Cameroon: 78 child hostages released, two teachers held

cameroon-kidnap-child-reuters Parents await for news of their children at a school where 79 pupils were kidnapped in Bamenda | Reuters

All 78 children and the driver were released on Wednesday after they were kidnapped by armed men on Monday. A principal and a teacher are still being held by the men who took them away, a priest who is holding negotiations said.

"Praise God 78 children and the driver have been released. The principal and one teacher are still with the kidnappers. Let us keep praying," Samuel Fonki, a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, said. The children and adults were kidnapped on Monday in Bamenda.

The Cameroonian military had accused anglophone separatists of carrying out the kidnappings, but a separatist spokesman denied involvement.

The government and separatists in the English-speaking region have been accusing each other of being behind the kidnapping.

A video purportedly showing some of the kidnapped schoolchildren has been shared online, sparking outrage.

An anglophone separatist movement has been operating in the north-west and south-west regions over the past year.

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