Cameroon school kidnap: More than 70 pupils seized in Bamenda

Dozens of people, mostly school pupils, have been kidnapped from a boarding school in the west of Cameroon.

At least 79 students and three others, including the principal, were seized early on Monday morning in Bamenda, the capital of the North-West region, a government official has told the BBC.

A massive search operation involving the Cameroonian army is now under way.

Cameroon’s North-West and South-West regions have been hit by a secessionist rebellion in recent years.

Regional governor Adolphe Lele L’Afrique blamed separatist militias for the kidnapping.

Militias, who have been demanding the independence of the two English-speaking regions, have called for a school boycott.

But no single group has said it carried out the kidnapping at Bamenda’s Presbyterian Secondary School, which has pupils aged between 10 and 14.

A video of some of the children, believed to have been filmed by one of the kidnappers, is being shared on social media.

The students, all boys and crammed into a tiny room, all look nervous as the person holding the camera orders them to say their names and where they are from.

Source: BBC