2 people killed in English-speaking region of Cameroon

ANKARA (AA) - A couple in the English-speaking region of Cameroon was killed by separatist forces after celebrating the country's national day.

According to local press reports, the couple was kidnapped and killed by an armed separatist group as they were on their way to see relatives in the village of Ango in the Momo province in the northwestern part of the country.

The couple are said to be a member of the ruling party, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC).

The couple, who ran the only school in the neighborhood, were allegedly murdered for celebrating Cameroon's national day.

Cameroon has been marred by protests for over a year, with residents in English-speaking regions saying they have been marginalized for decades by the central government and the French-speaking majority.

The protesters are calling for a return to federalism or independence of the English-speaking part of Cameroon, which the demonstrators refer to as the "Republic of Ambazonia".

English-speakers frequently complain of exclusion from top civil service jobs and the use of French in government institutions, although the constitution gives both languages official status.

French Cameroon gained its independence from France in 1960. In 1961, a federal state was set up when British Cameroon gained its independence from Great Britain and joined French Cameroon.

The federal state was, however, dissolved in favor of a unitary state in 1972.

Since then Anglophones say they are being marginalized and forced to use French in public institutions and schools, and also use the French-Cameroon legal system in courts.