As Cameroonians wait anxiously for the official results and the possible aftermath of the 12 October 2025 presidential election, a sense of growing anxiety and fear is spreading throughout the nation. While some towns in the Francophone regions have already witnessed protests, those in the Anglophone regions have been largely observant. However, it is in these Anglophone regions that mass arrests are now taking place, despite no major incidents occurring.
In Buea, youths in various neighbourhoods are living in a state of anxiety, never knowing who will be targeted next. The mass arrests began on Tuesday in the Sandpit area, where hundreds of youths were carted away in several military and police trucks. The vehicles wrestled with the potholes and craters that now define what was once a proper road, as officers apprehended people from their homes and public spaces.
Many residents were woken by heavy banging on their doors, which was often followed by a search. In most cases, whether anything questionable was found or not, they were escorted to waiting trucks and taken to various detention centres. Those who could negotiate their freedom paid what the officers call “bail” to be released. This payment is not for any specific alleged crime but functions as a normalised ransom, paid to the very law enforcement officers who should be combating such criminal practices.
On Wednesday, the law enforcement officers moved their operation to Molyko, the bustling student and commercial hub of Buea. There, they again loaded their trucks with young people in the early morning and transported them to detention facilities. In some instances, those who offered a small bribe at the point of arrest were spared, but hundreds still ended up in police cells.
The mass arrests show no sign of stopping. The rampant detention of young men on the streets of Buea is becoming a new normal. It is now a common sight to see a police, gendarmerie, or military vehicle slow down near a young person, two officers jump out, bark orders, and watch as the victim climbs into the truck before it drives off. If the targeted person resists, they can be violently seized, forced into the van, and physically assaulted.
One young man narrated how he bluffed his way out of an arrest by lying about his father’s identity. He recounted that when he was searched, 1,500 CFA francs fell from his pocket. “The officer told me to ‘settle’ [bribe] him with it for him to let me go,” he said. “I asked him if it was his money, and what he expected me to eat after I had given him my money. He reluctantly insulted me and told me to leave.”
As the country’s political temperature rises, law enforcement deployment has increased. Even new police recruits are spotted all over towns like Buea, manning numerous makeshift checkpoints. Some of these officers are also trying their hand at extorting money from road users.
While tensions have been high and protests were planned mostly in the Francophone regions, the arrests are surprisingly concentrated in the English-speaking regions. These areas have been largely observing events unfold, after already enduring over eight years of turmoil from the armed conflict.
By Andrew Nsoseka
