Mokolo, Mayo-Tsanaga Division in the Far North region. Mabass village was completely burned down during the last Boko Haram attack on Fotokol. Boko Haram reportedly stole livestock, food and abducted 80 persons whose whereabouts are still unknown to this day.

As the war against Boko Haram intensifies, the perception that it is wedged by disaffected and jobless youths who oppose and hate Western Education is becoming pedestrian. The sophistication of the command and operational structures of Boko Haram leaves no one in doubt about this reality.    The weapons deployed to commit the ongoing pogrom appear to have been acquired and brought to the war zones through a complicated network. It is hard to believe that a conflict of this magnitude can occur without a complex network of individuals and organizations supporting Boko Haram’s criminal war effort. It may be reasonably suggested that it is a political establishment serving distinct interests in Nigeria and Cameroon. In Nigeria, it has never sought ransom for the many victims it has abducted. In Cameroon although officially classified as a nebulous or illusive enemy, it has turned abduction for ransom into a lucrative business. 

Boko Haram in Nigeria is a child of Nigerian history and the impunity of Northern Nigeria’s Military establishment. Armed conflict is part of Nigeria history. It is also a business which has enriched many.  People including generations unborn learn from history. The savaged brutality meted on civilians and civilian objects in Nigeria pre-exist Boko Haram. These acts of impunity were some of the methods deployed by successive military regimes, most of them from Northern Generals to accede and sustain power. The ongoing slaughter by Boko Haram follows the same pattern which in 1966 led to the Nigeria/Biafra War. The underlying cause of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Southerners, mainly of the Ibo ethnic groups in the North was never comprehensively investigated, if at all.  There is no gainsaying that had the crimes been investigated, the result would have pointed to some powerful individuals within the Nigerian Military structure of Northern origin. For these, political power and control of the economy could only be attained through scapegoating communities whom they perceived as serious competitors.