Separatist fighters abduct Priests In Cameroon

Eight people including Catholic priests, a nun, and worshippers are being held in captivity by separatist fighters in Cameroon’s South West region.

Their abductors also burnt down a church during the attack in Nchang, a community in the region.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Catholic Church authorities said they were shocked by this attack.

However, Catholic bishops under the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference said men and women of God had been soft targets of abductions and threats since 2016.

The head of the Bamenda ecclesiastical province, Archbishop Andrew Nkea, said that the abductors were demanding ransom adding that they were seeing the church as a “soft target so as to make money.”

The North West and South West regions of Cameroon have suffered a bloody conflict between English-speaking separatists and the state for years.

According to the International Crisis Group think tank, the violence has claimed more than 6,000 lives and displaced around a million people.

BBC/CO