Canadian Nun, Italian Priests Kidnapped in Cameroon

Two Italian priests and a Canadian nun have been kidnapped in northern Cameroon.

A French priest was kidnapped in the same area last year, and released a month later.

Don Gianantonio Allegri, Don Giampaolo Martha and Sister Gilberte Bussier were abducted on the night between 4 and 5 April in the Diocese of Maroua-Mokolo, in the north of Cameroon

"We do not know where they are. The act is not yet claimed but we imagine who is behind this kidnapping," sources told the Fides news agency, saying the blame probably falls to members of the Nigerian Islamist Boko Haram sect.

Cameroon is Nigeria's eastern neighbor.

"For some time the Cameroonian authorities have focused their attention in this area, because it is known that Boko Haram seeks to establish a makeshift base in the territory of Cameroon," the Fides sources continued. "The security forces had intensified their presence in the north of Cameroon to stop Boko Haram to set up shelters in our area.
"Investigators suspect in fact that the kidnappers benefit from local complicity that allowed to avoid controls."