By Atia Tilarious Azohnwi
One of the eight Fako chiefs kidnapped by pro-independence fighters has died. Chief William Nji Mbanda, traditional ruler of Lysoka Moliwe Village in Buea Subdivision is said to have died Friday, July 27, 2018 and his corpse later found around his palace.
The deceased has been in captivity alongside seven other Buea chiefs for over two weeks now. The whereabouts of the seven others remains a mystery. On Friday, a video went viral on social media showing two of the abducted chiefs standing near the corpse of Chief Mbanda in an environment that appears to be a bush. Visibly under duress, both chiefs took turns to narrate the circumstances under which their peer died.
The mortal remains of Chief Mbanda have been deposited at the mortuary of the Regional Hospital Annex Buea.
Ambazonia activists, an outlawed group, are said to be accusing the traditional rulers of “using mystical powers to frustrate their revolution”. The separatists claim that the custodians of Fako tradition have “buried virgins to weaken the potency of the “odeshi” powers the boys have been using to stay invincible”.
The chiefs whose whereabouts remains unknown are said to include: Chief Njombe Njoke Johnson of Wokaka, Chief Liteke of Maumu, Chief Kombe Paul Njie of Musaka, Chief Bernard Woloko of Woteva, Chief Herman Njumbe of Wokwe, Chief Thomas Ndoto Elinge of Ewili and Chief Francis Molinga of Liwuh la Malale. There have been increasing calls for the release of these traditional rulers.
A statement attributable to His Royal Majesty Robert Esuka Endeley, Paramount Chief-Elect of Buea has since been making rounds on social media. The message reads: “Wonyamoe, It was with profound pain that we learned of the horrific disappearance of His Majesty Mbanda Njie, Chief of Lysoka Moliwe Village, and Vice President of the Buea Chiefs’ Conference.
“His kidnapping, which was already a sacrilegious act in itself in the Bakweri tradition, has been made worse by the unacceptable circumstances of his disappearance. Tears rolled down into my stomach (misoli mamba njombe a nyame) as I watched a video of Chief Bernard Woloko of Woteva Village and Chief Njombe Johnson of Wokaka Village peer down at the lifeless body of their fellow chief. We as Bakweris cannot sit still while our chiefs are being kidnapped and killed.
“There is a Mokpwe adage that says _Vesongo veyondi ve mbgeli lisengi e-kumba_; the pride and splendor of our chiefs are derived from his people. We the Bakweris from _Likolo, Mokunda mo Mbenge, Sofa Woteke, Ngali Efase, Wonganjo, Vewonde ve meyanga, Vasingi, Ekona Lelu, Wonyavio, Wonakanda and beyond need to rise and give Chief Mbanda, and the other chiefs still in captivity, the pride and honor they deserve by bringing the perpetrators of this heinous act to justice. Regardless of the mistakes they made in the past, regardless of the mistakes we as leaders have also made in the past, we are determined to give the strength of our arms for the rest of our days to make sure justice is served. We are inviting any Bakweri man or woman whose heart is courageous, to join us in this resolution.
“Moving forward, while we have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to look for possible ways and means of liberating our chiefs and also developing preventive measures to ensure such acts NEVER EVER happen again in Bakeweri land, several initiatives have been put forward by some Bakweri men and women of courage. I will not delve into the details in this write-up for obvious reasons. However, as a non-casual Bakweri person who wants to do something about upholding our pride, heritage, and cultural identity, I implore you to please join in one of these initiatives. You don’t have to agree or belong to all of the ongoing initiatives at the same time; deep in our hearts we know we have a common goal, our destination is the same. Contact me directly or the Royal Traditional Council of Buea if you need more information.”