The World Council of Churches (WCC) has called on the Cameroonian government to stop using force to punish its people in the English-speaking region. The authorities should immediately cease using ‘disproportionate and deadly force against civilians and protect everyone’s human rights’. The UN described the situation as ‘an unprecedented complex humanitarian crisis’ caused by violence between the government and both English-speaking separatists in the west of Nigeria and Boko Haram in the north-east. The country has been affected by the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Nigerians and Cameroonians; also by insecurity, malnutrition, and a ‘very disturbing’ risk of epidemics, because of the ongoing conflict. The WCC particularly condemned escalating violence against women and children. Paul Biya, who has been president since 1982, intends to run for a seventh term.