WHEN A RITUAL CRIME FELL ON A FAMILY: THE STORY OF THE MURDER OF YOUNG ERIC EDOU EBANG. QUAND UN CRIME RITUEL S’ABATTIT SUR UNE FAMILLE : RECIT DE L’ASSASSINAT DU JEUNE ERIC EDOU EBANG
Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo
English version
While the debate on the sponsorship by the Sylvia Bongo Foundation of the march on May 11 against ritual crimes continues to rage, this blog wishes to reframe things by publishing the story of what the family of Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo, the President of the Association for the Fight Against Ritual Crimes, lived on March 3, 2005. We publish this story to express to our readers our commitment to this fight and especially to Mr. Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo and his family our deepest gratitude for the fight they continue to lead for Gabonese population and for our common humanity. This blog does not in any way question or doubt the sincerity and integrity of the fight led by this man and his family.
That said, this blog is staying in its truth seeking mode and would like to publicly declare that its support for the ALCR and its fight does not extend to the sponsorship of Sylvia Bongo for a march of any kind. We want our readers to understand that our position is firm: if Sylvia Bongo has the power to make the regime of her husband accept a march that had already been rejected, she could have convinced the regime to allow the march without hijacking it for herself. Where is the absolute need for Sylvia Bongo to be its godmother, if it is sincerity and not the symbolism that motivates her? If Sylvia Bongo has the power to override a final decision of a powerful Interior Minister, why would she not be able to use this influence to stop and summon the sponsor of these crimes, instead of choosing to just wanting to be seen through the symbolism offered by the 11 May march?
For these reasons and because this blog refuses to be pigeons or turkeys of a macabre farce, we cannot support the march of May 11 as long as it is sponsored by a group of Pharisees headed by Sylvia Bongo. We respect everyone's freedom to freely take position. We took ours. We have supported, and will continue to support the ALCR, but we do not want to endorse unhealthy intrusion by Sylvia Bongo in a process that would have preferably be better off independent of it and her family.
Below is the story of the ritual murder of the young Eric Edou Ebang.
Black Thursday
It was on March 3rd, 2005
Anxiety was at its peak, what Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo was most concerned about, the worst thing that could happen to a head of a family was about to happen. After a sleepless night, an endless night, a night full of nightmares, the sun was rising. From the first glance and without a word, the Ebang Ondo family is feeling a lot of pressure. Something intangible, an unspeakable sensation… But human are powerless before god’s will.
The shock, the curled corpse of Eric Edou Ebang on the sand of the beach in front of the petrol station near the Intercontinental Hotel. Shock and nightmare! The posture of the child confirms the information. Eric died due to abominable treatments. Before his death, his torturers removed his eyes, his tongue and his genitals. Moreover, they removed his blood. Despite the morning breeze, it was 8:30 am; friends and family were sweating profusely.
The second shock of that decidedly dark Thursday, the discovery in the afternoon at around 2:00 pm, of the body of Eric’s friend. The body of the little boy abandoned by its torturers on the Tropicana beach presented the same marks than Eric’s on the face, the mouth, the genitals etc. He was also emptied of his blood. A double loss! This is how, just like that, peaceful families of believers saw their lives transformed into an appalling absurdity.
It is difficult to overcome something for which we are not prepared. One the one side, at the Ebang Ondo household, questions are being asked by people brought together by the tragedy. Why their 12 year old boy was chosen for a ritual? Who are the sponsors? Do these people know Ebang Ondo, his wife or their kids?
Did they approach them before the operation? Would they approach them after having taken their kid? Maybe what happened targeted specifically these two victim families. Eric Edou Ebang’s mother is heartbroken.
According to the information she has obtained, her son was kidnapped and assassinated in Owendo, near Barracuda alongside his friend. She says that: “after returning from school at 3:00 pm, Eric told me that his taxi money had been stolen in his classroom. Which caused him to walk from school. I went back to my business as he went to his friend. That was the last time I saw him. By 7:00 pm he had not come home. I went to bed. At midnight, he still was not home. I thought that he was afraid and was around the house. It is incredible but no suspicion had occurred to us then. In the morning, as soon as we woke up, the anxiety set in”. The following of the mother’s testimony will be given in the future.
It was on March 3rd, 2005
Anxiety was at its peak, what Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo was most concerned about, the worst thing that could happen to a head of a family was about to happen. After a sleepless night, an endless night, a night full of nightmares, the sun was rising. From the first glance and without a word, the Ebang Ondo family is feeling a lot of pressure. Something intangible, an unspeakable sensation… But human are powerless before god’s will.
