78 Students Kidnapped From School in Cameroon

'You will be going to school now here,' one of the militants tells the children
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 5, 2018 8:15 AM CST
Militants Kidnap 78 Kids From Cameroon School
File photo of a Cameroon soldier.   (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File)

Anti-government militants in Cameroon just stole a page from Boko Haram. Authorities say armed men kidnapped 78 children and their principal from a Presbyterian school in the western city of Bamenda. In a video that has begun to circulate, the kidnappers refer to themselves as the "Amba boys," which the AP explains is a reference to the state of Ambazonia that separatists are attempting to establish. In the video, the kidnappers make some of the children give their names, and one of the men says: "We shall only release you after the struggle. You will be going to school now here."

The separatists are part of an English-speaking minority who say they are oppressed by the French-speaking government of President Paul Biya. Reuters reports that the movement has only gained steam after the government banned even peaceful protests last year. Biya, who has served since 1982, recently won re-election to a seventh term. His government abolished term limits several years ago. (More Cameroon stories.)

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