Cameroonian families bereaved in post-election violence

Achille Simo, a 45-year-old father of five, was killed Wednesday amid the chaos following the vote that maintained Biya, 92, in power.

Witnesses said he was shot while visiting a local shop.

"The soldier told him to get off the road. Achille told him, 'You do your job, we're not in your way.' The captain then shot him point-blank when he had his back turned," said Basile Njeumeni Nana, a neighbour who had known Simo for 40 years.

Simo "wasn't even protesting", said his brother Christian Fokam. "How can one shoot down a civilian who posed no threat?"

Simo's widow, Elodie Fougue, 39, received condolences from friends and family in their home silence.

Following the re-election for an eighth mandate for Biya, who has been in power since 1982, protests encouraged by opposition figure and self-proclaimed election winner Issa Tchiroma Bakary have rattled Cameroonian cities and been met with bloody repression.

Bloodstains marked the ground close to where Simo's shooting occurred. Soldiers patrolled nearby, not saying a word.

"Since then, the neighbourhood has been living in fear," according to a local resident.

The regional governor said four people had died in Douala during a demonstration on Sunday -- the day before the results were announced.

On Tuesday, the Cameroonian government acknowledged "deaths" in the post-election unrest without specifying the toll.

Tchiroma said Friday that "hundreds" had been killed and injured. The former minister turned opposition figure's success in rallying his young supporters to support his proclaimed victory has surprised many.