Cameroon braces for pro-independence rallies

Bloomberg

The authorities in western Cameroon have banned public meetings in the mainly English-speaking region before planned demonstrations on Sunday to demand independence from the rest of the largely Francophone nation.
The protests in the Southwest and Northwest regions have been called by a
group known as Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia Governing Council. Activists plan to hoist blue and white Ambazonia flags in a series of rallies across the two areas, the chairman of the organisation, Sisiku Ayuk Tambe, said in a statement Thursday. Southwest regional Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai has imposed a curfew, banned meetings of more than four people, prohibited inter-city travel from till Monday.
“Cameroon remains one and indivisible,” Bilai said. “That is why any attempts at secession will not be tolerated. So we have taken necessary measures to obstruct any independence declarations and all attempts at destabilising the country.”
President Paul Biya, 84, ordered a wave of arrests earlier this year after lawyers and teachers in English-speaking areas protested about the dominance of the French language in their courts and schools. He also temporarily shut down state-controlled internet services throughout the Northwest and Southwest regions, which border Nigeria.
Cameroon was split after World War One into a bigger French-run zone and smaller British-controlled area.