Woman escapes one-week captivity in a forest near Oku

Nga Roseline, 46, a mother of three from the Eton tribe in the Centre Region, is said to have been abducted at Emana, Yaounde on October 7, 2015, at 11 pm. She later found herself in the forest in a place near Oku in Bui Division of the North West Region with her three kidnappers, another woman and seven girls aged 10 to 13 years.

Nga Roseline, who lives in Sa’a in Lekié Division of the Centre Region, is a foodstuff trader or ‘buyam-sellam’ in Yaounde.

Talking to CAMNEWS in Kumbo recently with Rev. Sister Julienne Tonfack of the Congregation of St. Anne’s Convent, Tobin, Kumbo, interpreting, Roseline, (reportedly married to a certain Mama Wanderin), said she went to the market at night to buy wares with other women. They boarded a vehicle at Emana, Yaounde for Sa’a at about 11 pm, but she later found herself in a forest near Oku. She was kept in the forest from October 5-12, 2015 when she escaped. She revealed that after some time, the seven girls were taken away from the rest of the group.

The foodstuff seller recounted how she fled from her captors after going to excrete unaccompanied. After wandering through the forest, she later came across a group of shepherds at about 3 am on October 12, 2015. They later took her to a nearby village from where she trekked till she saw a signpost with the name Oku.

With the aid of Good Samaritans, Nga Roseline was able to get to the nearest town, and eventually to Kumbo where she sought assistance from Tobin Catholic Mission. According to Rev. Fr. Charles Mbuntum, the Parish Priest of the Tobin Catholic Mission, he took the woman to the Police Station in Kumbo where they took her statement before she was allowed to go.

Father Mbuntum said after a second thought, he decided to take her to the Senior Divisional Officer for Bui before paying her transport back to Yaounde.

The First Assistant SDO for Bui, Dr. Mohamadou, who received them, sent the lady back to the police for further investigations in Kumbo and Sa’a Police Station.

In a similar incident, Stanley Tata, a student from the Bambui Major Seminary, is reported to have been kidnapped from a taxi he boarded for Bamenda and was found after one week in a forest in Bafut.