Cameroon:Garoua Throw Motion of Support to President Paul Biya As Former Hostages Arrive

Fourteen former Cameronian hostages recently freed in Central African Republic arrived Garoua, the regional capital of the North, by Camair-Co flight  yesterday 14th Agust 2016.

The hostages were freed in an operation by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in Central Africa,in the night of 8-9 July 2016 after spending over a year in captivity at the hands of  a rebel group from the Central African Republic.

The Cameroonian former hostages were in Yaounde ever since their release.While in the nation's capital, they received medical care and an audience by the Prime Minister of Cameroon who was acting On behalf of the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya.

Upon their capture on the 19th of March 2015 ,one of the hostages, Abakai said, the group was divided into pairs and chained at the leg and abdomen and, at times, the hands. Two people were given a liter of water to share for 24 hours, and they ate the same meal, once a day, for 16 months. One captive reportedly was held for 18 months.The captives were allowed to go to the toilet twice a day, at 10 a.m. and at 5 p.m.

The captives lost hope, Abakai said, when rebels told them that if the government of Cameroon did not pay for their liberation by July 31, 2016, they would be killed.

Abakai said two of the hostages died in those deplorable conditions, and he expressed gratitude to God and the government of Cameroon for helping to save his life. He did not know if ransoms were paid.

Captive Daouda Abdoulaye, 48, said the armed men told them they were members of a movement fighting for liberation of the Central African Republic; they vowed to kill the hostages if the government of Cameroon refused to pay undisclosed sums of money to secure their release.

A group of soldiers armed with rifles, claiming to belong to the Democratic Front for Central African People, led by Aboubakar Sidiki, took the captives to the bush, where they were tortured every morning, Abdoulaye said. They were kept in villages, away from other human settlements.