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PRESS RELEASE No. 6

The official media has made a number of false claims following the massive manifestations which took place in Bamenda and at the University of Yaoundé on the 26th May, 1990 that;

1. Those who died in Bamenda were trampled upon;
2. Mr. John FRU NDI has escaped to Nigeria;
3. The Nigeria National Anthem was sung at the University of Yaounde and during the peaceful manifestations in Bamenda;
4. The elites of Bamenda resident in Douala have denounced the Social Democratic Front;
5. More than 10.000 Nigerians infiltrated into Bamenda and took part in the Peaceful manifestations;
6. The Social Democratic Front did not deposit the required documents with the administration;

The Social Democratic Front hereby re-establishes the truth in the following terms:

1. Those who died in Bamenda were shot; and this has been confirmed by eye-witnesses who include independent journalists and some of the wounded.
2. Mr. John FRU NDI, Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, has not left Bamenda since the 26th May, 1990, and goes about normally with his business. He was interviewed by the BBC on the 30th May, 1990.
3. We invite the government to produce just one person amongst those who are supposed to have heard the Nigerian National Anthem sung so that he can testify to independent journalists. This calumny is even the more surprising in that none of the students who marched in support of the Social Democratic Front was born before re-unification.
4. The so-called elites of Bamenda resident in Douala who allegedly denounced the Social Democratic Front are three prisoners who are now serving their sentences in the Douala Central Prison. They were forced to sign a document which was not written by them.
5. If 10.000 Nigerians infiltrated into Bamenda town which was surrounded by the forces of law and order with all the access roads under strict surveillance for about 10 days before the 26th May, 1990, our brave Soldiers, Police and Gendarmes would have caught at least one of them. Also, thousands of vehicles would have been used for such an operation. And if they came on foot, they would have taken about a week to return to the borders. In such a case, our forces of law and order, who are well known for their competence, would have caught at least one of them. Since no Nigerian was caught, does it therefore mean that the Army, Police and Gendarmerie are all supporters of the Social Democratic Front?
6. The Social Democratic Front deposited all the documents required at the office of the Senior Divisional office, Bamenda, on the 16th March, 1990. The Administration now states that they received nothing from the Social Democratic Front and that at best they received an incomplete file.

The supporters of the Social Democratic Front are patriotic Cameroonians who come from our ten provinces and they are determined never to leave their Country as they are now being ordered to.

We appeal to Government not to use it's privilege of censorship and the monopoly of the official media which has been acquired with public funds, contributed by all Cameroonian tax payers, to orchestrate a dishonourable campaign of disinformation.

The Government has announced that no one has ever had any problem for wanting to form a political party. In view of the campaign now being waged against us, we only wish that this statement could be true.

All the agitation now going on is meant to deprive the Cameroonian People of their constitutional rights and political liberties, in a democratic society, to choose from many political parties.

Done in Bamenda, June 11, 1990

Ni John FRU NDI
CHAIRMAN, SDF

The end

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