Senator Elisabeth Regina Mundi, a prominent member of Cameroon’s ruling party in the conflict-hit North West Region, has opened up about her one-month captivity at the hands of Ambazonia separatists fighting to carve out an independent state in the country’s Anglophone regions.
The 82-year-old, one of the fortunate survivors of frequent separatist abductions, recounted her harrowing experience in a book she launched last weekend in the nation’s capital, Yaoundé.
Titled “Powered by Hope: Eighty, Captive, Rescued,” the book comes three years after she survived what she feared would be her tragic end.
On April 30, 2022, kidnappers took Senator Mundi in Bamenda, where she had gone to attend a funeral.
The separatist group Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF), known for carrying out brutal attacks on civilians, claimed responsibility for her abduction.
After a month of speculation and threats by the group to execute her, she was eventually freed by Cameroon’s elite military unit, the Rapid Intervention Battalion.
However, the exact circumstances of her release remain unclear, as neither the government nor the separatists have disclosed whether her freedom came through a ransom payment or a military operation.
In her book, Senator Mundi reveals that her captors demanded a ransom of FCFA 80 million.
Senator Mundi Treated With Respect, Despite Threats
Speaking to state broadcaster CRTV, she said that despite the separatists’ well-documented hostility toward government officials and members of President Paul Biya’s CPDM party, they treated her with respect.
“…But being there for 30 days, to tell you the truth, I became relaxed,” she recounted.
“People wonder when I say I was relaxed. But that’s it. I just sort of got used to being with them and being in their midst. I found out that all of them really were my children—in fact, some of them were the same age as my oldest grandchild. So you can imagine, and they called me Grandma.”
Brutality of Amba Boys
This is the Senator’s first public account of how she endured 30 days in separatists’ captivity.
These armed fighters, commonly referred to as Amba Boys, are notorious for their brutal treatment of government workers, often labeling them as black legs (traitors).
They have previously issued threats against Anglophone Cameroonians employed by the government, as well as Members of Parliament, demanding they resign.
MMI has reported gory stories about the maiming of government plantation workers, the murder of civil servants, including teachers, election workers and local administrators, whom separatists accuse of betraying their struggle by working for the government.
Many feared that Senator Regina Mundi would suffer a similar fate after separatists confirmed her captivity.
“It was really frightening. The first day, it was frightening,” said Senator Mundi.
“You know being in a situation where I never knew whether I would see the next day or not. In fact I had never been in that kind of a situation before.”
Interestingly, she did not experience physical torture. However, the psychological strain of spending a month in isolation, with no activities or reading material, had a significant impact on her mental well-being.
“But my mind, being there for one month, with nothing to do, nothing to read, my mind was deteriorating. Even if I did not have any physical torture, but my mind—in fact I was afraid I would lose my mind,” she added.
Not Isolated Case
Separatists have abducted other high-profile Anglophones, including Senator Regina Mundi.
Others include renowned opposition leader Ni John Fru Ndi. Also, Cameroon’s first and only Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi, and the influential Fon of Nso, HRM Sehm Mbinglo II.
Eventually, they all found their freedom. They count among the fortunate. Others, like SDF’s Senator Kemende, were not so lucky. He was killed shortly after abduction.
Now in its eighth year, the Anglophone separatist conflict, which began as a peaceful protest movement against marginalisation, has spiraled into a violent crisis.
Human rights organisations have accused both government forces and separatist fighters of perpetrating atrocities such as unlawful killings, murders, sexual violence, and abductions.
Humanitarian groups report that more than 6,000 civilians have died and over 700,000 people have been displaced.
Separatists continue to operate in parts of the two regions, but military raids by Cameroon have significantly weakened their strength due to divisions within their ranks.
They have mostly taken cover in hard-to-reach rural areas and still launch guerilla attacks on the Cameroonian army. The spiral of violence promises no end in sight.
