At least 81 people, mostly children, were kidnapped from a school in Cameroon’s Bamenda on Monday, Reuters reported quoting government and military officials. According to AFP, 79 school students were abducted.
Separatists in Bamenda, where most of the people speak English, are fighting to form a breakaway state. They have imposed curfews and shut down schools in protest against President Paul Biya’s French-speaking government. No group has claimed responsibility for the abductions yet. Biya is expected to take oath as president for the seventh consecutive term on Tuesday, according to Africa News.
An unidentified military official said those abducted, including the school’s principal, “were taken to the bush [remote area]”.
The separatist movement gathered momentum in 2017 after a government crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. Many people have fled Bamenda and other cities and have moved to French-speaking regions.
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