To free the priest, the kidnappers demand 20 million CFA francs, the equivalent of 30,000 euros.

Newsroom (August 31, 2021 16:49, Gaudium Press) The Vicar General of the Diocese of Mamfe, Father Julius Agbortoko, is yet another victim of kidnappers in the Anglophone region of southwest Cameroon. The priest was kidnapped last Sunday, 29, upon his return from Kokobuma, where he had made a pastoral visit and participated in the inauguration of the parish presbytery.

The chancellor of the diocese of Mamfe, Father Sebastine Sinju, released the news with great sadness, revealing the great suffering that this act of terrorism brings. According to him, the kidnapping occurred half an hour after Father Sebastine arrived.

Priest was kidnapped by separatist fighters

The kidnappers, who identified themselves as separatist fighters, broke into the compound of the Major Seminary and made their way to the living quarters of Bishop Emeritus Francis Teke Lysinge.

A short time later they left, taking young Father Agbortoko with them. To release the priest they demanded payment of 20 million CFA francs, the equivalent of 30,000 euros.

Father Sinju made an appeal for everyone to pray for the safety of the kidnapped priest and for his urgent release. He then criticized the attacks on the Church in general and that of Mamfe in particular, pleading that the parties involved in this national crisis respect the Catholic Church.

Violence in Cameroon

The kidnapping of Father Agbortoko is just one in a series that has been occurring in the country due to the struggle of separatists in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon against central power forces, which escalated into armed conflict in 2017.

Just over three months ago, the kidnapping of Father Christopher Eboka of the Diocese of Mamfe occurred, who was eventually released nine days later. In July 2018, a priest was shot dead not far from Muyuka, and in October of the same year, an American missionary was mortally wounded during a shootout. (EPC)