More than 30 women in Cameroon abducted by separatist fighters for protesting illegal taxes

By EDWIN KINDZEKA MOKI
Associated Press

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Cameroon’s government says more than 30 women have been abducted by separatist rebels in the Northwest region, for protesting taxes imposed on them by the fighters. The women were taken in the middle of May from Babanki, a farming village along the border with Nigeria. The separatists were illegally collecting monthly payments from children, women and men, imposing taxes on couples before getting married, and forcing families to pay $1,000 to bury their relatives, said the military. The Central African nation has been plagued by fighting since English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion in 2017, with the stated goal of breaking away from the area dominated by the French-speaking majority and setting up an independent, English-speaking state.