Buea Teen Dies Hours After Guardian Flogged Him

Vera Fon

The corpse of a 14-year-old boy whose only name CNA got as Emmanuel is presently lying at the Buea Regional hospital mortuary. The orphan died on Wednesday evening, April 14, 2021, hours after his guardian allegedly beat him with a belt. It is not yet clear if it was the beaten that killed him or not, because another version of the story says that after he was beaten, he drank Kerosene and later died while he was rushed to the hospital.

According to inhabitants of their Miss Bright Street Bomaka neighbourhood, Emmanuel’s guardian, Dr Bama Roland Kum, who is a lecturer at the University of Buea, Faculty of Education and a Counsellor, beat up the boy that fateful evening until he passed out.

Two of the neighbours explained to CNA that the boy left the house that Wednesday to purchase airtime from a nearby kiosk and forgot to close the gate; Dr Bama always warned him never to leave it open. While doing the transfer, he spotted Dr Bama’s car heading home and rushed immediately to close the gate he had left open.

Before he could get there, Dr Bama had reached before him. “With that anger, he came down from the car, closed the gate, removed his belt and headed straight to beat the boy.” A source told CNA.

Neighbours confirmed they heard Emmanuel screaming for help at the top of his voice. His screams attracted neighbours who stood at the closed gate helplessly waiting for it to be opened.

A few minutes after, they explained they didn’t get Emmanuel’s voice again. It seemed he had passed out. That was when Dr Bama allegedly rushed out to call one of his neighbours to take Emmanuel to the hospital.

Before they could get there, the boy had given up the ghost.  Neighbours say they are still in shock concerning Emmanuel’s sudden death and added it wasn’t the first time Dr Bama was battering him. They always heard the screams whenever he was beating Emmanuel, though Cameroon News Agency has not independently confirmed these allegations.

Emmanuel Served One Month Punishment

Another source told CNA that Emmanuel allegedly stole 100.000frs from his guardian about a month before his demise.

As punishment, he was locked up at home and didn’t go to school for more than a month. So, the day he died was the day he left the house without his guardian’s permission to go and buy airtime. We struggled to get this version confirmed from the family but had no answers.

We were told that Emmanuel is a relative of Dr Bama’s wife and has lived with the couple since he was young.

CNA has made commendable efforts to talk to the family of the bereaved, but they didn’t cooperate. After calling Dr Bama on phone over 10 times without his number going through, a media crew visited his residence on April 16, 2021. He wasn’t at home and his wife refused to talk to the press.

Another source told CNA the body of 14 years old Emmanuel will be removed from the Mortuary on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Moreover, everyone is waiting on a pronouncement to be made by the Fon of Weh.