The separatists complain of discrimination against English speakers in the predominantly Francophone country and want to create an independent state called Ambazonia in the oil and cocoa-producing northwest and southwest regions. Armed separatists since October last year have faced off with state security forces in an increasingly deteriorating security situation in the Anglophone regions – the North-West and South-West. The attackers who “fired from everywhere”, were able to “break the gates of the prison” before “setting fire to all the buildings,“he added, stressing that they had brought fuel to cause the fire. Eight candidates are running against 85-year-old incumbent Paul Biya, who has ruled the country for 35 years and is seeking a seventh straight term in office.
Gunmen storm a prison in Cameroon, releasing up to 80 prisoners.