This treatise is dedicated to Professor Bernard Nsokika Fonlon, M.A., Ph.D., (Nui) Dip. Ed. (Oxon), who was born 96 years ago, on 19 November 1924 in Nso, North West Region of Cameroon, died 26 August 1986. He was a government minister and leading intellectual of Cameroon. A man of diverse abilities, Fonlon was characterized as the Cameroonian Socrates. He was a major promoter of bilingualism, as reflected in the Journal Abbia: Cameroon Cultural Review that he founded in the early 1960s.

Dr. Prof. Bernard Nsokika Fonlon is the first English speaking Cameroonian to earn a Doctorate Degree in 1961 at the University of Ireland. The first French Cameroonian to earn a Doctorate Degree was Reverend Father Jean Zoa in 1953 in Biblical Studies at the Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana, in Rome, Italy. Prof. Dr. Fonlon did his secondary school education at Christ the King College, Onitsha Nigeria from 1942 to 1945. Later, he studied in Bigard Memorial Senior Seminary, Enugu, Nigeria from 1948 to 1953. He was among the pioneer seminarians at Bigard Memorial Senior Seminary in 1948, together with Monsignor Alphonsus Aghaizu, who happens to be the oldest living Monsignors in South-East Nigeria. He is presently 95 years old and is retired at St. Paul’s parish, Owerri. Fonlon’s one and only desire was to become a Catholic priest. Just before the sub-diaconate, Bernard experienced the greatest crisis of his life. He was informed that he would not be admitted to Major Orders, and that there was no likehood of that decision being changed in the future. This happened in November 1953 at Enugu, in Nigeria. In the midst of the darkness of that crisis, with his hopes for ordination completely shattered. Msgr. Aghaizu describes the scene on August 20, 2020 in his humble contribution to the cause for the beatification of his close friend Dr. Fonlon:“I was due for sub-diaconate ordination with Fonlon 1953 but he was dropped the morning of the ordination, but he maintained his cool, and went with me as previously arranged for a month’s holiday to Msgr. P. Meze’s parish at Maku. The authorities arranged for him to teach at C.K.C his alma mater (1942 to 1945). At my ordination at Uli 1954, Fonlon and three of his friends came from C.K.C to Uli despite the fact that there was ordination same day at Onitsha….After my month’s tour of the stations at Uli Parish, I was due to return to Bigard to obtain my faculties; and I decided to touch C.K.C enroute. I did not go to the Fathers House upstairs but to the teacher’s quarters to stay with Fonlon. Next morning, he followed me to the fathers Chapel and served my mass! The authorities were so impressed at this gesture that they gave him scholarship to study in Cork, Ireland”.

Thus, thanks to his exceptional gesture, between 1954-1961, Fonlon got a Scholarship [from a disappointment to a blessing], and studied at the National University of Ireland, Cork: studied under Professor E. Byrne Costigan, Prof. Drs O’Flaherty, Prof. Servais, Prof. Forgatton at Sorbonne, Paris; Fonlon also studied under Professor Georges Balandier Oxford University and under professor Halls. Had he become a priest, he would not have had the opportunity to serve his country as a Christian and intellectual in politicians as he did for Cameroon. God had other plans for him.

 Academic Qualifications of Fonlon

Fonlon earned the following Academic Qualifications: 1939: Primary School leaving Certificate; 1945: Senior Cambridge Grade One; 1946: The Nigerian Teacher’s Higher Elementary Certificate; 1957: B.A. Honurs, NUI Cork (2.1, Latin and French); 1958: M.A., NUI Cork (First, Thesis: Flaubert Ecrivain, a study of Flaubert’s style, written in French); 1960: Diploma in Education, Oxford University; Ph.D., NUI Cork (Thesis: Bernard Nsokika. La poesie et le reveil de l’homme noir / par Bernard Fonlon, published by Presses Universitaires du Zaire), an investigation into Negro African protest literature in English and in French (inclusing North America, the Caribbean, Africa and Madagascar. This was the the first Ph. D thesis in this field and was written in French under the auspices of professor W. McCausland Stewart (Bristol), Dr. Green (Oxford) and Professor E. Byrne Costigan (NUI Cork). This Ph. D was the first doctorate awarded to a Cameroonian in Ireland; 1986: D. Litt. (Honoris Causa), University of Guelph, Canada. With this extensive study, Fonlon earned three Academic Honours: 1). Nigeria – Patron of the Philosophical Fraternity of the University of Nigeria; 2). USA: Member of the National Geographic Society; 3). USSR: Awarded the Pushkin Medal in Moscow on the 170th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated Russo-African Writer.

