Cameroon says it is recruiting 20,000 more defense and security forces to<\/p>\n
fight Boko Haram following reports that the terrorist group, based in
\nNigeria, is recruiting young Cameroonians to fight for them.<\/p>\n
Senator Haman Paul, who hails from northern Cameroon, told VOA about Boko
\nHaram’s recruitment of young Cameroonians to fight for the creation of an
\nIslamist caliphate in northern Nigeria.<\/p>\n
“That was something that we witnessed in Maroua (in Northern Cameroon).
\nPeople told us actually that they found people in town that were not
\nactually people that they were used to. Listen when you (the government of
\nCameroon) find that one part of the country is in a very delicate
\nsituation, you better manage prevention and facts instead of
\nconsequences,” said Paul.<\/p>\n
Another lawmaker from northern Cameroon, Sali Dairou, said just last week
\nthat Boko Haram seized cattle from Cameroonian ranchers who lived along
\nthe border with Nigeria’s Borno and Adamawa states, a stronghold of the
\nmilitant group. He said the ranchers have lost thousands of cattle.<\/p>\n
Dairou said the militants also killed some of the cattle ranchers, and
\nthousands of their cows went into the wild. He said this was a huge loss
\nand no rancher has the courage to go to the boundary with Nigeria and
\nbring back his remaining cattle.<\/p>\n
Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Rene Emmanuel Sadi,
\nsaid the threat posed by Boko Haram has led many people from the border
\nareas to flee.<\/p>\n
He said northern Cameroon is the hardest hit as many schools have remained
\nclosed and people are abandoning their farms and cattle.<\/p>\n
Economic woes<\/p>\n
Sadi said Boko Haram has paralyzed trade between Cameroon and Nigeria that
\nhas supplied 80 percent of foodstuffs and basic necessities to northern
\nCameroon since the two countries gained independence more than 5 decades
\nago.<\/p>\n
He said adding to the woes of the economy of northern Cameroon is the fact
\nthat Nigerian fuel, which is widely used, is no longer available. Business
\ntransactions and commercial activity have been completely halted by Boko
\nHaram.<\/p>\n
Cameroon’s Defense Minister Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o said that besides the
\neconomic hardship, atrocities committed by the militant group have led to
\na massive movement of more than 30,000 villagers to areas of the country
\naway from the border.<\/p>\n
He said fear gripped the people when Boko Haram started arresting and
\npublicly killing religious leaders and chiefs who collaborate with the
\ngovernment of Cameroon in some villages that neighbor Nigeria’s Borno
\nstate.<\/p>\n
Another effect of the unrest has been that commercial banks are unable to
\nrecover loans granted to farmers and cattle ranchers and now have decided
\nnot to give loans to people along Cameroon’s border with Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Increased security<\/p>\n
Cameroon’s Police Chief Martin Mbarga Nguelle said that in response to all
\nof this, the country has decided to recruit some 20,000 defense and
\nsecurity forces to fight and restore security in the border areas.<\/p>\n
He said Cameroonian president Paul Biya has instructed him to recruit
\n4,700 policemen this year and 5,000 next year. The military is also
\nrecruiting at least 6,000 Cameroonian youths this year.<\/p>\n
Cameroon joined Nigeria, Benin, Chad and Niger in sharing intelligence and
\nborder surveillance.<\/p>\n
Cameroon is working with the four African nations plus the United States,
\nFrance, China and Germany in a new regional African effort against the
\nextreme Islamists.<\/p>\n
Boko Haram has been working to impose Islamic Shariah law in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
VOA<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cameroon says it is recruiting 20,000 more defense and security forces to fight Boko Haram following reports that the terrorist group, based in Nigeria, is recruiting young Cameroonians to fight…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n