Relief as 83-Year-Old Catholic Missionary, Helper Abducted in Cameroon Released after Two Days in Captivity

Br. Welters has been described as a sacrificial and kind person, always ready to support those in need in Cameroon.

Mr. Kang, on his part, has reportedly been abducted multiple times in the ongoing crisis in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon.

The two English-speaking regions of Cameroon plunged into conflict in 2016 after a protest by lawyers and teachers turned violent. An armed movement of separatists seeking independence for the so-called republic of Ambazonia emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters.

Pastoral agents have not been spared in the fighting that has reportedly led over 900,000 people to flee internally and 60,000 people to flee abroad.

In October last year, Fr. Christophe Badjogou Komla, a Togolese Catholic Priest was shot and killed in the Catholic Archdiocese of Yaoundé in the Central African nation. 

In another incident, militants attacked St. Martin of Tours Kembong Parish of the Diocese of Mamfe, where suspected separatists shot Fr. Elvis Mbangsi in both legs and his left hand. 

This parish is the same location where a newly ordained Kenyan-born Priest, Fr. Cosmas Ombato Ondari, had been brutally murdered.

Meanwhile, religious leaders in Cameroon's English-speaking regions have expressed their readiness to facilitate dialogue between the government and separatists to resolve the protracted Anglophone crisis.