After several months in captivity the French family of seven (including four children) kidnapped in northern Cameroon and allegedly brought into Nigeria by suspected Boko Haram militants have been released, a senior Cameroon official said on Friday Afternoon.
Mr. Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Secretary General of Cameroon’s presidency said “They are all alive and well, in a statement carried by the state radio. He said the family had been handed to Cameroon authorities late Thursday night.
Cameroon’s Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary who also confirmed the release told the BBC that the “Moulin-Fournier family”, were in good condition.
In a video published on YouTube, militants from the Nigerian group Boko Haram had claimed to be holding them.
The French president was quoted as saying “France had not paid a ransom to free the family who are now in the capital, Yaounde, I spoke to the father this morning… He told me how happy and relieved he was”
An AFP news report shows that the family arrived at the French embassy with a heavy security escort.
The family, which was on holiday, was abducted in February by men on motorcycles, armed with assorted guns in Dabanga about 10 km from the Nigerian border near the Waza national park, reports Reuters.
The parents of the family, which included two boys and two girls as well as another relative, worked for French utility firm GDF Suez. It is now believed that the family of seven would quickly be flown back to France where they are expected to be debriefed.