The Divisional Officer (D.O) for Alou, one of the three sub-divisions of Lebialem Division in the South West Region, Ndjeck Ndi Thomas, dropped dead on Friday November 9, 2012.
He was on a pillar-planting mission to Abang, a deserted ancestral land where one of the elite, Aka Festus, and the local chief are in cut-throat dispute. It is said the D.O complained of body weakness and then spontaneous depression after trekking for over 30 kilometers away from his office.
Hardly did the D.O arrive the disputed terrain that he sank, collapsed and died on the spot. It took his entourage more than six hours to shoulder his corpse from the scene to Ndungated. There, they hired a motorbike to Mary Health of Africa Hospital in Fontem, where his body currently lies.
What, however, puzzles the population is that the D.O embarked on the journey without any security officer and other stakeholders such as members of the Land Consultative Board, the disputing parties and members of the Abang traditional council as the law requires.
Mr. Ndjeck Thomas had served as Divisional Officer of Alou since January 2011.