- Title: Kidnapped children released in Cameroon, two teachers still held
- Date: 7th November 2018
- Summary: BAMENDA, CAMEROON (NOVEMBER 7, 2018) (REUTERS) RELEASED CAMEROONIAN CHILDREN STANDING IN A ROOM IN THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE MORE OF THE STUDENTS STANDING THE 78 CHILDREN LISTENING TO PRAYER CHILDREN LOOKING DOWN TOP VIEW OF CHILDREN IN THE ROOM VARIOUS OF CHILDREN SITTING DOWN VARIOUS OF OFFICIALS SITTING VARIOUS OF ADOLPHE LELE, GOVERNOR OF THE NORTHWEST REGION, CAMEROON, WITH OFFICIALS (SOUNDBITE) (English) GOVERNOR OF THE NORTHWEST REGION, CAMEROON, ADOLPHE LELE, SAYING: "Four persons are still missing. All is being done to bring them back and also the D.O. (divisional officer) of Nonei that was also abducted has also been released and on his way to Bamenda. I would like therefore, after the important address of the head of state said to the nation on the occasion of his swearing in ceremony in Yaounde to say to our population to come together, behind him, so that together we bring back a situation of normalcy to the northwest region, provided all those that were involved in that fight against the state surrender." GENDARMES OUTSIDE GENDARMES STANDING GUARD OUTSIDE OFFICE GENDARMES STANDING NEXT TO VEHICLE OUTSIDE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE CHILDREN WALKING OUT IN A LINE AND GOING INTO GENDARME TRUCK VARIOUS OF CHILDREN GOING INTO A GENDARME TRUCK VARIOUS OF CHILDREN IN THE TRUCK POLICE CONVOY LEAVING GENDARME TRUCK WITH CHILDREN LEAVING GOVERNOR'S BUILDING
- Embargoed: 21st November 2018 15:11
- Keywords: 79 children taken hostage released Bamenda children Anglophone crisis Cameroon
- Location: BAMENDA, CAMEROON
- City: BAMENDA, CAMEROON
- Country: Cameroon
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00195IBXHJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Kidnappers freed scores of school children and a driver in west Cameroon early on Wednesday (November 7) but kept hold of a principal and one teacher, officials said.
Armed men who seized the 78 youngsters on Monday (November 5) in the city of Bamenda - a commercial hub of Cameroon's restive English-speaking region - released them about 18 km (11 miles) away in the town of Bafut, the army said.
The military spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said in an official statement that the hostage takers had been hiding the children in Bafut, near Bamenda, after having taken them from PSS Nkwen in the early hours of Monday morning. He said they were released after the army had closed in on them.
Samuel Fonki, a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon who was involved in negotiations to free them, said no ransom was paid, but gave no more details on the circumstances leading up to the release. One other child had escaped earlier, he added.
Fonki earlier said another 11 children were kidnapped by the same armed group on October 31, then released after their school paid a ransom of 2.5 million CFA francs ($4,400).
Fonki and the Cameroonian military have accused Anglophone separatists of carrying out the kidnappings, but a separatist spokesman denied involvement. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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