CI-NEWS

Bambili Fon performs ritual to ‘cleanse’ village of spilled blood.

2020-04-20

No: 491

Bambili Fon performs ritual to ‘cleanse’ village of spilled blood.

By Philo Happi in Bamenda.

The recent spilling of blood of some kingmakers of Bambili necessitated some purification rites to appease the ancestors. It was incumbent on none other than Ifuo Afungchwi III of Bambili to perform the ritual.

Talking to the population and some family members of the murdered kingmakers at his palace in Bambili,Thursday 16th April 2020, he urged them to stay calm.

During the gathering, traditional rites were performed to put an end to atrocious acts in the village and dust off what has been committed so far.

A symbolic calabash was smashed by the village “Ngumba” and Palace juju known as “Ngwii” to materialise the traditional rites.

Woodash was dispersed to banish such cruel acts from the land according to Bambili tradition.

For their part, the crowd that was present at the Palace Square hit their legs on the ground corroborating the rites performed.

Talking to the press, Ifuo Afungchwi III regretted the murder of his kingmakers. He indicated that it was the first time such an act is committed in the land.

The Chairman of the Traditional Council, Mr. Tanjong Joseph, and the council secretary, Mr. Awemo Joseph, were both murdered in cold blood Tuesday April 14, 2020 by unidentified men who accused them of exposing their activities to the government.

The Fon cautioned his people to remain calm, avoid retaliation, and be ready to forgive one another.

HRH disclosed that perpetrators of the gruesome act have all been identified and should they continue, they shall face the wrath of the gods of the land.

“Anyone who will shed blood in the village would be responsible before the gods”, the Fon noted.

Parents were called upon to continue educating their children.

Similar traditional rites were equally performed in the homes of the fallen kingmakers to cleanse the premises.

The presence of security forces at the palace scared the population from participating.

Some of them who talked to us said the presence of soldiers and police officers in the village contributes to anger the separatist fighters.

They called on the Fon to set up a vigilante group in the village that would fight back should any unidentified men attack innocent villagers.

Tanjong Martin, the Mayor of Tubah Council, described the act as horrific, adding, that the people of Bambili had tolerated enough of the atrocities of the gunmen.

"This is not the first incident. They started by slaughtering three young men in a day. They got another one and slaughtered him like a cow. We took it like a joke. They later on moved to a bridge. The only bridge that links the village with its neighbours was brought down".

He added that the people have vowed to end the mayhem in the municipality.

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Bambili Fon performs ritual to ‘cleanse’ village of spilled blood.