 A Genuine and True Christian cum Intellectual in Politics

As far as his political life is concerned, Fonlon served as an interpreter to Amadou Ahidjo, the first Cameroonian President, and later was a Minister, in which he distinguished himself in politics with his moral, spiritual and intellectual life on returning to Cameroon. He held the following post in the Cameroon government: In 1961, he was assistant Secretary to the Prime Minister of the Southern Cameroons; 1961-1964: Charge de Mission (Presidential Aide) at the Presidency, Yaounde, Cameroon; 1964-1968: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; 1968-1970. Minister of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications; 1970-1971: Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare; 1962-: Founder and Director of Abbia, the bilingual Cameroon Cultural Review; 1971: Associate Professor in the University of Yaounde.

Prof. Daniel Noni Lantum, “the right hand man” of Fonlon, who is said to have known Fonlon more than anybody else in Cameroon observes in his book titled: “Dr. Bernard Nsokika Fonlon: An Intellectual in Politics” that Fonlon was an indefatigable, relentless father of Cameroon Bilingualism at work, that Africanist intellectual and learned philosopher of the Presence Africaine up-bringing, that tireless professor of Negro-African Literature of the University of Yaounde from 1978 to 1984, that revolutionary Cameroonian Educationist of the 1960s, that inspiring and unquenching source of Liberty and Democracy even in the Ahidjo Regime (1958 – 1982), that Christian intellectual and politician who was physically present but spiritually absent from the materialism of the political environment of his time.

One of the circles in which Dr. Fonlon left an indelible mark was in politics. His involvement with Cameroon politics was natural as it was inevitable. He was motivated by a genuine desire to bring to the politics of his country the very best intellectual and moral qualities that he possessed, having passed through Bigard Memorial Senior Seminary, with a holistic formation: Intellectual, Spiritual, Pastoral and Human formation which equipped him for politics. It should be noted that Cameroon and indeed Africa was emerging from colonial enslavement to independence and such a critical period needed the best type of leadership that each country could provide. Dr. Fonlon who had foreseen this need and had prepared himself accordingly, believed that those who governed – and politics is to do ultimately with good government – should have the intellectual and moral preparation for such an important and sacred task. He believed with Socrates that “kings should be philosophers” or that those who govern should have the intellectual and moral qualities which true philosophy inculcates. With these principles which Fonlon learnt from Bigard, he distinguished himself in politics and earned eleven Political Honours: 1). Canada: The Canadian Medal; 2). Vatican: A Papal Medal, the Medal of the Concilium Oecumenicum Vaticanum 1 and 2; 3). France: The Medal Trois Siecles de Cartographie Francais; 4). USA: Medal of the African-American Dialogues; OAU: Medal Issued to the Participants of the First Congres of the OAU, 1963; 5). Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Valeur, Officier de l’Ordre de la Valeur; 6). Tunisia: The Order of the Tunisian Star; 7). Nigeria: The C.O.N. for Distinguished Public Service; 8). India: The Jawaharlal Nehru Medal; 9). Africa: Madale de Vermeil d’Union Africaine et Malgache des Postes et Telecommunications; 10). West Germany: Grosses Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband; 11). Nso: Chieftaincy title, Shufai-wu-Ntu-Ndzev, conferred by the Fon of Nso, for having brought water to Kumbo, where he was born.

Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze states inter alia: “I hold Dr. Bernard Nsokika FONLON in very high regard. I first got to know him in Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu, Nigeria, in the years 1953 and 1954.  He was in his second year theology when I entered that Major Seminary in September 1953.  When he and his classmates were due to be ordained subdeacons in December 1954, the Seminary authorities and his Bishop decided not to admit him to major orders. As a seminarian, I saw Bernard as a learned seminarian.  I still remember how with lustre he sang “Audi Benigne Conditor” during Vespers in Lent.  He took no breakfast.  When other seminarians were at breakfast, he was studying, we believed he was at Latin and Greek! During holidays and in the years after he had to leave Bigard Memorial Seminary, he used to visit one of the Nigerian priests, Monsignor Peter Meze-Idigo who was very kind to him, as he also was to seminarians in general.  Once during those visits by Fonlon to Monsignor Meze at Dunukofia, my parish, I took Bernard to visit my parents at Eziowelle and my father, a good wine tapper, gave him good palm wine which he took gladly.  I still remember that my mother tried to converse with him in Igbo and was surprised that Fonlon did not speak Igbo.  I had to inform my innocent mother that Igbo is not the only language spoken in Africa!I lost track of Fonlon in the years when he worked for a Doctorate in Ireland and another Doctorate in France.  The next time I met him was during the Nigeria-Biafra war, probably in 1968 or 1969.  It was a quick meeting because we were both passengers in Air France flying to Paris from Douala.  At that time, Dr Fonlon was Minister of Communications in the Camerun and I was Archbishop of Onitsha. After that Nigerian civil war, I visited Dr Fonlon in Yaoundé.  It may have been around the year 1972.  I first visited Archbishop Paul Verdzekov in Bamenda.  Then I flew from Buea to Yaoundé.  Fonlon met me at the airport.  I stayed about two days with hm.  I then learned that he was no longer Minister in the Government because President Ahidjo called him and explained:  Bernard, I regret that we can no longer retain you in the cabinet because you put the rest of us ministers to shame, because you are your own driver and you drive an old car. My unforgettable memory of my stay with Fonlon in his flat was that one day his sister prepared a fou-fou lunch for both of us.  During lunch, Dr. Fonlon was so absorbed in our conversation (which was more me listening to his wisdom) that I finished my lunch; he then put together his fork and knife, put his plate aside and continued his learned discourse.   He forgot that he had not eaten anything yet!  I have never in my life of 87 years reached that level of detachment from creatures. On 16 Sept. 1973 he wrote a 28-page booklet:  “An Open Letter to the Bishops of Buea and Bamenda” on the training of future priests.  Excellent piece. Dr Bernard Nsokika Fonlon was a man of high ideals.  He prayed.  He said the Latin Breviary daily.  He loved the Church.  He was not bitter that he was not ordained priest.  In my view, it was an administrative mistake of his superiors that he was not ordained.  It seems to me that they did not understand him enough.  He was the type of professorial intellectual who may seem not the routine parish priest.  As a university priest, he could have answered many needs of the Church.  However, as a lay person, he also did much good. The Camerounians are the best placed to make a judgment on this.  He lived a celibate life.  When I visited him in 1972, I saw that he loved the Breviary. In my view, the Cause of Beatification of Dr. Bernard Nsokika Fonlon could be introduced.  I am happy to be writing these lines on this anniversary of his death. May he rest in the peace of Christ”.  + Francis Card. Arinze. Vatican City, 26 August, 2020.

Prof. Fonlon: Socrates in Cameroon

Fonlon is referred to as the Socrates in Cameroon. However, unlike Socrates, he wrote countless of articles. Although Professor Fonlon died in 1986 at the age of 62, he still lives on, and will do so for very many years to come in his writings, his goals, his noble deeds, and the shining example that he has left us. Dr. Fonlon was indeed a phenomenon so great that it will require many writers and many generations to fathom the depth of his profundity. His literary, intellectual and moral qualities made him a giant among Cameroonians, Nigerians and worldwide. He was a giant who was so much at ease and at home with the peasant villagers and the poor of slum “quartiers” of Yaoundé as he was among university dons of the greatest universities of Europe, North America and Canada. He was as comfortable among Archbishops, Cardinals and priests as he was among students. He knew personally and was friendly with several presidents and political figures of Post-independence Africa among whom one could cite Osagefor Kwame Nkruma of Ghana and Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt. Pierre E. Truddeau, Prime Minister of Canada, was a personal friend of Dr. Fonlon. In each of the many social circles or groups that Dr. Fonlon touched, he left an indelible mark and was admired, respected, and loved because he remained true to himself, sincere, generous, friendly, humble and simple.

