There comes a point in the life of every nation when the question is no longer simply who won an election, but whether the country can continue pretending that an election has settled anything at all.

For Cameroon, that moment has arrived.

Paul Biya was declared the winner of the 12 October 2025 presidential election with 53.66 percent of the vote. His principal challenger, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, was awarded 35.19 percent. The Constitutional Council has spoken, and legally, that may be the end of the counting. But it cannot be the end of the argument.

Because a democratic mandate is not created merely by announcing a percentage.

Biya should step down because the 2025 election has failed the more important test: whether Cameroonians can reasonably believe that the result represents their freely expressed political will.

That is not a frivolous accusation. It is a question the authorities themselves have failed to answer convincingly.

The Truth Behind the Numbers

Cameroon’s electoral crisis is not just about manipulation, it is about mathematical cosmetics. By reporting results as percentages of a tiny, filtered subset of voters, the regime turns a nationwide boycott into a “landslide victory.”

In reality, the 2025 presidential poll reflects the collapse of national confidence in elections. The figures expose a government sustained by abstention, not endorsement.

The story of Cameroon’s 2025 presidential election is not written in the glowing percentages on government posters. It is buried in the silence of the 90 percent who refused to vote.

When the history of Paul Biya’s regime is finally written, statisticians will not save him. Numbers may not lie, but politicians do with numbers.

The first problem is the seductive simplicity of percentages.

A candidate can receive 53.66 percent of valid votes cast and still lack anything approaching a broad national mandate. The denominator matters.

Official figures conceal the depth of electoral non-participation, particularly in the conflict-affected North-West and South-West regions.

But an even more troubling problem emerges from the government’s own numbers.

While some divisions reported participation rates around 50–60 percent, others reported participation of 80, 90 and even 97 percent. More importantly, Biya’s margins increased dramatically in precisely those areas reporting extraordinary turnout.

This does by itself prove that ballots were fabricated. We should be intellectually honest about that. It raises a question that cannot responsibly be brushed aside: How did the divisions reporting the most extraordinary turnout become so decisive in producing Biya’s victory?

The numbers deserve an independent audit. And the burden of answering that question falls particularly heavily on a government that has controlled Cameroon for more than four decades.

The election was not fought on a level playing field

An election cannot be judged only by what happened when citizens entered polling stations. It must also be judged by what happened before election day. Who was allowed to compete? Who was excluded? Were institutions sufficiently independent? Could opposition candidates campaign freely? Could voters participate without intimidation? Could electoral complaints receive genuinely impartial consideration?

These questions matter because democracy is not simply the act of putting a ballot into a box. It is the existence of conditions under which citizens can make a meaningful political choice.

The 2025 election was conducted against a backdrop of deep institutional distrust and political exclusion. Among other controversies, prominent opposition leader Maurice Kamto was prevented from contesting after the Constitutional Council rejected his candidacy in favour of another candidate from the same party. We also recorded widespread perceptions of fraud and the violence that followed the election.

This is why the government’s preferred argument—that the Constitutional Council has declared Biya the winner—misses the point.

An institution can declare a result. It cannot manufacture public confidence in that result.

The most disturbing evidence is hidden inside the official numbers. Perhaps the most powerful challenge to the official result does not come from an opposition press conference. It comes from examining the numbers themselves.

When we put the Constitutional Council’s own divisional results and conduct a simple sensitivity test, it becomes clear that Biya stole the victory. When divisions reporting turnout above 90 percent were excluded, Biya’s lead narrowed considerably. When divisions above 80 percent were excluded, Tchiroma moved ahead. At a 70-percent threshold, the difference became even more pronounced in Tchiroma’s favour.

Again, this is not proof that every high-turnout division falsified votes. It is something more uncomfortable: The official national result appears unusually dependent on a relatively small group of divisions reporting exceptionally high participation.

In a functioning democracy, such a finding would trigger scrutiny, verification and transparent investigation. In Cameroon, we were instead given a declaration and expected to move on. We should not. The North-West and South-West cannot simply be statistical footnotes.

There is another reason why the 2025 result deserves extraordinary scrutiny: the conditions under which voting supposedly took place in Cameroon’s conflict-affected English-speaking regions.

For nearly a decade, the North-West and South-West have experienced armed conflict, displacement, insecurity, destroyed infrastructure and severe restrictions on ordinary civic life.

Yet the official electoral figures attribute substantial participation and decisive support for Biya in some of these areas.

That should automatically be labelled impossible. People can and did vote in conflict-affected communities, but the turnout was never massive, never!

But extraordinary claims require extraordinary verification. Where populations have been displaced and where insecurity has made ordinary movement difficult, the question is not merely how many votes were counted?

Where did those voters come from? Where were the polling stations? How many polling officials were present? How many voters actually signed the registers? How many polling-station results are independently available? Were the figures reconciled from the polling station upward?

These are basic questions of electoral credibility.

They are particularly important when the disputed figures are capable of determining who becomes president.

The aftermath made the legitimacy problem worse

If the election had produced an unquestioned result, Cameroon would today be discussing the country’s future under a newly renewed Biya presidency.

Instead, the country entered a period of post-election tension.

Tchiroma rejected the official outcome and claimed victory. Protests followed in several cities. Human Rights Watch reported that security forces used tear gas, water cannons and, in some cases, live ammunition against protesters. Reuters likewise reported that the disputed result triggered protests and clashes amid allegations of electoral irregularities.

