The Gado-Gondo village located in the Dir District, Mbéré Division, witnessed the kidnapping of nine children by armed men on September 4, 2015.

As in the past, it was always the son of farmers who have been the main target. According to our sources, 9 children were abducted, with the older being 15 and the youngest, 6 years.

“The parents of these children, as usual, kept everything from the authorities. They preferred to pay the ransom. Both parents had already paid 3 million FCFA each for ransom and a third had also paid 1.5 million to these kidnappers. It was after they didn’t see their children after payment that they informed the sub-prefect, five days after the kidnapping,” noted a son in the area.

Thus, the men of the lamidos of Kalaldjé and Dir decide to engage in a battle, with the support of Eloi Dandi Gandas, sub-prefect of Dir, who immediately turned towards the gendarmes in his unit of command. On September 9, 2015, equipped with homemade guns, the men faced the criminals in the Waah locality.

According to information received by our editorial staff, the results stated that two assailants were killed and six hostages released including a seriously wounded in the right thigh. At last, his life is no longer in danger. Three other hostages, likely the youngest aged six years, are still in the hands of the criminals.

“We have a real problem of cooperation on the part of our people. In a situation like this, the concerned parents prefer to go and pay the ransom and only when it does not work that they contact the sub-prefect,” denounced Eloi Dandi Gandas.

According to some indiscretions, the kidnappers and their hostages are now in Bertero-Oya in the East of Cameroon, where they continue to maintain telephone links with the parents of the abducted children while insisting on the ransom