The Social Democratic Front (SDF) party, which is in opposition in Cameroon, has condemned recent acts of violence committed by Anglophone separatist fighters with the intention of preventing children from effectively returning to school in the country’s two restive English-speaking regions. Separatists who have been pursuing a breakaway state for nearly six years have imposed a nearly two-week lockdown on September 4, the beginning of the new academic year. The lockdown, which is scheduled to end on Friday, September 15, will disrupt daily life by limiting people’s ability to travel, conduct business, and move between the two Anglophone regions in the Northwest and Southwest. When separatist fighters stormed the streets to enforce their restrictions last week, at least three people were reportedly killed in the town of Buea, which is located in the Southwest region of the country. Students have been advised not to attend school by the separatists up to this point. But in the past, they’ve reportedly attacked schools for defying previous bans.
The “recent terrorist attacks perpetrated on innocent civilians by the purported separatist groups with the sole intention to enforce a lockdown on school resumption” were condemned by the SDF in a statement.