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| More than 70 pupils kidnapped from a school in Cameroon | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Dozens of people, mostly school pupils, have been kidnapped from a school in the west of Cameroon. | |
| At least 78 students and three others, including the school principal, were abducted on Monday morning in Bamenda, the capital of the North-West region, a government official has told the BBC. | |
| Regional governor Adolphe Lele L'Afrique blamed separatist militias. | |
| Cameroon's North-West and South-West regions have been hit by a secessionist rebellion in recent years. | |
| Militias, who have been demanding the independence of the two English-speaking regions, have called for a school boycott. | |
| But no group has said it carried out the kidnapping at Bamenda's Presbyterian Secondary School, which has pupils aged between 10 and 14. | |
| The moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, the Right Reverend Fonki Samuel Forba told the BBC that he had spoken to the kidnappers. | |
| 'Praying for the kidnapped' | |
| "They don't want any ransom. All they want is for us to close the schools. We have promised to close down the schools," he told the BBC. | |
| "We hope and pray they release the kids and the teachers," he added. | |
| It is not the first time students have been abducted in the area, known to be a stronghold of separatist fighters, reports the BBC's Ngala Killian Chimtom. | |
| On 19 October, five students of the Atiela Bilingual High School were taken by unidentified gunmen. Their whereabouts are still unknown. | |
| Separatist rebellion | Separatist rebellion |
| The militias, who want to create a new state of Ambazonia, began to emerge in 2017 after a security force crackdown on mass protests, led by lawyers and teachers, over the government's alleged failure to give enough recognition to the English legal and education systems in the North-West and South-West. | The militias, who want to create a new state of Ambazonia, began to emerge in 2017 after a security force crackdown on mass protests, led by lawyers and teachers, over the government's alleged failure to give enough recognition to the English legal and education systems in the North-West and South-West. |
| The government was accused of relying heavily on people trained in the French legal and educational tradition to work in key posts and generally marginalising Cameroon's English-speaking minority, who make up about 20% of the population. | The government was accused of relying heavily on people trained in the French legal and educational tradition to work in key posts and generally marginalising Cameroon's English-speaking minority, who make up about 20% of the population. |
| President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, was recently re-elected for a seventh term with more than 70% of the vote. | President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, was recently re-elected for a seventh term with more than 70% of the vote. |
| Opposition parties allege that the poll was rigged, but legal attempts to overturn the result failed. | Opposition parties allege that the poll was rigged, but legal attempts to overturn the result failed. |