Ebenezer Derek Mbongo Akwanga is an Ambazonian independence activist.Redress, Ebenezer Akwanga v. Cameroons. Accessed May 4, 2019.
/ref> He is the chairman of the African People's Liberation Movement, an

Ambazonia Ambazonia, alternatively the Federal Republic of Ambazonia or the State of Ambazonia, is a political entity proclaimed by Anglophone separatists seeking independence from Cameroon. The separatists claim that Ambazonia should consist of the N ...

n separatist movement, and heads its armed wing,

SOCADEF The Southern Cameroons Defence Forces (commonly referred to as SOCADEF) is the armed wing of the African People's Liberation Movement, an Ambazonian separatist movement. It is led by Ebenezer Akwanga, who is based in the United States, Together w ...

.Who are Cameroon's English-speaking separatists?
Daily Nation, Feb 20, 2018. Accessed Apr 22, 2018. A former student at the

University of Buea University of Buea (UB) is found in Molyko, Buea, in the southwest region of Cameroon. It was founded as a university centre in 1985 and became a full-fledged university in 1992, following a government decree that re-organized state universities ...

, he and fellow activist

Ayaba Cho Lucas Ayaba Cho Lucas (born August 1972) is an Ambazonian activist. He is the former Secretary General of the Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL) and served as leader of Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC), a separatist organization in Southern ...

founded a pro-independence student association. Their movement was soon outlawed, and in 1997, Akwanga was

imprisoned Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

for six years.Biafra and Southern Cameroons might 'join forces to achieve independence'
International Business Times, Feb 25, 2016. Accessed Mar 15, 2019. Following his escape from prison, he joined forces with the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC). When the SCNC split into several factions, he became the leader of the

Southern Cameroons Youth League The Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL) was an Ambazonia Ambazonia, alternatively the Federal Republic of Ambazonia or the State of Ambazonia, is a political entity proclaimed by Anglophone separatists seeking independence from Cameroon. ...

(SCYL). The SCYL eventually transformed into the African People's Liberation Movement (APLM). In March 2019, he oversaw the APLM taking part in founding the

Southern Cameroons Liberation Council The Southern Cameroons Liberation Council (SCLC) is an Ambazonian umbrella movement, aiming to unite all Anglophone groups on a common front. As of April 2019, it consists of seven movements. Foundation The SCLC was established at the All South ...

, in an attempt to form a united front.Federalists Meet Restorationists, Which Group Will Perform The Osmosis?
Cameroon News Agency, Mar 29, 2019. Accessed Apr 10, 2019. Akwanga is also an advocate of the

Biafra Biafara Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicized as Biafra ( ), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria ...

n case, and has spoken in favor of an alliance between Ambazonian and Biafran independence movements. He has called for referendums on independence in both the former

Southern Cameroons The Southern Cameroons was the southern part of the British League of Nations mandate territory of the British Cameroons in West Africa. Since 1961, it has been part of the Republic of Cameroon, where it makes up the Northwest Region and Southw ...

(including

Bakassi Bakassi is a peninsula on the Gulf of Guinea. It lies between the Cross River (Nigeria), Cross River estuary, near the city of Calabar and the Rio del Ray estuary on the east. It is governed by Cameroon, following the transfer of sovereignty f ...

) and Biafra.

Political career

Ebenezer Akwanga became a political activist in 1993, initially campaigning peacefully for the rights of the people of Southern Cameroons as a student leader of the University of Buea Students Union which worked together with the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC). He took an active part in the uprising of March 1997 against oppression and discrimination by the Cameroun government. .March 1997 incidents in the north-west province CMR36066.E'
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Jan 31, 2001. Accessed May 10, 2019. He was arrested and tried by a military tribunal. For the next six years he suffered a range of serious human rights violations at the hands of the Republic of Cameroun. These included torture, incommunicado detention, and a variety of forms of abuse in prison including being held in grossly overcrowded and unhygienic conditions, lack of proper food and wholly inadequate medical care. He suffered paralysis of his lower limbs and impaired vision as a result of torture and spent over 700 days in solitary confinement. In 1999 he was sentenced by the military tribunal to 20 years in prison. In 2003 he escaped to Nigeria and from there, after some 30 months evading arrest, he was re-settled in the USA where he lives today. From the United States, Akwanga continued the struggle for the Southern Cameroonian people. The NGO REDRESS lodged a petition on Ebenezer's behalf with the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) for multiple breaches of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), including torture, over the period 1997 to 2003. In a unanimous decision made on 22 March 2011 UNHRC upheld the petition brought by REDRESS on behalf of Ebenezer against Cameroon. The petition averred multiple breaches of the ICCPR. In 2011-2014, Ebenezer Akwanga, Ayaba Cho Lucas and other independence advocates founded a Southern Cameroons Government affiliated with an armed wing, SOCADEF. The government signed agreements with two Canadian public companies to promote future assets and resources in Southern Cameroons and legally contest ownership.
Declaration of State of Emergency in Bakassi Region, April 4, 2013. Accessed May 10, 2019. The Camerounian government-controlled press later credited Akwanga's government with being one of the primary movers of the October 2017 Declaration of Independence of Ambazonia.
Tout savoir sur Kilimanjaro Capital, la nébuleuse financière canadienne associée aux sécessionnistes camerounais, Investir au Cameroun, June 15, 2018. Accessed May 10, 2019. As of 2020, he heads the Organization of Emerging African States (OEAS), which advises African separatists. As of 2016, the organization is based in the US, and has campaigned for a referendum regarding an independent

Assassination attempts

The government of Cameroon has attempted to eliminate Akwanga on several occasions; in Buea, Southern Cameroons by poison in 2003,
About the CEO, Ebenezer Akwanga Human Rights and Humanitarian Institute. December 5, 2012. Accessed May 10, 2019. in Lagos, Nigeria in 2005 with at least three attempts by Cameroonian agents,
Cameroon: Akwanga Announces Assassination Attempt, All Africa News Service, Oct. 4, 2005. Accessed May 10, 2019. and in South Africa in 2012 with a murder and kidnapping plot.
Murder for Hire Plot, Abakwa Times, Dec. 5, 2012. Accessed May 12, 2019.

Ambazonia campaign

The October 2017 Ambazonia Declaration of Independence resulted in Akwanga revitalizing and arming SOCADEF (Southern Cameroons Defense Force) as a self-defense force. According to International Crisis Group, SOCADEF, is one of the largest armed units operating in Ambazonia.
Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis: How to Get to Talks?, International Crisis Group, May 2, 2019. Accessed May 10, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akwanga, Ebenezer Living people 1970 births People from Southwest Region (Cameroon) Ambazonian independence activists