Nine out of 12 road workers who were kidnapped about a week ago in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone region of Southwest have been released and reunited with their families, according to security and local officials.
The workers were kidnapped last week by separatist fighters in Ekombe village of the region while they were constructing the Kumba-Ekondo Titi road, according to the officials.
Separatist fighters on Monday released a video of the kidnapped workers on social media, stating that they have been freed but they will continue to hold hostage three bosses of the company that was constructing the road.
They did not say why they abducted the workers.
Cameroon government spokesman Rene Emmanuel Sadi said Saturday that the abduction of workers had stalled road rehabilitation and construction works in the region which has been facing an armed separatist conflict since 2017.
Separatists are seeking to create an independent nation in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest. Enditem