This is where the government needs to understand the difference between legal authority and political legitimacy.

A government can possess the machinery of the state and still lack the confidence of a substantial part of the population.

It can command soldiers without commanding consent.

It can control institutions without controlling the national imagination.

It can win a legal battle and still lose the legitimacy battle.

And Cameroon cannot afford another seven years governed by that contradiction.

Biya’s greatest responsibility now is not to remain in power

Paul Biya has been president since 1982.

He has now been declared the winner of an eighth presidential term at the age of 92.

That fact should not be reduced to an argument about age. Age alone does not disqualify anyone from public office.

The deeper issue is what four decades of uninterrupted rule have done to political institutions.

A healthy democracy should be capable of producing leaders beyond one individual.

A healthy political system should not make the departure of one president appear synonymous with the collapse of the state.

A healthy republic should not require its citizens to choose repeatedly between the same ruler and instability.

After 44 years, Biya should understand that the most consequential political act of his presidency may now be knowing when to leave.

Stepping down is not surrender

There will be those who argue that asking Biya to step down amounts to disrespecting the Constitution.

That argument is too simplistic.

The Constitution is not an instrument for converting contested political power into permanent personal entitlement. Constitutionalism is ultimately about limiting power, protecting citizens and ensuring that government rests on lawful and legitimate authority.

The credibility of the 2025 election is seriously contested, and the responsible response is not to hide behind institutional formalities.

It is to confront the dispute.

That could mean an independent and transparent audit of electoral records. It could mean publication of polling-station-level results and electoral registers. It could mean credible investigation of disputed turnout figures. It could mean an inclusive political dialogue on the future of the country.

And if the evidence demonstrates that the announced result cannot be sustained, Biya should have the courage to relinquish power and allow a genuinely credible political transition.

That would not make him weak.

It would be statesmanship.

Cameroon needs an exit from the politics of permanent incumbency

The greatest danger is not that Cameroon changes its president.

The greatest danger is that Cameroon becomes convinced that presidents can never be changed through peaceful democratic means.

That belief is poisonous.

Once citizens conclude that elections cannot change governments, they eventually stop investing in elections. When institutional channels close, political frustration searches for alternative channels. When peaceful dissent is suppressed, anger does not disappear; it accumulates.

Cameroon has already seen enough of what happens when political grievances are allowed to deepen into conflict.

We do not need another cycle.

We need an exit.

And that exit should begin with the recognition that the presidency is not the personal property of Paul Biya, the CPDM or any political establishment. It belongs to the Cameroonian people.

The world should not confuse order with legitimacy

There is also a responsibility beyond Cameroon.

The international community must stop treating electoral declarations as sufficient evidence of democratic legitimacy.

International actors have often been tempted to prioritise stability over democracy. But there is a difference between a country being quiet and a country being stable.

A population can be silent because it is content.

It can also be silent because it is afraid.

Those are not the same thing.

Cameroon needs international partners willing to ask difficult questions about the credibility of the 2025 election rather than simply congratulating the declared winner and moving on.

The objective should not be to install one particular opposition politician in power.

It should be to ensure that Cameroonians—not electoral institutions captured by political interests—determine who governs them.

That distinction is crucial.

Biya’s final legacy is now in his hands

President Biya has governed Cameroon for more than four decades.

He can therefore leave office as the man who held onto power until the very end, presiding over another contested election and another period of repression.

Or he can leave as the leader who finally recognised that a country is greater than its president.

The choice is his.

But Cameroon cannot indefinitely survive on disputed mandates, institutional capture, political exclusion and the mathematics of electoral percentages.

The 2025 election has exposed something far more fundamental than a disagreement over numbers.

It has exposed a crisis of trust.

And trust cannot be restored by another presidential speech, another official communiqué or another declaration from another institution.

It requires accountability.

It requires transparency.

It requires institutional reform.

And above all, it requires political courage.

Paul Biya should step down.

Not because an opposition candidate claims to have won.

Not simply because Biya is 92.

Not merely because he has been president since 1982.

He should step down because Cameroon cannot build a credible democratic future on an election whose result remains deeply contested and whose official figures raise serious questions that have not been adequately answered.

If Biya truly believes that the people chose him, then he should welcome the scrutiny necessary to establish that choice beyond reasonable doubt.

If the numbers survive independent verification, the country should accept them.

If they do not, he should accept the consequence.

After 44 years in power, the greatest service Paul Biya can render Cameroon may be to prove that, finally, the republic is bigger than the man who has ruled it for most of its modern history.

Cameroon does not need another victory manufactured on paper.

It needs a government whose authority is believed by the people it governs.

And that begins with letting the people have the final word.

Tekuh Felix is a Cameroonian banker, political activist, and advocate for democratic reform. Born on 20 October 1981 in Ndoungue, Littoral Region, he became actively involved in the Anglophone crisis in 2016. In 2017, he co-founded Anglophone Youth for Change, promoting peaceful protest and constitutional reform. He later joined the Cameroon People’s Party (CPP) and became active in Stand Up for Cameroon, advocating good governance, social justice, and institutional reform. His activism led to repeated arrests, detention, and torture. He relocated to the United Kingdom in 2024 and continues his political activism while seeking protection from persecution in Cameroon.

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Following the crisis in the Northwest and South West regions of Cameroon, which has gradually morphed into an armed conflict, some English speaking citizens from these two regions have found themselves in a crossfire between the military and Ambazonia separatist fighters.

