Christians of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, CBC, Church in Binka, Nkambe Subdivision and jujus of the traditional secret society (Kwifon) recently fought over the corpse of one Tom Tanto.

Tanto was both a devout Christian and a staunch member of the Kwifon.
The tussle between the Christians and the jujus over who would bury Tanto began immediately he breathed his last.

While the Christians made preparations and drew up a funeral programme, members of the Kwifon also made their programme; to bury the same corpse. Reports say efforts to reconcile the programmes of both groups failed as each camp remained inflexible, holding their claims over the corpse.

CBC Christians took advantage of the corpse that was lying in state at the deceased's residence and started praying and singing while waiting for the coffin.But when the members of the Kwifon society learnt of this development, they resorted to violence to gain possession of their "senior officer's" corpse.

Some of the most dreaded masquerades known as the Nkoh, Mabu and Chu-umbus were released from the secret society with firm instructions to, by all means, seize the corpse.

The masquerades then invaded the deceased's home, seized some of the Christians who were praying and singing and started beating them up. At this juncture, there was total pandemonium as everyone fled for their life.

A CBC pastor and other church elders, who also received the random thrashing, escaped with their lives abandoning the corpse with the Kwifon society.Some members of the Kwifon society, who talked to the press, said it was going to be an abomination if non-members buried the leader of their society.

According to them, the sacrilege would affect the entire community.Meanwhile, some Christians regretted what happened and blamed double-faced Christians.They condemned the violence of the Kwifon society, stating that the corpse was mere dust and not worth such trouble.

Monday, 29 January 2007 at 01:33 PM in News | Permalink
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