2nd suspect held for school massacre in Cameroon

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - A second suspect has been held in connection with the October school massacre in Cameroon, an official said on Wednesday.

"I told you that all those who contributed to this massacre will be caught. Today, they are begging and crying," Chamberlin Ntou'ou Ndong Ndong, a local official, said on TV.

Seven children were killed and 13 others injured on Oct. 24 when gunmen stormed a bilingual primary school in the southwestern town of Kumba. Officials blamed Anglophone separatists for the attack.

Ngwa Neba was rounded up late Tuesday during a robbery attempt at a bar. He was caught by a police officer who witnessed the scene.

The 24-year-old has reportedly confessed to being a member of the group involved in the shooting.

"The manhunt continues so that seven other accomplices are also held," Ntou'ou Ndong said.

The attack caused a global outrage, and Oct. 31 was observed as a day of national mourning. The Central African state’s flag flew at half-mast and thousands of people took to the streets to condemn the barbarism.

Cameroon has been marred by protests and violence since 2016, with residents in English-speaking regions saying they have been marginalized for decades by the central government and the French-speaking majority.

They are calling for independence or a return to a federal state.

Violence in the Anglophone regions over the last three years has claimed an estimated 3,000 lives and caused the displacement of over 730,000 civilians, according to the Human Rights Watch.