A Youtube video widely shared on WhatsApp forums published that on Sunday, February 02, 2025 there was tension in Bamenda following a meeting by the CPDM to back Biya’s candidacy for the presidential election. The report also claimed that a police station was burnt during the protest. After verification, this information turns out to be out of context.
by Mbuh Stella, Tchiengue Donald.
Introduction
In a video posted on Youtube’s ‘Flash Infos’ page on February 03, 2025, recording over 1,400 views in less than 4 hours, reports that Bamenda was the scene of a spectacular clash after an attempted CPDM rally in support of Paul Biya’s candidacy. Flash Infos channel has 47,700 subscribers and a total of 5,482,748 views and 1505 videos since its creation in February 2022. The video was widely circulated on social media, particularly on WhatsApp forums. The disinformation stems from a facebook publication that has garnered 687 reactions, 226 comments, and 501 shares. Given the extent of its virality, the 237 Check team was contacted by phone to verify the information.
Context
During periods of intense political activity, like the current situation in Cameroon leading up to the 2025 presidential election, unverified reports of protests and violence can spread rapidly on social media, fueling misinformation and stoking public unrest. The North West and South West regions of Cameroon are already experiencing an armed conflict, and such claims can influence public perception, exacerbate political divides, and even incite further unrest not only in Bamenda but in other parts of Cameroon as there have been repeated calls for change ahead of the presidential election.
Verification process
To get the source of the claim shared in this video, we searched for the details and contact of the owners of the Youtube channel. To this end, no information is given in the “About” section of this channel, describing itself as pan-African. Moreover, it was detected that the video was produced with AI tools. Several elements prove that it was generated by AI, notably: the audio script which can be read under the “Transcript” tab; the image at the bottom right of the video of a white man in a coat, whose movements do not match the voice; and the mention “Voice generated by AI” at the top left of the video.
To check the veracity of this information, we carried out a keyword search to see if the same information had been shared by other local media. We discovered that by typing the keywords “Manifestation” – “Bamenda” – ‘RDPC’ into the Google search bar, we came across several pieces of content referring to the headline “People ban CPDM meeting in Bamenda”. Websites sharing this information include Cameroon Web Voa Afrique, RFI , Jeune Afrique and several Facebook pages, notably those of Idriss Melo Dountio and Arlette Framboise Doumbé Ding Officiel. However, an analysis of the publication dates of these online articles shows that the most recent articles date from February 02 and 03, 2025, while the oldest articles date back to December 08, 2016, notably those from Voa Afrique, RFI and Jeune Afrique.
In the Cameroon Web article, while the information shared in the video is the same, it is more precise, mentioning that the event took place on Sunday, February 02, 2025. According to the article dated on February 3, 2025, it was reported that a violent protest erupted in Bamenda on February 2 against Paul Biya’s candidacy ahead of the presidential elections. During the demonstration, security forces used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd, and a police station was set on fire.
To find out if any media outlets reported the event in real time, we found a post made on Facebook on Sunday, February 02, 2025 on the page Arlette Framboise Doumbé Ding Officiel which registered + 500 shares, +687 likes and + 226 comments in 23 hours. The publication is about :
“ MANIFESTATIONS INTERDITES. CE QUI ARRIVE AUX AUTRES ARRIVE AUSSI AU RDPC.
Les populations interdisent un meeting du Rdpc à Bamenda.
Le meeting prévu probablement pour soutenir la candidature de Paul Biya à la présidentielle à fait face aux populations de la ville qui ont manifesté pour marquer leur ferme opposition à la tenue de ce meeting. Conséquence, les chaises prévues pour accueillir les participants au meeting sont restées désespérément vides ( image 1). Venant au secours du rdpc, la police a tiré des gaz lacrymogènes et des jets d’eau pour disperser la foule ( images3). Mais la foule des manifestants ne s’est pas laissée impressionner. Au contraire, elle a répliqué en incendiant le commissariat( image2). Dans la foulée, deux membres du Rdpc fuyant la foule en colère , ont échappé de justesse à une <<arrestation arbitraire >> en trouvant refuge dans une voiture de police( image 4 )…”
Although the publication doesn’t explicitly refer to a specific date, the multiple comments show that many people believe this to be a current event. Furthermore, Mbuh Stella, co-editor of this article, acknowledges the images shared as being her shots, taken on December 08, 2016 as part of a report made for Equinoxe TV on a CPDM demonstration interrupted by the population in a context of repeated protests in Bamenda, mainly motivated by the grievances of the English-speaking community who felt marginalized. This explains the appearance of the Equinoxe TV logo on the images shared under the Facebook publication and on the Youtube video.
Indeed, Stella’s report from this period indicates that the Forces of Law and Order were using tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. This is corroborated by articles from RFI, Jeune Afrique and Voa Afrique published online between December 08-09, 2016.
To confirm the claim that this video is out of context and can’t possibly be current news, we called the president of the CPDM political party Mezam B section, Cletus Anye Matoya, who said: “It’s not true, we [CPDM] didn’t organize a march in Bamenda, we didn’t organize a march”. Also contacted by telephone, Rachel Fomuso and Toh Clinton, journalists and residents of Bamenda, confirm that Commercial Avenue (the location identified in images 2 & 3 of the Facebook publication) showed no sign of any demonstration whatsoever on either Sunday February 02 or February 03, 2025.
Conclusion
After verification, it is certain that the Youtube video widely shared on WhatsApp making people believe that there was a CPDM demonstration in Bamenda and intervention by the Forces of Law and Order is true information that has been used out of its context, which is that of the documented events of the 2016-2017 protest in Bamenda. Most of the details of this information are corroborated by credible sources having covered these events or being geographically close to the location of the supposed march.
Overall, no such demonstration in support of President Paul Biya’s candidacy has taken place in Bamenda in recent days. The images circulating on social media are those of a report by Equinoxe Television dated December 2016 and cannot reflect current events in Bamenda, especially in an electoral context marked by socio-political tensions and the ongoing security crisis in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon.
