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26, March 2025

Revealed: Boko Haram fighters kill 20 Cameroonian troops ⁰

Boko Haram fighters disguised as herders killed at least 20 Cameroonian troops in a Tuesday morning raid on the Nigerian border town of Wulgo, local security sources and residents told AFP.

Cameroonian troops are commonly stationed across the border in Nigeria as part of anti-jihadist operations around Wulgo, which is near the volatile Lake Chad — home to both Islamic State and Boko Haram fighters.

The militants had disguised themselves as herders and traders in a nearby city and then infiltrated Wulgo to attack its surrounding military positions, said two intelligence sources.

The sources were assisting troops in the long-running fight against the militants and requested anonymity to speak freely.

“The insurgents attacked the bases around 1:00 am and fighting continued for two hours before they subdued the troops and burnt the bases, after taking away heavy weapons,” one of the sources said.

“Twenty Cameroonian troops were killed in the fighting and their bodies were transported across the border into Cameroon this morning,” the source added.

Neither the Nigerian military nor the Cameroonian side responded to an AFP request for comment.

Soviet-made Shilka guns — lightly armoured, radar-guided anti-aircraft weapons — were among the cache seized by the Boko Haram fighters, said the second source, who offered the same death toll.

On Monday, the fighters had blended among herders at the weekly market in the town of Gamboru, a commercial hub 15 kilometres (nine miles) away, the sources said.

They then moved into Wulgo under the cover of night to launch a “surprise attack”, said the second security source.

– Military bases raided –

Sounds of heavy guns and explosions were heard by people in Gamboru who had been awake to observe Ramadan vigils, local resident Muhammad Sani Umar told AFP.

“I saw three Cameroonian military trucks conveying 13 bodies across the border into Cameroon this morning,” said Umar, who visited Wulgo on Tuesday.

The attacked military bases were a mess, with the building torched and vehicles burnt, Umar said.

Since 2009, jihadist violence in northeast Nigeria has killed 40,000 people and displaced 2.3 million, according to the UN, with the conflict spilling into neighbouring countries.

The Lake Chad region in particular — stretching across Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon — has become a jihadist stronghold, disrupting fishing, farming and herding, on which the 40 million people who live there depend.

Recently, however, officials have complained about a lack of coordination in the multi-country coalition fighting militants in the region, particularly as Nigeria and Niger have seen relations deteriorate after a coup toppled Niamey’s civilian government in 2023.

Since losing its Sambisa stronghold in Nigeria in 2021 to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a rival offshoot, Boko Haram has shifted its presence to areas around Lake Chad as well as Wulgo, Waza, Gwoza, Pulka the Mandara mountains on the border with Cameroon.

Wulgo and Waza have been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram, who have kidnapped and killed loggers, herders and scrap metal scavengers they accuse of spying on them for the military or local militias.

Earlier this year, clashes with Boko Haram jihadists near the Lake Chad town of Baga left nine Nigerian soldiers dead.

The attack came days after ISWAP militants killed scores of farmers in nearby in Tumbun Kanta and Kwatar Yobe, with accounts ranging between 40 and 100 dead.

In March 2021, two Cameroonian soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack in Wulgo, with three other Cameroonian troops and a Nigerian soldier injured.

Source: AFP

26, March 2025

Niger: military leader Tiani sworn in as president for five-year transition period ⁰

Niger’s leader, Abdourahamane Tiani, was on Wednesday sworn in as the country’s president for a transition period of five years under a new charter that replaces the West African nation’s constitution. The move effectively rebuffed attempts by regional bloc ECOWAS to quicken the return to democracy after a 2023 coup.

The five-year “flexible” transition period begins on Wednesday, according to Mahamane Roufai, the secretary general of the government. He was speaking at a ceremony in the capital Niamey where the new transition charter recommended by a recent national conference was approved.

Tiani, an army veteran, was also elevated to the country’s highest military rank of army general, cementing his grip on power since June 2023 when he led soldiers that deposed the country’s elected government.

The new president would have been in power for about seven years by the end of the transition period in 2030, following similar patterns of prolonged stints in power in Africa’s junta-led countries, including Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.

Niger’s junta had initially proposed a three-year transition period right after the coup, but that was rejected by West Africa’s regional bloc known as ECOWAS, which called it a provocation and threatened to intervene with the use of force.

Since then Niger has left the bloc alongside Mali and Burkina Faso, in protest of harsh sanctions which the bloc announced to force a return to democracy in Niger.

With ECOWAS exit, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger leave democratic transition in limbo

Critics say Niger’s junta has clamped down on civil rights and struggled to end the jihadi violence that the military said inspired them to take power.