 Message of Dr. Prof. Fonlon

Philosopher Dr. Tanju Fidel Kottoh, PhD, who happened to have been born on the day Dr. Fonlon died: August 26, 1986, writes: “What was the message of Professor Fonlon? Professor Fonlon’s message – and he was the very incarnation of the message – was the supremacy of a genuine intellectual life. This is what informed his heroic detachment from material fixations. In step with the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, Professor Fonlon so believed in the primacy of the intellect that he saw genuine intellectual life as the surest panacea to the moral degradation that so potently lured the contemporary African youth. He described the ideal youth, whom he called the ‘genuine intellectual’ in the following words: ‘As Truth’s votary, ever faithful, ever sure, he is committed to wage lifelong warfare against falsehood. And as goodness and beauty are inherent in truth, it follows that he must be a constant seeker of the good and right and an inexorable and implacable of evil and wrong; and a devoted worshipper at the shrine of the beautiful and the sublime”. (Bernard Fonlon, The Genuine Intellectual, Buma Kor, Yaoundé 1978, 114). The Professor’s message was: virtue, knowledge and truth. He preached it vehemently in and out of season. But most importantly, he lived it. He himself was a paradigmatic expression of the heroic virtues he incessantly preached. His writing, teachings, encounters all attest to his desire to ‘walk the talk. ’ Above all, he was thoroughly humble. He said “it is my ambition to live the life of a simple man. The Professor’s humility was overwhelmingly evident”.

Fonlon’s cool and total dependence on Divine Providence is an attitude that ex-seminarians can emulate when they are asked to withdraw from Seminary formation. Fonlon left the Seminary without bearing any grudges. His maturity and attitude when he was dismissed is distinguished and should be emulated by ex-seminarians. Cardinal Christian Tumi, a former student of Bigard also notes in a recent interview conducted on Sunday, October 25 that Fonlon is a Saint because he did good and avoided evil. He also added that the fact that seminarians are in the seminary does not necessarily mean they must become priests, because in the course of the discernment, God might be calling them to other vocations. He challenged the seminarians never to withdraw from the Seminary on their own, but to allow the formators to ask them to withdraw. In addition, Dr. Fonlon lived the Heroic Virtues: Cardinal and theological virtues which are perquisites for the introduction of a cause of beatification. He lived the virtues of Justice in government, Prudence, Temperance and distinguished himself with the virtue of fortitude, include faith, hope and charity.

Fonlon is also an example of a lay person who took part completely in the Church. One reference to the Christian principle of life that was dear to him concerned the spirit of poverty, that is, detachment from whatever is not God. Writing to the Bishops of Buea and Bamenda in his Open Letter of 16th September 1973, on the occasion of the inauguration of the St.  Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Bambui, Fonlon said, inter alia: “In a world that is rank and rotten with materialism, where hedonism is the principle philosophy, where luxury is the summum bonum; there is the crying need for dedicated souls who would go to the other extreme and espouse the spirit of genuine religion, the spirit of poverty, the spirit of austere abstemiousness, in order to wage war against the onslaught of materialist godlessness”. Dr. Fonlon was buried as a priest. He lived a celibate life and lived the life of a priest, despite the fact that he was a lay person. He was buried very close to his friend: Fr. Aloysius Wankuy. The bishop who celebrated his funeral: Bishop Cornelius Fontem Esua stated: “Dr. Fonlon was an illustrious Christian, a man of great devotion and a priest at heart. He was a saintly man, and on account of this, regardless of who he was, I have decided to lay his mortal remains next to those of his closest friend, late Father Aloysius Wankuy…as a sign of our gratitude for his affection and deep attachment to the Church”. 

Dr. Tanju Fidel Kottoh, PhD, Philosopher observes: “Professor Fonlon was a vir probatus – a man whose unflinching devotion to virtue, knowledge and truth was evident and proven by an iconic lifestyle. His death, an event that eclipsed the ‘African intelligentsia and the entire elite of the Negro World’ is a reality that we must face up to. In the words of Professor Bongasu Tanla Kishani “we need to accommodate ourselves to the fait accompli and open our minds more than ever before to their messages”; referring to two legends: Professor Fonlon and Cheikh Anta Diop of Senegal. In the same way, he adds that “the world is in desperate need and arguably enthusiastically yearning for the manifestation of the Fonlons of our time; for the citizens of the world marked by an unrepentant commitment to virtue, knowledge and truth. As you continue reading this masterpiece, remember ‘talk is cheap. ’ Only a firm decision to emulate the heroic virtues you are about to discover/rediscover make your time worth its while. Relish every moment even as it energizes you into active participation in The Bernard Fonlon Revolution.” May his soul continue to rest in peace on the occasion of his 96th birthday celebration.

