Authorities report the rescue of eight male students who were kidnapped by suspected separatists from a school in the strife-torn Anglophone northwest region of Cameroon.
Abdoullahi Aliou, a local official, revealed that armed assailants attacked the Esu area school, subjecting the students to “torture” before taking them captive.
During the assault, the attackers set fire to two classrooms and the principal’s offices. Additionally, various school staff, including the deputy principal, were seized. Some students who sustained injuries are currently receiving medical care in hospitals.
Mr. Aliou confirmed the successful release of the eight kidnapped students due to the intervention of defense and security forces. However, he did not provide specifics about the whereabouts of the deputy principal and other abducted school personnel.
For more than six years, separatists have enforced a boycott on schools in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, viewing them as instruments of the predominately French-speaking majority’s authority.
Those who resist their directives, including students and educators, have been targeted in attacks.
No group has claimed responsibility for the recent assault.
The closure of numerous schools since the conflict’s inception in 2017 has deprived over 700,000 children of access to education, according to the UN.
The International Crisis Group reported that the conflict has led to approximately 6,000 deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands of individuals.
