From Buea to Bambui

Hero’s funeral for Barrister Bonu
By Njodzefe Nestor and Sarah Nkongho Ojong on special assignment in Bamenda
The remains of renowned Barrister and Advocate, Barrister Innocent Bonu were laid to rest Tuesday June, 10 in his native Bambui village in Mezam Division of the North West region.
    At the North West Court of Appeal during Judicial Honours just like at the Holy Family Parish Catholic Church, Major Seminary, Bambui,  in one of the Requiem Masses for the repose of his soul, huge crowds of sympathziers, mourners, friends, colleagues and family members turned out to bid farewell to the legal guru.
Bonu died on April 17, 2014 at the CNPS Hospital in Yaounde. He had travelled to Yaounde to join other colleagues in correcting scripts of the entrance examination into the Cameroon Bar Association.
    At the funeral, Barrister Innocent Bonu was described differently by friends, family members and colleagues with all being unanimous that he was a good man.

    At the Holy Family Parish Catholic Church, Major Seminary, Bambui, Reverend Peter Paul in his homily said Bonu was a devoted Christian and a prayerful Lawyer entreating lawyers to practice justice and peace.
    Barrister Francis Sama Asanga, in tears during the Mass described Bonu as faithful colleague who was a darling to young Lawyers, “for his 25 years of service as a Lawyer he trained many young ones.” Sama recalled that Bonu died in Yaoundé where he was working at the Secretariat of the Cameroon Bar Association.
    Barrister Akere Muna President of the Pan African Lawyers Union, PALU referred to Bonu as a strategist and fine Lawyer who was sociable and simple to understand. 
    Innocent Abongmechi Mochugong Bonu was born on 7 December 1956 at Shisong Hospital in Bui Division Norh West region. He pursued his primary education at ST. Pius School Akum and at St Mary’s School, Nchang in Manyu Division.
He proceeded to Bishop Rogan Minor Seminary in Small Soppo, for his secondary and higher education. After which he moved to the then University of Yaounde in 1979 for an under-graduate degree in English Private Law.
    Upon graduation from the University of Yaounde he managed the famous Cameroon Times Newspaper, published by his uncle Vincent Nchami.
    Bonu was sworn in as an advocate of the Cameroon Bar Association in 1989. This paved the way for the young Barrister to officially begin practice and open his own chambers, the Liberty Law Firm in Mutengene.
    He was married to Dr. Comfort Lem Azinwui and blessed with four children.

Reactions:

“We will never stop crying”
– Ajong Stanislaus,  FAKLA president
Barrister Bonu was a person you would meet right up there and at floor level. He was a multi-dimensional persona: he was a sportsman, a legal mind, a farmer, a journalist, a banker, an insurance expert etc. etc. Barrister Bonu has trained many accomplished lawyers who are all so proud of him today. For us the Fako lawyers, we will never stop crying over the loss of Barrister Bonu bearing in mind his innovative ideas as a legal practitioner and when it came to resolving the problems of lawyers. In fact, Barrister Bonu was a front-runner, a unifier   and a social gadfly.

“A legal icon has fallen”
– Justice Nkongho Augustine, Court of Appeal Buea.
 Barrister Bonu was a legal icon and luminary. He was very receptive, all embracing, daring and very passionate in legal issues. The Cameroon judiciary and the entire people of Cameroon have lost a great legal icon. He has trained many fine legal minds in the South West region and it is just our wish that people should continue his legacy and good works. Barrister Bonu had a good humour and never bore grudges. And I would add that he was a social interactor who loved to assist the less previleged in society. He was a veritable human rights crusader. We shall all live to remember him. 

“Barr. Bonu was the best among the best”
– Barrister Ebah Ntoko Justice
    Barrister Bonu was a very fine lawyer, one of the best we have had in the country. He started his practice in 1989 and I joined him as one of his pupils in 1993. He mastered the art of advocacy in court. Barrister Bonu on his feet could blend the law and the facts and come out with the best of solutions you can ever have. We learnt a lot from this lone-ranger both at the office and in court. He was a social mixer; a successful businessman, a football manager and was very committed in the running of the Bar Association.