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Cameroon's Interior Minister Paul Atanga Nji has stated that opposition leader Tchiroma Bakary will face legal action over claims that he incited "violent post-election demonstrations".

At least 4 demonstrators have been fatally wounded during skirmishes between security forces and demonstrators since the presidential election on October 12, with President Paul Biya, aged 92 obtaining an eighth presidential mandate.

Tchiroma Bakary asserts that he won the election, a statement rejected by the governing party, the CPDM.

Violent crackdowns by police and security officers on demonstrators have worried the global community, with the UN, African Union and European Union urging moderation.

Minister's Claims

Earlier this week, Nji charged Tchiroma Bakary of organising what he referred to as "illegal" rallies leading to the loss of lives, and also rebuked him for announcing success in the presidential race.

He noted that the opposition leader's "accomplices responsible for an subversive plot" will also be prosecuted.

Poll Figures

Cameroon's leader, who came to power in 1982 and is now the oldest serving president, won the 12 October vote with over half of the votes, compared to just over a third for his opponent, according to Cameroon's Constitutional Council.

Leader's Stance

Issa Tchiroma is yet to respond to the authorities' move to bring him to court, but he had earlier announced that he refused to acknowledge a fraudulent outcome - and that he was undaunted of being taken into custody.

On election result day, he claimed that gunmen used lethal force on demonstrators gathered near his house in the city of Garoua, causing the death of at least 2 people.

Inquiry Launched

On Tuesday, the interior minister revealed that an investigation would be started into unrest before and after the announcement of the poll figures.

"In the course of these incidents, some of the individuals involved were killed," he said, without providing a precise figure of protesters who have been killed in the confrontations.

The minister added that a number of officers of the police and military also sustained significant wounds.

Present Conditions

Even though Nji insisted the situation nationwide was now under control, demonstrators continue to protest in certain regions of the nation, especially in these two cities, where protesters set up obstructions on that day, and burnt tyres on the thoroughfares.

Observers caution that the election-related unrest could lead the nation into a leadership vacuum.