News

11, September 2026

Dion Ngute reaffirms peace efforts amid fresh violence in Ambazonia ⁰

Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to restoring peace in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions, where an armed separatist conflict has persisted since 2017.

“Every effort is being made to restore lasting peace to our regions,” Ngute said in a statement posted on social media Wednesday evening.

His remarks came a day after suspected separatist fighters ambushed and killed a police commissioner and kidnapped six teachers Tuesday in Wum, a town in the Northwest Region.

Ngute said he was “deeply saddened” by the attack and expressed solidarity with the affected communities.

Clashes have intensified in both regions since early September, after separatist fighters declared a weeklong lockdown aimed at disrupting the start of the new school year.

Religious and traditional leaders from the two regions submitted a peace roadmap document to the prime minister Tuesday outlining proposals to end the crisis.

Separatist groups have been fighting to create an independent state in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions.

Source: Xinhuanet

11, September 2026

Yemen’s Houthis seize key island in Bab al-Mandab strait ⁰

The Ansarallah-led Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) have advanced rapidly along Yemen’s western coast and taken control of key positions overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The YAF has stormed several Red Sea islands and advanced toward the entrance of the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, several reports said Thursday.

The forces earlier captured the city of Mokha from Saudi-backed forces. Reports said they also reached the Hanish Islands and seized Zuqar Island.

Local sources told Al-Araby TV that Ansarallah-led forces took control of Mayun, a strategic island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The UAE has established military and intelligence sites on Mayun and other Yemeni islands in cooperation with Israel, according to the reports.

Tasnim news agency, citing its correspondent in Sana’a, reported that the Yemeni Armed Forces had taken control of the key al-Ardhi port area on Bab al-Mandab.

The move gives the YAF control of Yemen’s coastline overlooking the strategic waterway and could allow forces fighting Saudi mercenaries to exert greater influence over maritime traffic between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The reported capture of Bab al-Mandab, whose name means the “Gate of Tears,” would give the Sana’a government major leverage over maritime traffic entering and leaving the Red Sea.

“Maritime navigation is safe, and the security of navigation has nothing to do with the skirmishes that were extinguished in the western coast districts,” Deputy Foreign Minister of the Sana’a government Abdul Wahid Abu Ras was quoted as saying by SABA news agency on Thursday.

Top Yemeni negotiator and spokesman Mohammad Abdul Salam also said, “Red Sea navigation is safe” and that “operations will cease when the aggression ends.”

“What the YAF has carried out in certain coastal areas is a national operation within the framework of asserting Yemeni sovereignty and addressing the challenges and ambitions that threaten civil peace,” he added.

11, September 2026

Billionaire Alex Beard pleads not guilty to Cameroon, Nigeria bribery charges ⁰

British billionaire Alex Beard, the former head of oil at commodities giant Glencore, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to make corrupt payments linked to the company’s oil operations in West Africa.

Beard, 59, appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London on September 10, where he denied allegations brought by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) concerning alleged corrupt payments to officials in Nigeria and Cameroon.

Prosecutors allege that Beard was involved in a conspiracy to make corrupt payments to government or state-owned oil company officials in Nigeria between 2010 and 2014 and in Cameroon between 2007 and 2014. Beard has denied the charges.

The case is part of a wider prosecution involving six former Glencore employees accused of conspiring to make corrupt payments to benefit the company’s oil operations in West Africa. The SFO says the charges relate to the awarding of oil contracts spanning Cameroon, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire between 2007 and 2014.

Beard appeared in court alongside Andrew Gibson, Glencore’s former head of oil operations. Gibson, 66, pleaded not guilty to four counts of conspiracy to make corrupt payments relating to Nigeria, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire. He also denied an additional charge of conspiracy to falsify documents for accounting purposes.

Four other former Glencore oil traders, Martin Wakefield, David Perez, Paul Hopkirk and Ramon Labiaga, have also pleaded not guilty to related charges. All six defendants are scheduled to stand trial from October 4, 2027.

The prosecution follows Glencore’s earlier corporate bribery case. In 2022, Glencore Energy (UK) pleaded guilty to seven counts of bribery relating to payments made to secure preferential access to oil and was ordered to pay £280 million in penalties and confiscation of proceeds. The corporate case was separate from the current prosecution of the former employees.

