Tension in Cameroon as four killed in protest before election results

At least four people have been killed in Cameroon during clashes between security forces and supporters of opposition leader Issa Tchiroma, who claims victory in the country’s recent presidential election. The violence comes just hours before the official results are expected to be announced on Monday. Regional Governor Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua confirmed the deaths, saying protesters in Douala, Cameroon’s largest city, attacked a gendarmerie brigade and police stations in two districts. He added that several security officers were also injured. Tchiroma, who contested President Paul Bi

At least four people have been killed in Cameroon during clashes between security forces and supporters of opposition leader Issa Tchiroma, who claims victory in the country’s recent presidential election. The violence comes just hours before the official results are expected to be announced on Monday. Regional Governor Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua confirmed the deaths, saying protesters in Douala, Cameroon’s largest city, attacked a gendarmerie brigade and police stations in two districts. He added that several security officers were also injured. Tchiroma, who contested President Paul Biya’s 43-year rule in the October 12 election, called on his supporters to hold peaceful marches despite a government ban on public gatherings. He says he won 54.8 percent of the vote. However, most analysts expect Biya, aged 92, to secure an eighth term in office. Critics have long accused the government of manipulating the electoral process. In Garoua, Tchiroma’s stronghold in the north, police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators carrying national flags and banners reading “Tchiroma 2025” and chanting “Goodbye Paul Biya, Tchiroma is coming.” For several days, dozens of supporters have gathered near Tchiroma’s home. In a video message released Sunday, the opposition leader claimed that soldiers had attempted to arrest him. In the capital Yaoundé, the call to protest was largely ignored amid a heavy police presence. But in Douala, an AFP reporter saw several dozen demonstrators near the airport defying the ban on protests issued by local authorities. Two opposition figures Djeukam Tchameni, president of the Movement for Democracy and Interdependence (MDI), and Anicet Ekane, leader of the African Movement for the New Independence of Cameroon (Manidem) were arrested at their homes in Douala on Friday, according to a coalition backing Tchiroma. Meanwhile, Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji warned that the protests could lead to a “security crisis” and were part of “an insurrectionist project.”