Tankeu Noé (died 3 January 1964) was a member of the

Union of the Peoples of Cameroon The Union of the Peoples of Cameroon ( - UPC) is a political party in Cameroon. It was one of the main belligerents in the Cameroon War. Foundation The UPC was founded on 10 April 1948, at a meeting in the bar ''Chez Sierra'' in Bassa. Twelve ...

(UPC) guerrilla forces in

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

fighting first against French colonial government and then against the government of

Ahmadou Ahidjo Ahmadou Babatoura Ahidjo (24 August 192430 November 1989) was a Cameroonian politician who was the first president of Cameroon from 1960 until 1982. He was previously the first Prime Minister of Cameroon, Prime Minister from the country's indepe ...

in the

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country ...

region. Tankeu Noé was from the

Bamileke The Bamiléké people are an ethnic group of Central Africa that inhabits the Western High Plateau colloquially known as the ''grassfields'' of Cameroon. According to Dr John Feyou de Hapy, Bamiléké means "people of faith". Languages The B ...

community. He became a commander of the UPC's Armée de libération nationale Kamerounaise (ALNK) in the Littoral Province. The ALNK in Cameroon was poorly organized and very weakly armed, but was pragmatic, knew the country well and was very mobile, using guerrilla tactics. At first, the UPC rebels were fighting against the French colonial forces. After Cameroon gained independence in 1960, they continued to fight the government of President

, whom they considered to be a puppet of the French. On the 27 and 28 of June 1959 forty of Tankeu Noé's fighters attacked the military camp of Mboppi in

and took 19 guns. In the counter-attack, UPC documents were taken that let the French arrest about 100 suspects. As a result of this action, the French high command of Cameroon decided to call for five companies of troops and five squads of gendarmes as reinforcements. Starting in 1960, troops from the newly formed Cameroonian army worked closely with French colonial forces under general Max Briand in suppressing the rebellion. On 24 April 1960 the Congo quarter of

, Tankeu's fief, was burnt by security forces, Officially there were 19 deaths and 5,000 made homeless. Tankeu Noé was captured and found guilty on 9 September 1963. The law of 30 October 1963 gave the government increased powers to deal with opponents. Tankeu Noé and Makanda Pouth, accused of terrorism but not of any other crime, had been sentenced to hard labor. Using the powers of the new law, the government brought them before a military tribunal that condemned them to death. Tankeu Noé was executed on 3 January 1964 in

. He was shot in public, tied to a power pole in the Congo quarter of the city.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Noe, Tankeu 1964 deaths Cameroonian communists Cameroonian rebels Executed communists Executed Cameroonian people Year of birth missing People executed by Cameroon by firing squad