Alleged separatists kidnap 6 people in Cameroon, including senior officials

May 27. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The prefect of the Momo department, Benoit Nicaise Fouda Etaba, reported this Friday that a group of alleged separatists have kidnapped six people in western Cameroon, including senior officials of the country.

“A group of officials were ambushed by militants on a highway. They were returning from festivities linked to a national holiday,” said the Cameroonian official, according to Actou Cameroun media outlet.

Three teachers and three senior Cameroonian state officials are reportedly among those abducted and additional security force units have been dispatched to the area to free them.

What in 2016 began as peaceful protests by the inhabitants of the Northwest and Southwest regions, formerly British colonies but who decided to join French Cameroon, due to their alleged marginalization by the central government, led to harsh repression 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 harsh repression, during which Human Rights organizations have accused the security forces of committing atrocities.