8, December 2025

Nigeria: One hundred abducted schoolchildren released ⁰

About 100 children who were abducted from a Catholic school in central Nigeria last month have been freed, authorities say.

Niger state’s police chief, Adamu Abdullahi Elleman, and Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who is in charge of the school as the local leader of the Catholic community, both told the BBC that they had received confirmation of the students’ release.

They said the news had been confirmed by the president’s national security advisor, but Bishop Yohanna said it was not clear when the children would be reunited with their parents.

More than 250 students and 12 staff were kidnapped from St Mary’s Catholic school in Papiri, the latest in a wave of mass abductions.

Source: BBC

8, December 2025

Fundong: 2 gov’t soldiers killed in Amba ambush ⁰

At least two Cameroonian soldiers were killed and several others injured on Friday in an ambush by separatists in the country’s war-torn English-speaking region of Northwest, security sources said.

The soldiers were at a security checkpoint in Fundong locality of the region when separatist fighters attacked them, a military official in the region confirmed.

“The unfortunate incident occurred this (Friday) afternoon. The coward terrorist separatists ambushed our soldiers and opened fire. We have deployed additional forces to pursue the terrorists and capture them,” the official who asked not to be named said.

Local media reported that attacks on civilians and soldiers have intensified in the region since the start of December.

Cameroon has been experiencing an armed separatist conflict in its English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017, as separatists seek to create a new nation in the regions.

Source: Xinhuanet

8, December 2025

UN ‘appalled’ by death in custody of Cameroon opposition figure Anicet Ekane ⁰

The United Nations said Friday it was “appalled” by the death in custody of Cameroonian opposition figure Anicet Ekane, who had been arrested in late October.

The left-wing nationalist politician, who died on Monday, was arrested in Douala on October 24, on the eve of the publication of presidential election results that returned 92-year-old Paul Biya to power for an eighth mandate.

The exact circumstances of Ekane’s death in detention in Yaounde remain unclear. He was 74 and led the African Movement for the New Independence of Cameroon (Manidem) party for several years.

“We’re appalled by the death in detention of opposition leader Anicet Ekane and concerned for the wellbeing of protesters detained following the presidential election,” the UN human rights office said on X.

“The authorities must ensure the investigation they have announced is thorough and impartial and results in full accountability.

“All protesters arbitrarily arrested must be immediately and unconditionally released,” it added.

Ekane was close to fellow opposition figure Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who contested Biya’s 43-year grip on power in the October 12 election.

Along with other political leaders, Ekane was arrested for publicly supporting Bakary’s self-proclaimed presidential victory ahead of the publication of official results.

Ekane, whose death triggered a groundswell of reactions on social media, ran as Manidem’s presidential candidate in 2004 and 2011.

Source: citizen.digital

7, December 2025

Benin coup attempt foiled by loyalist troops, interior minister says ⁰

The government of Benin says it has foiled an attempted coup by members of the West African nation’s armed forces.

“The Beninese armed forces and their leadership, true to their oath, remained committed to the republic,” Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said in a televised address.

Earlier on Sunday, a group of soldiers made a broadcast in which they said they had ousted President Patrice Talon. Eyewitnesses told the BBC that they had heard gunshots, and some journalists working for the state broadcaster had been held hostage.

A presidential adviser has since told the BBC the president was in a safe location.

French diplomats denied earlier reports that he had taken refuge at France’s embassy in Cotonou, Benin’s largest city and the seat of the country’s government.

There have been a series of coups in West Africa before Sunday’s thwarted attempt in Benin, heightening fears that the security of the region could worsen.

Benin, a former French colony, has been regarded as one of Africa’s more stable democracies. But Talon has faced accusations of suppressing criticism of his policies.

The nation is one of the continent’s largest cotton producers, but ranks among the world’s poorest countries.

Seidou said in his address that “a small group of soldiers launched a mutiny aimed at destabilising the state and its institutions”, adding that loyalist soldiers had been able “to retain control of the situation and foil the attempt”.

Fourteen people have been arrested in connection with the attempted coup, government spokesperson Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji told news agency Reuters.

