Dozens Killed at Village in Cameroon, Bishop Declares “a day of prayer and mourning”

The nearly 67-year-old Bishop has emphasized the participation of everybody “calling on all the priests, religious, the faithful, men and women of good will in the Diocese of Kumbo to keep this Friday 21^st February 2020, as a day of prayer and mourning especially for our brothers and sisters who were brutally killed, wounded and rendered homeless in Ngarbuh.”

“A Requiem Mass should be celebrated in all our Churches,” the Cameroonian Prelate has instructed and added, “Where possible, an Ecumenical Service be organised to implore God for an end to this socio-political crisis that has plunged us into a senseless and painful war.”

“I count on your full collaboration for the success of this Day of prayer,” Bishop Nkuo has concluded.

Cameroon, with 80 percent French speakers and 20 percent English speakers, has been experiencing violence since 2016 after Francophone judges and teachers were sent to the historically marginalized Anglophone region.

Bishop Nkuo’s narrative of last week’s incident in his diocese seems consistent with that of Cameroon’s opposition who blamed their country’s army for conducting a massacre on Ngarbuh villagers.

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The government, on its part, attributed the deaths to an “unfortunate accident” due to a fuel explosion.

Cameroon’s army spokesman, Colonel Cyrille Atonfack Guemo denied claims of a deliberate massacre, terming them “false allegations.”

“It was quite simply an unfortunate accident, the collateral result of security operations in the region,” the army spokesman stated in his February 17 Press Release availed to ACI Africa.

According to Col. Guemo, “Five civilians – woman and four children – died, and seven terrorists were neutralized.”

Meanwhile, in a statement issued Monday by the UN, the spokesperson said the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres was “deeply concerned” about the February 14 incident and called on Cameroon’s government to “conduct an investigation and to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”

In another development, the Global Campaign for Peace and Justice in Cameroon facilitated the intervention 16 Catholic Bishops outside Cameroon in the protracted Anglophone crisis, with the Bishops from across the globe calling on President Biya’s government “to participate in Swiss-led peace talks aimed at ending the violence in Cameroon's North West and South West regions.”

In a message sent to ACI Africa Tuesday, February 18, the Global Campaign for Peace and Justice in Cameroon calls on the international community to get involved in helping resolve the Anglophone crisis and says ignoring “escalating atrocities of the kind happening in Cameroon, it often ends up paying a massive bill.”

“Sooner or later, we must fund refugee camps and peacekeepers, host negotiations, accommodate thousands of migrants seeking asylum, and then help rebuild shattered nations,” said Rebecca Tinsley of the Global Campaign for Peace and Justice in Cameroon in the Press Release dated February 17 shared with ACI Africa.

“It makes more sense to use diplomacy to stop the violence at an early stage, finding a political solution to a political problem through inclusive peace negotiations,” concludes the statement.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.