US calls for probe into killing of Cameroon aid worker

By Rodrigue Forku

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AA) - The US embassy in Cameroon on Tuesday called for an investigation into the killing of a humanitarian worker in the northwestern part of the country, according to a statement.

Presenting its condolences to the family and colleagues of Pastor Tanjoh Christopher Fon, who was killed Aug. 7, the mission said: "Pastor Tanjoh was a community leader and humanitarian aid worker with the local non-governmental organization Community Initiative for Sustainable Development [COMINSUD]."

"We condemn all acts of violence against humanitarian aid workers and call for their unhindered access to those in need in accordance with international humanitarian law."

Tibor Nagy, Assistant Secretary for US Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs, took to Twitter to call for an end to violence against humanitarian aid workers in the Central African nation, saying that, like all humanitarian aid workers, Pastor Tanjoh was "working to build a better future."

Tanjoh was a humanitarian aid worker serving with the COMINSUD -- an implementing partner for several UN agencies -- in the northwestern Batibo subdivision.

He was kidnapped last week from his home and later killed by unidentified armed individuals, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"This killing is the latest in a series of attacks, violent extortion and harassment against humanitarians in the South West and North West regions. It comes barely a month after the killing of a community health worker in the South West region," OCHA said in a statement on Saturday.

Earlier this year, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) named Cameroon as the world's most neglected displacement crises for the second year running.

Cameroon has been marred by protests since 2016, with residents in English-speaking regions saying they have been marginalized for decades by the central government and the French-speaking majority.

Violence in the Anglophone regions over the last three years has claimed an estimated 3,000 lives and caused the displacement of over 730,000 civilians, according to the Human Rights Watch.