Written by Nchumbonga George Lekelefac

Cameroonian Media reported that armed men kidnapped Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi in the restive North West region of the country on Thursday. Cardinal Tumi, who is the Archbishop Emeritus of Douala, was in the company of the paramount ruler of Nso. The traditional ruler was heading back to his traditional palace after months of self-imposed exile due to the armed conflicts between government troops and secessionists. Sources say the convoy was stopped by a roadblock mounted by alleged separatist fighters who abducted the Cardinal and took him to an unknown location. In an interview with Vatican News, Archbishop Samuel Kleda of Douala said that he estimates that Cardinal Tumi was abducted around 6:00pm on his way from Bamenda to Kumbo because he had been in touch with him just an hour before. Much later on Thursday evening, Archbishop Kleda received a phone call from the Cardinal who informed him that he had been interrogated by kidnappers. His subsequent attempts to reach the Cardinal by phone on Friday morning were futile. However, the Cardinal was released later in the day on Friday after spending a night in the den of the kidnappers. Cardinal Tumi, 90, has been vocal in calling for dialogue and peace amid the four-year-long conflict in the North West and South West regions of the country.

Pope Francis’ closeness

Pope Francis has expressed his closeness to Cameroon. At the weekly General Audience on 28 October, he prayed that “the tormented regions of the North West and South West of the country may find peace.”The Pope also prayed for the families of the young students killed on 24 October by gunmen at a private school in Kumba. He expressed sorrow at the “cruel and senseless act which tore the young innocents from life while they were attending lessons at school.”

Cameroon’s conflict

Armed separatists, also known as “Amba boys” have been engaged in an ongoing battle with government troops in their bid to create an independent state which they wish to be called “Ambazonia.”The crisis began in 2016 when educational and judicial institutions in the English-speaking North West and South West regions of the bi-lingual country protested the unjustified appointments of French speakers in their territory. By 2017, the situation had spiraled out of control and had become a full-fledged separatist war.The prolonged conflict has created thousands of casualties and widespread displacement. School children in the conflict zone have only returned to school this year after almost four year of closures. Last month, gunmen alleged to be linked to the separatist fighters, opened fire on students at Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba leaving at six of them dead in the deadly attack.

 Source: Vatican News

‘A mass of the Angels’ will be held on Sunday for the eight school children killed in Kumba by unidentified gunmen.

The Parish Priest of the Cameroon Catholic Community in Mulhein an der Ruhr in Germany Revered Father Constant Leke said the children will be sorrowfully missed by everyone.

A Mass of the Angels will be held in St. Mariae Rosenkranz Mülheim an der Ruhr Church on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.

The Chairman of the Pastoral Council the MbangFon Wara Julius has also invited the entire Cameroon Christian community in the Nordrhein Westphalia province in Germany to be a part of the special Holy Mass.

Cameroon’s unwinnable war

At the heart of the crisis, which started in 2016, was a strike by teachers and lawyers, in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. The professionals, supported by citizens of their areas, protested the unfair use of the French language and unjustified appointments of French speakers in their territories. Cameroon is a bilingual country. By 2017, the situation had spiralled out of control and developed into a fully-fledged separatist war. Both government forces and separatists are now bogged down in a conflict, that observers say, can only be resolved through dialogue.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Mulheim

Bishop Agapitus Nfon expressed his shock at the mass shooting at Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy,  in Bamileke Street,  Fiango, Kumba, on October 24, 2020, and said prayers for the families of the victims will be said on Friday.

“As your spiritual father, I invite you all, especially school children and students and parents and guardians to join me in the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Fiango Kumba on Friday 30 October 2020 at 3.00 p.m. to pray for the repose of the souls of our dear and innocent students who were murdered, and to pray for God’s consolation on their parents and families and guardians, and for all our traumatized pupils and students,” Agapitus Nfon, Bishop of Kumba, said in a statement. “During that mass, we shall also pray for the forgiveness and conversion of the perpetrators of this heinous and barbarous act, while asking our Loving Father in Heaven to intervene for a lasting solution to be found so that true justice and peace may reign.”

Mgr Agapitus says Kumba relived the heinous massacre of innocent children, a scenario last seen in Ngarbuh on February 14, 2020, where innocent children and pregnant women were killed. In the Ngarbuh case, soldiers were found guilty. This time around,  the government blames armed separatists. President Biya has ordered an investigation.

“Today is the darkest and saddest day for Kumba since the socio-political crisis affecting the North West and South West regions started in 2016, and which has now escalated into war. Today Saturday 24 October 2020, Kumba, the Green City, known for its peace and hospitality has been stricken by the grief of the murder of her children before midday,” the Bishop said in his statement.

