Why the Prosecution of the ADF Is Not a Cause for Advocacy

The U.S. indictments are based not on rumours but on confessions and evidence. These men — Benedict Nwana Kuah and Pascal Kikishy Wongbi — proudly claimed responsibility for kidnappings, extortions, bombings, and killings.

By the Independentist Investigative Desk

Some may be tempted to rally in solidarity with the recently indicted leaders of the so-called Ambazonia Defense Forces (ADF). But let us be clear: their prosecution in the United States is not persecution — it is accountability. To advocate for them would be to blur the line between justice and criminality, between Ambazonia’s legitimate struggle and the confessions of warlords who terrorized their own people.

The U.S. indictments are based not on rumours but on confessions and evidence. These men — Benedict Nwana Kuah and Pascal Kikishy Wongbi — proudly claimed responsibility for kidnappings, extortions, bombings, and killings. Their spokespersons went on record after the abduction of Senator Regina Mundi, after the gruesome killing of Florence Ayafor, after market bombings, and after the Mount Cameroon Race attack that injured civilians. These were not military engagements; they were atrocities against ordinary Ambazonians.

To advocate for such men is to betray the memory of their victims. It is to forget the beheaded chiefs, the murdered professor from the diaspora, the civilians massacred in Guzang, and the countless families forced to pay “liberation taxes” under threat of violence. They confessed to these crimes. They boasted about them. The world took note — and now the law has caught up.

Even Cece Buckley’s fact-finding mission confirmed the destructive overlap between armed groups and state-sponsored exploitation. Her Cameroon Project (p. 180) revealed how the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) was militarized and turned into an engine of repression. Against that backdrop, the ADF compounded Ambazonia’s suffering by adding ransom, extortion, and senseless killings.

The Ambazonian struggle must never be defined by spoilers. Our revolution is for freedom, not for ransom. It is for justice, not for bloodletting. That is why the prosecution of the ADF is not a cause for advocacy. It is, instead, a sober reminder that our cause must remain untainted — and that criminals, even when they wrap themselves in our flag, must face the law.

Educational Note: Separating Liberation from Criminality

Historical Lessons
Liberation movements across the world have often been weakened when factions turned to predation. When groups exploited their own people, they lost legitimacy and handed their enemies a propaganda victory. Ambazonia must not repeat these mistakes.

The Principle of Just Struggle
Self-determination is a right, but it comes with responsibility. Movements for freedom must respect humanitarian standards. Violence against civilians, ransom-taking, and extortion are not resistance — they are crimes.

The Role of Accountability
Accountability strengthens the revolution. By allowing criminals to be prosecuted, we draw a clear line between genuine freedom fighters and opportunists. The world recognises movements that uphold justice, not those that prey on their own people.

Guarding the Future
Our struggle must be remembered as one of discipline and justice. The ADF prosecutions are a civic lesson for every Ambazonian: our independence cannot be built on ransom and bloodletting. It must rest on sacrifice, integrity, and the pursuit of justice.

President Sako’s Position

President Dr. Samuel Ikome Sako has been unequivocal: the Ambazonian revolution cannot and must not be hijacked by criminals. He has consistently drawn a line between the Ambazonia State Army (ASA) — defending communities against state-sponsored genocide — and rogue militias such as the ADF that engaged in ransom, extortion, and civilian killings.

As he declared:

“Our revolution is not for ransom or extortion. Any man who preys on his own people under the pretext of liberation is not a liberator but a criminal. Ambazonia will not carry their burden.”

“We distinguish clearly between the Ambazonia State Army, which defends our communities, and rogue militias that have turned their guns on civilians. One defends the homeland, the other betrays it.”

Dr. Sako has further affirmed that Ambazonia’s cause is a just and lawful struggle for self-determination under international law, and that any group tarnishing it with atrocities “stands not with the people, but against them.”

In his words:

“The blood of our people cannot be the foundation of our independence. We seek a free Ambazonia rooted in justice, not in fear or banditry.”

“The law must take its course, whether in America, in Europe, or in Africa. No Ambazonian should advocate for men who confessed to atrocities against their own people.”

“Our legitimacy in the eyes of the world depends on our discipline. Spoilers weaken us, but accountability strengthens us. This is how we safeguard the purity of our cause.”

His position is clear: Ambazonia’s liberation belongs to the disciplined, the just, and the selfless — not to warlords who turn their weapons against their own people.

The Independentist Investigative Desk