Stand Up for Cameroon denounces “staged” arrests of opposition leaders.

The movement made the declaration during a virtual press conference held on Saturday October 25 and streamed live on social media. 

According to the movement, the three activists — including Anicet Ekane of the Union for Change and Florence Titcho, national treasurer of MANIDEM, were detained following a search in Douala, where authorities claimed to have found fake Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, election reports and military equipment allegedly intended to destabilise the country.

Stand Up for Cameroon, however, insists that the accusations are part of "a political manipulation campaign meant to discredit dissenting voices".

Speaking during the press conference, Kah Walla, president of the Cameroon People’s Party, CPP, and co-founder of Stand Up for Cameroon, strongly criticised what she called a “grotesque setup”. 

"If the government searched Djeukam Tchameni’s house, why didn’t they immediately film what they claim to have found?” she asked, stressing that: "This kind of montage is totally absurd. We are violating the most basic Cameroonian laws!”

She further lamented that relatives have had no contact with the detainees and that lawyers have been denied access, describing the situation as a violation of fundamental rights.

“The Cameroonian government and its defense forces are behaving like bandits. They break down doors and kidnap citizens. Where are Djeukam Tchameni, Anicet Ekane, and Florence Titcho?” she asked.

An absurd operation

Tech entrepreneur, Rebecca Enonchong, founder of AppsTech and a member of the movement, described the operation as incoherent and absurd.

“They knew they were going to be arrested. To imagine they hid weapons in a school where children were sleeping is simply unbelievable. It’s a setup — just like the fake election results we’re being shown,” she said.

Enonchong also denounced the disinformation campaigns spreading on social media. 

“These arrests are only a strategy to deflect the pressure weighing on the regime since October 12. It shows the weakness of the State, which is repeating the same methods used in 2018. You can arrest leaders, but the people will keep speaking out,” she insisted

Lawyers mobilise to document violations

On his part, Barrister Thierry Njifen of the Cameroon Bar Association announced the formation of a working group of about 100 lawyers to assist individuals detained since the start of the post-election crisis.

“We have identified more than 55 people detained in Maroua under renewable administrative custody, including five minors. Similar arrests have been reported in Dschang, Bafoussam, Yaoundé, and Garoua. None of the required procedures have been respected,” he said.

He urged journalists and civil society actors to document each arrest to shed light on what he termed “serious human rights violations”. 

Online disinformation and digital vigilance

For Philippe Nanga, coordinator of the NGO, Un Monde Avenir, the current context reflects a new “information war” in Cameroon.

“Those in power also control the web. They flood networks with manipulated information to maintain confusion. Our role is to deconstruct these narratives and promote a discourse of peace based on truth,” he explained.

Nanga called on young activists and influencers to remain vigilant, stressing that false information only fuels fear and mistrust.

The movement concluded the online press conference by calling for peaceful mobilisation and digital vigilance, warning that the arrests could mark the beginning of a broader wave of repression in the post-election period.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3607 of Monday October 26, 2025