A video appeared on YouTube
Monday of seven kidnapped members of a French family with their abductors, who
claimed to be from Islamist extremist group Boko Haram and demanded the release
of prisoners.
The
kidnappers, claiming to be from the Nigerian group Boko Haram, say they carried
out the abduction in part due to France’s “war against Islam,” apparently a
reference to French military action in Mali.
The more
than three-minute video shows the family, including four children, held in an
undisclosed location, surrounded by at least three of the abductors whose faces
are hidden. It was not clear when the video was made.
“If you want
us to release these French citizens, quickly release all our women you are
detaining,” one of the abductors says in Arabic, addressing Nigerian President
Goodluck Jonathan.
He calls on
Cameroon to release “our brothers”.
At the start
of the video, the father of the family reads a statement from a piece of paper,
his four children in front of him, his wife and brother beside him.
Two of the
abductors hold weapons and ammunition, while a banner with two rifles hangs
behind them.
The family,
with children aged 5 to 12, were kidnapped in the West African nation while
visiting a national park.
Cameroon
authorities said the family was taken over the border into Nigeria’s restive
northeast.
Despite
claims in the video, it was not immediately clear if the abductors were indeed
from Boko Haram, which has carried out a violent insurgency for years in
northern and central Nigeria but has never before claimed a kidnapping.
Most
previous Boko Haram videos have featured suspected leader Abubakar Shekau
speaking in the Hausa language common throughout Nigeria’s north.
A splinter
faction of the group known as Ansaru, which has risen in prominence in recent
weeks, appears to have focused specifically on taking foreign hostages.
Ansaru
claimed the December kidnapping of a French national in northern Nigeria and
the recent abduction of seven foreigners from a construction site in Bauchi
state.
In
statements, Ansaru has protested about France’s efforts against Islamist rebels
in Mali among other issues.
Analysts
have said a criminal group may be behind the abduction of the family with the
intent of selling the hostages or collecting ransom.
France’s
government has previously blamed Boko Haram and maintained that position on
Monday.
“A video of
the French family kidnapped last Tuesday in northern Cameroon has been released
by Boko Haram,” Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement.
“For all of
us, these images are terribly shocking. They display a cruelty without bounds.
We are proceeding with the checks required in these circumstances. All state
resources are mobilised to free our compatriots.”
On Thursday,
French President Francois Hollande said that the family was probably being held
in two groups. While all seven were together in the video, it was not clear how
recent the footage was.
The family,
who were based in Cameroon, were visiting the Waza National Park when they were
kidnapped. They have been identified as Tanguy Moulin-Fournier and his wife
Albane, as well as their four sons, Eloi, Andeol, Mael and Clarence.
Tanguy’s
brother Cyril Moulin-Fournier was on vacation and with them at the time. The
three adults are all around 40 years old.
The family,
with the exception of the uncle, moved to Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital, in
autumn 2011 when the father began a job there overseeing the construction of a
liquid natural gas plant. The uncle lives in Barcelona, Spain.
Nigeria is
Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, roughly divided between
a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.
Boko Haram
has called for the creation of an Islamic state in the country, where corruption
is deeply rooted and most of the population lives on less than $2 per day
despite its oil reserves.
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