The African Union Committee on the Rights and Welfare of Children has urged the Government of Cameroon to carry out independent, impartial and comprehensive investigations in to the Ngarbuh killings, make public the findings and if possible share the process followed with the Committee.

In a statement published this Thursday, the Committee invites the Government of Cameroon to fully implement its legal obligations of protecting children and as such conduct an independent, impartial and comprehensive investigation to punish the perpetrators of the Ngarbuh killings which included children.

“The African Committee on the Rights and the Welfare of the Child is gravely concerned about the killing of children in the village of Ngarbuh…as has been reported by the office of the spokesperson of the UN Secretary General…” Part of the statement reads.

“The Committee calls on the Government of Cameroon as a signatory to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to fully implement its obligations of protecting children…”

In the same vain, it requests the Government of Cameroon share with her the findings as well as the steps undertaken to come up with any conclusion.

Recalling the provisions of Article 5(1) of the African Children’s Charter which stipulates that every child has an inherent right to life, and that the right shall be protected by the law, the Committee calls on parties in conflict zones to “ensure to the maximum extent possible, the survival, protection and development of the child.”

According to a report from Human Right Watch, on February 14, 2020, Government forces and armed ethnic Fulani stormed the Ngarbuh village in the Donga Mantung Division of the North West region and killed at least twenty-two civilians including children.