Cameroon-info.net learnt that the priest was taken into separatist custody Saturday, August 24, 2019 around 9:30am purportedly at Kimar Hill in Sop, Jakiri Subdivision. Other sources suggest that he was abducted and taken towards Wvem in Sop. He is said to have been intercepted as he was returning from Bamenda where he attended a meeting.

The abduction that first made rounds on social media as rumour has been confirmed by Ambazonia activist Mark Bareta who said “Bui Warriors” carried out the act.

“Today at exactly 9:30 AM, the Bishop of Kumbo was taken by the Warriors as per the request of the Community to open up the doors of the Church he had closed down following the incident that happened with the Priest,” Mark Bareta said.

Cameroon-info.net recalls that the Bishop of Kumbo had temporarily shut down the Saint Paul Parish in Kikaikom, Kumbo in Bui Division after the parish priest was abducted by alleged Ambazonia fighters. The Bishop is said to have taken away the Blessed Sacrament.

Rev. Fr. Dieudonne Bomye was reportedly kidnapped while in his residence on Tuesday August 6, 2019 by alleged Ambazonia fighters who held him captive until Saturday August 10 when they released him. It is said that he was kidnapped after he urged his Christians in church to send their children to school. The assistant priest was equally kidnapped but released same day.

Mark Bareta adds that: “Additionally, the Bui warriors had demanded the Bishop to bless them who had been protecting the civilian population from atrocities from the colonial administration.”

Though the activists alleges that “the Bishop was safely returned to the Parish after their brief stay at exactly 11:00 AM”, parallel information suggests that the Bishop is still being held in custody.

Bishop Nkuo had on Thursday, August 15, 2019 said it is a crime against humanity to deny children the right to go to school in the name of the struggle. He called on the belligerents in the ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s North West and South West regions to drop their weapons of hatred and give peace a chance.

The priest was speaking from the pulpit as he delivered his Assumption Day sermon in Kumbo. He used the opportunity to preach the back to school gospel, insisting that history will judge all those who are bent on frustrating school resumption come September 2.

The Bishops August 15, 2019 sermon

“I want once more on behalf of God, on behalf of the Church, on behalf of Mama Maria, comforter of the afflicted to speak to you on behalf of the voiceless and the suffering people of Kumbo. During this crisis, Kumbo has had its fair share of suffering. We have seen innocent people brutally killed. A lot of people have lost their homes and property. Violence and all forms of torture and cruelty have become so common that we are beginning to consider it normal to kill, to torture, to extort and to ask for ransom. Kumbo has been deserted and people of all ranks and professions have fled Kumbo and are seeking safety in Yaoundé, Douala, Bafoussam, Banyo and the rest of the places,” Bishop Nkuo opened his back-to-school sermon on “Big Day Maria”.

Hear the Kumbo Bishop: “Brothers and sisters, we continue to hear gruesome stories of people kidnapped or arrested, tortured and asked to pay huge ransoms before they are released. And the worst hit has been our children who have been deprived from school for three years. And there is no guarantee that they can return to school soon. I am fully aware that anyone who talks about these things stands the risk of being kidnapped or even killed. I am not sure that even I talking now am safe. 

“Today, under the protection of Mary, our mother, and on her feast day, on behalf of the Catholic Church, on behalf of our Holy Father Pope Francis, I call on all who have lost a sense of the sacredness of life, on all who don’t want to give a chance to the young and poor and helpless children to go back to school. I call on you all to drop your weapons of hatred, to stop all forms of views that dehumanise our people. Violence as you know only begets violence. Hatred as you know only begets more hatred. Human life remains sacred and no one, no matter what, has a right to takeaway another person’s life or to torture.

“And brothers and sister, from this pulpit, I want to say it very clearly. It is a crime against humanity to deny our children the right to go to school in the name of the struggle no matter how legitimate our case may be. Our children cannot go to school in Kumbo and those who escaped to other towns are mercilessly exploited. Is it okay for us, the people of Kumbo, for our children to leave Kumbo and pay FCFA 250,000, as I know they do, as day students in Yaoundé? Or FCFA 600,000 as boarding students in Douala?  When with the same amounts, you can pay fees for five to ten children in Kumbo? Is it okay? And we accept it and we say okay and we allow it? I consider this exploitation. This exploitation must stop! And only we can make this happen.

“Yes! There are people in this church even, and I won’t be surprised, who are determined that no school will be opened this year in Kumbo. And I dare say history will judge you for sacrificing the future of our children for the struggle when we could have other options that we can use to make our points. Don’t forget what I have said. Quote me right.”