'Heal our land', Christians pray as violence flares in Cameroon

There are riots in Cameroon, following a bomb blast in the northwest of the country. The governor in the region has imposed a 24-hour curfew.

This follows a bomb attack in Bamenda city on Thursday. According to local media, the blast injured three police officers.

Anti-government demonstrators block a road in Bamenda, Cameroon, in protests last year.Reuters

Cameroon is divided between Anglophone and Francophone regions. Some Anglophones are calling for secession. There have been protests over moves to impose the French language in schools and in the courts. Journalists have been jailed on terrorism charges.

The African Biblical Leadership Initiative, which is being held in the Cameroon capital, called for prayer to calm the situation.

Delegates to the conference were told of 'streets littered with protesters'.

They were led in prayer by Babila Foncham of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, for what he described as 'desperate times'.

He prayed: 'God, we commit Cameroon into your hands. We call for your decisive intervention, that Christian men and women among the crowd would act as instruments of peace and non-violence.

'Heal our land, Lord, and grant us peace. Forgive us Lord and have mercy upon us. Don't allow us to plunge into war and violence.'

ABLI is an initiative of Bible Society. It is now in its seventh year.