Their abduction has never been publicly claimed, but armed separatist groups regularly target Catholic and Protestant churches and their prelates.
Nine hostages, including five Catholic priests and a nun, were released on Saturday October 22, more than a month after being kidnapped in the English-speaking west of Cameroon, which has been plagued by a bloody separatist conflict for almost six years, announced Monday, October 24 the Catholic Church.
Their abduction has never been publicly claimed, but murders, looting and kidnappings are frequent in this region, where separatist armed groups regularly target schools and teachers in particular, but also Catholic and Protestant churches as well as their prelates. Kidnappings are often perpetrated in order to obtain ransoms.
No ransom paid
On September 17, unidentified gunmen attacked and then set fire to St Mary’s Church in Nchang, in the South West region, and kidnapped five priests, a nun and three worshippers. The Church had first spoken of two faithful before rectifying. “I announce with great joy the release of the nine abductees“, rejoiced Mgr Aloysius Abangalo Fondong, bishop of Mamfe, capital of the department, in a press release sent to AFP.
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Nothing has filtered on the identity of the kidnappers or on the conditions of their release, but an official of the Catholic Church assured AFP, on condition of anonymity, that no ransom had been paid despite the demands of the kidnappers.
Relentless repression
The North-West and South-West regions, populated mainly by Cameroon’s English-speaking minority, have been the scene for nearly six years of a very deadly conflict between armed groups demanding the independence of a state they call I'”Ambazoniaand security forces massively deployed by the power of President Paul Biya, 89, who has ruled Cameroon with an iron fist for nearly 40 years.
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The two camps are regularly accused by international NGOs and the UN of committing crimes and atrocities against civilians, the main victims of this war, and Paul Biya of showing intransigence and carrying out relentless repression, in English-speaking Cameroon but also against any political opposition in the country.
Part of the English-speaking population feels ostracized by the French-speaking majority, which dominates the central power. The conflict has claimed more than 6,000 lives since late 2016 and forced more than a million people to move, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.
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