Horror in Buea, SW Region:

Miss Bright Inn Proprietor Tantoh Felix Shot Dead

Tantoh Felix Ngang: was he murdered or he died trying to save himself?

The proprietor of the famous Miss Bright Hotel in Buea has been  killed. Tantoh Felix Ngang was in the evening of Tuesday 18 July 2018, killed by yet unidentified persons, in his hotel residence at Mile 18 Bomaka, in Buea, Fako Division of the South West region.

            A worker at the hotel said nine gunmen entered the hotel which also serves as his residence, at about 7pm on Tuesday. They asked for the proprietor but he told them the proprietor was not around. Unfortunately, it was at the same time the proprietor was emerging from his residence attached to the back of the hotel. He probably had heard the noise outside, the worker recounted.

            “Are you the director of this hotel?” the gunmen asked Tantoh on seeing him. “No, i am only lodging here,” replied Tantoh. “Show us to your room,” the guys ordered.

            The worker recounted that Felix Tantoh led the guys up to his residence and the story is what you and i know today.

            The worker said when minutes later, at about 8pm, they went up to check for their boss, they saw only the sleepers he was wearing but they could not find him. After a thorough search, they found his body lying on the ground some 8 meters beneath the window, behind his residence.

            For now it is not known whether Tantoh was strangled and thrown out of the window, or he died as he tried to escape through the window.

            Sources said no bullet wounds were found on Tantoh’s body. But he had some bruises behind his head.

            It is also not known who the gunmen were and why they came for Tantoh, especially as they did not collect any money or valuables from him.

            It is speculated that the killers might have been sent by Tantoh’s business rivals. It emerged that Tantoh won a fcfa 1 billion contract only thesame day that he was killed.

            A man who was lodging in the hotel and who saw from his balcony what was happening, was locked up in his room and dispossessed of his money and telephone, we learned.

            The guards and workers of the hotel are presently helping the police in investigations, we learned.

            Born of Mendakwe parents in the North West region, Felix Tantoh spent the better part of his childhood life in Great Soppo, Buea, where he was born some 54 years ago.

            He later left Great Soppo to settle in Bomaka, where he had built his first hotel, the popular Miss Bright Inn.

            Sources say Felix Tantoh died as he was preparing to travel to the USA days later to visit his family. His wife, Mrs. Tabe Lucy Epse Tantoh from Fotabe village in Upper Banyang Sub-Division in Manyu Division lives in the US with their daughter.            Tantoh had already secured a flight ticket to travel on Monday 23 July 2018, we learned. But God cut short the visit.    His:wife may only come home to bury him.

            People who knew him say he was of a benign character. “This guy was never a noise-maker; he was hardly involved in politics. He was just doing his business  and living his life. Why should a harmless  and peace-loving man be killed like this?!” remarked a Buea resident.

            Said to be a protégé of former PM, Mafany Musonge, Felix Tantoh did a brief stint at the CDC as Electrical Supervisor.

            He loved exquisite outfits and enjoyed driving in the lattest brands of cars.