Inside Cameroon’s anglophone standstill: what a decade of crisis reveals about the October 1 ghost town

Reporting from Yaoundé, Richard Onanena

October 1 marks the birth of the Federal Republic of Cameroon, a day in 1961 when the former French colony united with Southern Cameroons under British administration. That reunification, however, remains contested by some anglophone separatists. On October 1, 2017, Ambazonian separatists unilaterally declared independence for the Northwest and Southwest regions.

As a “ghost town” operation was observed in several towns across the Northwest and Southwest (NOSO) on Tuesday, Cameroonian authorities, fearing protests, deployed a heavy security grid. By midday, no major incidents were reported. Yet economic and social life was largely frozen in major urban centres, with residents choosing to remain indoors on this symbolic date.

Security measures and the realities of a locked-down day

A resident of Bamenda, in the Northwest, told me he went out for a morning run through nearly empty streets before returning home for the rest of the day. At key intersections in Bamenda, armoured vehicles and military patrols were visible, described by some locals as a deterrent display. The scene was similar in Buea, the main city in the Southwest, and in neighbouring towns, where people also stayed home.

Social media debates reflect on ten years of crisis

On platforms like TikTok, several panels featuring the blue and white colours claimed by separatists hosted discussions about the decade-long crisis affecting the two anglophone regions.

In a reflection shared on October 1, Khongor Félix Agbor, a lawyer and former detainee linked to the anglophone crisis, remembered “the families who buried their loved ones, the displaced, the children whose education was interrupted, all those living in fear, and the detainees of the anglophone crisis.”

According to multiple NGOs, the anglophone crisis has left more than 6,000 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced over ten years.