Death snatches another Limbe lawyer

Barrister Prince Anthony Atem Assanga, who died on February 12, 2015, has been laid to rest.

Barrister Assanga was interred recently, in Kajifu in Akwaya Subdivision of the Southwest Region.

Born on February 20, 1970, Barrister Assanga died on February 12, 2015, at the Yaounde Referral Hospital.

In a eulogy delivered during a requiem service at the Presbyterian Church Isokolo, Limbe, his elder brother Chief, Assanga II, said the late Barrister took ill a few months back, complaining of chest pain.

“We took him to all the hospitals in Fako to no avail. Finally, he was taken to the Reference Hospital in Yaounde where doctors did all they could, but Prince Assanga succumbed to death on February 12, barely eight days to his 50th birthday.”

Barrister Assanga, therefore, is the latest young lawyer to die in Limbe. The list of young lawyers in Limbe, snatched by death in recent years, is baffling.

Barrister Christopher Jing left in his early 30s. It was the same with Barrister Samson Oru who passed on without attaining the age of 40. Then, came Barrister Charly Sone. He was just a little over 50. Barrister Emmanuel Ambilichu followed at 41, after a ghastly motor accident in Mbanga. Barrister Kingsley Achale Bonu, 30, perished in another car crash. Barristers Cecilia Ndikum and Evelyn Awah also joined the list, following ill health.

The lawyers had not finished drying their tears, when death struck again, this time, claiming Senior Barrister Innocent Bonu. Another ghastly accident at the Mile Four road did not allow Tanyi Beeching to enjoy his swearing-in ceremony as a lawyer. And now, Barrister Assanga’s passing on February 12.

Pastor Jacob Atem of the Presbyterian Church Newtown, in his homily during Assanga’s funeral service, said only God knows the answers why some people die young.

“Many things happen in this life that we cannot understand. Only God knows why,” Rev Atem posited.

“God is the one who creates; He is the same one who takes away,” he added. He said, as Christians, people need not ask why, because, no one knows the time God creates and, so, no one has the right to question when God also takes away.

He exhorted the Assanga family to take heart and put all their prayers and trust in God.

The President of the Fako Lawyers Association, FAKLA, Barrister Stanislaus Ajong, observed, “Barrister Assanga was a forerunner for the fight and restoration of the Common Law tradition at the Bar. FAKLA really regrets his passing on.”

On the recent increase in the death of lawyers, Ajong said, “It is a natural passage of life that everyone must live and die. Other people are dying, so it is not limited to lawyers. But to die at 44 is a little too early.”

Barrister Peter Tumnde said, “It is very sad to lose a very young colleague like Assanga. It is very sad, again, that there has been a trend of young people dying. These young colleagues ought to bury the older generation like us who have been in the profession for over three decades,” Tumnde said.

As to what the problem might be, Tumnde said, “I do not know what the problem is. The younger generation, perhaps are too fast. When you are too fast, there is the tendency that you might stumble and fall.”

Being a product of the Nigerian Law School, Tumnde said, “Assanga was one of those few lawyers of the young generation who kept to the ethics of the profession. I had a lot of respect for him.”

According to him, lawyers must do four things to stay safe, “Check their health regularly; do just one thing at a time - don’t rush in life; do not eat good food (eggs, fries and so on), and lawyers must be with their God.

Barrister Assanga, who studied law at the Yaounde University and later at the Abuja Law School in Nigeria, started practising in Douala. He later moved to Limbe where he set up the Assanga Law Firm.

Professionally, he handled several high profile cases. He was Counsel for the Limbe Fisheries School and one of the lead Defence Counsel for the former GM of SONARA, Charles Metouck.

He will be missed by his wife, three kids, friends and colleagues.