By Bakah Derick (debakah2004@gmail.com)
While NW Governor Adolph Lele L'Afrique is busy going about with his daily activities, social is being inundated with stories about his death.
The happy and cheerful Governor Lele we met at Hilltop
hotel upstation Bamenda this Tuesday shows no signs of ill health talk less of
an attack. While NW Governor Adolph Lele L'Afrique is busy going about with his daily activities, social is being inundated with stories about his death.
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Picture of Governor Lele L'Afrique taken at 6:30pm on the
evening of Tuesday Nov 5 up station Bamenda
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The Governor had showed up to welcome the
Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji to town. On arrival earlier
to welcome his guest, many including security officers and onlookers rushed to
see for themselves if truly the person they had seen was Governor Lele L'Afrique.
They demonstrated their surprise and satisfaction with selfies and exchange of
pleasantries with the administrator signs they had sufficiently consumed the false
information on his death.
"May be I'm Jesus, I'm a revenant, come
nearer! are you afraid to touch me?" the smiling governor joked. Many who
looked on could be heard saying "that is own odeshi (a locally fabricated
charm to protect people from bullets) is very powerful"
When the Minister arrived, attention was all
tilted towards Governor Lele including from members of the minister's convoy
who had heard of the Governor's false demise.
He will not tell us where he was actually but
his entourage suggest he was coming from his native Babajou West Region where
he goes very often especially on weekends. Other sources say he was in Church
at St Joseph Metropolitan Cathedral Big Mankon on Sunday where he regularly
worships as a dedicated Catholic.
Information had circulated last week on
social media with claims of the governor dying in a hospital in France. The disinformation
comes after several others including attacks that injured him. Prior to the
circulation of information on his death, pictures of someone said to be the Governor
on a hospital bed with burns had circulated claiming he was seriously injured
in attack on his convoy by separatist militia as he returned to Bamenda from a
visit to Donga Mantung.
The top state functionary has elected to stay
calm going about his activities with no time to respond to those spreading
false news of his death.
First published by The Guardian Post of November 7, 2019