The Cameroonian government announced Wednesday, November 4 that four schools had been attacked and six teachers kidnapped in two days in the English-speaking area, in the grip of a bloody conflict between separatist rebels and security forces.
The attacks come eleven days after the murder of seven schoolchildren in a school by armed men, a killing attributed by Yaoundé to Anglophone secessionist armed groups.
Read also: Cameroon: several teachers kidnapped in the English-speaking zone
"
Several terrorists (...) kidnapped six teachers and 10 students
" in a Protestant school in Kumbo on Tuesday, in the North West, one of the two English-speaking regions, said René Emmanuel Sadi in a press release. -government speech.
The students were released the same day following "
a spontaneous mobilization (...) of around fifty faithful and parents of students
", he added.
On the other hand, “
the six teachers remain in the hands of secessionist rebels
”.
On Wednesday, "
nearly a dozen unidentified individuals
" attacked a school in Limbé, in the English-speaking southwest, according to Mr. Sadi.
"
After inflicting physical violence on students and teachers, the attackers ransacked the premises and burned down a large part of the establishment,
”he continued.
Contacted by AFP, a teacher present at the time of the attack, and who requested anonymity, said the attackers asked students and teachers to "
undress before taking pictures of them when they were naked
”And“
set fire to two classrooms
”.
In Bamenda, capital of the North-West region, a college was attacked Tuesday by “
four terrorists
” who opened fire before fleeing due to the presence of a patrol of the security forces.
In Fundong, in the Northwest, six high school students were kidnapped on their way to school on Wednesday before being released a few hours later under pressure from the populations, according to the city's mayor, Denis Awoh. Ndong, contacted by AFP.
Read also: Cameroon: nine injured in the explosion of a homemade bomb in Yaoundé on Sunday
“
The school is used as a weapon of war in this conflict,
” Ilaria Allegrozzi, researcher for the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) for Central Africa, told AFP after the murder of the seven schoolchildren on the 24th. October.
"
The separatists do not want children to go to schools, institutions they equate to central power
," she added.
In November 2019, UNICEF estimated the number of out-of-school children in English-speaking regions at 855,000.
About 90% of public primary schools, or more than 4,100 schools and 77% of public secondary schools were then closed or not operational.