Cameroonian church hostages speak out: «Do everything possible to free us».

The local Church asks for prayers for the release of five priests, a nun and three lay people captured in the parish of St. Mary of Nchang.

ACN – There are new signs of life of the five priests, a nun and three lay people kidnapped last September 16 in the parish of St. Mary of Nchang, in the Diocese of Mamfe, in western Cameroon. Their abductees also allegedly assaulted and burned the church. «So far it has not been easy. If you take a good look at us, you will see our sad and tried faces,» says one of the kidnapped priests, Father Cornelius Jingwa, in a video, recently released on social networks, by the kidnappers.

In the video, released by Agenzia Fides, it is reported that the situation in which they find themselves «is quite difficult and we are begging our Lord to do everything possible to get us out of here». According to this graphic evidence, the health of the hostages is worsening, «It is a matter of life or death» – continues the priest – «I have fallen seriously ill, my brothers are not well at all».

The hostages are Father Elias Okorie, Father Barnabas Ashu, Father Cornelius Jingwa, Father Job Francis Nwobegu, Father Emmanuel Asaba, Sister Jacinta C. Udeagha, lay catechist Nkem Patrick Osang, and parishioners Blanche Bright and Mrs. Kelechukwu.

Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda said that the kidnappers demanded a ransom. Mgr. Nkea has added that there are groups who see the Church as an «easy target to make money». Since 2016, the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon have been gripped by a bloody conflict between Anglophone separatists and the predominantly French-speaking Cameroonian army. The violence has claimed more than 6,000 lives and left around one million people displaced.