Civilian Populations Continue to “pay price of ongoing violence”: Cameroonian Bishop

The last time the Cameroonian Bishop decried cases of violence was earlier this month when a six-year-old pupil was killed after a policeman reportedly opened fire on a car the girl was traveling in, in Cameroon’s city of Buea.

In a statement shared with ACI Africa October 15, the day after the incident, the Local Ordinary of Buea Diocese expressed shock and sorrow.

“I witnessed with shock, sorrow, horror and fright, the deformed head on the lifeless body of six- year-old, Enondiale Tchuengia Carolaise, a class one pupil of CUlB Academy of Talents Primary School Molyko, Buea, who was brutally murdered Thursday, October 14, 2021 at about 7:50 a.m.,” Bishop Michael Bibi said.

He added, “The innocent child was shot dead by a gendarme officer opposite the Divine Mercy Co-Cathedral, Molyko, Buea as her mother was accompanying her to school.” 

In the October 27 interview with ACI Africa, Bishop Bibi said in reference to the killing of the young girl, “This is not an isolated incident; we see this as a wider problem.”

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He recalled a 2020 incident in Cameroon’s Kumba Diocese where innocent children lost their lives as a result of violence.

“The innocent children killed in Kumba last are still fresh in our lives. We want the reckless killings to stop,” Bishop Bibi who has been at the helm of the Diocese since December 2019 said, making reference to the 24 October 2020 incident.

In August, a seven-year-old pupil at St. Theresa’s Catholic Primary School in Cameroon’s Kumbo Diocese was killed by a stray bullet during a crossfire between Cameroonian military and militants near the learning institution, a Catholic Priest told ACI Africa.

These killings, Bishop Bibi told ACI Africa during the October 27 interview, "show how inhuman, how corrupt people have become and how life has lost all value in the eyes of some.”

The Cameroonian Bishop urged the security forces to exercise “greater restraint when conducting security operations that could endanger the lives of innocent civilians.” 

“We also call on the various armed groups to drop their weapons. Violence has never resolved any conflict. Dialogue is the only solution,” Bishop Bibi told ACI Africa.

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.