Security forces have been indiscriminately arresting Anglophone activists and suspected wealthy elite. Sources say the arrested persons are being unlawfully detained under deplorable and inhumane conditions. Some have reportedly died in detention, and some disappeared with their whereabouts yet unknown.

These have caused many of them to flee into hiding and the whereabouts of many are not known. With the insurgence of the crisis, some villagers in some communities have been forced to escape into the forest for fear of being caught in the crossfire.

The separatist fighters have also been torturing and killing those who are suspected of sharing information with the military or are unwilling to support their struggle like Ngwasoh Jonathan, Elisabeth Ndip Ekwet epouse TabiTabe, Emmanuel Ekembe and 2 others.

A case in point of those who have recently been accused and targeted last week are Elisabeth Ndip Ekwet epse TabiTabe, a senior worker at a commercial bank in Douala whose life is in danger, and Jonathan Ngwasoh, a Business Consultant. They are both on the run.

The threats by separatist fighters, we gathered, came after the aforementioned persons outrightly refused to support their struggle financially. The separatist fighters have stated that they will kidnap Elizabeth Ndip and Jonathan Ngwasoh and kill both of them  if they find them in their villages or anywhere in the country.

Meanwhile, Elisabeth Ndip has also been trailed by the military since she built a house for her parents in the village at a time many have been fleeing to safety. The military suspects that this could only have been possible for anyone supporting the separatists.

Unfortunately, people who have been arrested by the military under such circumstances in the past are tried in a military tribunal under the anti-terrorism law whose maximum punishment is death penalty. That is if they are not killed outrightly, like many others who have been victims of extrajudicial killings.

Origin of crisis

It is also worth recalling that the Anglophone crisis, something that pundits say had been brewing for several years, boiled over recently, when Common Law Lawyers in the North West and South West regions went on strike. They were demanding for the return of the federal system of government, redeployment of Civil Law Magistrates back to Civil Law Courts in French Cameroon, among other grievances. Not long after, teachers in the North West and South West regions also went on strike, demanding for the redress of several issues concerning the English system of education.

Things, however, got worst when Anglophones in both regions, who had been fed up with the unfavourable political and economic situation of the country, the use of French as the dominant and official language, and the marginalisation of the Anglophones, joined the strike.

The crisis has left thousands, both civilians and security and defence forces dead, others internally displaced with some living in bushes while over 30,000 have fled to neighbouring Nigeria where they are living as refugees.

Many houses, and even whole villages, have been burnt down in the crisis-hit regions.

The separatist leader of the self-declared Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, and eight other close associates of his, who were arrested in Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon, are currently serving life sentences at the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde. Many other activists such as Mancho Bibixy, Penn Terrence, Tsi Conrad among others are also serving jail terms at the Kondengui prison.

While the Anglophone crisis continues to escalate, international organisations and other western powers have called on the government to address the root cause through genuine and inclusive dialogue.

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For over four years now the arm conflict in the North West and South West Regions have been raging on as separatist fighters and secessionist are still demanding for the restoration or total Independence of the former British Southern Cameroon and for a new country to be known as Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

As the war rages on unabatted, the government of Cameroon has made multiple efforts to fish out the perpetrators of the arm conflict both at home and abroad.

Parents and family members of suspected activists and frontline members of those abroad  clamouring for the creation of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia back home are constantly been brutalised, molested , tortured and detained under inhumane condition, in order for them to cause the extradition of their relatives abroad.

Reports hold that many suspected activists abroad who have visited Cameroon  since the Anglophone crisis metamorphosed into an arm conflict with separatist fighters and government forces involved in frequent sporadic cross fire at the detriment of innocent civilians, have been arrested and prosecuted at the military court on frame terrorism related offences.

Rights organisations have documented many evidence indicating that Cameroon is no longer a safe heaven in the Centre Africa Sub Region  as was the case 8 years ago.

Amongst the many activists abroad whose relatives at home are finding it difficult to escape constant military harassment, brutality  and detention is Nymbuh Neba Ericshu’s uncle Bana Nji.

Reports say because of the role played by Nymbuh Neba abroad in line with the Anglophone crisis, his uncle Bana Nji is reported to have escaped to the bush for safety. The military say he is one of the middlemen between Ericshu and the Separatist fighters.

It should be recalled that with the outbreak of the crisis, Nymbuh Neba Ericshu, joined others in the diaspora in September 2017  to  clamour for the total Independence of the people of former British Southern Cameroon. His name alongside others went into records when  a delegation of some Cameroon cabinet Minister’s led by Minister of Justice Laurent  Esso visited Europe to dialogue with Southern Cameroon/ Ambazonia community and were disgraced by the disgruntled Ambazonia community. Thi incident placed him and many others under security searchlight within the national territory.

Another Cameroonian who is facing tough times with the military is Kumba based Businessman, Simo Kameni Vincent. He has constantly been accused  by security operatives for sympathising with Anglophone Separatists.

He was arrested by the military after been  accused of using his nephew Touko Steve Loic who is abroad, for providing finance and logistics to the English speaking diaspora fueling the armed conflict in Cameroon.

Ever since the arrest of Touko Steve’s uncle, Simo Kameni  following the October 2020 attacked on a school in Kumba where several students were killed and others servely inqured, nothing has been heard about him and his whereabout remains cloudy.

