Gunmen kidnap Cameroonian official in border town

YAOUNDE, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) — Gunmen kidnapped Roland Ewane, the sub-prefect of Idabato town in Cameroon’s Bakassi Peninsula, which borders Nigeria, early Tuesday, according to local authorities.
The official and a staff member of the Idabato council were kidnapped at about 2:15 a.m. local time (0115 GMT) on Tuesday morning, said Gilbert Guibai Baldena, the prefect of Cameroon’s Ndian division, where Idabato is located, in a statement.
According to Baldena, the gunmen were an “unidentified armed group who took direction toward Nigeria on board flying boats.” He also urged Nigerian diplomatic authorities in Cameroon “to take some measures” to rescue the official.
Armed separatist groups are known to be active in Bakassi Peninsula of Ndian division, which was once at the center of a boundary demarcation conflict between Cameroon and Nigeria. ■