Government and international organizations have shamed the October 24 slayings at a private school in Kumba, on October
That fateful Saturday, men in camouflage walked into Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy of Kumba and opened fire on children in a class. Five kids died on the spot, another in the hospital and one could not survive the bullet wounds the next day. Thirteen are recovering from severe gunshot injuries. Time stopped in Kumba as the world empathized with the victims of the carnage. The United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF) called it a “deadly weekend for school children in Afghanistan and Cameroon.” To UNICEF, “abominable attacks” on “education are a grave violation of children’s rights. Schools must be places of safety and learning, not death traps.” At the school, hospital and across Kumba, there was wailing. Tears rushed down the cheeks of bereaved family members and many covered their faces with shaking hands at the scene of the gruesome slaughter. As news of the attack swept through the country and went viral under the # K u m b a M a ss a c r e , Cameroon switched to a mourning mode. The international community felt the pain. “I extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved families. The Commonwealth stands in solidarity with the people and government of Cameroon,” Patricia Scotland tweeted. The Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy also sent “deepest condolences to the families of the children who were killed and wounded and to all who were affected by this (Kumba killings) tragedy.” The UN Secretary General wants the government to carry out “a thorough investigation” and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Patricia Scotland demands that the armed actors should be held “accountable.”
Jude VIBAN
