Tensions rise in Cameroon as 30 opposition figures arrested before poll results

Cameroonian authorities on Sunday reportedly detained about 30 politicians and activists allied to opposition presidential candidate Issa Tchiroma, escalating political tensions just a day before the official election results are released.

Those arrested are said to include MANIDEM party leader Anicet Ekane and Union for Change member Djeukam Tchameni, both outspoken supporters of Tchiroma. Their detention followed police crackdowns on protests that erupted in several cities, where opposition supporters had taken to the streets, alleging electoral fraud.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Tchiroma condemned the arrests, insisting they were politically motivated. He claimed that government officials had attempted to strike deals with some of his allies before detaining them — a move he described as an effort to silence his movement.

"A few days ago, the DCC called the union coordinators for a change to negotiate, they refused your proposals, and there you stop them? So when you tried to negotiate with them, they weren't terrorists?" the statement, issued in French, roughly translates.

'Enough is enough'

"Enough is enough, the repression, the people have had enough. Today marks the beginning of liberation, and it's just the first step."

Tchiroma also accused the international community of turning a blind eye to political repression in Cameroon.

"The international community, you are becoming complicit; it is impossible to let a people be martyred like this," he said.

The arrests came a day after Interior Minister Paul Atanga Nji announced that security forces had foiled what he described as an "insurrectional movement."

At a Saturday press conference, Nji warned that some opposition figures were "creating conditions for instability through calls for protests."

"Calls for protests by certain politicians with an obsession for power undoubtedly create conditions for a security crisis and contribute to the implementation of the insurrection scheme," Nji said at the time.

Tchiroma, a former minister and once a close ally of President Paul Biya, has declared himself the rightful winner of the October 12 vote and vowed to reject any result that suggests otherwise.

Protests have continued in several cities since partial tallies by local media indicated Biya was in the lead. The 92-year-old leader, who has ruled Cameroon since 1982, stands to extend his presidency by another seven years if the Constitutional Council confirms his victory on Monday.

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