Family sources have hinted that Touko is a target in the hands of the military since he regularly visits his uncle Simo, on vacation. His attorney  hinted that Touko is currently under military search light and will be persecuted and prosecuted if arrested within the national territory.

what is now known as the Anglophone crisis that started with the demands from Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers urging the government for shun the  marginalisation of Anglophone Cameroon by La Republique du Cameroun for a better Cameroon have  taken a different twist. For about five years now, the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon have remained restive.

The crisis has  metamophorsed into an arm conflict, with the emergency of Separatist fighters commonly known as ” Amba Boys” who have taken up   arms against the state in demand for the complete independence of former British  Southern Cameroon.

This move by the separatist fighters, met serious reprisals from government forces, and the death toll has been on the increase, with Businessmen, medicial professionals, politicians,  students and a cross section of individuals in different works of life bearing the greatest brunt.

Houses and villages have been burnt. suspected individuals, linked to separatist fighters and activists of the anglophone course have been arrested, molested, tortured by government forces, and some detained in very horrible inhumane detention conditions.  Others  have gone underground to unknown destination and  are currently  placed  under security searchlight. Government has openly declared them wanted, and will be persecuted and prosecuted any time they are arrested.

It should  be noted that Human Rights groups have in one voice condemned the extrajudicial killings by mostly on innocent civilians, including pregnant women and burning of houses and villages. Reports indicate that the about  4000 civilians’ lives have been claimed by the arm conflict and about 750000 person displaced, with many living in horrible conditions in  neighbouring Nigeria.

International organisations and Western powers have called on the government to address the root cause of the crisis through dialogue. French President Emmanuel Macron have recently promised to exert ” maximum pressure” on the President Paul Biya of Cameroon , to end Cameroon’s  intolerable Human Rights Violations. Many how ever  hold that Cameroon is unsafe for anglophone activists  home and abroad.

Cameroon that used to be a peaceful country in turbulence CEMAC zone is now engulfed by war in the North West and South West Regions and the hope for peace to return is only when they will be a meaningful, genuine  and inclusive dialogue.

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Factions of English-speaking Cameroonians came out last Friday October 1, 2021 commemorating the supposed restoration of their independent state, Ambazonia. The said statehood restoration was declared October 1, 2017, by the self-proclaimed president, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, who is currently serving a life jail term alongside nine other separatist leaders who were arrested in Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon in January 2018, before being sentenced for charges like secession and hostilities against the state.

Hitherto celebrated by Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) and involving mostly older men and women, who were usually placed under house arrest prior to the supposed Independence Day or arrested to released only after October, the dynamics have changed since October 2017. Separatists leaders and fighters, who took up arms to consolidate their independence some 4 years ago following the declaration of war by President Paul Biya, are now the ones setting the pace on how the supposed independence day is celebrated. While they have resorted to declaring weeks of lockdown before and after the Independence Day, the Cameroon Government uses this period to intensify crackdowns on separatist fighters, activists, and leaders.

Ahead of this year’s celebration of the event, some factions of the Ambazonia leadership abroad, declared a-2-week lockdown, an action which according to Paul Nilong of the Ambazonia Interim Government, was necessary to tell the Yaoundé Government that they are in control. The government on its part, deployed troops and sophisticated weapons to crackdown on activists and fighters, they term ‘terrorists’.

Despite the heavy militarization of the Anglophone regions, amateur images still emerged on the social media with the blue and white flag flying at some strategic spots in the regions, alongside videos of separatist fighters marching and singing freedom songs in some parts of the regions. This show of bravery undoubtedly provoked the Cameroon defense forces leading to a number of clashes. Reports hold that there was a serious battle between the Government forces and Ambazonia restoration forces in Nkambe, North West Region of Cameroon with two soldiers and two separatist fighters said to have been killed.

Then SUN also gathered that the day was characterized with random home-to-home search, arrest and torture of suspected ambazonia supporters and activists. Most of the homes visited where either those located in close proximity to where the Ambazonia flag was hoisted or belonging to activists on the “Wanted List” of the Cameroon Government. The SUN has it on good record that the arm-to-teeth government forces visited the home of a UK-based newly elected SCNC Chairman, Robert Tamanji, alongside other members like: Ivo Kuka, Catherine Yambo, Omawah Elenor Charlotte Oyebog, Alain Bougan, and Meulla Kamgang Armand.

In Ekondo Titi of the Ndian Division of Cameroon, there were report of fierce clashes between Government forces and separatist fighters. The Sun gathered that, after these clashes, the military set out in mad search of a certain 29-year old Noel Sangu Jato, believed to be the one sponsoring separatist activities given that their family house at the periphery of Ekondo Titi has been usurped by separatist fighters as host. The SUN gathered that the arm-to-the-teeth security forces visited the main family residence of Noel Sangu Jato, who has since 2019 been declared wanted by the military and had left the country under unclear circumstances, leaving behind his mother and siblings who are said to be seeking refuge in Nigeria. Clashes between the military and separatists fighters in the Ndian Division has been very rife since the start of the Anglophone crisis, and has led to the death of  Pa Jato.

As we went to Press, family sources hinted that government forces, who came looking for Noel Sangu last Friday October 1, 2021, vowed to spare no efforts at tracking him down. Apart from the few clashes between separatists fighters and government forces, and crackdown, the general atmosphere in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon during this Independence Day was calm, with ghosted streets as many remained indoors for fear of the unknown.

