Barrister Bonu bows out

BY ATIA TILARIOUS AZOHNWI

Barrister Innocent Bonu, Bar Council President’s representative for the South West Region has bowed into the cold hands of death. He died Thursday, April 17, at the CNPS Hospital in Yaoundé.

Bonu was on assignment to Yaoundé as secretariat staff at the marking of the 2014 Bar Exam. He collapsed and went into a coma Thursday, April 10, as a result of what medics reportedly called a “massive stroke”.

News of his death spread like wildfire in the dry season as lawyers and members of the judicial family made several phone calls to confirm. Many converged on the precincts of the Buea Regional Hospital Mortuary, to receive the corpse brought in from Yaoundé.

Rev. Fr. James Kang, Parish Priest of the Holy Family Parish, New Town, Limbe, told The Sun that he spoke with Bonu before he went to meet his maker. “We heard he fell, went into a coma, and I said I should go there and see him. I was there on Tuesday and I anointed him...from my deep feelings, I knew Innocent had gone.”

Barrister Eta-Besong, Former Bar Council President, on behalf of the Council’s President, ensured that the corpse was properly preserved.

To the crowd that gathered outside the mortuary, Eta-Besong said “arrangements for the burial of our colleague are being made. The Bar is a brotherhood where we come together when the times are good and when the times are bad. The Bar Council President has asked me to sincerely extend to you the Bar’s immense thanks.”

Eta-Besong said the public should pray for the Bar and for the family Bonu left behind. He described the past few months as difficult for the Bar, given that one of theirs died recently and is yet to be buried. “Continue to pray for us. The times are really hard,” Eta-Besong requested.

Stanislaus Ajong, President of the Fako Lawyers Association (FAKLA) said Bonu in his lifetime trained so many lawyers and belonged to the Bar council for more than 20 years. He said Bonu’s death has created a big vacuum within the Bar.

Late last year, Bonu was among some Fako lawyers detained by the Divisional Officer, D.O., for Tiko. FAKLA and the Bar were bent bringing the Tiko D.O. to book. FAKLA president told The Sun that the crisis that has hit the Bar leaves them with little time to follow the issue.

Barrister Bonu

Bonu practised as a journalist, before engaging fulltime into the legal profession. He was a legal adviser to the Catholic Diocese of Buea, among several other functions as a lawyer. Barrister Bonu’s collaborator, Barrister Enow Benjamin, told CT on phone that the late Counsel was in Yaounde where he was participating in the correction of the recent Bar Entrance Examination scripts. He said Barrister Bonu was suffering from Hypertension and was always taking drugs to that effect.

Bonu who was one of the legal gurus in the South West region joined the Cameroon Bar in 1989 putting in 25 years as a practicing lawyer. The 57-year-old Barrister Bonu practiced journalism and rose to the rank of Editor with the then “Cameroon Times” newspaper soon after he graduated from the University of Yaounde in 1982. The Limbe-based lawyer and social critique was also a passionate of football as he ran Victoria United and Victoria Shooting Stars; all Limbe-based football outfits.

He was president of Victoria United from 1994 to 1996 and had continued to support Victoria Shooting Stars until his death. Barrister Enow Benjamin described the late Advocate as a rigorous and devoted man in all his endeavours. Amongst his other investments in Limbe, is the famous Victoria Bakery.  

Born on  December 7, 1957 in Bambui in the North West Region, the late Barrister leaves behind four children, a widow, both parents and the judicial family to mourn him. His mortal remains are presently at the Buea Regional Hospital mortuary pending funeral programme.