Protesters marched in Cameroon's capital on Saturday and called for the death of the leader of Boko Haram, the radical Islamist group that is terrorising parts of the country.
The protesters waved the flags of Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon as they took to the streets of Yaounde in Cameroon and openly called for the death of Abubakar Shekau.
According to the Agence-France Presse (AFP), the protesters numbered over 10,000 and were led by some of Cameroon's government ministers.
Boko Haram has waged a sustained insurgency in northeastern Nigeria since 2009, but in the past seven months has started to expand its terror attacks beyond the country's borders. It first attacked towns on the Cameroon-Nigeria border, then in Niger and Chad.
The escalation of the group's terror attacks prompted the formation of an 8,000-strong multinational task force with personnel assembled from Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon as well as Benin on Nigeria's western border.
"This march symbolises Cameroon's unity against Boko Haram," Cameroon's Labour Minister Gregoire Owona was quoted as telling the marchers, before shouting: "Shekau!"
The protesters shouted in response: "You are dead, you are a coward."
Some of the protesters apparently took to the streets to show solidarity with the Cameroonian soldiers who are now fighting Boko Haram.
"It was important to be here for me, for my brothers who are on the front, for my country," one protester said in the AFP report.
While the march occurred without incident, some critics alleged that the organisers chose Saturday as the day for their protest to coincide with the anniversary of violent protests held in Yaounde in 2008. Cameroonians in Yaounde marched on February 28, 2008, to protest against the rise of fuel and food prices, and then-President Paul Biya's bid to extend his 25-year reign over the country. The protests turned to riots, resulting in at least 40 deaths.
The organisers of Saturday's march denied the allegations, stating that they were not engaged in a "memorial war."
