Catholic Priest Kidnapped, Freed in Bamenda

By David Atangana

Reverend Fr Ndong Bonaventure, a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamenda, has regained his freedom shortly after he was kidnapped.

Sources in the Archdiocese of Bamenda confirmed he regained his freedom this Thursday evening, hours after unidentified gunmen took him.

MMI learned armed individuals picked him at Meta Quarter in Bamenda, headquarters of the restive North West Region.

His whereabouts remained unclear until he later surfaced from the brief captivity. The reason for his kidnapping remains unknown and no group has taken responsibility for the act.

The Bamenda Archdiocese is yet to publicly react as well.

Kidnapping has been persistent in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions since the ongoing separatist armed conflict started.

Separatists have often been accused of kidnapping civilians in exchange for huge sums of money, which they are believed to be using to fund their quest for independence.

Prelates of the Roman Catholic Church have particularly been targeted severally, with the late Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi suffering the fate once.

Separatists also kidnapped five Catholic priests, three lay Christians and one religious sister of the Mamfe Diocese in September 2022 before freeing them.

One of the most notable attacks against Catholic Church personnel in the Anglophone Regions happened way back in 2018, when an influential priest of the Buea Diocese got shot.

Rev Fr Alexander Sob died from the injury and it was later revealed it was a targeted killing.

Despite these attacks, the Roman Catholic Church has continued to advocate for peace and dialogue between separatists and the Cameroon Government to end the Anglophone Crisis.

Prelates like Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea of Bamenda have fiercely criticized the government’s violent approach to the conflict.

He has also chastised separatists for victimizing the population.