Beard became a billionaire after Glencore’s flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 2011. He joined Glencore in 1995 after working as an oil trader at BP and later became the company’s global head of oil, a position he held until his retirement in 2019. His wealth became public when Glencore listed in London and disclosed the value of shares held by senior executives.

The SFO first charged Beard and four other former Glencore employees with conspiring to make corrupt payments in August 2024. A sixth defendant, David Perez, was subsequently charged as part of the case. The agency says the alleged conduct involved contracts and payments connected to Glencore’s West African oil operations.

Beard’s latest court appearance marks the formal entry of his not-guilty plea ahead of the 2027 trial. The allegations against him have not been proven in court. The SFO says it will continue pursuing the case against all six former Glencore employees ahead of the October 2027 trial.

Source: Billionaires.Africa

11, September 2026

Southern Cameroons Crisis: army rescues 5 kidnapped teachers in Wum ⁰

Cameroonian troops have rescued five teachers kidnapped in the conflict-hit Northwest Region, authorities and the army said early Thursday.

The teachers were freed on Wednesday during an operation carried out by the elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), the army told reporters.

They were abducted on Tuesday in Wum by suspected separatist fighters, according to officials.

While earlier reports put the number at six, the governor of the Northwest Region, Adolphe Lele L’Afrique, clarified that five teachers were taken from the Government Technical Teachers’ Training College in Wum. A police commissioner was also killed during the abduction, the governor said.

Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions have been gripped by an armed separatist conflict since 2017.

Source: Xinhuanet

11, September 2026

SONARA loses final UK appeal over CFA42.8 billion Sahara Energy claim ⁰

Cameroon’s state-owned refinery Sonara has lost its final attempt before the UK Supreme Court to challenge a $76.97 million claim, or about CFA42.8 billion, awarded to Sahara Energy Resource Ltd and Sahara Energy Resource DMCC.

On June 29, 2026, the UK’s highest court refused Sonara permission to appeal, leaving in place a Feb. 6 Court of Appeal ruling in favor of Sahara Energy.

In case UKSC/2026/0046, Lord Briggs, Lord Burrows and Lord Doherty found that Sonara’s application did not raise a point of law of general public importance. The Supreme Court therefore did not reconsider the merits of the dispute.

Sonara had challenged the interpretation of a joint report it signed with Sahara Energy in September 2019. It also raised its financial dependence on the Cameroonian government and the absence of a specific repayment schedule in the document.

The refusal ends Sonara’s attempt to overturn the Court of Appeal decision before the Supreme Court. That ruling had reversed an earlier High Court judgment in favor of the Cameroonian refinery.

$76.97 Million Recognized in a 2019 Agreement

The dispute stems from crude oil cargoes that Sahara supplied to Sonara between 2013 and 2016. The refinery paid the principal amounts on the invoices and contractual interest after legal proceedings began.

Three categories of claims remained unresolved: additional interest tied to Sahara’s financing costs with its banks, foreign-exchange losses, and bank penalties associated with letters of credit used to finance the cargoes.

The companies reviewed those claims during a reconciliation meeting at the Limbé refinery on Sept. 4 and 5, 2019.

The “Joint Report” signed after the meeting classified the additional interest and foreign-exchange losses as “Undisputed Claims,” for a combined $76,967,673.97. Bank penalties totaling $50,760,089.41 were classified as “Disputed Claims.”

The interpretation of that distinction ultimately determined the outcome of the case.

Initial Victory Overturned on Appeal

On Dec. 9, 2024, London’s High Court initially sided with Sonara. It found that the Joint Report constituted a legally binding agreement for some claims, but not for the additional interest and foreign-exchange losses. Sahara’s remaining claims were therefore dismissed.

Sahara appealed and secured a reversal on Feb. 6, 2026.

In its [2026] EWCA Civ 54 judgment, the Court of Appeal found that “Undisputed Claims” should carry its ordinary meaning: the claims in question were no longer contested.

