Cameroon's Minister of the Interior Paul Atanga Nji has announced that opposition leader Tchiroma Bakary will face legal action over claims that he incited "aggressive election protests".
At least four protesters have been fatally wounded during skirmishes between law enforcement and opposition supporters since the presidential election on 12 October, with 92-year-old President Paul Biya obtaining an eighth consecutive term.
The opposition leader maintains that he was the true winner, a assertion disputed by the incumbent party, the ruling CPDM.
Aggressive responses by law enforcement on protesters have concerned the global community, with the United Nations, African Union and European Union urging restraint.
Recently, Nji accused Tchiroma Bakary of organising what he described as "illegal" demonstrations causing the loss of lives, and also condemned him for announcing success in the election.
He noted that Tchiroma Bakary's "accomplices responsible for an subversive plot" will also undergo judicial processes.
The president, who took control in 1982 and is now the oldest serving president, won the 12 October election with a majority of the vote, compared to just over a third for Tchiroma Bakary, according to the constitutional court.
Issa Tchiroma is has not yet commented to the government's decision to bring him to court, but he had previously announced that he refused to acknowledge a rigged election - and that he was fearless of being arrested.
When results were announced, he said that armed men opened fire on demonstrators present near his residence in the city of Garoua, killing at least 2 civilians.
Recently, the interior minister announced that an probe would be initiated into unrest prior to and following the publication of the poll figures.
"In the course of these incidents, some of the perpetrators died," he stated, without giving a exact count of protesters who have been fatally injured in the incidents.
The minister further mentioned that multiple officers of the police and military also received significant wounds.
Even though the interior minister maintained the situation throughout Cameroon was now manageable, demonstrators remain active in various areas of the country, especially in urban centers, where demonstrators set up barricades on that day, and ignited tires on the streets.
Analysts caution that the political turmoil could plunge the nation into a governmental instability.
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