Source: AP

25, March 2025

Over 10 Cameroon gov’t soldiers killed, 20 injured in Boko Haram attack ⁰

More than 10 Cameroonian soldiers were killed and 20 others injured after the terrorist group Boko Haram raided a military outpost in the country’s Far North Region, according to local and security sources.

The attack took place overnight into Tuesday.

Boko Haram militants ambushed and attacked the Wulgo military camp located at the border with Nigeria, an army official in the region told the Chinese News Agency by phone on Tuesday.

“The terrorists came from Nigeria in large numbers and took our brave soldiers by surprise. They were well-armed with sophisticated weapons and technology. Our brave soldiers are pursuing them,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Local officials said the death toll could be higher as they were still investigating.

It is one of the deadliest attacks on the Cameroonian army since Boko Haram started operating in the region in 2014, according to local media.

Source: Xinhuanet

25, March 2025

1982-2025: How long will Biya hang on? ⁰

President Paul Biya may not be ready to give up power any time soon, according to Cameroon Intelligence Report sources. The country is at the mercy of Biya and his appointees and remains in the limbo of an uncertain presidential election moment. Biya’s prolonged grip on power has generated crises. Cameroon Intelligence Report is aware that a crackdown had begun that included the arrest of journalists and senior opposition militants.

Our editor-in-chief Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai says at 92, Paul Biya is not in any hurry to leave office. He spoke to Cameroon Concord News in an interview after reports came out that the Minister-Secretary General at the presidency of the republic Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh had met the Archbishop of Douala, His Grace Archbishop Samuel Kleda.

As members of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate close ranks around their beleaguered president and suggest that he will face off with any opposition candidate, Soter Agbaw-Ebai, is one of the few Cameroonian journalists with insight into Biya’s thinking and a willingness to share it.

“Mr. Biya has lived and ruled Cameroon from the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva for 42 years, and that is his problem,” says Soter Agbaw-Ebai.

“Frankly speaking, Biya’s acolytes are giving him the impression that people love him and I don’t know if there is anyone deep within his entourage who can muster the courage and make him understand that the people have taken the decision to vote against him in October.”

Cameroonians will reject Biya this 2025, Soter Agbaw-Ebai says, but Biya and his men are likely to seek a way to hang on to power. “I personally think the elections will be rigged and there will be an uprising that will put Biya to shame.”

“Biya’s government is broke and doesn’t have the money to pay for any elections. Parliamentarians are happy that he extended their failed mandate and they are pushing Biya to use presidential powers and develop plans to work in his favor against the Cameroonian people” Agbaw-Ebai concluded.

By Chi Prudence Asong in Dublin

25, March 2025

Football: Blatter and Platini acquitted again in second FIFA financial trial ⁰

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini won again in court Tuesday and now lead 2-0 in trial verdicts against Swiss federal prosecutors.

The former football officials were acquitted for a second time on charges of fraud, forgery, mismanagement and misappropriation of more than $2 million of FIFA money in 2011.

Blatter, now 89 years old, gave little reaction listening to the verdict of three cantonal (state) judges acting as a federal criminal appeals court. Sitting in the row in front of Platini, Blatter alternately tapped his fingers and held his left hand over his mouth.

Platini sat with his arms folded or rubbing his hands as he listened to a translator sitting beside him relating the court’s verdict in German into his native French.

The attorney general’s office in Switzerland had challenged a first acquittal in July 2022 and asked for sentences of 20 months, suspended for two years.

Blatter and Platini have consistently denied wrongdoing in a decade-long case that swung on their claims of a verbal agreement to one day settle the money in question.

Blatter approved FIFA paying 2 million Swiss francs (now $2.21 million) to France soccer great Platini in February 2011 for supplementary and non-contracted salary working as a presidential advisor from 1998-2002.

The latest win for Blatter and 69-year-old Platini came exactly 9.5 years after the Swiss federal investigation was revealed and kicked off events that ended the careers of soccer’s most powerful men.

That September 2015 day in Zurich, police came to interrogate them at FIFA after an executive committee meeting when Platini was a strong favorite to succeed his one-time mentor in an upcoming election.

Though federal court trials have twice cleared their names, Blatter’s reputation likely always will be tied to leading FIFA during corruption crises that took down a swath of senior soccer officials worldwide.

Platini, one of soccer’s greatest players and later Blatter’s protégé in soccer politics, never did get the FIFA presidency he often called his destiny.

Source: AP

25, March 2025

Yaoundé: Indomitable Lions hosting Libya in must-win World Cup Qualifier ⁰

Cameroon is set to host Libya in Yaoundé today as part of the sixth round of qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Following a scoreless draw against Eswatini in their previous match, the Indomitable Lions have fallen from the top spot in Group D, which is now held by Cape Verde. Another setback could significantly jeopardize their chances of qualification, especially if Cape Verde manages a victory in Angola.

