Cameroon Says Freed Hostages Taken in Bakassi

Cameroon took hostages earlier this month in the southwestern region of Bakassi were released Wednesday, the government announced.

“The hostages were released today,” confirmed the spokesman and Minister of Communications, Issa Bakary Tchiroma.

A press conference on Thursday to give details, he said. A source close to the security services said the authorities had paid the kidnappers on Tuesday.

On February 6, gunmen abducted the sub-prefect of Akwa, in the Bakassi region, along with 12 other people in his entourage. Tchiroma said later that the official had not been taking the necessary security precautions.

The local security source blamed the raid on members of the Africa Marine Commando (AMC), a shadowy group that claimed responsibility for an attack last November on an oil platform off Bakassi in which six people were killed.

AMC has also been behind several kidnappings of foreigners, although all have been released unharmed.

One report on the daily Mutations suggested that the abductors had demanded more than a billion CFA francs (around 1.5 million euros, two million dollars) for their release.

The abductions were followed by a series of other violent incidents, during which two police paramilitaries were killed and in the final clash, one Cameroonian soldier.

One of his attackers was also killed in that attack, and a female bystander was wounded by a stray bullet, said the security source. Cameroon President Paul Biya was forced to cut short a visit to Switzerland to deal with the crisis.

The Bakassi Peninsula, a coastal marsh rich in fishery resources and have oil reserves, has been at the center of a territorial dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon for 15 years. In August 2008, the International Court of Justice ruled in favor of the application in the territory of Cameroon.