An 83-year-old British missionary, Huub Welters, and his assistant, Henry Kang, have been released approximately 48 hours after being abducted by an armed group in Cameroon. The Catholic Mill Hill Missionary announced their release on Thursday, April 3rd.
The pair were “brutally abducted” on Tuesday, April 1st, in Bambui while en route to a project focused on building classrooms for underprivileged children in Ilung. Following their release, photographs documenting their safe return to Mill Hill House in Bamenda were shared by Father Innocent Akum, the local Mill Hill Missionary Superior.
African Conscience, a non-governmental organization, believes separatist fighters were responsible for the abduction. Kidnappings and violence are prevalent in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions, where the English-speaking minority population is concentrated. Separatists have frequently targeted civil servants and officials accused of collaborating with the French-speaking central government.
The conflict in these regions began in late 2016 after peaceful demonstrations by Anglophones were violently suppressed. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 6,000 civilians have been killed by both government forces and separatist fighters since the unrest started. Mill Hill missionaries have a long history in the region, having first arrived in Cameroon in 1922.