The Lake Chad region of Africa is now dangerous due to roaming terrorists and bandits. That includes large areas of countries around Lake Chad, such as northern Cameroon, western Chad, northeastern Nigeria, and eastern Niger.
Recently, more than 50 people were kidnapped in two days in northern Cameroon. The kidnappings were committed by an unknown armed group near the border with Chad, the mayor of Touboro town, Celestin Yandal, said.
Seven people have since been released. Abductions in this region occur often, but in the past, armed bands only kidnapped one or two people at a time, not large groups.
The first kidnapping took place between Touboro and Koutere towns, where mostly Chadians were taken as well as some people from Cameroon including students and shopkeepers. The second kidnapping took place while people were traveling on a bus from the city of Ngaoundere to Touboro.
Boko Haram terrorists infest the region. In March 2020, those violent Islamic extremists killed 98 Chadian soldiers in Boma near Lake Chad, the deadliest single attack in Chad’s history. Boko Haram has killed 50,000 people in northeastern Nigeria, and also killed villagers in neighboring northern Cameroon and eastern Niger.
A British man planned to run the entire length of Africa from south to north, passing through the Lake Chad region (including northern Cameroon). But that was before he and his camera crew were robbed further south in the country of Angola. He was robbed even though Angola is a relatively safe African country, and is not nearly as dangerous as Chad or northern Cameroon. After being robbed in Angola, he shifted his journey westward to avoid northern Cameroon and Chad, and now is in the African country of Benin instead (even though Benin’s north is also dangerous).
The Lake Chad region is just south of the Sahara desert. Terrorists also kill people in other regions of Africa bordering the Sahara desert. 44 villagers were slaughtered earlier this year by armed terrorist groups in two villages in the arid north of the African nation of Burkina Faso.
Government officials in Cameroon have suggested that the kidnappers might be linked to insurgents fighting it in the country’s southwest. English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion against Cameroon’s government six years ago with the objective of breaking away from mostly French-speaking Cameroon and setting up an independent, English-speaking state in Cameroon’s southwest. Cameroon’s southwest was once part of neighboring Nigeria, where English is the official language, before becoming part of Cameroon in 1961.
But that insurgency is hundreds of miles away from northern Cameroon, so the English-speaking insurgents — who are mostly Christians — probably aren’t responsible for the kidnappings in Cameroon’s north.
Cameroon’s government has accused the English-speaking separatists of committing atrocities against civilians. But it itself has committed far more atrocities in Cameroon’s minority English-speaking areas. The conflict in Cameroon’s southwest has killed thousands people and displaced more than 750,000 people..
Cameroon also faces a persistent threat from Islamic extremists in its northern region, which is one of the poorest parts of Cameroon. Cameroon as a whole is a relatively prosperous African country, but it has very high levels of government corruption — bad even by African standards — and is quite poor by American standards.
The U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory for Cameroon, saying:
Do Not Travel to:
- North, Far North, Northwest and Southwest Regions, and Parts of East and Adamawa Regions due to crime and kidnapping.
- Far North Region due to terrorism.
- Northwest and Southwest Regions due to armed violence, crime, and kidnapping.
Country Summary: Violent crime, such as armed robbery and carjacking, is common throughout Cameroon. Local police lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents.
