By Sandra Lum
The dust is yet to settle on the aftermath of the presidential elections in Cameroon that took place on Sunday October 12, 2025 with 12 candidates, with incumbent President Paul Biya who has been in power since 1982 re-elected against 12 other opposition figures eying the Unity Palace.
The presidential race had opposition figures like Issa Tchiroma Bakari of Cameroon National Salvation Front, CNSF; Hon Osih Joshua of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, former Bar President, Barrister Akere Muna of Univers; Hon Carbral Libih of Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation, PCRN; Bello Bouba Maigari of National Union for Democracy and Progress, NUDP, and Serge Espoir Matomba of PURS, amongst others.
The Constitutional Council declared results in favour of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM’s candidate, President Paul Biya, on Monday October 27, 2025.
The outcome of the results triggered an outburst as supporters of Issa Tchiroma Bakari, the frontline opposition candidate in the race, claimed their candidate was the most popular and favourite and had won going by results from the return sheets presented by their polling agents from the various polling stations across the national territory. They decried electoral fraud and rigging and immediately took to the streets throughout the national territory following calls from their presidential candidate who came second with close to 37.7% of the votes.
The protest saw looting of business places, road blocks, lockdown and ghost towns. This action from supporters of “President-elect” Issa Tchroma Bakari as he is called by his supporters and sympathizers, didn’t go down well with the government. Following strict instructions from the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, who described the protesters as terrorists and accused them for insurrection, propagation of false information, revolution and rebellion against state institutions, the military and security operatives descended on the protesters with teargas, water cannons. The protesters were tortured, arrested and detained. Over 2,000 persons were detained in the Kondengui prison in Yaounde New Bell Prison in Douala as documented by human rights groups, while the whereabouts of others still remains cloudy.
The main challenger of incumbent President Paul Biya, Issa Tchorima, was placed under ‘house arrest” in Garoua by the population, for fear that the military could arrest and whisk him to the dreaded Kondengui Maximum Security Prison Yaounde.
Meanwhile, many CNSF frontline supporters in the likes of Georges Anicet Ekane, Professor Aba’a Oyono and Djeukam Tchameni were arrested in Douala, ferried to Yaounde and detained at the Secretariat of Defense, SED.
CNSF presidential candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakari, who claimed to have won the polls, later fled out of the country into self-exile.
Georges Anicet Ekane later died at SED.
At press time the Prison Superintendent of the Douala Central Prison, Alexandre Charles Philip Nguaimbahad made public a Search Warrant Press Release on Friday December 12, 2025 that went viral on social media announcing the escape of Fabrice Lena, Campaign Manager of one of the presidential candidates, Ateki Caxton, while returning under security escort from the Douala Court of First Instance in Bonajo where he was standing trial for having published what the government described as falsified results of the polls.
THE SUN gathered that the situation of others in the likes Ngwa Elvis Niba is even more complicated. Sources say Ngwa Elvis Niba’s whereabouts is unclear after he miraculously escaped from detention. Family sources hinted that they are having sleepless nights as to his fate
Ngwa, before his disappearance, was a popular event planner and owner of a Snack Bar in Simbock, Yaounde. He is reported to have turned down a proposal of local authority cum bigwig of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, party to be his co-campaign manager and for his snack bar to operate like rally ground for the campaigns since the area played host to many Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, fleeing the armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions. This was as due to the fact that Ngwa was an influential Anglophone elite at his Simbock community.
The local government authority is said to have cooked up allegations against Ngwa Elvis Niba as being a supporter of the Ambazonia secessionist movement.
Sources in the Simbock neighbourhood also indicated that the family of Ngwa Elvis Niba had vacated their home in Simbock Yaounde, fleeing away from Cameroonian government authorities after the arrest and escape of Ngwa.