Agapitus says the gunmen attacked the shot the students at about 11:30 am on Saturday, leaving the people of Kumba to mourn the deaths of at least six students and praying for the recovery of over a dozen others.

“We are crying and asking why our children were murdered?  What did they do wrong?  Is it because they went to school?  Were they not allowed to go to school by those who previously restricted them for the past four years?  How could they ask children to go to school and turn around to massacre them?  Who then could have done such a gruesome act?

“We are mourning and pondering in our painful hearts,  is enough not enough? Was Ngarbuh not enough?  How much of the blood of our children need to be shed before something concrete and immediate is done?  How long will the powers that be and are capable of restoring peace and tranquility in the distressed Northwest and Southwest Region sit and wait?  How long will the authorities concerned watch and see?  Will all our children die before something is done? 

“We are desperately crying and wailing and asking,  what is holding back those concerned, I mean the international bodies and the government of Cameroon to look for a lasting solution to the problem that will restore justice and peace?  We are painfully weeping and pondering, what is so important other than peace that will make us sit back in indifference and what tender and precious lives being wasted away?

“In our pain and sorrow, we stand by the parents of the deceased students, their families, and the students and staff of Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy, in sympathy and solidarity, to strongly condemn the perpetrators of this terrible and satanic manifestation of disrespect and desecration of human life, which is a gift from God. 

“After the Ngarbuh Massacre, we heard condemnations of the wicked act from all the continents and statements like, ‘Never again should such a thing happen’, were uttered and barely five months after it has happened again from Ngarbuh to Kumba.  Where will it be next,  if something concrete and immediate is not done by the powers that be and can make things happen? 

“My dear people wrapped in grief, our only true hope is God!  Let us turn to Him in our desperation and prayerfully cry to him to come to our assistance.  Let us pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit, He may turn the wicked and stone hearts of the Herods (the murderers of our children) into hearts of love and flesh.  Let us pray for His divine intervention in the search for a lasting solution to the crisis so that justice and peace may reign, for He is a God of Justice and Peace. He is our only hope!”

On Saturday, gunmen attacked Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy Fiango, Kumba. State authorities say they opened fire on no fewer than 19 students, killed at least six, and badly wounded about 13 others.

The Divisional Officer for Kumba I, Ali Anougu, the Senior Divisional Officer for Meme Division, Chamberlain Ntou’ou Ndong, and the Minister of Communication, Emmanuel Rene Sadi blame armed separatists for the attack. However, the Southern Cameroon Interim Government has released a statement saying the regime in Yaounde and a cream of cabinet ministers including senior military figures benefitting from the war in Southern Cameroons were responsible for the Kumba massacre.

The students killed include:

1) Victory Camibon Ngameni, 11-year-old

2) ANAMGIM Jenifer 12-year-old

3) Ngemone Princess 12-year-old

4) Che Telma Nchangnwi

5) Zakame Rema, 9-year-old

6) Chema Syndi

As we went to press, we learned that 12-year-old Renny Ngwane died in hospital Sunday morning. The condition of two victims operated at the Buea Regional Hospital Annex is said to be stable.

The death toll in the school shooting thus stands at seven. Of the 12 victims in the hospital, six are said to be in intensive care.

Source: Cameroon Info.Net with additional reporting from Camcordnews

Carrying only a rucksack, sleeping mat, dressed in black Cassock with his head shaved, Fr. Lado embarked Monday on a 250 km pilgrimage that should take him from Douala to Yaoundé. He wants to draw attention to the suffering brought about by the war in Cameroon, now in its fourth year.

Fr. Lado told Fidespost that his walk was a pilgrimage to pray for dialogue, justice, peace and reconciliation in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon.

“To pray, on the one hand, for dialogue, justice, peace and reconciliation in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon and, on the other hand, to do penance for the reparation of crimes against human dignity committed in these regions. I draw on these Christian values, which are simply human. These are: Fraternity, dialogue, justice, reconciliation and peace,” wrote Fr. Lado recently in an open letter.

Detained in Edéa

On Tuesday, Fr. Lado’s journey was abruptly interrupted when police detained him in Edéa, a city located along the Sanaga River in the Littoral Region. He was later released and is continuing with his walk. After his release, Fr. Lado said he was in good spirits. “I explained to them (police) that I was on a pilgrimage which has a long religious tradition … but they violated my civil rights,” he said.

