Cameroon protesters call for death of Boko Haram leader

Several thousand people took to
the streets of Cameroon's capital on
Saturday to denounce Boko Haram's bloody
insurgency and call for the killing of the
group's leader Abubakar Shekau.
"This march symbolises Cameroon's unity
against Boko Haram," the country's Labour
Minister Gregoire Owona told marchers in
Yaounde, before shouting "Shekau!"

In response, the crowd which organisers
said numbered 10 000-15 000, chanted:
"You are dead, you are a coward."
Over the past seven months Cameroonian
soldiers have been battling the extremists,
which are now locked in a regional fight
that also includes soldiers from Nigeria and
Chad.

Boko Haram's six-year insurgency, which
has left 13 000 dead and forced over a
million from their homes, has increasingly
spilled over into neighbouring nations.
Several ministers led the vocal, but peaceful
march, which saw protestors waving the
flags of Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria.
"It was important to be here for me, for my
brothers who are on the front, for my
country," said marcher Philomene Ekombo,
a Cameroonian flag in hand.

However, the date of the demonstration
sparked controversy in Cameroon because
it coincided with the anniversary of protests
in 2008 in which the government said 40
people were killed. Locals groups put the
death toll at 139.
Critics claimed the march organisers, with
government encouragement, planned the
protest in order to overshadow memorials
of the 2008 killings. Organisers denied the
allegation, saying: "There is no memorial
war."