One gunned down, pastor injured in Bali church shooting

Church service in Bali, North West Region of Cameroon today went sour as a member met her maker unpredictably.

Christians of a local church, Presbyterian Church Ntanfoang say armed men believed to be soldiers opened fire on the church building, killing one and injuring their pastor.

Talking to MMI, one of those at the scene said the service turned bloody as they heard gunfire which left them curious as to what was going on.

“… We however remained silent listening to the sounds till we heard a lady scream. She had been shot by a bullet that got into the church building. Another shot the pastor on his hand,” he narrates.

The lady, he reveals, died on the spot, as the assailants moved on, shooting all over the village.

Corroborating the story, another source, a relative to the lady shot dead says he believes the victim was not being targeted.

“It was random shooting. I think they must have been after amba fighters
My brother’s wife died immediately and the Pastor was taken to the hospital…,” he noted.

Questioned on what happened, the source remarked that “there was no attack. They just came closely and then started shooting.”

“They were 13 in number. 12 came close and one stood on guard. They were firing randomly when they fired at the church.”

Many, young boys on the run as gunshots persist

Following the attack, our source narrates, “we men ran out of the church. The pastor was rushed to hospital. As we speak there are still gunshots as we men are on the run”.

“We hear rumours that men are being arrested indiscriminately at the moment…,” he adds. The women and old men were left with the corpse of the victim as well as the injured pastor.

While Bali has witnessed relative calm these past days, this is not the first time locals are paying the price of the war against separatist fighters.

“The last time they came was during a market day. They came and harassed women,” a local tells MMI, adding “they demanded money from men and punished women to sit on the ground.”

The latest incident, however, comes as a surprise to him, as he reiterates: “Nothing has happened within these days. The separatist fighters haven’t even attacked them for days now.”

The incident comes days after soldiers cleared road blocks mounted by separatist fighters. Following the activity, they promised hell to the population, if they fail to cooperate and ‘weed’ out separatist fighters from Bali.

At the moment, the army and administrative authorities are yet to make any comments on the incident.

This is however not the first time such a gory incident is happening in recent times. Fresh in the minds of many is the Ngarbuh Massacre where soldiers shot and killed villagers in Ngarbuh, North West Region.

A similar incident happened in Kumba where unknown gunmen shot dead students in a school and have till date gone unpunished.