Cameroon: CHRDA named and shame the perpetrators of the arson attack at the Queen of the Rosary College Okoyong in Mamfe
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In a human rights report published on 12 February 2022, The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) have in their report said that Separatists fighters are responsible for burning part of the Queen of the Rosary College Okoyong in Mamfe, Manyu Division of the Southwest Region. “The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) strongly condemns the burning down of the Queen of the Rosary College Okoyong”
Narrating on the fact of the situation, CHRDA said ‘On the occasion of National Youth Day in Cameroon, February 11, 2022, an arson attack was carried out at a Catholic-owned boarding school for girls in Okoyong, Mamfe. The arsonists, suspected to be armed separatist fighters, could be seen burning school dormitories and firing guns in videos they recorded and shared on social media, which have been received and analyzed by CHRDA.‘
According to the CHRDA, their team have spoken to spoken to a number of witnesses who recounted that the incident happened at about 2:00am when the arsonists invaded the school, burning down the Fatima Dormitory. They also mentioned that the operation was led by a known separatist leader called Orock George Dickinson, who is also a son of Okoyong Village, was seen in the village prior to the incident, and whose voice was identified in the video by the villagers.
Analyzing the video circulated online during the commission of the crime, CHRDA said ‘the arsonists could be heard threatening the wailing and panicking students in the background dialogues in the video.’ They threatened the students, asking them “whether they will go and march.” This suggests that the attack was aimed at disrupting the celebration of National Youth Day in Manyu Division. On the occasion of National Youth Days, February 11 and May 20, marching parades by students generally occur in the ceremonial grounds of the administrative headquarters of the Subdivisions.
Background to the cause of the attack. As said by CHRDA, February 11 is a very significant date in the history of Cameroon, as it is the day on which the British Southern Cameroons voted in a plebiscite to reunite with La Republique du Cameroun in 1961, forming a two-state federation known as the Federal Republic of Cameroon, composed of West and East Cameroon, which was later dissolved in 1972. The dissolution of the federal structure laid the foundation for the Anglophone Crisis that has today witnessed thousands of lives lost with teachers and students among the victims attacked and killed by armed groups.
The attack on schools is has witness an increase since the bringing of this year 2022. As reported by CHRDA, on12 January 2022, earned separatists attacked Government High School Bwitingi in Buea, Fako Division of the Southwest Region, stripping over a dozen students naked and humiliating them. They also threatened to shoot and kill the students for attending school against the separatists’ call for a school boycott in restive Anglophone Regions. This act was carried out during the AFCON 2021
At the end of the incident human rights report, CHRDA expresses dismay in relation to the continuous attack on schools as they strongly condemned the act. ‘CHRDA strongly condemns these attacks perpetrated against students and school institutions as they constitute war crimes prohibited by the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977, as well as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, clearly defined in Article 8, and perpetrators must be held accountable.‘
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Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
