Gunmen kill police officer, kidnap five teachers in Cameroon's Northwest Region

September 9, 2026 at 09:00 PM2 min

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Armed attackers killed a police officer and kidnapped five teachers at a teacher training centre in Wum, Northwest Region, on Tuesday morning. Governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique said the officer was shot dead while trying to intervene, and the teachers were taken to an unknown location. Security forces are searching for the attackers.

Key Facts

The attack occurred at a teacher training centre in Wum, about 80 km north of Bamenda, on Tuesday morning.
A police officer was killed instantly when the attackers opened fire on him.
Five teachers were kidnapped and taken to an unknown location.
Governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique confirmed the incident to AFP on Wednesday.
The Northwest Region is one of two English-speaking regions where separatists have fought government forces for about 10 years.

The Attack

An armed group infiltrated a teacher training centre in Wum, about 80 kilometres north of Bamenda, on Tuesday morning. A police officer on the scene tried to intervene and stop the attackers. The armed individuals unleashed a hail of bullets on him, killing him instantly, and took five teachers with them to an unknown location. Governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique told AFP on Wednesday that security forces are searching for the attackers.

Regional Conflict

The Northwest Region is one of two English-speaking regions in Cameroon where separatist groups have been fighting government forces for about 10 years. According to local reports, separatist leaders in Northwest and Southwest Regions announced a lockdown aiming to disrupt the school year. In late 2016, the government violently put down protests in the anglophone regions. Teachers and lawyers were objecting to the francophone authorities' growing grip on the education and legal systems of the two English-speaking regions, where 20 percent of Cameroon's population lives. After the crackdown, a conflict broke out in 2017 between separatists and the government in Yaounde.

Humanitarian Toll

Civilians fell victim to extortion, kidnappings for ransom, and violence. At least 6,000 have died since 2016, according to the United Nations. More than 330,000 people were internally displaced in Cameroon last year, and about 100,000 others fled to neighbouring Nigeria.