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Dozens of pupils have been released, have been released, according to school and church authorities.
About 79 children were taken from their dormitories by armed men on Sunday night. Witnesses being beaten, taught in the living conditions at the school, before the attackers left with the principal, a teacher, a driver and the students. The principal and the teacher are apparently still missing.
The pupils appear to be at a disadvantage in the English-speaking regions of the French-speaking majority of African countries, but it is not clear exactly who took them and why.
They have now been freed, according to the governor of the English-speaking north-west region and the head of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon. Flanked by masked military men, they were taken to the local gendarmerie for medical checkups and to submit statements. They are expected to be presented at a press briefing on Wednesday, though they have not yet seen their parents.
The students were dropped off at another school in the Bafut, 12 miles from Bamenda where their school is based. It is unclear how the abductors could have traveled, given that the military enforces between 6pm and 6am, and there are multiple checkpoints between Bafut and Bamenda.
Hundreds of parents had gathered at the school on Tuesday, but they had been freed, the school refused to confirm that the children had been kidnapped.
It later emerged that Sunday night was the second batch of abductees; 11 children were kidnapped on 31 October and later released, according to the Presbyterian Church.
"The abductors asked for a huge ransom and the church was helpless," said the head of the church, Samuel Fonki. "However, the students regained their very traumatized freedom." He did not add whether the ransom was paid.
A video circulating purported to show the 11 pupils of the first batch of abductees being held in a hut. Each boy was made to say his name, parents' names, school and year in the camera, and each said his kidnappers were "Amba boys" – separatists fighting for the secession of the English-speaking regions of Cameroon.
"I was taken from school last night by the Amba boys," said one, while a heavy emphasis shouted at him to "talk louder." The camera moved to the next boy.
"I was kidnapped by the Amba boys. I do not know where I am. "
Some separatists said the government had been kidnapped and framed them to make them look bad.
The conflict starts as a peaceful protest in the English speaking world, and escalates when Cameroonian security forces launched a bloody crackdown.
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