Dobgima Elvis Bonga, popularly known as Lexus in Bali, was shot dead at his business premises as residents watched the World Cup final. Two other men were wounded in the attack, which came only hours before his 44th birthday.
“Mission accomplished back to land.”
Those five chilling words appeared on a WhatsApp status attributed to a man identified by local sources as Devela Kevin, ‘general mami’ a separatist fighter in Bali Nyonga.
The message was posted after armed men stormed a popular business premises in the conflict-hit North West Region of Cameroon on the night of Sunday, July 19, killing entrepreneur Dobgima Elvis Bonga and injuring two other men.
Bonga, popularly known as Lexus, was seated at his bar with residents watching the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain when the gunmen surrounded the premises and opened fire. The match was played on July 19, with Spain eventually defeating Argentina 1-0 after extra time.
Accounts obtained by MMI News, together with the WhatsApp post attributed to the alleged fighter, suggest that this was not a random attack. The gunmen appeared to know exactly where Bonga was sitting and whom they had come to kill.
“It was a planned shooting. He was the target, and he was shot first before the two others,” a source in Bali told MMI News. “It means they knew why they came and where he was.”
Gunmen strike during World Cup final
The attack happened between 10 pm and 11 pm.
Electricity had gone off in the neighbourhood, but Bonga had switched on a generator at his business premises. Residents who wanted to continue watching the World Cup final consequently gathered at his bar.
Among them was another victim, whose identity MMI News is withholding because of fears that the armed men could target him or members of his family (We will call him Neba).
He was seated between Bonga and another man identified only as Kumalo.
“We were concentrating on the match when I suddenly had an instinct that something was wrong,” the survivor recounted.
“Before I realised it, armed men, commonly referred to as Amba boys, had surrounded us. Because everyone was focused on the football match and there was a lot of noise, many people did not immediately notice their presence.”
According to his testimony, one of the armed men walked directly towards Bonga while carrying an assault rifle.
“One of the armed men stood in front of Lexus and fired directly at him. The bullet struck him in the heart,” he said.
The gunman fired again, with the bullet grazing the survivor’s right hand. Another armed man, who had positioned himself behind a door, also opened fire.
The survivor fell from his chair. While he was lying on the floor, another bullet struck his left hand.
Kumalo attempted to escape by jumping over a table but was shot in the leg.
Many other people were inside the premises. As the shooting began, they threw themselves to the floor.
Gunmen ‘announced’ their mission
The survivor said the attackers made statements at the scene indicating that Bonga (Lexus) had been their principal target.
One of the gunmen allegedly ordered the wounded Kumalo to crawl towards him so that he could “finish him off” because he had only been shot in the leg.
Kumalo pleaded for his life and was eventually spared.
The armed men then approached Bonga’s wounded cousin. After looking at his face, they reportedly said they did not recognise him or know who he was.
“They declared that they had accomplished their mission, which was to kill Lexus because he was selling Brasseries products,” the survivor said.
Before leaving, the armed men seized the keys of several motorcycles belonging to people who had gathered to watch the match.
Kumalo was rushed to Bamenda for treatment. Bonga and his cousin were taken towards the General Hospital in Bali, but Bonga died before reaching the hospital.
Neba received initial treatment in Bali and was advised to travel to the Bamenda Regional Hospital for further examination. Doctors reportedly found what appeared to be a small bullet fragment in his left hand.
“It is only God,” he said repeatedly while recounting his survival. “It is only by the grace of God that I survived.”
Multiple threats and extortion
A second Bali resident, who also spoke to MMI News on condition of anonymity, said Bonga had previously received warnings from armed separatists.
The source said that the fighters had ordered him to stop selling beer produced by Les Brasseries du Cameroun and accused him of allowing members of Cameroon’s military to visit his establishment.
According to the source, Bonga and several other businesspeople had also been subjected to demands for money by armed men operating in the area.
“When you are doing that kind of business, you have a particular amount of money that you pay these people so that they can allow you to do your business freely,” the source alleged.
