Norwegian police announced on September 25, 2024 the arrest of Lucas Ayaba Cho, one of the main separatist leaders demanding independence for the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon. An arrest for ” incitement to crimes against humanity “, for criminal acts allegedly committed in Cameroon, according to Norwegian sources. Who is this Lucas Ayaba Cho and what could his arrest mean for the Anglophone crisis? First elements of an answer.
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With our correspondent in Yaoundé, Polycarp Essomba
The name and face of Lucas Ayaba Cho came to the attention of Cameroonian public opinion in 2017, at the very beginning of the shift from the Anglophone crisis to armed conflict.
He was then one of those who announced the creation of an armed branch in the conflict, in parallel with the demands for autonomy made by several civil society actors from the predominantly English-speaking regions of the South-West and the North-West.
The military group thus created is named Ambazonia Defence Force (ADF). Its fighters take up positions in the forests stretching near the border between Cameroon and Nigeria, from where they will soon make themselves known by various exactions and assaults against positions of the regular army.
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Lucas Ayaba Cho personally claimed responsibility for some of these attacks and therefore appeared to be one of the most radical against any presence of the Yaoundé government in these regions.
On Wednesday, CRTV, the public radio and television station, reported that his arrest for ” incitement to crimes against humanity ” constituted ” a good point in judicial cooperation between Cameroon and Norway “.
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In Bamenda, in the North-West, where he comes from, voices in civil society have also welcomed this arrest. Amadou Tarnteh, from the NGO Conscience Africaine, believes that it can help reduce the suffering of local populations.
Can Lucas Ayaba Cho be extradited to Yaoundé like Julius Ayuk Tabe, the English-speaking separatist leader and self-proclaimed president of Ambazonia, before him? sentenced to life in 2019 ? Nothing is certain: the separatist leader has since acquired Norwegian nationality and no extradition agreement exists between the two countries.