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An armed attack killed at least 14 Mbororo civilians, including women and children, in Gidado on January 14.
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Civil society groups and political actors urged authorities to open an investigation and prosecute those responsible.
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Rights groups and opposition figures blamed separatist fighters amid ongoing insecurity in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions.
At least 14 civilians from the Mbororo community, including several women and children, died at dawn on January 14, 2026, in Gidado, in the Ndu district of Cameroon’s Northwest region, during an armed attack. One day after the incident, the NGO Mboscuda, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), and lawyer Nkongho Felix Agbor urged authorities to open an investigation and arrest those responsible.
According to regional authorities quoted by the press, the initial toll stood at 14 deaths—one man, six women, and seven children aged between two and eleven. A local chief reported at least 15 victims. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mboscuda Condemns “Targeted” Attacks, Calls for Prosecution
In a statement, the Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association (Mboscuda) condemned what it described as “targeted, repeated” attacks, kidnappings for ransom, and killings affecting Mbororo communities in the Northwest. The organization blamed Ambazonian separatists and said it held cumulative data pointing to hundreds of victims and significant material losses within the community.
In the same statement, Mboscuda Secretary General Oumarou Sanda urged the government “to open an investigation” to identify those responsible for the abuses and bring them before competent courts.
The Social Democratic Front said it felt “horrified and deeply outraged” by the attack, which it attributed to separatist assailants. The opposition party said that “no cause” could justify the killing of unarmed civilians. It called for an immediate end to attacks against civilians and demanded “urgent and effective” measures to protect populations in conflict-affected regions, “particularly the most vulnerable.”
The SDF also demanded that authorities identify and prosecute those responsible for the massacre.
Violence Against Civilians Constitutes a Crime
Lawyer and human rights defender Nkongho Felix Agbor also reacted by highlighting the presence of children among the victims. He said the deliberate targeting of civilians constituted a serious violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. He added that no political objective could justify the massacre of non-combatants.
The attack occurred in a region affected by the ongoing security crisis in Cameroon’s Anglophone areas. According to information reported by the Associated Press, separatist fighters have previously accused some Mbororo communities of supporting government forces—an allegation that community members dispute.
Thierry Christophe Yamp