Hundreds of mourners today paid last respects to Dr Ngong Innocent Akiambom, Mayor of Belo in the North West Region, who was assassinated on National Day, May 20.
Mayor Ngong, who was shot dead despite heavy security presence in Belo on 20th May, is being remembered as a champion of Belo’s recovery from the prolonged armed conflict in the English-speaking Regions.
The funeral ceremony, held this Saturday, July 27, at École de Poste in Yaounde, was attended by several officials, including the President of the 79th United Nations General Assembly and former Cameroonian Prime Minister, Philemon Yang.
He was accompanied by his wife, Dr Linda Yang.
Several Mayors attended the ceremony, among them the President of the United Councils and Cities of Cameroon (UCCC), Mayor Augustin Tamba.
Other Municipal Magistrates spotted the occasion included the Mayors of Bafut, Oku and Bali.
Mayor Ngong Innocent was shot dead on the morning of May 20, 2024, alongside his deputy and an inspector of Basic Education. They were enroute to the Belo grandstand for National Day celebrations.
WANTON ATTACKS ON MAYORS
Speaking at the occasion, the Mayor of Funding, Dang Denis, lamented how Mayors have become a target in the ongoing Anglophone Crisis.
He cited the killing of the First Deputy Mayor of Balikumbat and the Deputy Mayor of Babessi, as well as the attempted assassination of the Mayors of Zhoa and Fundong.
In the South West, the Mayor of Mamfe, Ashu Prisley, was also assassinated in 2020 by armed men believed to be separatist fighters.
To stem the targeted killings, Mayor Dang Denis proposed heavy militarization of security-prone areas within the North West and South West Region, hoping that additional security deployment will curb wanton targeted killings by separatists and assassins.
He also waved off the idea of providing Mayors with bodyguards, stating that the Mayor of Belo was killed on May 20 in between two bodyguards.
A DEVELOPMENT FRONTLINER
In heartfelt tributes, mourners remembered Dr Ngong Innocent for his enormous contribution to the development of his native village of Baingo and the entire in Belo Subdivision, despite amid the violence caused by the Anglophone Crisis.
During his mandate as Mayor, the Belo Council constructed the Njinikijem Mortuary (an ongoing project); extended 2 kilometres of electricity at Antusi, Baingo; constructed three Classrooms at GS Ntum and two at GS Baingo; reopened the Belo Community Radio, FM 96.4., and realised several other projects.
RICH PROFESSIONAL, EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Dr Ngong Innocent Ankiambom was born in Baingo, Belo Sub Division of Boyo Division in 1978. He was the fifth child of Nawain Helen Bih Ngong and Bobe Joseph Ngong Wainchom.
Dr Ngong got Baptized in Baingo Baptist Church in 1990. He was the bass man and drummer in Musang Baptist Church from 1993 to 1997.
By 2009 he became a member of Etoug-Ebe Baptist Church. By the time of his unfortunate demise he was a member of Nkolmeseng Baptist Church in Yaounde.
Professionally, he was a trained microbiologist with a rich educational experience in the United Kingdom, and years of public service in Yaounde.
He benefited from a Commonwealth scholarship, through which he pursued studies in the United Kingdom where he obtained a Master’s of Science in Molecular Medical Microbiology from the University of Nottingham in the UK before returning to Cameroon in 2007.
Upon his return to the country, he worked as a medical scientist at the Chantal Biya International Reference Center in Yaounde and later worked as the Public School of Assistant Laboratory Technicians.
He later furthered his studies at the University of Yaounde I where he got a Doctorate degree in Microbiology.
He was elected Mayor of Belo during the 2020 Municipal Elections, under the ticket of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party (CPDM).
