Cameroon bans pro-independence rallies in Anglophone area

Cameroon has banned public meetings and travel in a particularly English-speakme place beforehand of a protest to call for independence for the place.
The South-West place's border with Nigeria has additionally been shut to block "infiltration" by people threatening Cameroon's cohesion, officials said.
seasoned-independence marches had been deliberate for Sunday, the 56th anniversary of Cameroon's unification.
English audio system accuse the Francophone majority of discrimination.
they are saying they're often excluded from top civil provider jobs, and that the French language and prison machine have been imposed on them.
The government denies the allegations and insists that it treats all citizens equally.
The divisions in the imperative African state date lower back to the post-colonial settlement.
Cameroon become colonised by using Germany and then cut up into British and French regions after world war One.



Following a referendum, British-run Southern Cameroons joined the French-speaking Republic of Cameroon in 1961.
it's far now divided into the South-West and North-West regions.
needs for independence have grown inside the  regions in latest years and tension has been escalating beforehand of Sunday's deliberate protests, reports the BBC's Randy Joe Sa'ah from the capital, Yaoundé.
The South-West vicinity's governor, Bernard Okalia Bilai, has known as protest organisers "puppies", and has warned them that they will be met by using troops if they take to the streets on Sunday, our correspondent adds.
at least six protesters had been killed and dozens arrested at some point of protests earlier this yr. get admission to to the internet within the Anglophone regions changed into also blocked from January to April.
saying the brand new security measures, Mr Bilai stated there could be a ban on gatherings of extra than four human beings, and travel among cities, from 20:00 GMT on Friday till 08:00 GMT on Monday.
The region's border with Nigeria would additionally be closed at some stage in this time "following continual threats of destabilisation" by people based totally out of doors Cameroon, he delivered.
In a announcement on Thursday, the UN stated Secretary-fashionable António Guterres become concerned approximately tensions in advance of Sunday's protests.
He entreated Cameroon's government to deal with the grievances of its Anglophone population, and to take steps to promote national reconciliation, it stated.
"The Secretary-trendy helps upholding the unity and territorial integrity of Cameroon and urges all parties to refrain from acts that would cause an escalation of hysteria and violence," the statement brought.