Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute has said every effort is being made to restore lasting peace in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest Regions, following the deadly attack on Government Technical Teachers’ Training College (GTTC) Wum.
The September 8 incident, according to a communiqué from the Northwest Governor’s Office, left Senior Superintendent of Police Mbah Tobie Damase dead and five members of the school’s staff abducted.
The officer was reportedly touring schools in Menchum Division to assess preparations for the 2026/2027 academic year when the convoy became stuck on a muddy road near GTTC Wum. The communiqué says Mbah, who had crossed ahead of the convoy and proceeded towards the campus, was shot dead after alighting from his vehicle.
Five teachers were subsequently taken away. They were identified as the school’s principal, Kwa Hope, ACHE Presilla, Kom Nadine, Kum Nadine and Nchia Dieudonné.
The attack has once again placed the security of schools, teachers and students at the centre of concerns over the continuing conflict in the two English-speaking regions.
Reacting to the incident, Prime Minister Dion Ngute expressed deep sadness over the death and abductions, extending his thoughts to the bereaved family and the people of the Northwest and Southwest.
“Every effort is being made in restoring lasting peace to our regions,” the Prime Minister said.
The assurance comes against the backdrop of a conflict that has persisted for nearly a decade, despite several government initiatives aimed at addressing its political, security and humanitarian dimensions.
Dion Ngute has been at the centre of some of those efforts. In 2019, he led the government’s Major National Dialogue, which produced recommendations including a special status for the Northwest and Southwest. The government also established a presidential reconstruction and development programme for the two regions.
Yet violence has continued to undermine attempts to restore normal life.
Education has been particularly affected. International monitoring has documented repeated attacks on schools, teachers and students, including abductions and the burning of school premises. The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack recorded at least 50 attacks on schools and education personnel in Cameroon in 2025.
The problem has persisted into the current school year. Conflict monitors warned in early September that renewed violence in the Anglophone regions could threaten school reopening.
The latest attack at GTTC Wum comes at a particularly sensitive moment, as communities attempt to restore education after years of disruption.
The Governor’s communiqué said Defence and Security Forces had been deployed and were pursuing the perpetrators, with the stated objective of bringing them to justice and securing the safe release of the five abducted teachers.
The authorities have also appealed for calm, vigilance and cooperation from residents.
But the Wum attack underlines the gap between repeated assurances of peace and the reality still facing communities in the conflict-affected regions, where killings, abductions, attacks on education and restrictions on civilian activity continue to threaten a return to normalcy.
