Kidnappers want 120m FCfa for Cameroonian soldier taken hostage

A Cameroonian soldier, Patrice Ze, is currently being held captive by kidnappers who are demanding a ransom of 120million FCFA.

Valery Etoua, the victim’s elder brother told French language newspaper, Le Jour, that the kidnappers have called him several times with telephone number 236-675-110-856 to find out whether the whole amount has been raised. He said the family has sold some belongings but have been able to raise only about two million francs. He is calling on the armed forces for assistance.

The kidnapped soldier of the national gendarmerie is said to be crying as though he’s under excruciating pain each time the kidnappers call to inquire whether the ransom is ready.

The Secretary of State in Charge of the National Gendarmerie, Jean Baptiste Bokam visited the home of the victim on June 15. We also gathered that he handed the case file to an official of the corps.

However, the victim’s family says they are yet to hear from the security forces investigating the case since then. The Journal gathered that officials of the gendarmerie were put in contact with the kidnappers, but it appears to the family that nothing is being done.

A source at the gendarmerie headquarters in Yaounde confirmed that the officer was kidnapped alongside two civilians and noted that a police officer had before been kidnapped in the same locality and later released.

Ze was kidnapped on June 13. He was born on September 14, 1984 in Ebolowa. He was recruited into the national gendarmerie in 2008.