Support for the education of children of IDPs

Fr. Lado has placed his pilgrimage under the theme, “Where is your brother?” (Gen 4: 9).

“If the Church, the (Cameroonian) authorities and the Ambazonians do not sit around the table to find a solution to this crisis, I will do my part,” said Fr. Lado when he first announced his decision to walk.

Fr. Lado also says he wants to do penance for the reparation of the crimes against human dignity that have been committed during the conflict. “This march,” adds Fr. Lado, “is a call for solidarity to support the education of children of Internally Displaced Persons or refugees, who are living precarious lives.”

Why else I am walking?

“I am walking so that human blood stops flowing in our country. I walk so that the constitutional right to demonstrate peacefully in Cameroon is respected. I walk in solidarity with internally displaced people and refugees from the Anglophone crisis. I walk to exorcise in me and in us the demon of indifference. Walking is not just a human right, but a divine right. I walk to make it work,” explained Fr. Lado.

Fr. Lado said his march is also in solidarity with hundreds detained, in Cameroon, on 22 September, after demonstrations called by the opposition party, the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC). The demonstrators want national dialogue, electoral reforms and the return of peace to the Anglophone regions of the country. The Cameroonian government deems demonstrations in some regions as illegal.

UN Rights Experts condemn government heavy-handedness

The government has been accused of using excessive force and deploying heavily armed security forces to prevent peaceful demonstrations. UN human rights experts, this week, demanded that authorities release the prominent opposition leader and others arrested during the country-wide peaceful protests. They urge the government to stop intimidating political activists.

The experts further want an impartial investigation into all human rights violations, including allegations of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment of protesters, and that perpetrators be brought to justice.

“We are extremely worried about mass arrests of peaceful protesters and political activists who express dissent,” the experts said. More than 500 people were reportedly arrested after opposition-led protests on 22 September. About 200 of these are still being held in detention. They could face terrorism or national security charges and a trial in a military court simply for exercising their fundamental freedoms, said the UN rights experts.

A four-year war that no one is winning

The four-year separatist conflict has created widespread displacement of half a million people. More than 3 000 persons have been killed. Children in the conflict zones have not been able to attend school for close to four years. Earlier this month, some parents and teachers in the conflict zones braved threats from armed groups and reopened some schools.

At the heart of the crisis, in 2016, was a strike by teachers and lawyers, in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. The professionals, supported by citizens of their areas, protested the unfair use of the French language and unjustified appointments of French speakers in their territories. Cameroon is a bilingual country. By 2017, the situation had spiralled out of control and developed into a fully-fledged separatist war. Both government forces and separatists are now bogged down in a conflict, that observers say, can only be resolved through dialogue.

Fr. Lado: The outspoken academic

The outspoken and controversial Fr. Lado is not a stranger to the Cameroonian government. He has been raising his voice from about the year 2007 when he was the vice-dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Management at the Catholic University of Central Africa, in Yaoundé. He has also been a critic of Paul Biya who has been President of Cameroon for 38 years.

Fr. Lado holds a doctorate in social and cultural anthropology from the University of Oxford. He has written and spoken on issues of Anthropology, Catholic Pentecostalism, trends in African Catholicism, and on social change in sub-Saharan Africa.

Source: Vatican News

Two facilitators from the Bible Society of Cameroon’s literacy program in the Far North region have been killed by Boko Haram over the past few weeks.

After a two-year lull, attacks by Islamic militant group Boko Haram in that region are on the rise again, and are claiming many victims. Among the lives recently lost were two literacy facilitators from the Bible Society of Cameroon’s Alpha Program in the Parkwa language. One of them died in early August, and the second in mid-September.

“We’ve lost the engine of the church.” – Patrice

Jonas, 42, an elder in the Union of Evangelical Churches in Cameroon, was killed on the night of August 8 while standing guard outside the church with three other people. Patrice*, who lives opposite the church, describes what happened.

“Boko Haram usually turn up in the villages at around 10pm so when it got to 11pm those on guard thought they weren’t coming – so they fell asleep. They didn’t fire their weapons in the air or light torches, which they usually do, so Jonas was taken by surprise in his sleep. The other two managed to escape but Jonas was shot in the head twice.”

The church ‘s pastor confirms Patrice’s words but is still in shock, too overwhelmed to be able to talk about what happened. Marcel*, one of the translators working on the Parkwa Bible, was almost killed by Boko Haram last October. He was a friend of Jonas and describes him as hardworking, someone who was calm and serious in everything he did.

