78 Children Kidnapped in Cameroon Released

All 78 children and a driver kidnapped in western Cameroon have been released.

They regained their freedom on Wednesday, but the school principal and one teacher are still being held by the armed men.

The group was abducted in Bamenda, a commercial hub of Cameroon’s restive English-speaking region, on Monday.

“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.

Fonki, who is reportedly conducting the negotiations, had earlier put the number of children taken at 79, but later said one of their number was in fact a teacher, who remained with the kidnappers.

The Associated Press news agency reported that a video purportedly of the kidnapped children was released on social media by “Amba boys”, a reference to the state of Ambazonia that armed separatists are trying to establish in Cameroon’s northwest and southwest regions, The Associated Press news agency reported.

In the video, the kidnappers force several students to give their names and the names of their parents. The children say they were kidnapped by the Amba boys, and they do not know where they are being held.