NEWS: CAMEROON MAGISTRATE KIDNAPPED IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING NORTH
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Agency Report
Armed men have kidnapped a magistrate in Cameroon’s English-speaking north, a human rights group said on Tuesday, in the latest abduction reported in the region hit by separatist violence.
Nchang Augustin Amongwa was taken by armed men from his home in the city of Bamenda late on Sunday and “his whereabouts remain unknown,” Amadu Tarnteh, head of Cameroon-based Conscience Africaine, said in a statement.
“Similarly, many other civilians were kidnapped on the same day… and taken to unknown destinations by armed men,” it added.
The NGO said that three people were kidnapped and killed this month because their families were unable to pay a ransom.
In October, the deputy mayor of Bamenda, the capital of the anglophone Northwest Region, was killed after being abducted by armed assailants.
A few days later, a journalist was also abducted in the same city before being released.
Bamenda and the wider, primarily English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions have seen a slew of kidnappings and killings since the outbreak of separatist violence.
Separatists have repeatedly killed or kidnapped civil servants, including teachers, or elected officials, whom they accuse of “collaborating” with the central government of predominantly French-speaking Cameroon.
The conflict erupted in late 2016 after President Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon for 42 years, violently put down peaceful protests in its two anglophone regions.
At least 6,000 civilians have been killed by government forces and separatist fighters since the beginning of the conflict, according to Human Rights Watch.
AFP
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