According to a statement shared by the Chancellor of Mamfe Diocese, Fr. Carol Tchinda Nguito who serves as Parish Priest of St. Matthias Quasi Parish, Tabongkwa-Mbetta Deanery, was swept away by a strong current in a river he was attempting to cross.
The incident, Fr. Blaise Njikang Ewang says, occurred in the evening of Thursday, July 31 between Mboa mission station and Ekwenzu mission station, Tabongkwa.
In the appeal for prayers, Fr. Blaise says, “On behalf of Most Rev. Dr. Aloysius Abangalo Fondong, Bishop of Mamfe, I make this announcement regarding Rev. Fr. Carol Tchinda Nguito.”
“The Bishop humbly invites us all to render unceasing prayers to God for the rescue of Rev. Fr. Carol Tchinda Nguito,” he says, and adds, “We appreciate your prayers and closeness during this difficult time.”
In the statement that was sent to ACI Africa on Friday, August 1, the official of the Cameroonian Diocese said that the search and rescue efforts of the missing Priest were ongoing.“May Mary, Mother of Priests and Help of Christians, intercede for him,” he said.
St. Matthias Quasi Parish, Tabongkwa-Mbetta which is under the pastoral care of Fr. Carol serves rural communities in Cameroon’s South-West region which have been ravaged by violence for close to a decade.
Cameroon’s English-speaking North-West and South-West regions plunged into conflict in 2016 after a protest by lawyers and teachers turned violent. An armed movement of separatists claiming independence for the so-called republic of Ambazonia emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters.