Cameroon rebels release kidnapped children

Armed separatists have released the 78 students kidnapped from a Presbyterian boarding school in Cameroon, a church official confirmed Wednesday. The Rev. Fonki Samuel Forba, who leads the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, said the kidnappers dropped off the students and a driver at one of their churches near Bamenda, the capital of the restive Northwest Region. The kidnappers are still holding the school’s principal and one teacher. “Let us keep praying,” Forba said.

Armed gunmen abducted the students, ages 11-17, and three teachers Sunday night from the school in Nkwen village near Bamenda. The Northwest Region is the center of clashes between security forces and English-speaking separatists who have declared the region an independent state named Ambazonia. The separatists, calling themselves the Amba Boys, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping in a video posted online Monday. Forba said the school was shut down after the attack due to security threats.