A valiant soldier has fallen, Lieutenant ® AVOUNTIA Gilbert is no more. He left for a journey of no return, on March 17, 2023 in Douala in the Littoral region.

The burial ceremony of the retired Lieutenant AVOUNTIA Gilbert took place on April 15, 2023 in his village in Foto in the Menoua Department in Dschang, West Cameroon Region in a spirit of meditation, prayer and evocation. Colonel ® MOUNGUE SOPPO Arnold, Regional Delegate of ONACAM Littoral P.I. represented the Director General of ONACAM.

It was marked by the presence of local officials of ONACAM and the Secretary of State for Defense in charge of Veterans and Victims of War (SED/CACVG). It was also attended by a strong delegation of veterans, former military personnel and the population of Foto, who were joined by relatives and friends from the Littoral and Western Regions, with visibly sad faces, to accompany Veteran AVOUNTIA to his final resting place.

Veteran AVOUNTIA was buried in a purely military setting; military honors were rendered by a detachment of the National Armed Forces from Dschang, composed of a Gendarmerie Platoon and an Army Section.

Taking the floor, Colonel ® MOUANGUE SOPPO in his testimony stated that it was in his tender childhood that AVOUNTIA enlisted in the French Army for (04) years as a Soldier; his record of service depicts him as a humble and simple man who embodied great military values. On March 17, 1960, he was transferred to the Cameroonian Army with the rank of Master Corporal. Appointed to the rank of Lieutenant on January 1, 1967, he was, at his request, placed on leave of absence for three (03) years and then admitted for retirement after good and loyal services to the Nation.

Lieutenant ® AVOUNTIA was holder of the following honors: the Medal of Valor, the Medal of Honor of Labor in Silver, Vermeil and Gold.

Member of several associations and organizations among which the National Office of Veterans, Former Military and Victims of War of Cameroon (ONACAM), his brothers and comrades in arms were keen to pay him this last tribute.

Lieutenant AVOUTIA, leaves a widow and several grieving children. In Foto, he will forever return to the land of his forefathers.