The 2021 edition of the Ambazonia Independence Day has come and gone but there are no signs of the arm conflict ending soon. While the Cameroon Government has intensified the deployment of the military and heavy weapons, the separatists are bent on consolidating their independence come what may.

Meanwhile, Cameroon is now considered unsafe by many Anglophones in the diaspora who fear arrest or death if they return to the country. While the Anglophone crisis continues to escalate, International Organisations and other Western powers have called on the Government to address the root cause of the crisis through dialogue. Also, prominent Anglophone lawyer and Human Rights Activist, Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla, has called on the Government to dialogue, and to release all Anglophones unlawfully detained and imprisoned. Recently French President Emmanuel Macron promised to exert “maximum pressure” on President Paul Biya of Cameroon, to end Cameroon’s intolerable Human Rights violations.

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The North West and South West Regions of Cameroon have remained restive since 2017 following what is now known as the Anglophone crisis. The crisis started with the demands from Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers urging the Government to shun the marginalisation of Anglophone Cameroon by La Republique du Cameroun for a better Cameroon. It has metamorphosed into an arm conflict, with the emergence of Separatist fighters commonly known as ” Amba Boys”, who have taken up arms against the state in demand for the independence of former British Southern Cameroon.

This move by the Separatist fighters, met serious reprisals from government forces, and the death toll has been on the increase especially from the innocent civilian population, with Businessmen, medical professionals, politicians, students and a cross section of individuals of different walks of life.

Houses and villages have been burnt, while suspected individuals linked to Separatist fighters and activists of the Anglophone course have seen themselves arrested, molested and tortured by government forces, with some detained in very horrible inhumane detention conditions. Others have gone underground to an unknown destination and are currently under security searchlight as the Government has openly declared them wanted, and will have them persecuted and prosecuted any time they are arrested.

Latest statistics from national and international rights bodies indicate that over 4000 civilians’ have been killed with about 800,000 displaced, beside many living horrible lives in neighbouring Nigeria due to the arm conflict.

One of such dreadful incidents was on February 14, 2020, when the military, with the assistance of about 30 armed Fulani militiamen, stormed the village of Ngarbuh, in the North West Region, and killed, 21 civilians’, including 13 children and a pregnant woman. This sad incident received widespread condemnation across the board including the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, the USA, UK, France, and the Nobel Women’s Initiative. Despite documented compelling evidence published by New York Times Journal, and corroborated by Human Rights Watch accusing the Cameroon Military for the massacre, the government formally denied her responsibility for the killings in Ngarbuh but later admitted after several criticisms and independent investigations.

All these have made life in the two restive regions unsafe. Amidst all these, the Government is said to have launched a fresh hunt to bring to book all those suspected to be linked to or facilitating the activities of separatist fighters both at home or abroad.

Ekondo Titi in tears

As the crisis rages on, the population of Bekora Barombi, a locality in Ekondo- Titi Sub Division, Ndian Division, South West Region of Cameroon, are still to come to terms with the untimely death of 67 – year-old Monica Esengoe, in a local hospital, following a military brutality on her and other locals on August 29, 2021.

Reports say Monica who succeeded to relocate to a suburb around Buea, was arrested during a raid and while in detention, it was discovered that she was from Bekora village and had escaped when the village was raided after the killing of some soliders there. After several days in detention under inhumane conditions and torture, locals disclosed that she fell seriously sick and for fear that she could die in detention, they moved her to a local hospital where she died.

It should be recalled that Monica Esengoe’s two sons Ival Rawlings Ngabe and Enone Ngabe Kingsley’s where about remain cloudy since September 2018 following a military raid in Bekora Barombi, considered a strong hold of Separatist fighters.

The military raid according to reports resulted from the killing of some military personnel by separatist fighters. As a result, several youths and older men and women were arrested, with some killed. Houses were razed to the ground and many alongside Monica and her two sons; Rawlings and Kingsley escaped to the bush for safety.

As we went to Press, mourners at the funeral of Monica. Esengoe regretted the fact that, Monica was interred without Rawlings and Kingsley, who have not been seen since September 2018. Like several other villagers, denizens are still uncertain of the where about of these two siblings.

It should be noted that those arrested in connection with the Anglophone crisis, are tried in the military tribunal under the terrorism law, with death penalty as maximum sentence. The case of the Ambazonia Leaders that is Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Barrister Eyambe Elias Ebai, Tassang Wilfred and 5 others, and many other Anglophones is still fresh. Recently, the military tribunal in Buea sentenced some Anglophones linked to the killing of some pupils of the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy, Kumba in October 2020 to death, and Ival and Kinsley might obviously face the same fate if ever found or arrested by the security forces of Cameroon.

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The Cameroon Government is having sleepless nights following the kidnapping six divisional delegate for Ndian Division, one of the restive areas in the South West Region. The divisional delegates were kidnapped June 15, 2021,by alleged separatist fighters, commonly referred to as Amba Boys, according to government sources. Theses delegates include; Mabia John Modika, of Economy, Planning and Regional Development who unfortunately was slain by the Amba Boys, Mambe Elvis Ebaku of State Property, Felicia Ndong of Housing and Urban Development, Elad Emmanuel of Water and Energy, Mbida Armand Christian of Small and Medium Size Enterprises and Agbor Stephen Nyenti, the Chief of Service for Survey.

