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\nJan 8, 2018: A leading member of a separatist movement in Cameroon has been taken into custody in the capital of neighbouring Nigeria with his aides, sources and secessionists said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\nJan 8, 2018: A leading member of a separatist movement in Cameroon has been taken into custody in the capital of neighbouring Nigeria with his aides, sources and secessionists said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The once-fringe Anglophone movement in majority Francophone Cameroon has gathered pace in the last few months following a military crackdown on protests. It represents the gravest challenge yet to the 35-year rule of President Paul Biya who will seek re-election this year.<\/p>\n
Julius Ayuk Tabe, the Nigeria-based chairman of the Governing Council of Ambazonia separatist movement, was taken into custody alongside six others at a hotel in Abuja on Friday, said an official in the west African country and a member of the separatist group in Cameroon.<\/p>\n
According to a local website, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe the self-proclaimed president of the Anglophone consortium is among those wanted and now faces …<\/p>\n
Bilateral relations have been strained by a separatist movement in Cameroon that has clashed with the Cameroonian army and forced thousands to flee violence by travelling across the border to Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Cameroonian troops last month crossed into Nigeria in pursuit of rebels without seeking Nigerian authorization, causing diplomatic wrangling behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
Separatists, including armed radical elements, seek an independent state for the nation\u2019s Anglophone regions they call Ambazonia.<\/p>\n
A Nigerian official said Tabe and six of his supporters were placed in custody at around 7 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Friday. \u201cThey were having a meeting at Nera Hotels in Abuja,\u201d the official said on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
The official did not know who rounded up the separatists.<\/p>\n
A member of the separatist group based in Cameroon, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the people were taken into custody.<\/p>\n
The separatist group later issued a statement saying that Tabe and six others were taken from Nera Hotels by Cameroonian gunmen in an \u201cillegal abduction.\u201d Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegation.<\/p>\n
The unrest in Cameroon began in November, when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, frustrated with having to work in French, took to the streets calling for reforms and greater autonomy.<\/p>\n
French is the official language for most of Cameroon but English is spoken in two regions that border Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Protests by separatists prompted a violent crackdown by Cameroon\u2019s military last year in which troops opened fire on demonstrators.<\/p>\n
REUTERS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jan 8, 2018: A leading member of a separatist movement in Cameroon has been taken into custody in the capital of neighbouring Nigeria with his aides, sources and secessionists said on Saturday. The once-fringe Anglophone movement in majority Francophone Cameroon has gathered pace in the last few months following a military crackdown on protests. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n