Tensions rise in Cameroon after opposition candidate declares victory ahead of results

Описание: (16 Oct 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Douala, Cameroon - 15 October 2025
1. Fire burns on side of the road in aftermath of clashes between police and protesters ++MUTE++
2. Various of security forces ++MUTE++
3. People run in street as tear gas canisters are fired

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Douala, Cameroon - 15 October 2025
4. Police vehicle moving
5. Various of spent tear gas canisters on ground
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Severin Kenfack, protester:
“The electoral process is not credible. Besides, it's obvious. You see the way the election was conducted. We've never seen this strong mobilization before. And we could see the RDPC (party of President Paul Biya) sleeping, we could see the party of the president-elect Issa Tchiroma rising strongly, rising in power to say that 2025 is not 2018.”
7. Various of police and vehicles
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Victor Zefack, protester:
“If the police mobilised everywhere after the election, if there are tensions at all levels, it's because there's a problem. It's because there's really a problem. Just now I saw in Bonamoussadi (neighbourhood), the police fired tear gas. They mobilised everywhere, which means there's a problem. This is a serious problem. Where we are now, if God doesn’t intervene, really, something is going to happen.”
9. Security forces get out of cars
10. Various of spent tear gas canisters
11. People look on as armoured police vehicles drive by
STORYLINE:
Police clashed with protesters in Douala, the economic hub of Cameroon, after opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary claimed victory in the October 12 presidential election.

A heavy security presence could be seen in the city after the unrest, and spent tear gas canisters littered the ground.

The independent body in charge of overseeing the poll, and the constitutional court have not yet announced any results, with an official outcome not expected by October 26 at the latest.

Tchiroma declared himself the winner in a video statement on Facebook, saying “our victory is clear, it must be respected”, adding that he would share a detailed report of the votes by region in the coming days.

Analysts had predicted a victory for Paul Biya, at 92 the oldest president in the world, as the opposition remained divided and his strongest rival was barred from running in August.

Eleven opposition candidates were on the ballot for the Oct. 12 election.

Tchiroma, who is in his late seventies, was a government spokesperson and minister of employment under Biya but quit the government last year to launch his presidential run.

His campaign drew large crowds and backing from a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups.

Biya has been in power since 1982, nearly half his lifetime, making him Cameroon’s second president since independence from France in 1960.

During his decades in power, the Central African nation of nearly 30 million people struggled with challenges from a deadly secessionist movement in the west and chronic corruption that has stifled development despite rich natural resources.

During the last presidential election in 2018, opposition leader Maurice Kamto claimed victory a day after the vote.

He was later arrested, leading to protests and dozens of his supporters being detained.


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