Rev. Father Alexander Sob Interred

By Boris Esono in Buea

Casket bearing mortal remains of Fr. Sob

Thousands of Christians across the Diocese of Buea and beyond have August 10, 2018 gathered at the Regina Pacis co-cathedral in Small Soppo, Buea to pay their last respect to Rev. Fr. Alexandre Sob, who was shot and killed last July 20 in Muyuka. Fr. Sob was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen with reports linking the shoot out to the separatist and another to security forces.

            Popularly called “wonder Boy” Fr. Nougi Sob used his voice to touched the lives of many Christians across denominations, a clear reason why his death was and still is a shocker to many.

            Though Fr. Sob’s chapter has ended, his death like that of late Jean Marie Benoit Balla (former Bishop of the Bafia Diocese) remains clouded with lots of controversy. While popular reports have it that he was killed by “stray bullets” from a shootout between Ambazonia fighters and the Military in Muyuka, the Bishop of the Buea Diocese, His Lordship Immanuel BalanjoBushu has a different narrative concerning the death of the priest.

            In his homily, the Bishop of the Buea Diocese Immanuel Bushu, revered for his outspoken nature, commitment to the church and its teaching stunned many mourners by revealing that the father’s killers are among them. “Some of his killers are here present with us and their conscience will not let them rest”.

            His lordship further debunked rumors circulated over social media that Father Nougi Sob was visiting his mother in Muyuka before he was killed saying “mama was in Yaoundé, so I do not really know what took him to Muyuka, adding that people should stop telling lies against a man they brutally murdered”.

            Bishop Bushu used the opportunity to decry the killings of innocent people in the Anglophone regions while calling on Christian faithful to pray every day and that they should not be afraid of it but instead be afraid of where they are heading to after death. 

          

Mother of the deceased bids farewell to her son

  “He was someone who championed the call for students to go back to school. He was a very kind and down to earth person so I feel very sad and the Catholic Church has lost someone of great importance.

            “We the youths are very much touched by the death and we think that he leaving us has created a gap which it cannot be filled any time soon. Father Sob was someone who loved the youths and music so much and so many of the activities in the church had been geared towards encouraging the youths to reach their full potentials”. A Christian wept

            A highlight of the funeral was the presentation of the results of the autopsy which was conducted by the church. According to Vicar General of the Diocese of Buea, Rev. Fr. Bernard Assek, the results revealed that, “the late Rev. Fr. Alexander Sob was shot at close range, less than 1meter from the shooter, the shot was carried out by a professional using a semi-automatic rifle”.

            “The first bullet shot at his left side of his chest divided his heart and he died instantly while the second shot at his right side of his chest was retrieved and an expert is needed to determine if it was the same bullet which killed him or they were two different shooters”.

            Before his sad passing, Fr. Sob was the parish priest of Bomaka where he had worked for more than a year. Investigations have therefore been opened to ascertain the true cause of the demise of the late priest.