The judges also found that nothing in the Joint Report made Sonara’s commitment conditional on prior approval from the Cameroonian government. According to the court, the fact that the parties still had to discuss a repayment schedule or flexible payment arrangements did not alter their existing agreement on the validity and amount of the claims.

The Court of Appeal therefore ruled in Sahara’s favor on the $76.97 million in additional interest and foreign-exchange losses.

Sahara Loses Additional $50.76 Million Claim

The oil trader’s victory was only partial. The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal of its $50.76 million claim for bank penalties and charges, finding that an indemnity provision in the 2013 contract did not allow Sahara to pass those costs on to Sonara.

Sahara Energy also sought to challenge that part of the ruling before the Supreme Court. Its application for permission to appeal, filed as UKSC/2026/0047, was also rejected on June 29, 2026.

The judges found that Sahara’s application raised neither an arguable legal issue that warranted Supreme Court intervention nor a point of law of general public importance.

Both companies therefore failed to overturn the portions of the Court of Appeal judgment they challenged. Sonara remains bound by the ruling on the $76.97 million claim, while Sahara cannot recover the additional $50.76 million it sought in bank penalties.

Payment of CFA42.8 Billion Not Established

The Supreme Court’s refusal does not constitute a new financial award. It leaves the Court of Appeal judgment in place.

The public court documents reviewed establish Sahara Energy’s recognized $76.97 million claim. They do not, however, establish that Sonara has already paid the amount, equivalent to about CFA42.8 billion.

Judicial recognition of the debt and its payment are separate matters. At this stage, no identified public information establishes that Sonara has paid the amount in full.

Source: Business in Cameroon

8, September 2026

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Police commissioner killed, 6 teachers abducted in Wum ⁰

A police commissioner was killed and six teachers were abducted Tuesday in an ambush in Cameroon’s conflict-hit Anglophone Northwest region, security sources and local residents said.

The victim was identified as Police Commissioner Mbah Tobie Damase. He was traveling in a convoy in Wum, the chief town of Menchum division, when suspected separatist fighters ambushed the team, a security official in the region said.

The official, who requested anonymity, said the convoy comprised administrative officials and security forces who were touring schools to monitor the effective resumption of classes for the new academic year.

“They abducted six teachers from the Government Technical Teachers’ Training College in Wum. Our forces are pursuing the attackers,” the official said.

The incident comes amid renewed clashes in Cameroon’s two English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions. Since Monday, separatist fighters have attempted to enforce a weeklong lockdown to disrupt the start of the school year.

Armed conflict has persisted in both regions since 2017, when separatists began fighting to create an independent state they call Ambazonia.

8, September 2026

Iran seizes cutting-edge US unmanned submersible in Strait of Hormuz ⁰

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy announced that it has successfully intercepted and captured a highly advanced, unmanned American underwater vehicle at the entrance of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the IRGC Navy stated that the seizure was carried out in the early hours of the day following a “complex intelligence and operational action.”

The unmanned submersible incorporates some of the world’s most advanced underwater technology and was delivered to the US terrorist military in 2025, the statement said.

The IRGC announced that photographic evidence and detailed footage of the captured US asset would be released in the coming hours.

Iranian news agency Tasnim identified the captured system as a Dive-LD, an autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle developed by US defense technology company Anduril Industries and first delivered to the US Navy’s Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Group 1 in 2025.

The vehicle is approximately 5.8 meters long, has a diameter of about 1.2 meters and weighs roughly 2.7 tonnes.

Its published specifications include an endurance of up to 10 days underwater and a maximum operating depth of around 6,000 meters.

Designed as a modular autonomous platform, the Dive-LD can be configured for missions including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, seabed mapping, infrastructure inspection and mine-countermeasure operations.

The capture comes amid a sharp escalation between Iran and the United States over the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important maritime chokepoints.

The waterway has increasingly become a key arena in the US war on Iran, prompting Tehran to assert greater control over maritime activity in and around the strait.

Recent military exchanges have included US strikes on Iranian oil tankers and Iranian missile attacks targeting US naval forces.

On September 6, Iran said it had struck a US unmanned vessel attempting to enter a restricted area near Hormuz.

