DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2015.v03i04.008

Pages: 869-880

The paper explores the terrific incident that occurred in Oku subdivision in 1997dubbed in political circles as a ‘coup d’état’. This was the attack, the overthrow of the administration, the law enforcement officers and the designation of a new administration that governed Oku for twelve hours unruffled by a separatist movement designated as Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC). The study evaluates the raison d’être of the SCNC rebellion, the conception, realisation of the coup, the response of the administration, the consequences of the rebellion and further proposes the way out. The author disputes that the episode crippled the social, economic and political life of Oku, created internally displaced persons (IDPs), and that an evaluation be conducted and the innocently victimised masses rehabilitated.