Cameroonian authorities have once again arrested Mr. Nfor Ngala Nfor, the current National Chairman of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) along with 79 other SCNC leaders and activists on Saturday, July 27th in Ndzrinji-Kumbo during a private meeting. The detained SCNC activists were arrested by a team of Gendarmes and local Cameroonian police forces and are believed to have been unlawfully detained and tortured during the arrest. They are currently being held incommunicado at the Kumbo Gendarmerie Brigade and the Kumbo Police Station in uninhabitable detaining cells.  Twenty of those detained are women, one of whom is pregnant.

The meeting in question was organized to fill vacant positions in the National Executive Committee (NEXCO)   and to organise a memorial mass at the St. Theresa Catholic Cathedral in Kumbo to honor Southern Cameroons activists who have dedicated their lives and work to the restoration and sovereignty of the Southern Cameroons nation.

The Southern Cameroons National Council has made it their mission to bring autonomy to the Southern Cameroons nation and seek restitution for the ongoing persecution at the hands of the Cameroonian central government. Exactions by the State against the SCNC are numerous and recurrent, and often result in indefinite detention periods and postponed court hearings.

Currently, the National Secretariat of the SCNC has obtained the names of eight detained Southern Cameroons activists, not including Mr. Nfor Nfor.

1)    Ntungia Michael, SCNC Northern Zone Chairman.

2)    Tita Joseph, SCNC National Chairman Treasurer

3)    Amdou Ndam

4)    Priscilia Khan

5)    Divine Dzekem

6)    Pascaline Kinyuy Ndi

7)    Steven Mounyo

8)    Vivian Tangwa

The SCNC has condemned this arrest and called on the international community to:

1)    Amass diplomatic pressure on the Yaounde annexationist regime to unconditionally release the detained SCNC activists, including SCNC leader Nfor Ngala Nfor.

2)    Calls on the Republic of Cameroon to respect the rights of Southern Cameroonians to freedom of assembly and to self-determination.

The UNPO echoes the sentiments of the SCNC and equally condemns the blatant disregard of human rights in the Southern Cameroons by authorities in the Republic of Cameroon. We call on the international community to shed light on the injustices suffered by the Southern Cameroons people. The UNPO also urges authorities of the Republic of Cameroon to immediately halt further persecution of the Southern Cameroons community.