Bonga had reportedly made payments in the past but later refused to continue.
“He openly told them that he did not have money to give them again and that he would not give them any more money,” the source said. “He told them to do what they wanted with him.”
The resident said a threatening voice message had circulated several months earlier, naming Bonga and about five other people accused of failing to comply with the fighters’ demands.
Several of those who received the threats reportedly fled Bali. Bonga remained and continued operating his businesses.
The claim that an alleged fighter posted “Mission accomplished back to land” after the attack has intensified suspicions that the shooting was a premeditated execution linked to those earlier threats.
MMI News has not independently established who controlled the WhatsApp account or whether the person identified as Kevin personally fired any of the shots. Local sources, however, allege that he was among the separatist fighters responsible for the operation.
Killed hours before his birthday!
Dobgima Elvis Bonga was born on July 20, 1982.
He was killed only hours before what would have been his 44th birthday.
Married and widely known in Bali Nyonga, Bonga was described by relatives and residents as hardworking, entrepreneurial and full of life.
Beyond operating the bar where he was killed, he was skilled in electronic work and involved in import and export businesses.
His body has been deposited at the General Hospital mortuary in Bali Nyonga. He has not yet been buried, and his grieving relatives are still struggling to come to terms with the sudden and brutal manner in which he was killed.
“This was a brother who was full of life,” the second source said. “Human life now is nothing. He has been killed like a bird in the bush.”
The source said the armed men also warned residents against reporting the attack, allegedly threatening to target the immediate families of anyone who exposed them.
“Anything that you say now, they are not only targeting you,” he said. “They will target your family.”
Bali grandstand attacked the same night
In a separate incident that same night, Bali’s grandstand was partially set on fire.
Sources said those responsible appeared to have intended to destroy the entire structure, but the flames failed to spread because rain was falling that night.
It was the second time the grandstand had been attacked. During an earlier incident, it was reportedly reduced to ruins before being reconstructed.
It was not immediately clear whether the arson attack and Bonga’s killing were carried out by the same armed group.
A community’s appeal for peace shattered
The killing comes only months after Bali Nyonga held a major gathering dedicated to remembrance, reconciliation and unity.
During the March 2026 ceremony, locally called “Cry Die,” sons and daughters of Bali Nyonga travelled from Cameroon and the diaspora to honour people lost to COVID-19 and the ongoing Anglophone conflict.
Under the leadership of the Paramount Fon of Bali Nyonga, HRH Dr Doh Ganyonga III, the gathering became a call for residents to abandon bitterness, rebuild relationships and live together peacefully.
“Everything has passed. They should be bygone. Let everyone live like brothers and sisters,” the Fon declared.
The event was particularly significant because the Anglophone conflict had disrupted Lela, the major cultural gathering traditionally held at the Fon’s palace.
For many residents, the March ceremony appeared to offer Bali an opportunity to move from bloodshed to brotherhood.
Four months later, the killing of Bonga, the shooting of two other men and the renewed attack on the grandstand have raised painful questions about whether that healing was ever allowed to begin.
Ten years of bloodshed
Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict began in 2016 with protests by lawyers and teachers against what they described as the marginalisation of English-speaking institutions. The government’s response helped transform the demonstrations into an armed separatist struggle in the North West and South West regions.
Over the past decade, armed separatists and government forces have both been accused of serious abuses against civilians. Separatist fighters have carried out killings, kidnappings, arson attacks and assaults on schools, while members of the security forces have been accused of extrajudicial killings, torture and the destruction of civilian property.
The conflict has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands, leaving civilians trapped between armed groups, government forces, criminal networks and increasingly violent demands for money.
For Bonga’s grieving relatives, those figures are no longer distant statistics.
They now represent a husband, relative and entrepreneur who kept his business open despite repeated threats—and who was shot dead in front of his neighbours while they watched a football match.
The final whistle was still to come in the World Cup final.
For Lexus, however, the night had already ended.