-Three Prelates dead in less than a month!
The circumstances surrounding the demise of Mgr Jean
Marie Balla Benoit, Bishop of Bafia and the subsequent reports that he
committed suicide unleashed an
unprecedented avalanche of conspiracy theories showing that Cameroonians
completely rejected the idea that the Monsignor Balla Benoit committed suicide.
Then another Bombshell again hit the Church as Rev. Father Augustine Ndi of the
Nguti Parish in the Southwest Region was also found dead in his aparthment in
the moring of Wednesday June 8, 2017. His death has been attributed to
respiratory insufficiency due to Cardiac problems.
The conspiracy theories point at a number of
possibilities ranging from that of a political killing, to an attempt to hide
the truth. The present political situation in Cameroon and the fact that
Bishops of The Roman Catholic Church are being tried in Bamenda and Buea have
only given another ingredient to the conspiracy theories. Is the Catholic
Church under attack in Cameroon? If yes then who is attacking the Church? It has equally sparked off one of the
greatest emotional overflow in Cameroon compared only to that which accompanied
the sudden death of Cameroons soccer Icon Marc Vivien Foe some years back
during the semi finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup game against Colombia at
Lyon in France.
According to the Face book Page of Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai, a Cameroonian journalist with a
respectable and trusted online presence, a Catholic priest and long time confidante of the
Bishop of Bafia, Mgr. Jean Marie Benoit Bala, has taken exception to reports
that the Bishop committed suicide. Bishop Bala reportedly left Bafia at 11:00
pm on Wednesday May 31st.
His car was found parked on the River Sanaga Bridge
on Thursday. His ID card alongside the car documents were found in the back
seat with a suicide note stating that he was in the river. (Je suis dans
l'eau). But Rev. Father Constant Amombo who has worked with Mgr Bala for over
17 years has challenged the "suicide" hypothesis and wants answers to
the following questions
1-Mgr Balla was widely known to oppose night travel and barred priests in his diocese from travelling at night. Isn't it strange that he woke the night watchman at 11:00 pm to open him the gate for him to travel at night?
2- Mgr Balla like all Bishops had a gun permit and reportedly carried a pistol for his personal safety. If he had decided to take his own life; why drive over 60 km whereas, he could have just shot himself in the confines of his bedroom?
3- Mgr Balla, from all accounts dating back to his days as a seminarian was an expert swimmer and swimming was one of his main hobbies. Is it possible for an expert swimmer to willfully drown?
4- Mgr Balla's car was parked on the River Sanaga Bridge a couple of yards from the gendarmerie brigade. How come the gendarmes were not aware that a car was parked on the bridge until after mid-day?
5- Is the mysterious "suicide" of Mgr Balla somehow connected to the mysterious death of the Rector of the Bafia seminary, who was found dead in his bedroom on May 10; three weeks earlier?
Other questions that could be added to these include: where was the Bishop's driver and why did the night watchman not raise the alarm once the Bishop failed to return in the morning? Have the police interrogated the night watchman? Mgr Samuel Kleda arch-Bishop of Douala and President of the National Episcopal Council added fuel to the conspiracy theories by issuing a statement declaring Mgr Balla "missing" instead of dead. Cameroonians need answers to these questions.
1-Mgr Balla was widely known to oppose night travel and barred priests in his diocese from travelling at night. Isn't it strange that he woke the night watchman at 11:00 pm to open him the gate for him to travel at night?
2- Mgr Balla like all Bishops had a gun permit and reportedly carried a pistol for his personal safety. If he had decided to take his own life; why drive over 60 km whereas, he could have just shot himself in the confines of his bedroom?
3- Mgr Balla, from all accounts dating back to his days as a seminarian was an expert swimmer and swimming was one of his main hobbies. Is it possible for an expert swimmer to willfully drown?
4- Mgr Balla's car was parked on the River Sanaga Bridge a couple of yards from the gendarmerie brigade. How come the gendarmes were not aware that a car was parked on the bridge until after mid-day?
5- Is the mysterious "suicide" of Mgr Balla somehow connected to the mysterious death of the Rector of the Bafia seminary, who was found dead in his bedroom on May 10; three weeks earlier?
Other questions that could be added to these include: where was the Bishop's driver and why did the night watchman not raise the alarm once the Bishop failed to return in the morning? Have the police interrogated the night watchman? Mgr Samuel Kleda arch-Bishop of Douala and President of the National Episcopal Council added fuel to the conspiracy theories by issuing a statement declaring Mgr Balla "missing" instead of dead. Cameroonians need answers to these questions.
While the funeral
service for Mgr Balla has been scheduled for June 14 and burial on June 15,
Cameroonians have been wondering why the Apostolic Nuncio in Yaounde, Mgr Piero
Pioppo who should be an integral part of the investigation into Mgr Balla's
death has been transferred to far away Indonesia. Mgr Balla is reported to have
written an explosive letter to the Nuncio following the mysterious death of Fr.
Armel Djama, rector of the minor seminary in Bafia; who died on May 10. The letter is said to have attributed the death of Fr.
Djama to unseen hands at the Presidency.
According to
Ekinneh Agbaw Ebai’s face book page, “The grapevine
is quoting eye-witnesses from the village of Tsang recalling the sound of an
helicopter in the wee hours of Thursday, breaking Friday morning,
"dropping a package" in the area of the Sanaga River where Mgr
Balla's corpse was spotted and eventually recovered. With all these conspiracy
theories, Cameroonians need to read Mgr Balla's letter, especially as the case
is now being investigated as homicide.
The night watchman has given
contradictory information to the police about what Mgr Balla told him when he
opened the gate. But it is obvious Mgr Balla could not have left his residence
at 11:00 pm, unless to honor a request made by some very important personality.
Was he responding to a call from the Nuncio or the Presidency?”
Meantime Michael Ndimancho, of the Catholic University of Central
Africa with Campus in Yaounde, Cameroon brought to light on his face book page
attempts that were made in the News room of Cameroon private TV channel Canal 2
on Saturday at midday to clear the
mystery sorrounding the dead of Bishop
of Bafia, Monseigneur Balla Benoit. Panelists like Fr. Antoine de Padua of the
Archdiocese of Douala and other panelists including Michael Ndimancho tried to
provide answers to the mysterious deaths of prelates of the Catholic Church in
Cameroon.
The track record of the killings of Catholic
clergy in Cameroon looks very grim. Starting from Bishop Ndongmo, Bishop Yves
Plumy, the two Reverend sisters at Djoum
,Reverend Father Engelbert Mveng, Rev Father
Fontegh,Reverend Father Patrick Adeso
among others.
At the time of publishing this
story,the conspiracy theories were on the rise due to speculations over the
possible contents of the letter that the late Bishop had written to the
Apoistolic Nuncio. While commentaries on the possible content of the letter are
taking center stage, the hard facts have not changed. The Church in Cameroon is
under attack from forces that will stop at nothing to reduce its moral grip
over the people. Who is threatened by the overwhelming power of the Catholic Church? Who stands to gain in a
society with the complete absence of any moral institution or body to look up
to? In that answer may be found the answer to the present chaos in the Church in
Cameroon.
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