The Cameroonian government is applying all tricks in its bid to tackle the rising level of resentment of its authority in the English-speaking region of the country. Motorists in one of restive provinces have been banned from driving at night for a month, as tensions run high between government forces and the separatists.
An official statement from Yaounde says vehicles in five of the Southwest Region’s six districts are not allowed on the road between 7:00 pm and 6:00 am with the exception of ambulances as well as state and police cars.
The regional Governor, Bernard Bilai, said the ban which began last week, would be renewed after the first one month.
The struggle to break away from the majority French-speaking country has sparked deadly unrest in Cameroon’s two Anglophone provinces, home to about one fifth of the 23-million population.
Dozens of people have been killed in the Southwest and Northwest Regions while thousands have fled to neighbouring Nigeria following a violent crackdown on anti-government protests.
The situation worsened at the end of January when 47 separatists, including Sisiku Tabe, one of their leaders, were arrested in Nigeria, and returned to Cameroon, which caused a fresh wave of violence.
Cameroonian President, Paul Biya, who has been in office for over thirty-five years, has responded to the violence with curfews, raids and restrictions on travel.