Many people have fled their villages since the attacks resumed in the region. Boko Haram members have warned those who have chosen to stay that they will continue to bury their dead because “living on the mountainsides doesn’t mean you’re in heaven”. In other words, they are not beyond Boko Haram’s  reach.

After Jonas’s death, the church built his family a hut at the top of the mountain, which is more difficult for Boko Haram to get to. Olivier*, the Bible Society’s delegate for the Far North, North and Adamaoua regions, went to visit his widow.

“We found her absolutely devastated by the terrible loss she has suffered, but also ill because the humidity on the mountain attracts insects and reptiles,” says Olivier. “They are living in a terribly precarious state. One of the children has festering wounds on his legs and two of them had left for a town 27 kilometres away to find plastic – so that the family can lay it beneath their bed mats, to insulate them from the ground.”

“It is this Bible that will bring hope and heal the wounds of the Parkwa-speaking people”. – Luc Gnowa.

On September 18, barely 40 days after Jonas’s death, Boko Haram killed yet another literacy facilitator, Joseph.

A catechist in the Catholic Church, Joseph was 43 and had eight children. He was a friend of Jonas. Marcel was among the group who went to collect Joseph’s body.

“The villagers were hiding in caves,” he says. “One of Joseph’s children was sick and crying. Fearing that they would be discovered, some of the villagers asked Joseph to take his wife and child and return to his hut. That’s where Boko Haram found them. His wife was able to escape with the child, but not Joseph. We have lost one of our best Parkwa literacy teachers.”

In the village, people live in fear. They can flee … but where to? What would they live on? There is flooding in the area, and living conditions are extremely difficult. Diseases are decimating the population and famine is rising due to a ban on cultivation in the area surrounding the village – this is to ensure that anyone approaching can be seen. But people have nowhere to go.

“After the murder of our two team members, who were responsible for preparing the community for the arrival of the Bible in Parkwa, our task becomes even more urgent,” says General Secretary of the Bible Society of Cameroon, Luc Gnowa.

“It is this Bible that will bring hope and heal the wounds of the Parkwa-speaking people. The translation of the Bible into the Parkwa language is truly taking place under the most painful conditions. Even at the official ceremony to launch the translation project, we had to leave the village in a hurry because we were warned of a possible attack by Boko Haram.”

“You know, when God sends you on a mission, he doesn’t say what conditions you will face when you go. He says, ‘Go, I’m sending you.’ He sent us to this people and we must accomplish our mission. We are convinced that, with him, we will complete our mission, despite the actions of the enemy.”

Please pray for our Parkwa-speaking brothers and sisters, that God will intervene for these people who have seen their men die and for all those in the Far North who have been bereaved due to the actions of Boko Haram.

Please lift up these families who have lost everything and for the Bible translators who are so distressed by what has happened that they are finding it difficult to concentrate. May the Lord’s name be glorified and give us victory, so that his children can finally live in peace and safety.

Source: Eternitynews

An ecumenical statement has been released by UK Church leaders on the situation in Southern Cameroons. The Bishops of Southwark and Chichester have joined with other church leaders in a joint statement on the genocide going on in Southern Cameroons.

Bishops Christopher Chessun and Martin Warner, together with senior Methodist and Roman Catholic leaders, have called on the international community to respond.

We hear the cry of our sisters and brothers in Cameroon’s Anglophone region, who are facing daily violations of their human dignity. Recent reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention and attacks on civilians demand a response from the international community. We call on the UK government to work with other European countries on robust diplomatic action to halt the violence and help bring about a negotiated settlement that protects the rights all Cameroon’s people. We also express our closeness to the churches that are working with local communities to reject violence and pursue the path of dialogue, and we assure them that they have not been forgotten.

Revd Richard Teal, President of the Methodist Conference 

Rt Rev Christopher Chessun, Lord Bishop of Southwark, Church of England Lead Bishop for International Affairs

Rt Rev Declan Lang, Catholic Bishop of Clifton, Chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference Department of International Affairs

Carolyn Lawrence, Vice-President of the Methodist Conference

Rt Rev Martin Warner, Lord Bishop of Chichester (companion link to the Anglican Diocese of Cameroon)

Rt Rev Philip Egan, Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth (twinned with the Catholic Diocese of Bamenda)