Grief remains acute in Gidado, a village in the Ndu municipality in Cameroon’s conflict-hit North-West region, following an attack overnight on January 14 that officially left 14 people dead, including women and children. Since the assault, the Mbororo community says it has been living in fear, amid kidnappings and other abuses.

On January 19, a delegation representing the community went to the Prime Minister’s Office at the Immeuble Étoile in Yaounde to raise its concerns with the government. The lamido of Didando, a traditional leader, described persistent insecurity. “Several members of the Mbororo community have since been kidnapped and released for ransom, or simply killed,” he said, adding that they were also “victims of all kinds of looting.”

In response, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute condemned what he described as a “barbaric act” and announced full state support for the victims. The government also pledged to assist “all Mbororo families in distress” and to reinforce security in the region, according to statements reported after the meeting.

For the delegation, the exchange was presented as an important signal after years of violence. “We are republicans and we support the institutions. That is why we came here to bring this situation to the attention of the government,” representatives said before leaving the Prime Minister’s Office.

Mboscuda calls for probe into repeated attacks

The meeting follows earlier alerts from the Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association (Mboscuda). The day after the attack, the organization issued a statement condemning what it described as “targeted, repeated” violence, including kidnappings for ransom and killings affecting its members.

Mboscuda says it has compiled statistics pointing to hundreds of victims and significant material losses. Its secretary general, Oumarou Sanda, has called on the government “to open an investigation” to identify those responsible and bring them before the courts.

Since late 2016, Cameroon’s English-speaking North-West and South-West regions have been affected by armed violence between government forces and separatist groups. In this context, long-standing land tensions between Mbororo Fulani herders and farmers from other ethnic groups have also contributed to insecurity.

Amnesty International France has noted that “Mbororo Fulani are perceived as supporting the authorities and, as such, are particularly targeted by armed separatists.” The Mbororo community is now awaiting concrete action from the state to restore security, prevent further attacks, and allow a return to more stable daily life.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The fate of the ten detained Ambazonian leaders, widely known as the NERA 10, will be decided on March 19, 2026, after Cameroon’s Supreme Court on January 15 concluded hearings in their long-running appeal case and adjourned proceedings for the delivery of judgment.

The hearing lasted nearly three hours, as defence lawyers urged the country’s highest court to grant liberty to the appellants, led by Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe. While the court did not issue a substantive ruling at the close of arguments, defence counsel cautiously welcomed what they described as a modest indication of judicial openness.

The legal team representing the appellants was led by veteran lawyer Barrister Eta Besong Jr., with prominent advocate Akere Muna among the counsel, alongside six other attorneys. Their submissions focused on challenging the legality of the proceedings that led to the life sentences handed down by a military tribunal in 2019, as well as the broader constitutional and human rights implications of the case.

At the end of the session, the presiding judge adjourned the matter to March 19, 2026, when the Supreme Court is expected to deliver its judgment.

The NERA 10 are central figures in the separatist movement that emerged in the North West and South West regions. They were arrested in Abuja, Nigeria, in January 2018 and subsequently extradited to Cameroon under circumstances that drew criticism from rights groups and international observers. Their extradition and trial have remained at the heart of persistent debates over due process and judicial independence.

In 2019, a military tribunal sentenced the group to life imprisonment on charges including terrorism, secession and hostility against the state. Since then, their lawyers have consistently argued that the military court lacked jurisdiction to try civilians and that the proceedings violated both Cameroonian law and international legal standards. These arguments form the basis of the appeal now before the Supreme Court.

The latest hearing follows an earlier adjournment on December 18, 2025, when the Supreme Court deferred the case to January 2026, further extending an already protracted legal process. At the time, defence lawyers warned against repeated delays, insisting that “justice deferred must not become justice denied.”

Source: panafricanvisions

The Yaoundé Military Court in Cameroon’s political capital has delivered a landmark judgment in the long-running trial over the 2020 Ngarbuh massacre, finding three members of the Cameroonian armed forces and one local Fulani militiaman guilty of murder, arson and destruction of property.

The verdict delivered on January 15, 2026, relates to the killing of 23 civilians, including 15 children and two pregnant women, during a military operation in the village of Ngarbuh, in Ntumbaw, Ndu subdivision of the North West Region. While the court has established the guilt of the accused, sentencing has been deferred to a later date.

The ruling is being widely described as historic, marking one of the rare instances in which members of state security forces have been held criminally responsible for grave human rights abuses committed during the Anglophone Crisis. For years, military operations and the actions of allied militias in separatist-affected areas have largely gone unpunished, fueling accusations of impunity.

The Ngarbuh massacre occurred on February 14, 2020, at the height of the conflict between government forces and English-speaking separatist groups seeking an independent state known as Ambazonia. According to investigations by human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch, government troops accompanied by local Fulani vigilantes entered the village and deliberately targeted civilians.

Witnesses reported that homes were burned, property looted, and residents beaten, with no evidence of a significant clash with armed separatists at the time of the attack. The killings shocked both national and international opinion, drawing condemnation from rights groups, foreign governments and the United Nations.

Initially, Cameroonian authorities denied responsibility, claiming the deaths resulted from an accidental explosion during a confrontation with separatist fighters. However, mounting pressure forced President Paul Biya to establish a commission of inquiry, which later acknowledged that “uncontrolled” soldiers and local auxiliaries were responsible for the killings and had attempted to destroy evidence by setting houses ablaze.

The trial opened in December 2020 before the Yaoundé Military Court but was repeatedly delayed, raising concerns about the authorities’ willingness to fully address abuses committed by security forces. Proceedings were marked by slow progress, procedural concerns and limited involvement of victims’ families, prompting criticism from civil society groups and human rights advocates.

Despite these challenges, Thursday’s convictions have been welcomed as an important though incomplete step toward accountability. Many observers note that only low-ranking soldiers and a single militiaman were convicted, while questions remain about the role of senior commanders and the chain of command behind the operation.

Human Rights Watch reacted cautiously to the verdict, describing it as a partial advance toward justice while stressing that accountability should extend to all those responsible, including those who planned or authorised the operation. The organisation’s Central Africa researcher, Ilaria Allegrozzi, has consistently argued that justice will remain unfinished unless higher-ranking officials implicated in the massacre are also investigated and prosecuted.

For families of the victims, the judgment represents long-awaited recognition of the suffering endured by innocent civilians in the North West and South West regions.

Source: panafricanvisions

At least 12 civilians, including women and children, were killed early Wednesday when suspected separatist fighters raided a community in Cameroon’s restive Northwest Region, local authorities said.

Fifteen people were also wounded, two critically, in the attack that occurred at around 5:30 a.m. local time in Mbandfung, a village in the English-speaking region’ Ndu subdivision, Abdou Kanfon Borno, mayor of Ndu Council, told Xinhua by phone.

“The separatist terrorists invaded the Gidado neighborhood of the village, targeting the Mbororo community who live there,” Abdou said. “There were no clashes. The villagers were still asleep. They just opened fire on everyone, including children and women. A respected community elder was killed.”

He condemned the attack and called for calm as authorities investigate.

There have been frequent deadly clashes between separatist fighters and armed Mbororo tribesmen since 2017, when an armed separatist conflict erupted in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.

Source: Xinhuanet