After some
94 days without access to the Internet, the government of Cameroun has restored
connection to about 5 million people living in the anglophone regions of the
country, reports ITRealms.
The Camerounian government, in an official statement
available to ITRealms by the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma
Bakary, said that the Northwest and Southwest Regions have been restored with Internet
Connections due to the social situation in linked to the demands expressed by
English-speaking lawyers' associations, extremist activists, driven by
secessionist intrigues, took the opportunity to disseminate hate messages and
incite violence and abuses of all sorts.
According to the Minister, at their instigation, children
were molested and prevented from returning to school, men and women saw their
daily activities disrupted, public and private buildings were burned, order
were attacked etc.
These criminal activities, the Minister said, fall within the
scope of the law, notably the one relating to the repression of acts of terrorists,
have been perpetrated for the most part via social networks.
“These information and communication technologies, essential
tools of economic and social progress which benefit from the constant
solicitude of the Head of State, have thus unfortunately been detoured by the
enemies of the republic,” Bakary said.
Also, the minister said that in such circumstances, the
public authorities had an imperative duty to restore order, to ensure the
security of citizens and their property, and to guarantee the functioning of
administrative services.
Insisting that the government of the Republic, had to, among
other security measures, to suspend Internet connections in the Northwest and
Southwest Regions.
“Since then, the government has not stopped constantly
assessing the situation on the ground. The current situation is that the
North-West and South-West Regions have been living in remarkable calm for
several weeks,” part of the press statement read.
The Cameroonian people, Bakary said, is attached to the
unity of the country and living together, has once again shown its great
maturity.
“The important steps taken by the Government to respond
favorably to the legitimate concerns of English-speaking lawyers and teachers,
as well as the creation of the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism
and Multiculturalism, of the national territory,” Bakary pointed out.
While Cameroon's friendly countries and international
partners, the minister said, have rightly welcomed these efforts by the public
authorities towards the settlement and easing of the crisis in the North-West
and South-West Regions.
“It therefore appears that the conditions underlying the
provisional suspension of the Internet in this part of the national territory
have changed considerably,” Bakary said.
So, the Head of State, Mr. Paul Biya, therefore instructed
the Minister in charge of Posts and Telecommunications to ask mobile operators
to re-establish Internet connections in the Northwest and Southwest regions.
Also, the government urged the populations of these regions
to be vigilant in order to continue to block the way for the extremists,
secessionists and enemies of the Republic, emphasizing that the government of
the Republic reserves the right to take, as necessary, appropriate measures to
prevent the Internet from being used again to incite hatred and discord between
Cameroonians or to create public disorder.
Uboshe Uboshe/GEE
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