Ngarbuh massacre: Lawyers condemn “mild, friendly” sentencing of soldiers.

The prison terms, described by lawyers of victims as “mild and friendly”, was handed to the four individuals on February 19, 2026. This was during a hearing at the Yaounde Military Court. 

The Court handed Corporal Cyrille Sanding Sanding a five-year sentence, slammed Sergeant Baba Guida an eight-year jail term, while Gendarme officer, Gilbert Haranga, and a civilian, Maxwell Tita Nfor, each got 10-year sentences. 

The Court had on January 15, 2026, during a hearing in the case that had dragged on for six years, found them guilty of murder, arson, destruction and violence against a pregnant woman, and disobeying orders of military hierarchy.

Many have described the sentencing of the guilty soldiers as a step towards checking excesses of defence and security officers operating in the conflict-hit English-speaking Regions.  

This, they say, is as the victims, national and international rights defenders had impatiently waited for justice to take its course. 

Lawyers say sentences not true reflection of crime committed 

Lawyers of the victims have described the verdict as “mild” and "insignificant", compared to the magnitude of the crime. 

Barrister Sother Menkem, one of the lawyers of the victims, is quoted by the BBC as saying: "The sentences were so mild…I even qualify it as friendly because we are talking of a massacre".

The legal mind was categorical that under Cameroonian law, the minimum sentence for felonies such as murder and arson is 10 years prison sentence.

"I expected at least 30 years imprisonment or more because [the soldiers] instilled much fear on the inhabitants of that area," Barrister Menkem said.

He added that: “These penalties do not correspond to the gravity of the offense. These penalties do not respond to the social outcry or the social demand for justice. We also believe that, to this day, those who truly organised the massacre have never been worried”. 

The long distance of nearly 1,000 kilometres between the crime scene and the court, the lawyer said, “contributed in distancing the victims from the justice process”.

“I think that explains the reason we could not see victims at the courtroom during the sentencing,” he stated. 

Another lawyer, Barrister Richard Tamfu, decried the fact that the Military Court rejected the victims' demand for compensation. 

Soldiers acted in self-defense

Meantime, the defendants' lawyers consider that their clients were acting in self-defense in the course of their duties. 

Defense lawyer, Athanase Henri Atangana, insisted that: “The defendants acted in self-defense. We will consult with our clients to see if they agree to us filing an appeal”.

The Court has given the various parties ten days to file an appeal on the judgement. 

Following the January 15, 2026, hearing that incriminated the soldiers, Senior Sahel Researcher at credible international rights organisation, Human Rights Watch, Illaria Allegrozi, in a statement, described the verdict as a step forward in the fight against impunity and “an important step in the search for the truth”. 

Allegrozi, however, regretted that no senior officers were charged in the case.

“…the authorities missed an opportunity to demonstrate that no one is above the law, because the trial for the Ngarbuh massacre was an opportunity for the Cameroonian government to show Cameroonians and the international community, which invested heavily in the search for truth after the massacre, that it can hold its senior officers accountable for their actions,” she had stated.

Allegrozi had added that: “For me, the most serious thing is that no high-ranking officer has been arrested or charged in this trial. And even the 17 militiamen who allegedly helped the soldiers perpetrate these killings have been charged with murder, but are still free”.

Revisiting the sad incident 

When news of the February 14, 2020, massacre broke, the military initially denied any involvement. Following international pressure, President Paul Biya ordered investigations. 

The findings, released on April 21, 2020, by the Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, on behalf of President Biya, concluded that three soldiers, described as "uncontrolled" and disobeying orders, with the help of a militia group, were responsible for the massacre. 

President Biya had ordered the institution of disciplinary proceedings against guilty defence and security officers as well as members of the vigilante committee who were involved in the tragic incident.

Amongst other appeasement measures taken, the Head of State had ordered the exhuming of the corpses of all victims of the massacre “in order to give them a decent burial at the cost of the State and establish the necessary evidence to bring out the truth”. 

A process was also launched to identify the rightful claimants of the victims by the administration to enable the State to pay appropriate compensation and indemnities. 

Biya had also ordered the strengthening of security in the village of Ngarbuh, by creating a military base and setting up other public services to ensure better protection of civilians against the abuses of armed groups.

Meanwhile, a monument in memory of the massacre victims was inaugurated in Ngarbuh. A financial indemnity of 80 million FCFA was also shared to the families of the victims.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3712 of Monday February 23, 2026