On August 13, 2025, gunmen abducted two university lecturers and a postgraduate student from the University of Bamenda.

Professor Mbanga Lawrence and two colleagues were pulled over and kidnapped in the city of Bambui. Informant reports to media sources indicated that Mbanga was released after two days in captivity and his colleagues the following day. Their kidnapping followed a series of abductions of members of the academic community in Bambui and Bambili, which appeared to be linked to the ongoing armed conflict between government forces and Ambazonian separatists seeking independence for the Anglophone regions of Cameroon.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the abduction of higher education faculty and staff. State authorities should take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of scholars, students, and staff, including by investigating and holding perpetrators of such acts responsible, in line with international human rights standards. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, kidnappings that target members of the higher education community undermine the conditions needed for the meaningful exercise of the right to education and academic freedom.

Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://www.abcnetworks24.com/blog/bambili-students-abducted-amid-ongoing-conflict-that-has-rendered-the-student-residential-area-unpredictable
https://cameroonnewsagency.com/uba-student-teacher-community-experience-unprecedented-kidnap-cases/