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Anglophone Bishops in Cameroon Reaffirm Commitment to Assisting IDPs

Anglophone bishops in Cameroon

By Jude Atemanke

Douala, 25 August, 2019 / 9:33 am (ACI Africa).

The bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province in Cameroon have reaffirmed their commitment to reaching out to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) fleeing violence in the two English speaking regions of their country.

“One of the missions of the church has been to try and see how we can bring relief to them,” Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo diocese told ACI Africa Friday.

“Our Caritas offices have been very busy trying to solicit funds and be able to help people who have lost loved ones, lost their property and who are in great difficulty at the moment” Bishop Nkuo said.

The Bishops reaffirmed their commitment to assisting IDPs at the end of their annual meeting in Bamenda Friday. A statement in this regard was yet to be released.

In an interview with ACI Africa Friday, Archbishop Cornelius Fontem Esua said that a mixed commission comprising the Justice and Peace, Social Welfare and Health has been put in place to facilitate aid to IDPs in their ecclesiastical region.

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“These three commissions take care of the different aspects of the problems of the IDPs (in terms of) where they live, what they eat and their health issues” Archbishop Esua said.

The Bamenda Archbishop went on to explain the role of the justice and peace commission in helping IDPs regain their identity saying, “many of them have lost their documents and property, their rights have been abused in various ways; so our Justice and Peace Commission takes care of that.”

Thousands of people have fled the two English speaking regions of the country as a result of the conflict.

Statistics from the UN indicate that some 450,000 persons have left their homes as a result of the unrest. The separatist revolt has forced many to flee into bushes making relief efforts difficult.

“I have been to practically every corner where the people are hiding in the bushes.” Bishop Andrew Nkea of Mamfe Diocese told ACI Africa Friday.

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“I have been at least five times to the refugee camps in Nigeria to visit them and thanks be to God Caritas of the Diocese of Mamfe has been supported a lot by different organizations so that we can bring relief assistance to the various people,” Bishop Nkea added.

He also spoke about programs targeting children saying, “we have child protection programs supported by UNICEF, because during war situations children suffer a lot.”

On his part, Bishop Agapitus Nfon of Kumba diocese acknowledged the support received from other Churches.

“I appealed to Churches and Dioceses abroad especially in Germany and they gave some assistance which has kept us bringing some basic humanitarian assistance to the IDPs” Bishop Nfon told ACI Africa Friday.

Jude Atemanke

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.

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