An 83-year-old British missionary and his assistant have been brutally abducted by an unknown group of armed men in Cameroon, his church group has said.
Huub Welters and assistant Henry Kang were captured on Tuesday in Bambui – a town located in the country’s separatist conflict-hit anglophone northwest.
The pair were on their way to a project to build classrooms for underprivileged children in nearby Ilung, according to The Catholic Mill Hill Missionary.
In an update on Wednesday, the London-based Catholic missionary said Mr Welters had spent his first night in captivity but they had ‘no idea’ where he was.
They raised concerns about his ‘fragile health’, saying he has recently undergone a series of joint replacements and a back operation.
The missionary added that Mr Kang has a wife and children who are ‘waiting in agony’ and praying for his safe return.
African Conscience, an NGO contacted by AFP, said it believed the pair had been abducted by separatist fighters.
‘The authorities of the Archdiocese are currently working for their release,’ the NGO added. ‘We pray. We plead. We wait.’
The Catholic Mill Hill Missionary posted on their website: ‘[Mr Welters] He has given everything, his time, his energy, his very being, to serve the people he loves.
‘And yet, today, he finds himself tormented by the very ones he has spent a lifetime caring for.’
They continued: ‘At his age, he should be at home, resting, surrounded by the warmth of cherished memories from his decades of selfless service.
‘Instead, he chose to stay; because his heart simply wouldn’t allow him to walk away from those in need. And now, his kindness, his sacrifice, his love have been met with violence and suffering.’
Kidnapping and violence has become common in Cameroon’s northwest and southwest regions, which are mainly populated by an English-speaking minority.
Separatists have regularly targeted and killed civil servants, including teachers, and elected officials accused of ‘collaboration’ with the French-speaking central government in Yaounde.
The army and police are accused of carrying out punitive raids against people they accuse of pro-separatist leanings.
The conflict erupted in late 2016 after President Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon unchallenged for 42 years, violently put down peaceful demonstrations by Anglophones in both regions.
At least 6,000 civilians have been killed by government forces and separatist fighters since the unrest began, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Mill Hill missionaries arrived in Uganda in 1895 and have been working in Cameroon since 1922.