AFP
16 Feb 2011
YAOUNDE — Cameroonian hostages seized earlier this month in the southwest Bakassi region were freed Wednesday, the government announced.
"The hostages have been freed today," government spokesman and Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary confirmed.
A press conference will be held on Thursday to give all the details, he added.
One source close to the security services said the authorities had paid the abductors 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.
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