The kidnaping and killing of one the delegates by separatist fighters has caused panic within the government circle, given that the killing of about seven pupils of Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy Fiango-Kumba, South West Region by amba Boys is still fresh. It is against this backdrop that the Government has intensified hunt for separatist fighters home and abroad for terrorism related offences such as hostilities against the fatherland, secession, revolution, propagation of false news, and Rape.

Many Anglophone youths who were suspected and tagged as secessionist have been arrested, tortured detained under inhumane condition, and their Rights given a deaf ear by government forces. Most of these youths are human rights activists who have been very vocal about Government’s handling of the 5-year-old Anglophone crisis rocking the North West and South West Regions.

34 year- old Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor is one of the few youths who have suffered the highest in the hands of the Cameroon Government as they intensify search. The Litigation Officer of the Center for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy in Cameroon, HURIDAC, and a member of the Southern Cameroon National Council, SCNC, was arrested following his participation on a debate programme on Equinox TV wherein he blamed government for mishandling the crisis in the two regions that has metamorphosed into an arm conflict. Reports say Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor, was only released after about two weeks of torture and molestation under inhumane detention condition when he endorsed an undertaking to stop any form of sensitisation.

Not long Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor couldn’t resist the temptation of been mute as mentioned in the undertaking as summary killings, arrests detention and gross violation of Human Rights was the order of the day as the arm conflict raged on. Family sources hinted that Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor sent out information on the atrocities of the military on Anglophones to many media houses both in and out of Cameroon. He was arrested and for going against the undertaking, he endorsed. After several months of detention, torture and molestations by the military, he was tagged alongside other youths who were in detention for aiding secessionist activities in Cameroon and will be charged in the Mfoundi High court for terrorism related offences.

Despite all attempts to secure his release, Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor, and other youths linked to the Anglophone crisis were only granted bail when news filtered that some Human Rights Organisations and International Red Cross Society were to visit various detention centers in Yaounde. This was because the Government never wanted the international community to uncover the Human Rights abuses meted on

Anglophones innocent youths in detention. This is how Evaritus Ngetsop Takafor alongside other youths who were granted bail from the dreaded detention prisons sneaked himself out of the country to an unknown destination.

It should be noted that those arrested in connection with the Anglophone crisis are tried in the military tribunal and high courts under the terrorism law whose maximum sentence is death penalty. The case of the Ambazonia Leaders that is Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Barrister Eyambe Elias Ebai, Tassang Wilfred, and 5 others and many other Anglophones is still fresh.

It should be recalled that Human Rights groups have in one voice condemned the extrajudicial killings by mostly on innocent civilians, including pregnant women and burning of houses and villages. Reports indicate that the about 4000 civilians’ lives have been claimed by the arm conflict and about 750000 person displaced, with many living in horrible conditions in neighboring Nigeria.

International organisations and Western powers have called on the government to address the root cause of the crisis through dialogue. French President Emmanuel Macron have recently promised to exert “maximum pressure” on the President Paul Biya of Cameroon, to end Cameroon’s intolerable Human Rights Violations. Many however, hold that Cameroon is unsafe for anglophone activists home and abroad.

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The Anglophone crisis, which started in 2016 with a strike action by Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers against marginalisation and attempt by the Cameroon Government to assimilate Anglophone education and judiciary systems, has now turned bloody with innocent youths, women, children, drivers, business persons and others bearing the greatest brunt.

Separatist fighters popularly known as “Amba Boys, who took up arms when the Head of State, President Paul Biya, declared war on them in November 30, 2017, have been engaged in deadly confrontations with government forces. This has kept the death toll on the increase with several innocent civilian population, drivers, medical professionals, politicians, students and a cross section of individuals in different walks of life incriminated.

Houses and villages have been burnt and suspected individuals linked to separatist fighters and activists of the Anglophone course arrested, molested, tortured and detained by government forces in very horrible inhumane detention conditions. Others have gone underground to unknown destination and are currently placed under security searchlight.

The government is said to have launched a fresh hunt to bring to book all those suspected to be linked or facilitating the activities of separatist fighters both at home and abroad. Amongst those in the list is a popular businessman, Tabe Boris Eyembe, from Kumba, and a renowned driver, Ebwekwene Adille Joel, from Bangem, who plies the Kumba-Buea road.

The SUN gathered that, just like many other civilians in the two restive regions who are suspected to have a link with the separatist fighters, Joel who is said to have smuggled himself out of the country, has gone through a bitter experience with the military. The SUN has it on good record that Joel fell sick while in detention due to continuous torture and inhumane treatment, and almost dropped death but for the timely intervention of his family.

The Kumba-Buea driver was transporting passengers from Kumba to Buea, April 3, 2021 when he was stopped at a mixed military control checkpoint during one of his trips, with some passengers identified as separatist fighters, family sources confirmed. The SUN gathered that all attempt by Ebwekwene Adille Joel to vindicate himself was futile as the military accused him of collaborating with separatist fighters, and ferried alongside five others and placed incommunicado in draconian inhumane detention conditions for 10 days.

Trusted sources disclosed that the 23-year-old driver was about being transported with several others to the Yaounde maximum security prison when his family intervened. Given Joel’s depleting health condition, the military permitted his family to take him for medical attention on the condition that he will be produced for prosecution as soon as he recovers.

Reports later emerged that Adille Joel’s family smuggled him out of the country. This caused security operatives to issue an arrest warrant against him. As we went to press, Joel’s close friends and neighbours disclosed that the search for him by the military has intensified, with his parents still on the run as government forces mount pressure for him to be produced.

