- Target:
- The Home Secretary, UK Government
- Region:
- United Kingdom
- Website:
- middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk
This petition is now closed.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society in Yaounde confirmed to the Home Office on the 27th April 2010 that the choice of a sucessor to a Bamileke Paramount Chief is shrouded in the utmost secrecy and a plea was made to the Minister to protect Anselme’s life.
Nobody but the Kingmaker and notables would be aware of what the initiation ceremony entailed. Anselme was chosen to succeed his father as Paramount Chief but rejected the animist practices he would have been forced to observe and the practice of polygamy, as they were contrary to his Christian faith.
Anselme had been baptised by Fr. Agapitus Ffon, the Head of the Major Seminary and had attended church with his mother. He had not lived in the village and being chosen as successor at his father’s funeral was a shock to him. Anselme was held captive and was severely tortured to force him to comply with tradition.
Close family helped him escape and secured him safe passage to the UK, where he asked for sanctuary at Heathrow airport. Archbishop Joseph Atanga has confirmed that Anselme must face self exile or face possible death. There can be no new Paramount Chief until Anselme is dead. Anselme was sent back to Cameroon a few weeks ago.
We, the undersigned, ask that Anselme Noumbiwa’s life be protected and that he be accorded sanctuary in a European Embassy in Cameroon, so that he can then be returned to safety in the UK, to live his life in accordance with the Christian beliefs he adheres to and where he can, once again, exercise his right to freely practise his religion.
We ask that this miscarriage of justice be righted and that the impossibility of relocation within his country, be acknowledged.
The Support Anselme Noumbiwa petition to The Home Secretary, UK Government was written by Richard Laverick and is in the category Human Rights at GoPetition.