Voting ends 'peacefully' in Cameroon's presidential poll: Election body

YAOUNDE -- Polling in Cameroon's presidential election ended at 6:00 pm local time on Sunday with authorities expressing satisfaction with the conduct of the poll.

"With the exception of certain polling stations which functioned following a security plan in the Northwest and Southwest regions given the prevailing situation, voting operations as a whole were conducted hitch-free within the country and in the diaspoara. It was peaceful." Essosse Erik, director general of Cameroon electoral body, Elections Cameroon (Elecam) told a press conference in the capital, Yaounde.

There were no statistics yet on how many people voted globally, Erik said.

Local polling commissions were engaged in counting ballots to determine the votes obtained by each candidate immediately after the vote.

About 6,600,000 people registered to vote in Sunday's election, according to Elecam.

Several voters interviewed by Xinhua said they hoped for peace and prosperity after the voting.

"Whoever wins should bring change to this country. We need change and peace in the Anglophone regions." Lilian Atangana who voted in Yaounde told Xinhua.

"The next president of this country should have as priority, solving the Anglophone crisis." Emmanuel Njob who voted in Douala told Xinhua.

The results of the election will be proclaimed by the Constitutional Council within no more than 15 days of the close of the poll, according to Cameroon Electoral Code.

"Given that our electoral system does not allow for the proclamation of trends about the results, I hereby urge all the stakeholders of the process to exercise the greatest restraint right up to the proclamation of the final results. Rendez-vous latest 22 October 2018 for the proclamation of the final results" Erik said.

The minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji warned against any post-election violence.

"Any form of challenge to the verdict of the poll other than constitutional legal means will not be tolerated" Nji told a press conference in Yaounde.

At least two armed separatists were killed in crisis-hit English-speaking region of Southwest as they tried to disrupt the vote, according to the region's governor, Adolph Lele Lafrique.

Voting in the two Anglophone regions where armed separatist forces are fighting to create a new nation called "Ambazonia" was "very timid," according to Elecam officials.