As tension rages the government is sparing no effort at tracking down those they consider agents of the destruction of Cameroon with secessionist tendencies. They still consider the fighters and activists as terrorists and any one caught is usually tagged with numerous trumped up charges like rebellion, revolution, secession, and insurrection amongst others. Even those abroad considered as activists and preaching against the marginalisation of Southern Cameroons by the Yaoundé regime have equally been declared enemies of the State of Cameroon, and have been tagged for persecution.

Recent statistics by civil society organizations shows that about 300 villages have been burnt down in the two regions and some 500,000 people internally displaced. A good number of English speaking Cameroonians have also assumed refugees status in Nigeria. Meanwhile a good number of those on the run have been declared wanted with warrants of arrest issued against their names.

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More and more activists of the Southern Cameroon National Council, SCNC, a movement clamouring for the total independence of Southern Cameroon within the crisis – stricken regions of Cameroon have resorted to going underground after surviving myriads of arrests, molestation, torture and detention under horrible inhumane conditions from the Cameroon military for allegedly collaborating with the separatist fighters commonly known as “Amba Boys” who have pick up arms against the state fighting for the restoration of the independence of the statehood of former British Southern Cameroon termed Ambazonia.

As the arm conflict in the restive regions of the North West and South West rages on, despite the ban of the SCNC in January 2017, the Government of Cameroon has announced fresh plans to arrest more SCNC activists for them to face persecution and prosecution, and subsequently hand them draconian jail term. These activists include but not limited to Mancho Bibixy, who staged a coffin revolution at the Liberty Square in Bamenda to protest against the marginalisation and economic deprivation of Anglophones, Penn Terence, the leader of the self – styled state of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and members of his cabinet, Barrister Eyambe Ebai, Tassang Wilfred and Dr Nfor Ngala Nfor one of the founding fathers of the SCNC.

Reports hold that the massacre of seven children at the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba, last October 2020, by unknown gunmen has made life in the region unbearable for the civilian population. Despite this development and other sad and regrettable incidents like random killing of youths and innocent civilians, and the burning of houses and villages, by both the military and separatist fighters leaving many Internally Displayed Persons, the government is making all efforts to crack down on the alleged separatist fighters and SCNC activists. The government has already considered them as prime suspects and enemies of the state who want to distabilise the state.

Many SCNC activists have already been earmarked for arrest, with panic griping their family members whose relatives have been declared wanted by the powers that be. This is because if the earmarked activists are apprehended, their lives will be “wasted” or better still neutralized. Family sources disclosed that the whereabout of their relations considered as SCNC activists remains cloudy as many of them have gone to areas where the respect of human rights is prime. The wife of one of the SCNC activists Keptchouang Ngioko Nicole, narrates that her husband, Ngatsi Tombou Ghislain , who joined the secessionist group in 2010, and was voted the SCNC Public Relations Officer for Kumba in Meme Division South West Region, has on several occasions been subjected to several arrests, molestation torture and detained under inhumane conditions.

Nicole disclosed that after her husband went underground in September 2014, thanks to the Intervention of a Police officer, names withheld for security reasons, they have not known peace. The activist’s wife relocated to Yaounde late 2020 for fear of the unknown, after she informed that an arrest warrant has been issued against her. While in Yaounde, Nicole said she was picked up in mixed police control check point around the popular Mokolo Market. While in police custody, she was identified by a police officer who had once worked in Kumba. The officer narrated how her husband, Ghislain, who suffered several detentions in Kumba has been declared wanted by the Government. Despite her refusal of having any link with Ghislain and Kumba, the police was bent on detaining her. It is at this level that it became clear to her that they have already been tagged.

Reports equally hold that Njikam Ahmed Ndam, a popular Kumba based businessman who joined the Secessionist movement in 2010, has since been under security searchlight due to his frontline role in the SCNC manifestation for the restoration of the independence of former British Southern Cameroon. His role within the movement has landed him several times in confrontations with security operatives amidst sporadic gun shots between the military and separatist fighters.

The most pathetic incident was in 2018 following a military raid in Hausa quarters, Kumba, Meme Division South West Region of Cameroon where the popular NDAM & SONS Business Complex own by Njikam Ahmed Ndam was razed to the ground. According to dependable sources, Njikam was detained with plans to be whisked to Kondengui maximum prison in Yaounde as prime suspect for the bomb explosion in Douala, Littoral Region of Cameroon on January 31, 2021, but he disappeared under unclear circumstances.

Ever since his disappearance security operatives have been making frantic efforts to arrest Njikam Ahmed and to charge him before the military tribunal for secessionist, and terrorism related offences. As we went to press, other SCNC activists and suspected separatist fighters have equally been earmarked, for apprehension. Names such as Silenou Fokou Thiery , Mbah Tifu, Sakwe James and many others may never be seen again as the conflict in the restive regions shows no sign of ending any time soon.

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The North West and South West Regions of Cameroon have remained restive since 2017, following what is now known as the Anglophone crisis, which started with Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone teachers urging the Government for shun the marginalisation of Anglophone Cameroon by La Republique du Cameroun for a better Cameroon.

The crisis has metamophorsed into an arm conflict, with the emergence of Separatist fighters commonly known as ” Amba Boys” who have taken up arms against the state in demand for the complete independence of Southern Cameroons for the creation of a new Country, “the Federal Republic of Ambazonia”.