During the pre-match press conference on the evening of March 24, goalkeeper André Onana acknowledged the team’s challenging situation, even describing it as a “crisis.” Nevertheless, the Manchester United shot-stopper emphasized that the squad’s morale remains high just hours before the clash with Libya. “The team is doing well, we’re calm,” Onana stated. “We’re going into this match with a lot of composure.”

Head coach Marc Brys echoed this sentiment. “It’s a good team,” the Belgian said concisely, referring to his players. While he admitted that the draw against Eswatini—considered the group’s underdog—was a “catastrophic” result, Brys remains optimistic. He noted that, unlike their last outing, the team has had more time for training and recovery. Onana and Brys also commended the integration of newcomers Danny Namaso and Nathan Ngoumou Minpole into the squad.

“For us, it’s important to win,” Brys conceded. He stopped short of labeling it a difficult match, but the standings suggest otherwise: this is a crucial moment for the Lions. According to the qualification rules, only the winner of each of the nine groups will automatically secure a spot in the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Cameroon, currently trailing Cape Verde by a single point, must overcome the deficit and surpass both Libya and Angola to maintain their World Cup aspirations.

Source: Business in Cameroon

25, March 2025

President Kagame of Rwanda planning to attack Burundi ⁰

Burundi’s president has told the BBC he has seen “credible intelligence” that Rwanda plans to attack his country.

Évariste Ndayishimiye also said that Rwanda had tried to launch a coup a decade ago in Burundi, akin to “what it’s doing in the Democratic Republic of Congo” now.

Rwanda has already hit back, calling the president’s comments “surprising” and insisting that the two neighbours are co-operating on security plans for their shared border, which has been shut for over a year.

Despite extensive UN evidence, Rwanda has always denied arming and backing the M23 rebel group, which has recently seized large parts of eastern DR Congo alongside Rwandan troops.

Rwanda has also denied links to the resurgent Red Tabara rebel group, which President Ndayishimiye says is a proxy force similar to the M23 and is being supported by Rwanda to destabilise Burundi.

“They would say it’s an internal problem when it’s Rwanda [who is] the problem. We know that he [Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame] has a plan to attack Burundi,” Ndayishimiye added.

“Burundians will not accept to be killed as Congolese are being killed. Burundian people are fighters.

“But now we don’t have any plans to attack Rwanda. We want to resolve that problem by dialogue.”

At the heart of Ndayishimiye’s comments was a call for peace and the full implementation of an agreement between the two nations – a peace deal that had been signed in previous years but, according to Burundi, had not been honoured by Rwanda.

“The people who did the 2015 coup [were] organised by Rwanda, and then they ran away. Rwanda organised them – it went to recruit the youth in Mahama camp. It trained them, it gave them arms, it financed them. They are living in the hand of Rwanda,” he alleges.

“If Rwanda accepts to hand over them and bring them to justice, the problem would be finished.”

Source: BBC

25, March 2025

Tiger Woods confirms relationship with Trump’s ex daughter-in-law ⁰

Golfer Tiger Woods has announced he is dating Vanessa Trump, the former daughter-in-law of US President Donald Trump.

Vanessa, 47, was married to Donald Trump Jr for 13 years. The pair, who have five children, divorced in 2018.

On Sunday, Woods, 49, posted pictures of Vanessa and himself on social media saying: “Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side! We look forward to our journey through life together.”

“At this time we would appreciate privacy for all those close to our hearts.”

It is unclear what prompted the public announcement, but rumours of their relationship had been reported in gossip magazines in recent weeks.

Woods, who has won 15 major championships, is known for being guarded about his personal life after exposure of his marital infidelities and sex scandals damaged his public standing in the 2000s and affected his playing career.

He admitted himself into a sex addiction rehab clinic, and went through an acrimonious split from his first wife Elin Nordegren months later after six years of marriage. The couple have two children together.

US media outlets report that Tiger Woods’ children attend the same school as Vanessa Trump’s.

As the former wife of Donald Trump’s eldest son, Vanessa had been a regular attendee at official events involving Trump’s extended family during his first term in office.

Woods, the former world number one, is also known to have played golf with President Trump on several occasions, including last month. Trump loves golf and owns more than a dozen courses.

In February, Woods attended a meeting with Trump and Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) heads at the White House about the future of the sport’s tournaments and current division with the Saudi Arabia-LIV league.

Woods wore his Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was bestowed on him by Trump in 2019 during the president’s first term.

Woods announced an achilles tendon injury earlier this month that has sidelined him from professional competition. He has not suggested a timeline for when he might return to the courses.

He has not competed in a PGA Tour event this season, following the death of his mother, Kultida, in February.

The new couple both have children who are junior golfers.

Kai Trump, 17, has announced her commitment to playing collegiate golf at the University of Miami in 2026.

