Ngankou Charles, a driver, on May 4, 2016, shot dead his wife and brother-in-law and later killed himself after an altercation with the wife in Nanga-Eboko.

Tragedy struck in Nanga-Eboko, 160 km from Yaounde in the Upper Sanaga Division of the Centre, on Wednesday, May 4, 2016, when a man shot dead two people before killing himself. Speaking to Cameroon Tribune on phone from Nanga-Eboko on May 4, 2016, ‘Adjudant Chef Major’ Djietcheu Raphael, Commander of the Nanga-Eboko Gendarmerie Post, said Ngankou Charles, 59, a driver with the Guinness Depot in Nanga-Eboko, shot dead his wife, Metente Estelle Sylvie, 24, about 11 am, following a quarrel at home.

After attending the company’s Labour Day party on May 3, 2016, Ngankou retired home at about 2 am. Later on in the morning, the wife, Metente Estelle Sylvie, started questioning him about his “suspicious” behaviour with women at the party. Vexed by the incessant questions from the wife, Ngankou decided to send her back to her parents by giving her 10,000 FCFA for transport. However, the couple continued arguing right to the road where the husband went to see her off.

After a second thought, Ngankou ordered Metente to return the transport fare he had earlier given her, but she vehemently refused. Unable to stomach the reaction any longer, Ngankou Charles suddenly pulled out his Glock 483 B Australian-made automatic pistol and shot dead the wife, Djietcheu Raphael explained. Bisso Jathan, 24, who tried to save her sister’s life, was also fired on by the enraged man. He collapsed and died in the gutter. After killing the two people, Ngankou fled back home.

As gendarmes closed in on the home, they suddenly heard a shot ring out from inside. On forcing open the door, they discovered that the driver had killed himself by firing a shot on the throat, Djietcheu said. Gendarmes discovered 14 rounds of ammunition in the murder weapon. The Commander of the Nanga-Eboko Gendarmerie Post wondered how Ngankou, a civilian, acquired such a sophisticated weapon, adding that the make, Glock 483 B, which takes 20 rounds of ammunition, was completely new to his men. A search of the home also unveiled a semi-automatic rifle with two rounds of ammunition.

Meanwhile, gendarmes in Nanga-Eboko are investigating the origin of the strange automatic pistol, said to be more lethal than service pistols commonly used by Cameroonian security forces. In the meantime, the corpses of Metente Estelle Sylvie, Bisso Jathan and Ngankou Charles were kept in the Nanga-Eboko District Hospital Mortuary as investigations into the killings continue.