2024-04-01 11:53:48
Cameroon is in shock. Thursday March 28, 2024, an act of incredible violence plunged the Lycée Bilingue de Bertoua, in the Eastern region, into mourning. During the delivery of report cards, a student was fatally stabbed by one of his classmates, reports 237online.com. A tragedy which once again raises the question of growing insecurity in the country’s educational establishments.
A class leader targeted, his murderer on the run
The victim, young EKOSSO, was the Head of the Form 4 A class. According to the first elements of the investigation, he was attacked in the middle of the courtyard by one of his comrades, armed with a dagger. Seriously injured, EKOSSO was rushed to hospital, where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries. His attacker fled and is actively sought by the police.
If the exact circumstances of the tragedy remain to be clarified, two versions are circulating as to the motive for the murder. According to a source, the student assassin could not stand the defeat of his team during a school football match, and would have made the head of class responsible. But others assert that the murderer, excluded for absenteeism, blamed EKOSSO for being behind his dismissal as person responsible for the call sheets.
A high school without a fence, worrying neighbors
The Lycée Bilingue de Bertoua appears to be an establishment at the mercy of external influences. Without walls, it is surrounded by neighborhoods known for drug trafficking, such as Tindamba, Nyangansa, Enia and Gaïkada. “There has always been an incestuous relationship between students and drug users in the surrounding area,” a local resident told 237online.com. Everything happens behind the establishment, under the trees. A student can premeditate his act and enter anywhere, escaping the control of the supervisors.”
School violence: a scourge that is taking root
This tragedy is a painful reminder that violence in schools is becoming endemic in Cameroon. Since the murder of professor Maurice NJONI TCHAKOUNTE by his student at the Lycée Classique de Nkolbisson in 2020, attacks have increased. In April 2022, a principal was stabbed in his office in Yaoundé. In March 2019, a student was killed by his friend at the Deido Bilingual High School. A murderous spiral that seems endless.
Security to be rethought urgently
Faced with this wave of violence which is overwhelming schools, there is an urgent need to act. Strengthen the security of establishments, better control access, but also work on the roots of the problem: the malaise of young people, the trafficking which plagues the surroundings of high schools, the disintegration of authority… So many immense challenges for the school Cameroonian, which must once again become a sanctuary for students.
In the meantime, Bertoua mourns one of her children. And all of Cameroon with her. In pain and incomprehension, but also determination that the sacrifice of young EKOSSO is not in vain. So that never again will a school report be stained with blood.