Ngarbuh massacre: Military court rules four soldiers guilty.

Baba Guida, Cyrille Sanding Sanding, Gilbert Haranga, and Maxwell Tita Ndor, were found guilty of murder, arson, destruction and violence against a pregnant woman, and disobeying orders of military hierarchy.

They were incriminated during a hearing last Thursday, January 15. The hearing was presided by Justice Yvonne Léopoldine Akoa. 

The case had dragged on for five years. Victims as well as the national and international community had impatiently been awaiting for justice to take its course.

The guilty soldiers and others, as per the court, will be sentenced during another public hearing, programmed for February 19, 2026. 

Human Rights Watch, HRW, a credible international rights organisation that had been vocal on the slow pace of the trial, raising concerns about the justice system’s efficiency and ability to deliver justice to the victims, welcomed the court verdict but deplored the impunity of the officers.

Senior Sahel Researcher at Human Rights Watch, Illaria Allegrozi, in a statement, described the court verdict as a step forward in the fight against impunity.

“The military court has ruled on the guilt of the four defendants who were being prosecuted in the trial for the Ngarbuh massacre. And this decision marks an important step in the search for the truth,” Allegrozi said in the statement, regretting that no senior officers have been charged in the case.

“But I think the authorities missed an opportunity to demonstrate that no one is above the law, because the trial for the Ngarbuh massacre was an opportunity for the Cameroonian government to show Cameroonians and the international community, which invested heavily in the search for truth after the massacre, that it can hold its senior officers accountable for their actions,” she stated.

Allegrozi added that: “For me, the most serious thing is that no high-ranking officer has been arrested or charged in this trial. And even the 17 militiamen who allegedly helped the soldiers perpetrate this killing have been charged with murder, but are still free”.

The military had initially denied the massacre, but following international pressure, President Paul Biya ordered investigations. 

The findings, released on April 21, 2020, by the Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, concluded that three soldiers, described as "uncontrolled" and disobeying orders, with the help of a militia group, were responsible for the massacre. 

President Biya, had through the statement issued by the Unity Palace scribe, ordered the institution of disciplinary proceedings against Major Nyiangono Ze Charles Eric, Commander of the 52nd Motorised Infantry Battalion, BIM, and all the servicemen who took part in the Ngarbuh macabre operation.

He had also ordered the arrest of Sergeant Baba Guida, Gendarme Sanding Cyrille and Private First-Class Haranga Gilbert, as well as some ten members of the vigilante committee involved in the Ngarbuh tragic incident.

The servicemen concerned, the statement had said, were already at the disposal of the Yaounde Military Court while the concerned members of the vigilante committee were actively being tracked down.

Amongst other appeasement measures taken, the Head of State had ordered the exhumation of the corpses of all victims of the massacre “in order to give them a decent burial at the cost of the State and establish the necessary evidence to bring out the truth”. 

While announcing that an identification of the rightful claimants of the victims by the administration to enable the State to pay appropriate compensation and indemnities will be carried out, the Head of State had also ordered the strengthening of security in the village of Ngarbuh.

He did so by creating a military base and setting up other public services to ensure better protection of civilians against the abuses of armed groups.

In line with the Head of State’s instruction, there was the creation of a military base, not far from the scene of the macabre act.

Meanwhile, a monument in memory of the massacre victims was inaugurated in Ngarbuh. A financial indemnity of 80 million FCFA was shared to the families of the victims.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3678 of Monday January 19, 2026