Yaounde - Kidnappers have released all 11 local government officials taken hostage in Cameroon's oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula region earlier this month, the Central African state's government said on Thursday.
The group were captured by suspected rebels in a February 6 attack on their boat just off the Bakassi coast.
“All are doing relatively well except one gendarme who was seriously injured,” government spokesperson Issa Bakari Tchiroma told reporters. He declined to say whether a ransom was paid or give details of their release on Wednesday.
The hostage-taking was suspected to be the work of a local rebel group called the Africa Marine Commando (AMC).
The AMC is a splinter faction of the Bakassi Freedom Fighters group, which is seeking compensation on behalf of Nigerians compelled to leave the Bakassi Peninsula after the disputed land was handed over to Cameroon in 2008. - Reuters