81, mostly schoolchildren, kidnapped in Cameroon

81, mostly schoolchildren, kidnapped in Cameroon
Image for representation only

Yaounde: More than 80 people, mostly children, were kidnapped from a school in the city of Bamenda in western Cameroon early on Monday, government and military sources said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the abduction in the English-speaking region where separatists are fighting to form a breakaway state.

The separatists have imposed curfews and closed down schools as part of their protest against President Paul Biya's French-speaking government.

"In total 81 people were kidnapped including the [school] principal. They were taken to the bush," a military source told Reuters.

A government spokesman said it was keeping track of an event but that it could not comment further.

The separatist movement gathered pace in 2017 after a government crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. Many people have fled Bamenda and other centres to seek refuge in more peaceful Francophone regions.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.