CALM RETURNS TO BUEA AFTER RIOTS THAT FOLLOWED THE KILLING OF A MAN BY A NIGERIAN, EMMANUEL CHUKWU.
By Moki S. Mokondo in Buea for Fako Mount Fako News Centre
28 May 2012

Calm has returned to Buea after some inhabitants went on rampage, screaming for blood as revenge following the killing of one Philip Djieuteu Misele on Saturday 26 May 2012 by Emmanuel Chukwu of Nigerian origin. The unfortunate incident that threatened the good relationship that has always existed between Nigerians and English-speaking Cameroonians is reported to have occurred when the said Chukwu stabbed the victim around the neck region with a broken bottle.
According to reports, Mr Chukwu joined a squabble between her sister and the family of the deceased over a marriage issue. One of the brothers of Emmanuel Chukwu was in the residence of late Philip Djieuteu Misele to perform some marital rights when Chukwu’s elder sister stormed the home to halt the event. She is reported to have warned that their brother cannot marry the niece of the deceased, Christina Misele, on grounds that she is a Cameroonian.

According to eyewitness reports, Emmanuel Chukwu’s sister then called for him to assist her prevent the occasion from going on. On arrival, Mr Chukwu is reported to have come along with bottles threatening the people at the occasion and maintaining that his brother cannot marry in a Cameroonian family.
Being the family head, the deceased tried to calm the situation but unfortunately Mr Chukwu stabbed him three times with a broken bottle with the one around his neck being the major one that probably took his life. He died at the Buea Regional Hospital Annex while receiving medical attention, leaving behind five children and a wife.

Mr Chukwu was later apprehended around Tole trying to find his way to Limbe, probably to escape by sea to Nigeria. Before the police could return to town, some Buea denizens had gone on rampage, destroying stores belonging to Nigerians. It took the presence of the Senior Divisional Officer of Fako, the Mayor of Buea, the Nigeria Consul General for the North West and South West Regions and forces of law and order to calm the angry mob.
Regretting the unfortunate situation the Consul General, Ugochukwu Onuzulike, expressed his sympathy to the bereaved family and encouraged Cameroonians to sheath their swords. But what many are still to understand is why Mr Chukwu and his sister did not want their brother to marry a girl on grounds that she is a Cameroonian whereas she too is married and has children with a Cameroonian man. More to this, they are all born-and-bred in Cameroon.