With our correspondent in Yaoundé, Richard Onanena

October 1 marks the anniversary of the birth of the Federal Republic of Cameroon. On that day in 1961, the former French colony and Southern Cameroons, then under British administration, came together. But that reunification is contested by some anglophone separatists. On October 1, 2017, Ambazonian separatists unilaterally declared the independence of the Northwest and Southwest regions.

On the occasion of the “ghost town” day called today in several cities of the Northwest and Southwest (NOSO) by anglophone separatists, Cameroonian authorities, fearing demonstrations, organized a security lockdown. By midday, no particular movement was reported. But activities are slow in the main cities, with residents choosing to stay home on this symbolic day.

Social media debates reflect a decade of pain

A resident of Bamenda, in the Northwest, said he went out to exercise in quiet streets before returning home, where he will spend the rest of the day. At crossroads in Bamenda, tanks and numerous military patrols are present, “as a deterrent” according to some residents. The atmosphere is almost the same in Buea, the main city of the Southwest, and in neighboring towns, where people also stayed home.

On social media, such as TikTok, several panels, where the blue and white colors claimed by separatists can be seen, are fueling debates about the ten-year crisis affecting the two anglophone regions.

In a reflection published on October 1, Khongor Félix Agbor, a lawyer and former detainee of the anglophone crisis, remembered “the families who buried their loved ones, the displaced, the children whose schooling was interrupted, all those who are afraid and the detainees of the anglophone crisis.”

According to several NGOs, the anglophone crisis has caused more than 6,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced people in ten years.