DSCHANG, Cameroon — In a classroom nestled in Cameroon’s lush highlands, a former insurgent fighter teaches logic and philosophy. His college students know him as calm and considerate, however his previous tells a extra turbulent story.
For a yr and a half, Ateasong Belts Tajoah fought with the Purple Dragons, a separatist militia within the nation’s conflict-ridden southwest. He joined the motion in 2017 at age 23 after native fighters got here to his village and provided an opportunity to show his frustrations with the federal government into motion.
Like many within the English-speaking components of Cameroon, he felt marginalized by the federal government dominated by the French-speaking inhabitants. These tensions, starting with peaceable protests organized by legal professionals and lecturers, turned lethal nearly a decade in the past following a authorities crackdown.
The combat for independence for English-speaking areas, which the rising insurgent teams referred to as Ambazonia, has killed over 6,500 individuals and displaced over 1.1 million.
As a insurgent, Tajoah lived beneath plastic sheets within the rain, cooked for leaders and carried out assaults on navy and civilian targets. “You could possibly by no means sleep with each eyes closed,” he stated, pointing to scars on his neck and abdomen left by bullets.
Medicine and alcohol had been rampant within the camps, usually used as coping mechanisms for the fixed menace of ambushes or betrayal. The psychological toll was immense, Tajoah stated, recalling the trauma of carrying the our bodies of greater than 20 fallen comrades.
The insurgent group believed that destroying faculties would weaken the federal government’s management over the area, a method that left a deep scar on the academic panorama.
Armed teams enforced boycotts, burned school rooms and killed lecturers who defied their orders. Almost 488,000 kids within the affected areas had been out of college in 2024, in accordance with UNICEF.
Tajoah admitted to enjoying a task within the destruction, not sharing particulars however acknowledging the technique’s profound hurt to numerous lives.
The breaking level for him got here with the lack of his 11-year-old little one throughout an assault by authorities forces on his camp. Already disillusioned with the separatist management and overwhelmed by grief, he surrendered in early 2019.
He entered a government-run rehabilitation heart for former fighters in Buea, the capital of Cameroon’s Southwest area, the place he spent 18 months reflecting on his previous. Like many ex-combatants, Tajoah has confronted a protracted and lonely street, with widespread stigma marking his path to reintegration into society.
Whereas the rehabilitation heart promised abilities coaching, the nation’s demobilization program has confronted widespread criticism for its sluggish implementation and lack of assets.
Tajoah witnessed the prevalence of medication, reportedly introduced in by the identical officers tasked with guiding ex-combatants. There have been considerations that some fighters had been allegedly coerced into navy operations after surrendering. The federal government didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Many ex-combatants have returned to armed teams, citing frustration with the rehabilitation program. In 2021, former fighters blocked streets in Buea to protest, accusing the federal government of not fulfilling its promise of assist.
Lack of oversight and transparency exacerbates the problems, in accordance with Syndie Rhianne Makeutche, a peace researcher with the United Nations. “With out these measures, this system dangers dropping credibility and pushing extra ex-combatants again into violence,” she stated.
Regardless of the challenges, Tajoah carved out a brand new path. He earned a grasp’s diploma in philosophy in July.
Instructing is greater than a job, he stated. “It’s a technique to confront my previous and encourage others to keep away from my errors.”
His presence within the classroom initially raised some fears. “Many assumed former combatants had been uneducated and harmful,” he stated.
With dedication and openness about his previous, Tajoah steadily earned the belief of his college students, their dad and mom and the broader group.
His resolution to show logic and philosophy stemmed from a long-standing curiosity in essential considering and human habits.
“I used to be fond of those topics earlier than changing into a fighter,” he stated. Immediately, he makes use of them to problem college students to suppose in another way and to information them towards a extra constructive path.
Past the classroom, Tajoah has grow to be an outspoken advocate for peace. He employs a social media technique to coach individuals concerning the risks of rise up, sharing pictures of fallen fighters to focus on the realities of armed battle.
He additionally dangers his life touring to villages, urging younger individuals to place down their weapons. Some residents stated his outreach has been instrumental in fostering peace, ensuing within the give up of some fighters.
Whereas some are skeptical about Tajoah’s work, others see him as a beacon of change. “Extra individuals perceive now he’s right here to convey peace and encourage others to drop their weapons,” stated Ajiawung Columbus Fortulah, a standard chief of Atulah village, the place Tajoah grew up.
Some fighters have put down their weapons, and the native main faculty has reopened for research, Fortulah stated.
But Tajoah’s activism has come at private value. His mom has been kidnapped twice by separatists, and he has acquired quite a few dying threats from separatists looking for to silence his efforts.
One other ex-combatant, Okha Naseri Clovis, shares Tajoah’s willpower. Now learning logistics in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé, Clovis has been outspoken about his experiences, regularly criticizing separatist leaders. He addresses ex-combatants at rehabilitation facilities, urging them to embrace reintegration and peace, and travels to distant villages to counter the narrative of separatists.
Cameroonian officers have welcomed group efforts that assist the rehabilitation program however have been accused by critics of not addressing the basis causes of the disaster.
The battle, in the meantime, reveals no indicators of decision. Peace talks with worldwide mediators have stalled, with each side accusing one another of unhealthy religion.
“There’s a distinction between the Anglophone disaster and Ambazonian terrorism,” Tajoah stated. “Anglophones are marginalized, however weapons and kidnappings received’t clear up it. Dialogue and motion are the one manner ahead.”
He hopes his college students will embrace that message.
“I fought to shut faculties, however now I educate to open minds,” he stated. “The scars will at all times be there, however they don’t need to outline you.”
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