Family of 7 Kidnapped in Cameroon, Boko Haram Terrorist Group Likely Captors Headed to Nigeria: French Tourists Abducted include Four Children

Reports from Paris confirm that a family of seven French tourists was kidnapped in northern Cameroon, Africa on Tuesday (Feb. 19). During a recent public press announcement, French President Francois Hollande insinuated that the captors were most likely members of the Boko Haram terrorist group. Three adults and four children were kidnapped, and while details still remain unclear, Hollande predicts that the victims will eventually be transported to Nigeria. Military helicopters are currently being used to search for the abducted tourists.

Because of the recent kidnappings, Hollande (speaking during a visit to Greece) warned French citizens currently visiting the surrounding region "to avoid exposing themselves."

According to an official with close connections to the French embassy in Cameroon, the kidnapped family members were believed to have been taken from northern Cameroon and will be transported to Nigeria. The abductors were likely members of Boko Haram, a radical Islamist group located in Nigeria that has cooperated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in nearby Mali. On Monday, seven other French tourists were also kidnapped and are currently being held captive in northern Mali by another extremist group. It remains unknown if the two kidnappings are related.

News agency reports from Athens quote Hollande as saying, "The most probably eventuality is that they would be taken to Nigeria. So we are doing all we can to avoid their being held in that country."

The French gas group GDF Suez identified the captives as an employee working in the Cameroon capital of Yaounde and his family. They were visiting the Waza Natural Park at the time of the kidnapping.

Jean-David Ndjigba, the Far North Regional Delegate in the Ministry of Forest and Wildlife, released this statement from the province's capital of Maroua, "The three adult tourists and four children were picked up early today (Tuesday) by men riding on motorbikes who rode off toward the border into Nigeria. As I speak to you right now, helicopters are flying over the entire province, and specifically in the administrative area of Waza in search of the kidnapped tourists."

As the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports:

Boko Haram, which means 'Western education is sacrilege,' has launched a guerrilla campaign of bombings and shootings across Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north. It is blamed for at least 792 killings last year alone, according to an AP count. It is known to have ties to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, an Algerian-based group that opened a front in Mali. 

And according to Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, swift actions must be taken:

"If everything is confirmed, this signifies that the fight against terrorist groups is a necessity. There is a battle to be led by the international community against terrorist groups and narco-terrorists" (in reference to the recent increase in drug trafficking led by the region's top extremist groups).