The mortal remains of the deceased will be coffined at the mortuary of the Kumba District Hospital on Thursday, November 5, 2020, at 8:00 am.  An ecumenical service is scheduled for 10:00 am at the Amusement Park.

Around noon on Saturday, October 24, 2020, gunmen attacked Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy Fiango, Kumba. State authorities say they opened fire on no fewer than 20 students, killed at least seven (six girls and a boy), and badly wounded about 13 others – ten girls and three boys.

The students killed include Nzakame Ramane (10 years), Nguemene Princess (11 years), Anagym Jennifer (11 years), Ngwane Reny Mongue (12 years), Victory Ngamenyi Camibon (12 years), Scheygnia Cindi (14 years), and Che Telma (15 years).

The Divisional Officer for Kumba I, Ali Anougu, the Senior Divisional Officer for Meme Division, Chamberlain Ntou’ou Ndong, and the Minister of Communication, Emmanuel Rene Sadi blame armed separatists for the attack.

On Monday, October 26, President Paul Biya addressed his solidarity and sincere condolences to the bereaved families as well as the educational community. He joined his wishes and the deepest empathy of his wife for the prompt recovery of the injured.

The same wishes were extended to the victims, their families, and the population by Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji who was at the head of an inter-ministerial delegation dispatched to Kumba by President Biya.

A national day of mourning decreed by President Biya in memory of the victims was observed on Saturday, October 31.

On Monday, November 2, Atanga Nji returned to Kumba and handed the government’s support to the affected family. He also visited the victims in hospital and lit seven candles in the classroom where the schoolchildren were shot and killed.

State forces have been battling to dislodge armed separatists who pitched their tents in the North West and South West Regions since the current crisis transformed into an armed conflict in 2017.

Corporate demands by Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers led to protests in November 2016. The street demonstrations later morphed into ongoing running gun battles between state forces and armed separatist fighters in the predominantly English-speaking regions, leading to untold destruction of human lives, their habitats, and livelihoods.

Tit-for-tat killings have become part of daily lives in some parts of the English-speaking regions.