This move by the Separatist fighters, met serious reprisals from government forces, and the death toll has been increasing especially from the innocent civilian population. Businessmen, medical professionals, politicians, students and a cross section of individuals in different works of life are increasingly facing the brunt of the crisis.

Houses and villages have been burnt, and suspected individuals linked to Separatist fighters and activists of the anglophone course arrested, molested, and tortured by government forces. Some have detained in very horrible and inhumane detention conditions, while others have gone underground to unknown destination and are currently under security searchlight. Government have openly declared them wanted, and will be persecuted and prosecuted any time they are arrested.

Latest statistics from National and International Rights bodies indicate that, over 4000 civilians’ have been killed with about 800000 displaced, beside many living horrible lives in neighbouring Nigeria due to the arm conflict.

One of such was on February 14, 2020, when the military, with the assistance of about 30 armed Fulani militiamen, stormed the village of Ngarbuh in the North West Region and killed 21 civilians including 13 children and a pregnant woman. This sad incident received widespread condemnation across the board including the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, the USA, UK France, and the Nobel Women’s Initiative. Despite, documented compelling evidence published by New York Times Journal, and corroborated by Human Rights Watch accusing the Cameroon Military for the massacre, the government formally denied responsibility for the killings in Ngarbuh.

These have made life in the two restive regions, unsafe. Amidst all these, the Government is said to have launched a fresh hunt to bring to book all those suspected to be linked or facilitating the activities of Separatist fighters both at home and abroad.

To this effect, a long list of these persons, reports say, is in circulation. Amongst those in the list include a popular businessman in Kumba, one of the restive towns in the two restive regions, Nguefeu Ngioko Claude Bernes, Joseph Itoe and Zacheus Sakwe. The SUN gathered that just like many other civilians in the regions, who are suspected to have a link with the separatist fighters, Nguefeu whose family have confirmed that his where-about remains cloudy, since October 2020, had one of the most bitter experience with the military. The businessman, just like others, was arrested at a mix military control check point in Mambanda, while returning from a business trip in neighbouring Nigeria. As the only Anglophone in the vehicle, the military immediately concluded that he was a middle man who buys goods from Nigeria and supply to the Separatist fighters in the bushes. Despite all attempts by Claude to refuse the allegations, sources say his goods were confiscated, and he was detained for some days at the Kumba Central Police Station.

Ngioko was released on bail but trapped in sporadic gun shot between Separatist fighters and the military on the eve of October 1, a day considered by separatists as Independence Day. Reports say Claude Bernes had gone to the Kumba main market to warn his sales boys not to go the market on that day. In the midst of these confrontations, one of his sales boy was shot to death. While many were rushing for safety, Nguefeu was arrested alongside many youths by the military. Claude, according to sources sneaked in to bush alongside some of them who were arrested and still date his where-about remains cloudy.

As we went to press, Claude’s family members disclosed that the search for him by the military has intensified, as his provision store at the Kumba main market is under military surveillance. Meanwhile, his family residence in Ekombe, a neighbouring village to Kumba has been razed to the ground by the military. Some of his family relations have equally been killed, just because Nguefeu Ngioko’s where-about is unknown, and military has declared him wanted just like many innocent youths.

It should be noted that those arrested in connection with the Anglophone crisis are tried in the military tribunal under the terrorism law whose maximum sentence is death penalty. The case of the Ambazonia leaders like Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Barrister Eyambe Elias Ebai, Tassang Wilfred, and 5 others and many other Anglophones is still fresh.

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Since the Anglophone crisis, which started in 2016 with a strike action by Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers against marginalization metamorphosed into an arm conflict between security forces and separatist fighters, the Cameroon Government has been intensifying efforts to cut down logistic supply to separatist fighters.
Many suspected sponsors of the separatist fighters, commonly called the Amba Boys, have been arrested and placed under dehumanizing conditions in different detention facilities across the country, while some have abandoned their families, businesses and homes and are on the run.
A case in point is that of a supposed oil mill operator, David Nsuh Tangwin, based in Bekora-Ndian Division, South West Region of Cameroon, a village of 5000 to 7000 inhabitants, which has almost been completely razed due to repeated clashes between security forces and Amba Boys.
Report has it that, last December 2018, some separatist fighters attacked a military post in the Bekora village, wounded some security forces and vanished to an unknown destination. In response, security forces, who have more or less transformed the village into a military camp, came out and burnt hundreds of houses, as villagers fled for their lives. As if this was not enough, they launched a man-hunt for alleged sponsors of separatist fighters; arresting, molesting and transferring them to dreadful detention centres across the country from where they are levied charges related to terrorism and insurrection.
The SUN has it on good record that Mr. Nsuh Tangwin, whose name was on the list of suspected sponsors of the separatist fighters, was hinted by a military friend and he disappeared to an unknown destination leaving behind his family. It later filtered from family sources that David Nsuh’s oil mill was burnt down by irate military men, who have been touring the area almost every other day hoping to lay hands on him. David Nsuh Tangwin’s where about remains a guess work with many divulging that he possibly smuggled himself into Nigeria.
Meanwhile recent statistics place the death toll, since the crisis started in 2016, at over 3000 persons with thousands of houses and over 300 villages razed, 530000 persons identified as Internally Displaced persons, and over 35000 as refugees in Nigeria. It’s unclear if all those who have either left the country or their villages, shall ever go back.

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