Separatist leader and president of the Ambazonia Governing Council, Lucas Cho Ayaba, launched a call for action to block the English-speaking regions of the North West and South West of Cameroon.
While the State intends to make the return of school an effective reality in the English-speaking regions, certain independence leaders are working for the opposite. An operation called “Lockdown”, scheduled for September 4 to 18, 2023, has been initiated and aims to disrupt the start of the school year and reject the colonial education underway in these regions in conflict since 2016.
Lucas Cho Ayaba, one of the separatist leaders living abroad and presenting himself as the president of the “Ambazonia Governing Council”, announced a “Lockdown” operation, or “lockdown” of the North West and South West. These regions have been in the grip of a separatist conflict since 2016. This separatist leader, whose repatriation Yaoundé has constantly demanded, declares that the operation will be in effect from September 4 to 18, in “rejection to colonial education ”. A reference to the current education system in all regions of the country. The purpose of the operation is indeed to prevent the back-to-school period from being held, and by extension, to disrupt the school year in the English-speaking regions.
Concretely, Cho Ayaba asks the populations of these regions to stock up on provisions, because trade with Biafra, Nigeria, will be suspended and prohibited with the rest of Cameroon.
Lucas Cho Ayaba justifies this action by the fact that his people would be prey to suffering. “I can no longer turn a blind eye to the suffering in my country,” he said. For almost seven years, the English-speaking regions of Cameroon have faced unrest and separatist attacks aimed at disrupting education and promoting the independence of these regions. In February 2022, the UN estimated in a report that repeated attacks on schools in English-speaking regions deprive more than 700,000 pupils and students of their right to education.