Kidnapping and Consolidation

A few days ago a French priest was kidnapped in the border town of Koza in the Extreme-North region.  This was carried out by the terrorist group Boko Haram; here we call them The Sith because we don’t really want to be heard talking about Boko Haram all the time.  Reports say that 15 gunmen stormed the seminary demanding money.  The priest was in his private room and was able to contact the French embassy before he was taken away barefoot.  He had been warned about the danger in the area, and chose to stay anyways. 

This is the first activity by Boko Haram in Cameroon since the kidnapping of a French family in Waza National Park in the Extreme-North in February.  They were later released after the French government paid approximately $27 million in ransom, money that is now helping to fund further terrorist activities.  While I have not heard about demands being made for this kidnapping, the reasons are probably the same.  Meanwhile, a Nigerian military attack on Boko Haram led to the release of another French citizen that had been held captive for a year, and four more were released in Niger after a ransom had been paid following three years of activity.  Again, that ransom was at least $27 million, though the French government says no public funds were used.  Reportedly, seven other French citizens are still being held throughout the region. 

To give some perspective, the town Koza where the priest was kidnapped is about 10 miles (18 km) from the Nigerian border.  It is also 74 miles (123 km) from my town, Guider, with a direct road (through Mokolo).  It is even closer to Douroum, Mandama, and Larbak, where my cluster mates live.  The result of this proximity is that the Guider cluster has been put on consolidation.  That means that my three cluster mates outside of Guider have had to come in to stay with us and are not allowed to return home.  The reason for this is that they don’t have phone reception, and Peace Corps Administration wanted to be able to maintain communication. 

Luckily there are three of us in Guider, so we each now have someone staying with us, and we get to stay in our own homes.  So far, this is a much better situation than the consolidation in Maroua.  Unfortunately, now the threat of closure is back.  For months after the first kidnapping we watched posts around us get closed, including four in our cluster, and the threat that the same would happen to us loomed over our heads.  Over the past few months we have stopped worrying as much about it, and thought we might make it through our service without having to move.  Now we are worried again. 

Today the Country Director is meeting at the embassy with the Regional Security Officer (RSO), so hopefully we will find out our fate soon.  Many posts in the Extreme-North had to wait a while to hear what would happen to them, I don’t want to be in that limbo.  Let me be clear: I have no worries for my safety.  I don’t think that the Sith will come to Guider.  I just want to know if I’ll get to stay here, especially with an intact cluster.  All of us love the North, and I don’t think there are really any options for us to stay up here if we did get closed.  We’d probably have to move to the Grand South.