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Cameroonian Opposition Leader Anicet Ekane D+es in Detention at 74.

Cameroonian opposition figure Anicet Ekane died on Monday while in detention in Yaounde, the vice president of his party, Manidem, confirmed to AFP.

“Anicet Ekane died this morning in Yaounde, where he had been transferred after his arrest at the end of October in Douala,” Valentin Dongmo said. The circumstances surrounding the 74-year-old’s death remain unclear.

Ekane, a left-wing nationalist and longtime critic of President Paul Biya’s government, was arrested in Douala on October 24, a day before the release of presidential election results that returned 92-year-old Biya to office for an eighth term.

According to Dongmo, Ekane was held at the State Defence Secretariat (SED) in Yaounde, where his health reportedly deteriorated sharply. He said the party repeatedly appealed to authorities to transfer Ekane to a properly equipped hospital, but the requests were denied.

The party said that as recently as Sunday, Ekane’s supporters had demanded a “medical evacuation” amid worsening concerns about his condition. Ekane and several other opposition figures were arrested for publicly backing Issa Tchiroma Bakary’s self-proclaimed victory in the October 12 election, a move Cameroonian authorities described as destabilising. Manidem had earlier condemned what it called “arbitrary arrests” intended to intimidate citizens.

Born in 1951 in Douala, Ekane joined the historic Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC) in 1973 before resigning to form the African Movement for the New Independence of Cameroon (Manidem) in 1995. 

He was arrested in 1990 alongside members of the Yondo Black group and tried before a military court, though later pardoned. Ekane led Manidem for many years and ran as its presidential candidate in 2004 and 2011.

News of Ekane’s death has triggered widespread reactions on social media, with supporters, activists and political observers expressing shock and calling for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his detention and medical treatment.