YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Unidentified gunmen are demanding $42,750 in ransom payment as a condition for the release of a kidnapped priest.
Father Valentin Mbaïbarem, the parish priest of St John the Baptist in Madingring was snatched along with five other people last week while on the road between Guidjiba and Tcholliré in Cameroon’s northern region.
According to Fr Emmanuel Bonkou, chancellor of the of Archdiocese of Garoua, one of the hostages, a teacher, has been killed but the others have been released.
“Only Fr Mbaïbarem remains in captivity, and the abductors are demanding 25 million FCFA (US$42,750) for his release,” he said.
Archbishop Faustin Ambassa Ndjodo of Maroua has implored the faithful to pray for the speedy and unconditional release of the priest.
Although the identities of the kidnappers have not been revealed, it is suspected that they belong to the Islamist group, Boko Haram.
The group began its murderous campaign in Nigeria in 2009, but has since spread its activities to neighbouring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.
It has resulted in at least 350,000 deaths, according to the United Nations, some of the deaths triggered by the undirected causes such as food insecurity and lack of healthcare.
Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden” but its larger aim has been to institute a caliphate across the Sahel.
During a recent visit to the Far North region, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration claimed that “the situation was under control”.
But Bishop Barthélemy Yaouda Hourgo of Yagoua has told Crux that the security situation has been “worsening.”
He cited a March 25 Boko Haram attack on a military base in Wulgo, near the Nigerian border during which 20 Cameroonian soldiers working with the Multinational Joint Task Force were killed.
The Cameroon Defence Ministry admitted that the attackers used “advanced weaponry they increasingly have at their disposal.”
The weapons included drones loaded with explosives. Their release triggered a fire that damaged military vehicles and homes in the town. It was the first time drones with explosives targeted Cameroonian soldiers amid the country’s battle against Boko Haram and other Islamic State groups.
The bishop said the attack was a sign that the insurgents might have hibernated, but this was only meant to prepare and come back with more lethal force.
“They now have access to drones,” he said.
It’s a reality that is not lost on regional leaders. In a recent interview on Russian State Television, the President of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, made a similar admission but insinuated that the drones were being supplied by western powers.
However, running such an insurgency is quite costly. Authorities in Cameroon say they have been working with regional forces to cut off the sources of funding for the insurgents.
Bishop Hourgo said kidnapping and demands for ransom has become a common way by which the insurgents make money to fund their war.
He said: “When insurgents know you have some money-maybe you have sold your cows or crops, they come for you.
“If they can’t get you, they get your wife, your kids- they take anyone they know you love, and then ask you to pay a ransom to secure their release. It’s a whole industry.”
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