The leader of Cameroon's main opposition party released by kidnappers

The president of Cameroon's main opposition party, Ni John Fru Ndi, was released after being kidnapped Saturday in the northwestern region, one of the two English-speaking provinces beset by armed conflict for more than a decade. from one year, announced his party.

The SDF leader was abducted while he was leading a funeral procession, his party said earlier, without giving any indication as to whether the kidnappers were supposed to be separatists.

"President Ni John Fru Ndi has just been released at 6:34 pm (17:34 GMT)," said a Social Democratic Front (SDF) leader, Jean Robert Wafo, in a statement.

A number of officials and members of the SDS have already been targeted by similar attacks.

In October 2018, arsonists attacked Fru Ndi's home. His sister was kidnapped and released.

His party is the main opposition to 86-year-old President Paul Biya, who has been heading Cameroon since 1982.

Map of Cameroon. By Gillian HANDYSIDE (AFP)

He still opposed any partition of the country and challenged separatists from English-speaking areas who called for a boycott of the last presidential election in October.

The conflict in Cameroon, a predominantly French-speaking nation, erupted in October 2017 when Anglophone activists declared their state independent in the North West and South West regions.

The International Crisis Group said the death toll since the start of the fighting had exceeded 500 for civilians and more than 200 for members of the security forces.

According to the United Nations, about 530,000 people have fled the fighting.

Anglophones, who represent about a fifth of Cameroon's population of 24 million, have been irritated for years by perceived discrimination in the fields of education, law and economic opportunities in the hands of the French-speaking majority.

The self-declared entity, the "Republic of Ambazonia", which bears the name of Ambas Bay, has not been internationally recognized.