The shock, the curled corpse of Eric Edou Ebang on the sand of the beach in front of the petrol station near the Intercontinental Hotel. Shock and nightmare! The posture of the child confirms the information. Eric died due to abominable treatments. Before his death, his torturers removed his eyes, his tongue and his genitals. Moreover, they removed his blood. Despite the morning breeze, it was 8:30 am; friends and family were sweating profusely.
The second shock of that decidedly dark Thursday, the discovery in the afternoon at around 2:00 pm, of the body of Eric’s friend. The body of the little boy abandoned by its torturers on the Tropicana beach presented the same marks than Eric’s on the face, the mouth, the genitals etc. He was also emptied of his blood. A double loss! This is how, just like that, peaceful families of believers saw their lives transformed into an appalling absurdity.
It is difficult to overcome something for which we are not prepared. One the one side, at the Ebang Ondo household, questions are being asked by people brought together by the tragedy. Why their 12 year old boy was chosen for a ritual? Who are the sponsors? Do these people know Ebang Ondo, his wife or their kids?
Did they approach them before the operation? Would they approach them after having taken their kid? Maybe what happened targeted specifically these two victim families. Eric Edou Ebang’s mother is heartbroken.
According to the information she has obtained, her son was kidnapped and assassinated in Owendo, near Barracuda alongside his friend. She says that: “after returning from school at 3:00 pm, Eric told me that his taxi money had been stolen in his classroom. Which caused him to walk from school. I went back to my business as he went to his friend. That was the last time I saw him. By 7:00 pm he had not come home. I went to bed. At midnight, he still was not home. I thought that he was afraid and was around the house. It is incredible but no suspicion had occurred to us then. In the morning, as soon as we woke up, the anxiety set in”. The following of the mother’s testimony will be given in the future.
Version française
Alors que le débat sur le parrainage par la fondation Sylvia Bongo de la marche du 11 Mai prochain contre les crimes rituels continue de faire rage, ce blog revient cadrer les choses en publiant le récit de ce que vécut la famille de Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo, le président de l’Association de Lutte Contre les Crimes Rituel au Gabon, le 3 Mars 2005. Nous publions ce récit pour exprimer à notre lectorat notre attachement pour ce combat et plus particulièrement à Monsieur Jean Elvis Ebang Ondo et à sa famille, notre profonde gratitude pour le combat qu’il ne cesse de mener pour l’ensemble de la population gabonaise et pour notre humanité à tous. Ce blog ne saurait en aucun cas questionner ou douter de la sincérité et de l’intégrité du combat mené par ce monsieur et sa famille.
Ceci dit, ce blog reste dans sa logique anti-langue de bois et tient à déclarer publiquement que son soutien à l’ALCR et à son combat ne s’étend pas au parrainage de Sylvia Bongo pour une marche quelconque. Nous voulons faire comprendre à notre lectorat que notre position est ferme: si Sylvia Bongo a le pouvoir de faire accepter une marche qui avait déjà été refusée par le régime de son mari, c’est qu’elle aurait pu convaincre le régime d’autoriser la marche sans la détourner à son compte. Où est la nécessité absolue d’avoir Sylvia Bongo comme marraine, si c’est la sincérité et non le symbolisme qui la motive? Si Sylvia Bongo a le pouvoir d’outrepasser une décision définitive d’un puissant Ministre de l’Intérieur, pourquoi ne mettrait-elle pas ce pouvoir à contribution pour faire arrêter et comparaitre les commanditaires, au lieu de se cantonner dans le m’as-tu-vu du symbolisme que lui offre la marche du 11 Mai prochain?
Pour ces raisons et parce que ce blog refuse de s’assimiler à des pigeons ou à des dindons d’une farce macabre, nous ne pouvons soutenir la marche du 11 Mai tant et aussi longtemps qu’elle sera parrainée par une bande de pharisiens ayant à leur tête Sylvia Bongo. Nous respectons la liberté de chacun de prendre librement position. Nous avons pris la nôtre. Nous avons soutenus, soutenons et soutiendrons l’ALCR; mais nous ne voulons pas cautionner l’immiscion malsaine de Sylvia Bongo dans un processus qu’on aurait préféré indépendant d’elle et des siens.
Ci-dessous le récit de l’assassinat rituel du jeune Eric Edou Ebang.
Comments
Post a Comment