This is a list of Ambazonian rebel commanders who served in armed groups during the Anglophone Crisis. As the political association of these commanders is often unknown, they are listed by their known active departments and other territories. For the known rebel militias involved in the conflict, see list of Ambazonian militant groups.
Ambazonian commanders often take symbolic names which reference animals or specific personal traits; these are used to evoke fear and respect.[1] Researcher Morgan Tebei Nwati has argued that many separatist leaders can be categorized as warlords, a view shared by researcher Michaela Pelican.[2] Pelican argued that the rebel commanders effectively operated within a "market of violence", leading small private armies which not only fought an insurgency against state representatives, but also engaged in criminal activities such as kidnapping for ransom. Thus, they were using violence as an "economic basis for survival".[3]
From 2017 to 2023, over 100 Ambazonian commanders were killed in the insurgency.[4] For comparison, a single meeting of the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council (also known as " Ambazonia Restoration Forces"), one of several rebel factions in the conflict, was attended by over fifty "Field Mar[shals], Generals, Colonel[s] and Captains".[5]
Several Ambazonian separatist leaders are based in exile. Despite this, they play a role in directing rebel forces that are fighting in Cameroon itself.[6][7] These include:
At the Cameroon–Nigeria border and on the Bakassi peninsula, the Anglophone Crisis overlaps with two other local insurgencies, namely the Bakassi conflict and the insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria. Thus, the local rebels include not just Ambazonian separatists, but also Biafran separatists.[114]