With our correspondent in Yaoundé, Richard Onanena

October 1 marks the anniversary of the birth of the Federal Republic of Cameroon. On that day in 1961, the former French colony and Southern Cameroons, then under British administration, came together. But that reunification is contested by some anglophone separatists. On October 1, 2017, Ambazonian separatists unilaterally declared the independence of the North-West and South-West regions.

On the occasion of the ghost town day called today in several cities of the North-West and South-West (NOSO) by anglophone separatists, Cameroonian authorities, fearing demonstrations, organized a security lockdown. By midday, no particular movement was reported. But activities are slowing down in the main cities, with residents choosing to stay home on this symbolic day.

Online conversations focus on ten years of conflict

A resident of Bamenda, in the North-West, told me he went out to exercise in quiet streets before returning home, where he will spend the rest of the day. At intersections in Bamenda, tanks and numerous military patrols are visible, “as a deterrent” according to some residents. The atmosphere is almost the same in Buea, the main city in the South-West, and in neighboring towns, where people have also stayed home.

On social media such as TikTok, several panels, where the blue and white colors claimed by the separatists can be seen, are hosting debates about the ten years of crisis affecting the two anglophone regions.

In a reflection published on October 1, Khongor Félix Agbor, a lawyer and former detainee of the anglophone crisis, remembered “the families who have buried their loved ones, the displaced, the children whose schooling has been interrupted, all those who are afraid and the detainees of the anglophone crisis.”

According to several NGOs, the anglophone crisis has caused more than 6,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced people over ten years.