Kidnapping on the rise in Toubouro
The Mayor of Toubouro, Yandal Celestin, a locality of the Mayo Rey Division, North region of Cameroon has added his voice to that of the population denouncing neglect by government and security officials.
This is evident in the alarming rate of hostage taking and demand for ransom in the area. A phenomenon they say authorities are doing nothing to remedy.
“Over 60 people have been kidnapped, more than 10 killed in the villages of Gazawa, Mayo Mbi, Matamada, and others within a period of three months. We can’t estimate the millions paid by the suffering population as ransom.”
Some freed hostages recounted how they were kidnapped and the ordeal experienced:
“I was working on the farm with my wife when some men arrived and took me to a bush asking me to give them F CFA 10 million. I told them I didn’t have because I am just a farmer who has never held 200,000frs. They insisted that I have money at home and got me well beaten for one week before I was freed,” recounted a victim in the Toubouro district hospital.
“I was in my home on the 13th of August when some men entered my house at night. They ordered me to lay on the floor. I was flogged and the sum of F CFA 665,000 taken from me. That was not all: they took me to a bush where I spent 9 days with them. They threatened me and I had to give them four million FCFA before I was freed,” another victim narrated.
Mayor Yandal Celestin said the kidnappers most often take the hostages to the borders of Tchad and the Central African Republic .
Just like the local population, the municipal authority expects government authorities and security officials to come to the aid of the inhabitants of the municipality in order to eradicate this phenomenon.
