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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Cameroon takes steps against Boko Haram |
| 2014-01-09 |
| [AFRIKA.NO] The authorities in Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, have set up tighter border controls in the Far North region to guard against infiltration by jihadist Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... fighters from neighbouring Nigeria as civilians flee Death Eater attacks and a Nigerian military offensive, seeking safety across the border in Cameroon. A rapid response military unit has also been deployed and beefed up in the northern regions and some tourist hotels now have armed guards. "We have revised our security strategy. We have registered all expatriates and established police posts in areas where they work. There are security control posts along the border to reduce illegal entry," said Bob-Iga Emmanuel, the head of police division at the governor's office in the Far North region. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the authorities admit that it is impossible to completely secure Cameroon's longest border. There are also similar ethnic communities in Cameroon's Far North and northeastern Nigeria who have family on either side of the border, speak the same language and share common culture, making undetected cross-border movement easy. "Our main challenge is safeguarding our borders so that we don't import the Boko Haram problem," said Albert Sidi, who is in charge of economic, social and cultural affairs at the Far North governor's office. Insecurity has stifled the movement of people and trade between Cameroon's Far North region and northeastern Nigeria -- Boko Haram's stronghold. Northern Cameroon traders have been forced to seek markets in neighbouring Chad or other regions of the country. |
| Posted by:Fred |