Bangolan Crises: Man buried alive

The Bangolan political crisis worsened on March 19, 2016 when angry villagers blockaded the palace of their Fon, Chafah XI, in Babessi Subdivision, Ngoketunjia Division, Northwest Region. Reports said in the fracas that followed, Fon Chafah’s son was shot in the leg. Five others were also reported injured

“My palace is under attack by some thugs from the village. We are trying to secure the palace. They have shot my son. I don’t have time to explain now,” Fon Chafah was quoted as saying. However, on Sunday, March 20, 2016, Fon Chafah told The Post by phone that some Bangolan boys invaded his palace at 3:00 pm on Saturday and started firing their guns.

“They were a very big group; very well armed. I was in the palace and when the group started firing, my son rushed to the gate to find out what was happening; that is when he met one of the gunmen who shot him in the leg,” said Fon Chafah. He said the Masters student of law at Soa was taken to the Mbingo Hospital in Bamenda where he was attended to.

Chafah said his son’s leg would likely be amputated. The Fon also said the forces of law and order arrived at midnight and secured the village. At press time, he said some calm had returned to the village. But not the armed group. “They are operating like Boko Haram,” Fon Chafah told The Post, “if you don’t sympathise with them, they brutalise you. They even buried a certain man alive and only some Mbororos rescued him and took him to the health centre in the village.”

The Bangolan Fon said the armed group took four motorcycles belonging to some nchindas (notables) who had gone to visit him and burnt them. He said some members of the armed group were arrested and taken to Ndop. In another telephone interview, a man living in a neighbouring village said he had heard that one of Fon Chafah’s brothers had shot and killed one person.

We were not able to confirm this allegation. Meanwhile, a certain Forbe, who said he was Fon Chafah’s classmate at CAST Bambili, told The Post that he heard that after the Bangolan villagers dethroned Fon Chafah, the military arrested and brutalised many people in that village.

He said the Bangolan seem to be bitter but “Fon Chafah is a proud man who cannot be pushed down.” Another local said “I saw it myself, Fon Chafah has declared war against the Bangolan people. I saw him firing shots and a boy went down in front of me. If the Governor, the Prime Minister and the President do not look into this problem, there will be bloodshed in this country.” The news had broken out that palace guards clashed with angry villagers, as they demanded Fon Chafah to depart.

The recent tumult reportedly also brought out the revered women’s traditional secret society, Takumbeng, to add their voices to the call for Fon Chafah to leave. According to reports, matters came to a head when the police ran into hundreds of villagers who had marched to the Bangolan palace on Saturday, March 19 to protest the “forceful re-enthronement of Chafah XI.”

The villagers had reportedly discovered that the police had occupied palace and were demanding for the “unconditional and immediate enthronement” of Fon Chafah. “We are against government meddling into our traditional affairs,” an angry protester reportedly said. “The police should leave our palace immediately.”

On Friday, February 20, 2016, some notables of Bangolan momentarily dethroned Fon Chafah and was about to replace him with on Salim Mbipefah, but for the quick intervention of the Northwest Governor, Adolphe Lele L’Afrique.

The Governor had ordered the immediate arrest and detention of Salim, the imposter. Fon Chafah confirmed that the imposter and about 29 others had been arrested and detained. The campaign to oust Fon Chafah seems to stem from disappointment expressed by Bangolan villagers pertaining to what they term the Fon’s misdemeanours.

The villagers accuse Fon Chafah of desecrating and destroying the Bangolan culture and traditions. “Our problem is with Isaac Mbungka (Fon Chafah),” the notables had said in a letter addressed to Northwest Governor for transmission to the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation.

Soon after the failed palace coup, the media reported a militarised incursion into Bangolan with armed forces of law and order arbitrarily harassing and arresting Bangolan civilians, while wreaking havoc on their property.