As the Constitutional Council prepares to formally proclaim the results of the October 12, 2025, presidential poll this Monday, October 26, 2025, there have been swift and brutal scenes across several cities with the arrest of opposition figures, the detention of dozens of demonstrators, and the sealing off of neighbourhoods with a heavy security presence that many in Ambazonia and elsewhere described as an act of political repression.
Confirm reports indicate that security forces detained scores of people amidst opposition claims that Issa Tchiroma Bakary had won the poll. Authorities say at least a hundred protesters have already been arrested and that some detainees face military tribunal charges, including insurrection and incitement. The government says the arrests were necessary to prevent violence; critics call them a naked attempt to cow dissent ahead of the proclamation.
Two leading figures associated with the Union for Change platform, Anicet Ekane and Djeukam Tchameni, were reported to be detained in Douala as demonstrations flared. Their parties said the arrests came without warning and accused the government of targeting organisers and vocal supporters of Tchiroma’s challenge to the incumbent. Local activists said gendarmes and police also rounded up junior campaign staff, activists wearing opposition insignia, and passers-by in neighbourhood sweeps.
The clampdown has been most visible in northern cities where Tchiroma commands significant support. In Garoua, clashes between protesters and security forces left communities shocked: at least one civilian, reported in several outlets as a teacher, was killed during confrontations, a fact that has inflamed anger and grief across Anglophone and Francophone areas alike. Witnesses describe streets littered with spent teargas canisters while armoured units and riot police maintained tight control of key junctions.
Government spokesman and Minister of Communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, as well as the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, defended the detentions, claiming those arrested were fomenting unrest and plotting to “destabilise the nation.” He announced that a group of the arrested, described as “several” by official statements, would be brought before military courts on charges that carry heavy penalties. Human rights groups and civil society organisations have warned that resorting to military justice for what are effectively political offences risks further inflaming tensions.
For residents in Ambazonia, the arrests reopen familiar wounds. Years of conflict, heavy-handed security operations and alleged rights abuses have left communities wary of state intentions. Bareta News spoke to activists who say the timing of the arrests, immediately before the Constitutional Council’s proclamation, suggests a deliberate strategy to silence protest and pre-empt mass mobilisation. “They want to deny the people a voice,” one grassroots organiser told us on condition of anonymity.
International observers and church leaders have also expressed alarm. The National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon and some international monitors documented irregularities during the vote, including relocation of polling stations and an electoral register beset with errors, and urged calm while calling for transparent adjudication of complaints. Their appeals for restraint, however, have so far done little to halt the security sweep or soothe public anger.
Digital freedoms have also been affected: activists report intermittent restrictions on social media platforms and mobile data in some areas, complicating the flow of information and making it harder for families to account for detained relatives. Lawyers for the detained say they face obstacles in securing access and that some will be tried in military rather than civilian courts, a move that human rights advocates say undermines due process.
What happens next is uncertain. The Constitutional Council’s formal proclamation of results, scheduled for this Monday, risks becoming a flashpoint rather than a closure. For many in Ambazonia, the arrests are yet another sign that the ballot box cannot, on its own, guarantee safety or justice. For others, the clampdown only hardens resolve: street-level networks are already mobilising legal and humanitarian support for detainees and calling for international scrutiny.
By Lucas Muma
