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28
Thu, Mar

Thousands Attend Burial Ceremony Of Seven Schoolchildren Murdered In Cameroon

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The seven schoolchildren who were shot dead by unknown gunmen in Cameroon's south-western city of Kumba last month were laid to rest on Thursday, in a burial ceremony attended by thousand. Amongst the mourners was Prime Minister of Cameroon Joseph Dion Ngute, who promised that the killers would not go unpunished. Ngute said the government had borne both the hospital and burial costs. Parents of the deceased kids told the BBC that their loss was deep, and no amount of punishment meted out to the killers, (if they are caught) will allay their pain. Recall that Gunmen stormed the Mother Francisca School on 24 October, killing school children aged between nine and 12. The senseless attack was blamed on a separatist group that attacked the school in Kumba, South West Region -- one of the Anglophone regions of the country.

Armed separatists want the regions to secede from mainly French-speaking Cameroon.

The burial of the children is a grim reminder of the recent violence that has been witnessed in schools in Cameroon’s mainly English-speaking regions, where four attacks have been recorded in the past 11 days.

President Paul Biya condemned the attack and ‘’instructed that appropriate measures be taken diligently to ensure that the perpetrators of these despicable acts are apprehended by our Defence and Security Forces and brought to justice.’’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked’’ by the ‘’horrific attack.’’

Several opinion leaders took to social media with the hashtag, #EndAnglophoneCrisis, to denounce the attacks and urge the government and secessionists to solve the crisis which has affected hundreds of thousands.

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