The capture of the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) marks the latest in a long history of Iran intercepting and seizing advanced Western military technology.

Over the past decade, Iranian forces have successfully downed or captured numerous high-value US assets, including the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and various underwater gliders and surface vessels in the Persian Gulf.

Reverse-engineering these captured technologies have historically played a significant role in accelerating Iran’s domestic drone and unmanned naval programs.

7, September 2026

Yaoundé: gov’t orders investigation after 15 underage girls were found in Essos apartment ⁰

Cameroonian authorities have opened an investigation after 15 underage girls were found in a home in Yaoundé’s Essos district on September 2, while the government has ordered protection and psychosocial support for the children as investigators work to establish why they were there.

In a statement issued on September 4, Social Affairs Minister Pauline Irène Nguene condemned “any act likely to harm the physical or moral integrity of children” and announced that the relevant government services had taken responsibility for their care.

According to the Ministry of Social Affairs (MINAS), authorities intervened after receiving an anonymous report. The circumstances that brought the children to the house on Rue des Pavés remain unclear. The ministry said they “may have been held by individuals” and that investigations are underway to establish the facts and determine any potential responsibility.

MINAS services, alongside other relevant government agencies, have been mobilized to protect the minors, ensure their safety and provide psychosocial support. Nguene also urged the public to report missing or vulnerable children, or suspected cases of trafficking, exploitation or violence, through the 1503 hotline.

According to Cameroon Tribune, 15 underage girls were found at the property on September 2. Two women who were at the scene were also taken to Yaoundé’s Central Police Station No. 4. Authorities have not officially established that a child-trafficking network was involved, nor have they explained why the girls were being kept at the house.

Anne Féconde Noah Calls for Severe Penalties

Anne Féconde Noah, vice president of the Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN), praised the intervention by law enforcement and residents who helped with the operation. She called for investigators to identify everyone who may have been involved.

The opposition official also demanded particularly severe penalties for anyone ultimately found guilty. If investigators establish that the children suffered abuse, Noah wants the death penalty imposed on the perpetrators, accomplices and others who participated in the acts.

If no physical abuse is established, she has called for life imprisonment without the possibility of a pardon, along with strict limits on prison visits. Her demands come before investigators have established the precise conditions in which the children were living, where they came from or the responsibility of the people detained.

Source: Sbbc

7, September 2026

Ambazonia fighters enforce weeklong lockdown in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Armed separatists are enforcing a weeklong lockdown in Cameroon’s conflict-hit English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions, leading to renewed clashes, residents and security sources said.

Separatist leaders announced on social media that the lockdown, which began Monday, aims to disrupt the start of the new school year.

In Bamenda, the capital of the Northwest Region, residents described a tense atmosphere, with schools closed and movement severely restricted.

“We heard gunshots. People are really afraid. The streets are deserted. Shops are closed, and almost all activities have stopped,” a resident, who requested anonymity, said.

In a video posted online Sunday, armed separatist fighters threatened to “kill anyone who attempts to step out” during the lockdown period.

Security officials said additional troops had been deployed to both regions to conduct day and night patrols. On Sunday, regional authorities assured residents that security had been tightened and urged them to continue their daily activities.

The Northwest and Southwest regions have seen armed conflict since 2017, when separatists began fighting government forces to establish an independent state.

7, September 2026

Ekondo Titi: 9 killed in Kombo Itindi boat collision ⁰

At least nine people have died after two passenger boats collided in south west region, security sources and residents said Monday.

The accident occurred early Sunday morning around Gold Coast Creek in Kombo Itindi Subdivision.

According to local sources, a 250-horsepower boat coming from Ikang, Nigeria, collided with a 75-horsepower speedboat that had departed Ekondo Titi, Cameroon, en route to Nigeria.

Local journalist Solomon Agborem said that an eight-year-old was among the dead.

“Where the collision happened is a creek. There is a bend there and visibility was difficult since it was the early hours of Sunday morning,” Agborem said by phone.

Witnesses said the bodies of the victims were retrieved and brought ashore. It was not immediately clear if there were additional injuries.

The creek is a busy waterway used for cross-border travel between Cameroon and Nigeria.