Cameroon, Nigeria Investigate Arms Traffickers Accused of Supplying Weapons to Separatists

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON - Authorities in Cameroon say weapons traffickers arrested last week in Nigeria have been arming Cameroon's Anglophone separatists.

Cameroon’s military said Thursday that some of the 40 arms traffickers arrested by police in Nigeria last week are regular suppliers of weapons to rebel groups in Cameroon.  The 40 were arrested in the Nigerian border town of Ikom and charged with various crimes, including supplying guns, ammunition and explosives to separatists.  Separatists have been fighting to create an English-speaking state in the western regions of Cameroon, a majority Francophone country, since 2017.