A journalist in Benin told the BBC that, of those reportedly arrested, 12 are believed to have stormed the offices of the national TV station – including a soldier who had previously been sacked.

Source: BBC

4, December 2025

Provisional results show CPDM crime syndicate leads in regional elections ⁰

The ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) has won the regional elections held last Sunday, according to provisional results from regional supervisory commissions.

The preliminary figures released Wednesday indicate that the CPDM captured the majority of the regional council seats contested in 58 divisional headquarters of the country.

“This is a wonderful victory and clearly shows that Cameroonians believe in the CPDM,” said Nick Ngwanyam, a senior member of the CPDM.

According to Cameroon’s Electoral Code, political parties have the right to file petitions on partial or total cancellation of the election operations in competent courts of law, after which final results will be proclaimed.

Cameroon, which held its maiden regional election in 2020, has made the election a cornerstone of the decentralization process. The regional councils in the country’s 10 regions serve as the assemblies for regional affairs.

Source: Xinhuanet

4, December 2025

South Africa will ‘take a break’ from G20 after US ban ⁰

South Africa said Thursday it was prepared to wait out next year’s G20 after being barred by the United States and did not expect other countries to lobby for its inclusion.

The United States this month took over the year-long presidency of the group of leading economies after largely boycotting South Africa’s tenure, including the November summit, in an escalation of its attacks on Pretoria.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeated Wednesday that South Africa would not be invited to the US-run G20, repeating complaints including unfounded claims that the government deliberately discriminated against the white Afrikaner minority.

Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said in response that South Africa would sit out the 2026 series of meetings and resume participation when the G20 is handed to Britain in a year’s time.

“For now, we will take a commercial break until we resume normal programming,” Magwenya said on social media.

The G20 group of nations includes the world’s top economies as well as the European Union and the African Union regional blocs. It accounts for 85 percent of the world’s GDP and two-thirds of its population.

The Johannesburg summit, the first in Africa, was attended by a host of world leaders, including from countries not in the G20, but boycotted by US President Donald Trump.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesman said South Africa did not expect other G20 nations to boycott the US presidency or lobby for its inclusion.

“In fact it would be unhelpful if the entire year goes to waste and the G20 is collapsed,” Magwenya said in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper published late Wednesday.

South Africa would however expect that other members “register their displeasure with the US in defence of multilateralism and the spirit and purpose of the G20,” he said.

The Trump administration has lashed out at South Africa over a range of policies, expelling its ambassador in March and imposing 30 percent trade tariffs, which Pretoria is still seeking to overturn.

Source: AFP

4, December 2025

Trump to host signing of peace deal between leaders of DR Congo and Rwanda ⁰

The leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are set to sign a peace deal aimed at ending the long-running conflict in the region at a summit hosted by US President Donald Trump in Washington.

Ahead of the summit, there has been an escalation in fighting in resource-rich eastern DR Congo between government forces and rebels believed to be backed by Rwanda.

DR Congo’s army accused its rivals of attempting to “sabotage” the peace process, but the M23 rebels said the army had launched an offensive in breach of a ceasefire.

At the start of the year, the M23 seized large parts of eastern DR Congo in an offensive that saw thousands killed and many more forced from their homes.

DR Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame have frequently exchanged insults in recent years, each accusing the other of starting the conflict.

Trump got the two countries’ foreign ministers to sign a peace accord in June, hailing it as a “glorious triumph”.

Tshisekedi and Kagame will now endorse it, with several other African and Arab leaders – including those of Burundi and Qatar – expected to attend the signing ceremony.

Source: BBC

4, December 2025

Death in custody of Anicet Ekane deepens post-election crisis ⁰

Anicet Ekane, president of the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy (Manidem), died on December 1 in Yaoundé, according to several relatives, including his sister and his lawyer, Me Simh. They said he had been held for more than a month at the Secretariat of State for Defense (SED), where he was considered one of the key figures in the post-election crisis following the October 12 presidential vote. Government authorities had not commented on his death at press time.

Arrested on October 24 in Douala by the gendarmerie, Ekane was later transferred to Yaoundé. He was one of the two founding members of the Union for Change 2025, the political platform that backed Issa Tchiroma Bakary as the opposition’s joint candidate in the October 12 election. According to his relatives, this choice drew strong hostility from the authorities in Yaoundé and weighed heavily on his legal situation.

