Boko Haram Kidnaps French Family in Cameroon

On Feb. 19, Boko Haram militants kidnapped a family of seven French citizens in the West African country of Cameroon.

The militants intercepted the family’s car and forced them to drive to Nigeria at gunpoint. Once inside Nigeria, the vehicle was abandoned.  

The mother and father both work for “French utility firm SDF Suez.”

When French President Francois Hollande announced that militants from Nigeria had seized the family, he described them as “terrorists.” Other officials in the French government suggested growing ties between Boko Haram militants and “Al Qaeda’s North Africa Wing AQIM,” both of whom are opposed to the French presence in Mali.

France is in Mali to push back Islamist rebels who tried to seize control of the northern part of that country last month. 

The French President has made it clear that this most recent kidnapping will not change that: “I see the hand of Boko Haram in [parts] of Cameroon, France is in Mali, and it will continue until the mission is completed.”