By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEW YORK (IDN) \u2014 Pope Francis has added his voice to calls by the bishops of Cameroon for the release of five priests, a religious sister, a cook, a catechist and a 15-year-old girl kidnapped in southwest Cameroon, where a civil war has been raging between the French and English-speaking communities for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
on September 25, the pope said he was praying for peace in Cameroon. \u201cI join in the appeal of the bishops of Cameroon for the liberation of people kidnapped in the diocese of Mamfe,\u201d reported the Catholic News Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the kidnappings on September 16, gunmen set fire to St. Mary\u2019s Catholic Church in Nchang, Cameroon, Vatican News said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Catholic bishops in Cameroon strongly condemned the attack in a statement that called for the immediate release of the kidnapped Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe insist on this because this act has now crossed the red line and we must say that \u2018enough is enough,\u2019\u201d they said in the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The roots of the current Anglophone problem can be traced back to the First World War when the British and French occupied the \u201cGerman Kamerun Protectorate\u201d and divided its territory into two parts. This partition gave rise to the development of a different cultural heritage and identity in the British and French regions, a development that would create problems for future attempts at reunification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1961, the UN held talks to determine whether the British territory should be annexed to Nigeria or Cameroon. Critics labelled the talks \u201cfalse negotiations\u201d involving parties with asymmetrical powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs the British Southern Cameroons\u2019 nationalist conflict continues to wax and wane, the people of former British Cameroons live with a sense of deception in the present-day R\u00e9publique du Cameroon,\u201d wrote scholar Fonkem Achankeng in the Journal of Global Initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proportion of Anglophone Cameroonians to French-speakers is currently at around 16%, down from 21% in 1976.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attacks on the church were also denounced by the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA)<\/a>\u2014an independent, non-governmental, apolitical and non-profit making organization dedicated to the protection and advancement of human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n