Boko Haram resorts to kidnappings

Cameroon says Boko Haram has resorted to kidnapping people in hard to access areas near the border with Nigeria. The Central African state has, however, rejected calls by parliament to declare a state of emergency in the affected areas.

Cameroon Defense Minister Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo'o told parliament that the Nigerian terror group Boko Haram is still actively committing atrocities even though they have not been able to organize a major attack on Cameroon's territory for more than two months

He said because of persistent small-scale attacks, hostage takings, kidnappings and killings, he has visited villages in northern Cameroon to assure local officials and traditional leaders that Boko Haram's inability to organize large-scale raids is an indication they are now weak and the incursions are just like the last lashes of a dying horse.

Mebe Ngo'o says although the attacks have been persistent, Cameroon's President Paul Biya has not found it necessary to declare a state of emergency in the remote areas where Boko Haram has been operating.

Joseph Mbah Ndam, vice president of Cameroon's national assembly, said there has been a huge proliferation of arms in the area, and that Cameroon officials should investigate the origin of the arms.

"We are all conversant with the fact that when a gun is shot, the case that contain the bullet falls and I have seen many of our security people pick those shells, and from those shells we can determine in whose hands those bullets are from. Why would you not supply us with concrete security information," said Ndam.

This week, Cameroon said that in spite of the decrease in deadly attacks, suspected Boko Haram fighters have been seizing food and livestock from farmers and cattle ranchers on its northern border with Nigeria, and most of the food producers were relocating to safer areas away from the border.

The last major attack by Boko Haram on Cameroonian territory was on January 10 at Fotokol. Three-hundred assailants attacked a military base and a confrontation with soldiers killed 500 people.