She and Charlie Woods both played at a junior invite-only tournament in South Carolina last week.

Woods has previously announced relationships with World Cup champion ski racer Lindsey Vonn and Erica Herman, his former restaurant manager.

That relationship ended badly – Herman filed law suits against Woods and his trust in 2023, which she later withdrew.

Source: BBC

25, March 2025

Succession tensions threaten stability in Cameroon’s enduring one-man regime ⁰

Paul Biya has ruled Cameroon since 1982, presenting his long tenure as a guarantor of stability. Yet Marie-Emmanuelle Pommerolle, an expert on Cameroon, argues precisely the opposite: Biya’s prolonged grip on power has generated crises.

The regime’s entrenched elites resist meaningful reform, while economic stagnation and unresolved regional tensions, especially in the Anglophone regions, threaten national unity.

Who are the main contenders within Biya’s ruling circle?

Two key figures dominate the speculation. Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, the powerful secretary-general of the presidency, is positioning himself strategically by campaigning on Biya’s behalf, often overshadowing the prime minister. Franck Biya, the president’s son, is also rumoured to be a potential successor, though he remains politically discreet.

Meanwhile, Joseph Dion Ngute, Cameroon’s prime minister, seeks to assert his political relevance independently, notably leveraging economic events to strengthen his position against Ngoh Ngoh’s dominance.

What does the opposition offer?

The opposition remains divided but has notable leaders. Maurice Kamto of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), who challenged Biya significantly in 2018, is again leading a broad coalition. Kamto, popular yet controversial, symbolises the hopes of many seeking change.

Joshua Osih of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) seeks a moderate path, targeting younger, urban voters. Yet his strategy risks alienating the grassroots supporters who once formed the party’s backbone.

Cabral Libii, younger and media-savvy, appeals to disillusioned youth, while veteran Garga Haman Adji is viewed with suspicion, sometimes accused of collaborating with Biya’s regime to dilute opposition effectiveness.

Could election integrity affect succession?

Enow Abrams Egbe, head of Elections Cameroon (Elecam), faces accusations of partiality. Elecam’s perceived lack of independence, highlighted by opposition complaints about electoral transparency, risks undermining the legitimacy of any future election.

What role might religious institutions play?

The Catholic Church, influential in Cameroonian politics, presents mixed signals. Archbishop Jean Mbarga of Yaoundé openly supports Biya, potentially aiding a smooth succession aligned with the current regime. However, other prominent bishops, including Samuel Kleda, criticise Biya’s extended tenure, reflecting broader societal divisions that might intensify post-Biya.

Could diaspora activists shape Cameroon’s future?

The diaspora-based Brigade Anti-Sardinards (BAS), critical of Biya’s government, remains a vocal presence abroad, notably staging provocative protests. While officially dismissed by Cameroon’s authorities, their ability to influence public discourse within Cameroon and internationally makes them an unpredictable force.

Is France’s influence waning?

Historically supportive, France’s relationship with Biya’s regime faces growing scrutiny amid rising anti-French sentiment. Younger Cameroonians increasingly question France’s paternalistic approach, demanding greater national autonomy

Whether from Biya’s camp or opposition, future leaders must navigate this dynamic.

Will the Anglophone crisis derail succession?

The ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, driven by deep-rooted grievances, has severely tested national unity. A successor who fails to address Anglophone marginalisation risks escalating tensions further, potentially destabilising the country.

Cameroon faces significant uncertainty as it approaches the post-Biya era. The country’s stability hinges on whether a genuine political transition, inclusive governance and credible elections can finally emerge from beneath the shadow of Africa’s longest-serving leader.

Culled from The Africa Report

23, March 2025

Biya and his gang are strangling the nation ⁰

Cameroon’s political system has become a shameful cycle of stagnation, corruption, and power entrenchment, with 91-year-old Niat Njifenji Marcel and 85-year-old Cavaye Yeguie Djibril once again reappointed to lead the Senate and National Assembly.

Adding to this political stranglehold, 92-year-old Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon for over four decades, is likely eyeing yet another re-election, further tightening his grip on a nation that desperately needs new leadership.

This is no longer just a failure of governance; it is an outright hijacking of the country’s future.

Cameroon is being held hostage by a ruling elite that refuses to let go of power, while the younger generation is sidelined, left without opportunities or a voice in shaping their own destiny.

It has come to a critical point: Cameroonians, especially the youth, must rise up and take back their country. If action is not taken now, the nation will remain trapped in an endless cycle of aging rulers clinging to power, while the people suffer from economic hardship, unemployment, and political repression.

The time for waiting is over. If the people do not reclaim their future, they will remain prisoners of this outdated and self-serving system for decades to come.

Source: The Sierra Leone Telegraph