He was detained alongside Djeukam Tchameni, the other founder of the Union for Change 2025. Placed in custody, Ekane faced charges of hostility toward the homeland, revolution, incitement to revolt, and calls for insurrection, amid heightened political tensions after the vote.

Fragile health and contested detention conditions

Despite what his family describes as a serious medical condition, Ekane did not receive appropriate detention conditions, they said. Before shifting unexpectedly to support opposition leader Maurice Kamto, he suffered from respiratory problems. His family and supporters denounced what they call the seizure of his respiratory device by gendarmes at the SED and inadequate medical care during his detention.

These allegations of poor treatment and deprivation of essential care add to broader criticism of the security response to the post-election crisis and of the treatment of opposition figures involved in recent political realignments. For his supporters, Ekane’s death symbolizes what they see as a deepening repressive trend since the election.

A pan-Africanist political path

A committed pan-Africanist, Ekane spent many years in the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), the historic opposition party to French influence. He later created Manidem, which he presented as a movement fighting neocolonialism and advocating for genuine independence for Cameroon and the African continent.

Long viewed as close to the regime during part of his political life, Ekane surprised many by breaking with the government to support Maurice Kamto in the recent presidential race. After that candidacy was rejected, he continued his shift into opposition by backing Issa Tchiroma Bakary within the Union for Change 2025.

This repositioning unfolded amid a deep post-election crisis and was soon followed by his arrest, detention at the SED, and eventual death in custody, which is now at the center of public scrutiny and controversy.

Source: Sbbc

3, December 2025

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Father John Berinyuy Tatah is freed ⁰

Father John Berinyuy Tatah, parish priest in Babessi, who was abducted on November 15 along with his vicar in southwestern Cameroon, has been freed.

His release on December 2 came a few days after the deadline set by Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda, who had threatened to close Catholic institutions in the region if the priest was not released by November 26.

Last week, the archdiocese organized a peaceful march to demand his release.

Father John and his vicar were abducted on November 15 on their way home from Mass for the inauguration of the PAX Institute at the University of Ndop.

According to Archbishop Fuanya, the two priests were captured in Baba I (a village about 60 km from the town of Bamenda, on the Bamenda-Nkambe ring road, near the town of Babessi) by armed men claiming to be separatist fighters from Ambazonia and taken to an unknown location.

On November 18, four priests and a layman were also captured; they were supposed to negotiate the release of the two priests. The vicar, the four other priests, and the layman were released on November 20, while Father John remained in the hands of his captors.

The circumstances of the priest’s release have not been disclosed. Meanwhile, the Ambazonian rebels who had captured him posted a video on Facebook in which Father John called for dialogue to resolve the crisis in the English-speaking region.

Source: fides.org

2, December 2025

Nigeria: defense minister resigns amid kidnapping crisis ⁰

Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has resigned from his position with immediate effect for health reasons, the president’s office has said.

The 63-year-old’s departure coincides with a period of heightened security challenges across Nigeria, with the government under pressure to deal with a spate of mass kidnappings.

Last week, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that at least 402 people, mostly schoolchildren, had been kidnapped since mid-November.

A retired general, Christopher Musa, has been nominated by President Bola Tinubu as Abubakar’s replacement.

General Musa, 58, served as Nigeria’s chief of defence staff from June 2023 until October 2025 and is widely regarded as one of the country’s most experienced military strategists.

He is known in particular for commanding major counter-insurgency operations against jihadist groups in north-east of the country.

In the latest sign of the insecurity, gunmen abducted at least 20 people, including a Christian pastor, a Muslim bride and her bridesmaids, in two separate raids in the north on Sunday.

Some 250 schoolchildren and 12 teachers from a Catholic school in central Niger state are still believed to be missing following the biggest mass kidnapping attack in recent weeks.

It is not clear who is behind the kidnappings – most analysts believe they are carried out by criminal gangs seeking ransom payments, however a presidential spokesman has told the BBC the government believes they are the work of jihadist groups.

Source: BBC