October 26, 2020

Andrew Campbell 

Local reports of a violent assault on a school in the city of Kumba in Cameroon's south-west region on October 24, eight school children were reportedly killed and about 15 others were wounded.

According to statements of eyewitnesses, 9 gunmen in civilian dress intruded the campus of Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy on motorcycles before noon. Right then, the school area was filled with a crowd of children mostly under 14 years old.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was outraged by the brutal violence and described the children as cut down by machetes. At the same time, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack on school children and demanded Cameroon’s government to investigate and make sure the related people responsible for the incident.

This deadly incidence escalated the long-drawn and neglected conflict in Cameroon’s separatist Anglophone Crisis since the 2016 eruption. The Norwegian Refugee Council regarded it as the most neglected crisis in the world because more and more school children, teachers, or education stakeholders were kidnapped, punished, or killed unknowingly. Mr. Guterres hoped to resolve the problems in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon and urged all parties to cease fire by refraining from any assault on education facilities and to restore children’s rights, humanitarian, and human rights.

Photo:Webshot.