French family kidnapped in northern Cameroon freed

Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya has announced the release of a French family of seven kidnapped by Islamic extremists in Cameroon in February. He said they are now secured in the hands of officials.

Biya made the announcement in a statement read on national radio which said the hostages — a father, mother, four children aged 5 to 12, and an uncle — had been “handed over last night to Cameroonian authorities”.

The family of Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, his wife, four children and his brother were abducted 19 February by militants said to be Boko Haram members, on their return from a park in Northern Cameroon. They were immediately, according to reports taken across the border to Nigeria

“I have been arrested 25 days ago, with my wife, my four kids, the latest of one being four years old, and my brother who came from Europe, by an armed commando of Jamaatu Ahlisunnah Lidda’awatiwal Jihad,” he says in English after his French statement.

Jamaatu Ahlisunnah Lidda’awatiwal Jihad is what Boko Haram has said it wants to be called.

Cameroon: Boko Haram Threatens Cameroon Attacks in New French Hostage Video

A second video of a French family held hostage by Nigeria's Boko Haram has been sent to journalists in the region where they are believed to be held.

The Islamists threaten to launch more attacks in Cameroon and demands the release of its members there and in Nigeria.The video appears to have been recorded while French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was visiting Cameroon and Nigeria."We have been held for 25 years in a desert place," says a man who identifies himself as the father, Tanguy Moulin-Fournier.Speaking in French and English, he complains of "very difficult" conditions, "especially for the children" and says that the seven hostages will not hold out much longer.

Moulin-Fournier goes on to address Cameroonian President Paul Biya, passing on a Boko Haram threat to increase kidnappings and suicide attacks in his country if he arrests more of their members but offering to release the hostages if the group's members held prisoner in Cameroon and Nigeria are freed.The video was sent to journalists in Maidiguri, the main town in the area near the border with Cameroon, Niger and Chad where Boko Haram is active.Nigerian officials said at the weekend that no ransom would be paid for the hostages.CameroonNigerian Foreign Minister Confirms No Ransom to Kidnappers of French Hostages Nigeria ruled out a ransom payment yesterday to kidnappers holding seven members of a French family, as France's foreign