Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon: A verified Report on the burning at LAP Healthcare Centre in Kumbo, North West Region
3 min read
On 21 October 2022, on Africa Human Rights Day, the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities releases five new verification reports of atrocities perpetrated in the Anglophone conflict in Cameroon. The reports, crafted in partnership with teams at universities around the world and the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), include attacks at a market, health centre, ecovillage, drinking spot, and remote settlements in 2021 and 2022. Incidents were perpetrated by the Cameroonian military, non-state armed separatist fighters, or Fulani herdsmen.
Burning at LAP Healthcare Centre, Kumbo: According to the report, this healthcare centre in Kumbo was found to have been burned on March 1, 2021. Multiple sources indicate that Cameroon military forces fired on the building, which went up in flames. This is one of multiple attacks on health facilities reported in the Anglophone Crisis.
Executive Summary (as published)
Two separate submissions to the Database on March 1, 2021, reported that a building was set ablaze at Banso Baptist Hospital. The two submissions differed on the exact nature of the building: one reported that it was a laboratory, and the other reported it was the Life Abundant Primary (LAP) Healthcare Centre. One piece of evidence submitted (Submitted Source 1) is a video depicting extensive damage to the building in question, with smoke rising from the structure. No narration is provided in the video. The second piece of evidence submitted (Submitted Source 2) is a photo showing the building from a different angle, with active flames visible in the building.
The second submission to the Database reported gunfire as the cause of the blaze. Researchers were able to geolocate the incident as having occurred at the LAP Healthcare Centre in Kumbo, North-West Region, Cameroon, at 6°14’3.35″N, 10°41’54.85″E. This is a smaller, separate facility from Banso Baptist Hospital. Geolocation was aided by the identification of distinctive roofs and social media posts describing the location.
Researchers were able to determine that the video was likely created around midday on March 1, 2021. This was discerned through the analysis of shadows and tracking the earliest social media post of the incident. An official report from the Director of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services, posted on the CBC Health Services Twitter account https://twitter.com/CBCHSORG/status/1367398660955332609), gave a date and time that
corroborated researchers’ findings.
The video footage does not appear to show any perpetrators, nor does it include narration identifying
any perpetrators. The majority of media and social media posts attribute this incident to the Cameroonian military.
Read or Download the full report below
To anonymously submit photos, videos, or documents to the Database, go to: https://cameroondatabase.ushahidi.io/posts/create/4
To view published verification reports, go to: https://borealisdata.ca/dataverse/cameroon
For more information on the Database, go to: https://research.rotman.utoronto.ca/Cameroon/
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.
