More than 700 Cameroonians are hostages of Boko Haram

Men, women and children are among the many captives of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram which keeps causing harm to people and property.

The fight against Boko Haram is far from being completed despite the efforts made so far by the various armies engaged in the fighting. Facts remain that the Islamist group puts up resistance in its stronghold in Borno State, near Lake Chad and the region of the far North.

In this state, and mainly in the vicinity of the Sambissa forest, the Nigerian Army launched an offensive early May which resulted in the freeing of more than 500 hostages. Some were in detention for more than 48 months.

The world discovered with fright, the ability of the group to take thousands of persons, women and children in particular as hostages. Traumatized and suffering from undernutrition, French released hostages were entrusted to the national agency of emergency (Nema) for post-traumatic support management and social reintegration. At the time, the Nigerian authorities were not able to specify if, among the captives released, there are no nationals of other countries.

Nevertheless, in the opinion of the Nigerian authorities, many people are still being held by the sect. Among them, there are not less than 700 Cameroonians according to various sources. They were taken during different raids conducted by Boko Haram.

'Islamist elements usually have the habit of abducting women and systematically killing their husbands', reflected an inhabitant of Biribai village in Waza district, where four women were abducted late December 2014.

"It is still not known if they are still alive", he added.

As in the case of the attack in the Biribai village, Cameroonian civilian hostages are rarely publicized in the media. As a result, women, men and children are captive on nigerian soil, in total anonymity with great indifference from the authorities.

"As soon as an incursion is reported, we put down a mechanism allowing us to destroy the enemy, obviously being careful not to hurt the hostages. However, this is what we did on January 18, 2015 at Mabass where 24 hostages had been freed and they had not trampled the Nigerian soil," entrusted an officer on the field.

Many wonder how the army strikes manage to sort between the members of the sect and the hostages? Quite often, the hostages have only their courage to try to gain freedom. On the night of 19-20 February 2015, for example, 5 women and 20 children managed to escape from the Boko Haram fighters.

Held hostages in the Nigerian village of Koumche about 40 km away from Waza, they were abducted January 30, 2015 in the Cameroonian village of Gnam-Gnam located three kilometres from Waza. Hepsata Malloum, Goubdo Ibet, Helimata Ndjidda, Abissoya Tom, Hewa Ndjidda and 20 other hostages escaped by punching the wall of the House in which they were taken prisoners.

The hostages remember every day of their stay in Koumche. "Our captors gave us food to eat, but thereafter, they questioned themselves right in front of us about what they were going to do with us, if they were going to continue to feed us indefinitely?" said one of the hostages.

Others still talk of sexual abuse they were subjected to. "They use us to fulfill their needs. Some of us were lucky, because they were pregnant or still breastfed their infants,' reflected a hostage released March 29, 2015, after an attack by the army at Kauzikate, 30 km from Mozogo.

In addition, they were used also to perform household tasks. The children undergo another spell before being used as a tool; they are first brainwashed in Koranic schools.

One of those Madrassas is where on August 2014, 11 young people aged 10 to 17 years escaped. They had been taken hostage at the same time as the family of Amadou Ali on 27 July of the same year, except that, they had not benefited from the same attention.