By Soulemanu Buba
North West Governor, Adolphe Lele L’Afrique has blamed the victims of last Tuesday’s attack that left the Regional Delelate of Penitentiary and three others dead.
The incident occurred in Bui Division of the North West of Cameroon.
In a press release signed Wednesday April 13, governor Lele L’afrique said the victims, Kigha Theodore, Regional Delelate of Penitentiary Administration, Nang Leonel, Administrator of Prisons and Service Heads for General Affairs at the Penitentiary Administration, Afuh Nelson, Principal Warder and Awono Yanick, a major Prison Warder who was the driver ignored the insecurity concerns and wanted to show how brave they were which backfired on them.
The press release states that: “Certainly out out of insecurity negligence and bravery, they refused all options of a military or security convoy Accompanying them to Bamenda,”.
This has been interpreted by many as blaming the deceased for their own death.
According to a colleague of the victims, Elvis,(not his real names), the governor is only trying to hide his failure to protect the population especially his closed aids.
“All what the governor said is a lie. Is he trying to say that these days government officials choose to be provided security or not, is he saying that there was not security plan to take the officials to Nkambe and back, how come he is now saying they neglected the level of insecurity by refusing military escort on such a dangerous road”? he asked.
He furthered that “Now that they are dead, everyone will take what the governor said as gospel given that since the dead cannot talk, their own side of the story will never be heard.
We also gathered from the press release that the corpses of the four persons have already been conveyed to the Regional Hospital Mortuary in Bamenda pending burial arrangements”.
Lele Lafrique also assured the population that the situation was under control and that a manhunt was on the way to bring the perpetrators of what he describes as a macabre act to book.
It should be noted that the Penitentiary Administration officials led by their Regional Delegate were returning from a technical handing over of command to the newly appointed superintendent of the Nkambe Principal Prison when their vehicle was attacked by armed men.
The incident that transpired around Kikaikilaiki led to the death of all four in what many have described as cruelty of men on their fellow men.
