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Boko Haram releases 27 hostages it seized in Cameroon

President Paul Biya was personally involved in securing their release in a process that involved the military, intelligence services and civil society

Anne Mireille Nzouankeu
Saturday 11 October 2014 21:22 BST
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The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau (with papers) in a video grab taken in July
The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau (with papers) in a video grab taken in July

Twenty-seven hostages seized by suspected Boko Haram militants in Cameroon in May and July have been released, including 10 Chinese workers and the wife of Cameroon's vice-Prime Minister.

The freed hostages were flown early yesterday from the Far North region to the capital, where they are being treated in hospital, government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary said.

"You can imagine that after the ordeal they are very happy to be released and very relieved. But they are very weak. They are in very poor physical condition," he said. He confirmed that the government believed the hostage-takers were Boko Haram.

President Paul Biya was personally involved in securing their release in a process that involved the military, the country's intelligence service and civil society, Mr Bakary said.

The Chinese workers were seized in May near the town of Waza, 12 miles from the Nigerian border. The wife of Vice-Prime Minister Amadou Ali was seized in July.

This week marks six months since Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls from a boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria. The group has killed hundreds of people this year.

Reuters

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