In an unexpected legal turnaround, Cameroon's Supreme Court overturned on March 19, 2026, the life sentence of Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, an Anglophone separatist leader, and his co-defendants, known as the "NERA 10". This decision paves the way for a retrial before the Center Court of Appeal, with a different composition.
Convicted in 2019 by the Yaoundé Military Tribunal for secession, terrorism, and hostility against the homeland, Ayuk Tabe and his companions had their sentences upheld on appeal in 2020. The Supreme Court, presided over by Magistrate Marie Louise Abomo, noted a procedural irregularity, leading to the quashing of the decision.
The case is therefore referred back to the Center Court of Appeal to be retried in its entirety. This decision revives a sensitive legal case, at the heart of the separatist crisis shaking the Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest Cameroon. Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the "NERA 10" were arrested in Nigeria in 2018 and then extradited to Cameroon. They advocate for the independence of these regions.
According to the UN, the Anglophone crisis has caused the death of more than 6,000 people, the displacement of more than 600,000 people within the country, and has driven some 60,000 people to take refuge in Nigeria. In September 2025 alone, OCHA reported 4,500 new displaced persons. In March 2026, fighting continues and affects civilian populations. On March 6, Ambazonian fighters killed three Cameroonian soldiers in an ambush.
"We appealed the case and the Supreme Court said four or five years later that the judgment of the Court of Appeal for the Center Region is quashed. That in itself is to say that our appeal had good grounds, and the right thing the Supreme Court ought to have done was to release us. Failing to do so, they have sent us back," Ayuk Tabe said. The struggle for justice, fairness and respect for fundamental rights continues.
