Issa Tchiroma unable to validate the release of 900 hostages

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Minister of Communication, has refused to disclose the whereabouts of some 900 hostages government claims were released following a special large-scale operation against Boko Haram terrorist by Cameroonian forces.

When asked at a press conference he granted, Wednesday December 2, of the location of the freed hostages, Tchiroma merely said they have been freed and are receiving medical attention. “The whereabouts of the released hostages can’t be made known until the information is declassified,” the minister said.

Tchiroma said at the end of the operation, “Emergence 4 and Alpha Units of Cameroonian Defence and Security Forces, in collaboration with the Sector No. 1 of the Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission based in Mora, in total synergy with Nigerian Forces, led to the neutralization and killing of hundreds of fighters from the enemy group, and the freeing of 900 persons held hostage for several years by Boko Haram.”

A reporter at the press confab questioned how 900 hostages could be freed and re-integrated in society without public notice. But Tchiorma maintained that the army succeeded in freeing that number of people. He said there were pictures, though he will not present any to reporters.

The minister would also not give the number of arrested Boko Haram insurgents in Cameroon prisons. “If I give you a figure and the reality is more, there will be no problem. But if I give a figure and the reality is less, organizations like Amnesty International will accuse our country of execution. Go to the North and you will see them in prison,” Tchiroma said.

Asked of the contribution of Cameroon-based US soldiers in the liberation, the minister noted that they are here for “training, intelligence sharing and logistic support.