50 women kidnapped by suspected separatists in one of Cameroon’s majority Anglophone regions

May 22. (EUROPE PRESS) –

Around 50 women have been kidnapped by suspected separatists in one of the two Anglophone-majority regions of the country, amid a surge in the activities of these groups in these areas, mired in conflict since 2017.

In a video published after the abduction, a separatist militiaman affirms that all of them were kidnapped for opposing the activities of the armed groups and branded them as traitors who deserve death, according to the news portal Mimi Mefo Info, run by the journalist of the same name.

Sources cited by this means have indicated that all of them were kidnapped on Friday in the department of Mézam, in the Northwest Region, after participating in a protest against the taxes imposed by the separatists on the population in this area of ​​the country.

The rates would be 10,000 Central African francs (about 15.2 euros) for each man, 5,000 Central African francs (about 7.6 euros) for each woman and 500 Central African francs (about 0.76 euros) for the best of age. At the moment, no separatist group has ruled on what happened.

The English-speaking regions of Cameroon — North West and South West, once part of British colonies in Africa but which decided to join French Cameroon — have been rocked by conflict following the crackdown on separatist movements following the self-proclamation of the independence of Ambazonia on October 1, 2017.

Since then, armed groups have proliferated and support for the separatists, until then quite marginal, has grown. The Government has responded with a harsh repression, during which Human Rights organizations have accused the security forces of committing atrocities.