Agbor Balla Reprimands Separatists For Killing Mamfe Mayor

BUEA, Cameroon- Human rights lawyer, Barrister Agbor Balla, has condemned separatist fighters for gunning down Mamfe Mayor and violating the Geneva Conventions on humanitarian rights during war.

Mayor Prisley Ashu died on the spot, after Amba boys ambushed and gunned him down, last Sunday on his way to the Manyu village of Eshobi. 

In a recent tweet, Barrister Balla said: “I strongly condemn the killing of Ashu Prisley Ojong, Mayor of Mamfe in Manyu Division, Southwest Region of Cameroon.”

According to Mamfe DO, the separatist fighters lured the young Mayor into his death, after informing him through a phone call that they had denounced the separatist course and were willing to join the demobilisation disarmament and reintegration centre.

Though Southwest Governor said he was heading for meeting in Oshie village and not on separatist’s call

Barrister Agbor Balla and other rights groups and activists have usually been accused by Government officials for blaming the military for killing civilians in the Anglophone regions.

The human rights lawyer said non-state armed groups, NSAGs, should respect civilian rights to neutrality in an armed struggle of this kind, as stated in the Geneva Conventions.

“As we mourn the Mayor, we call on all the NSAG’s to respect the Geneva Conventions,” he said.

The Geneva Conventions consist of four main treaties and three protocols that make up the international law for humanitarian treatment in war. They protect people not taking part in hostilities and those who are no longer doing so.

Since the start of the conflict in Anglophone Cameroon in 2016, both separatists and Government soldiers have often violated this law, to which Cameroon is a signatory, by deliberately attacking civilians and neutral parties, NGOs have reported.

By Hope Nda