Archbishop Cornelius says he was accused of removing heaps and charms on the road blocks placed by armed separatists on the Bamenda-Fundong highway, reason why he was taken to the Amba camp in Njinikejem, Boyo Division of the North West region.

He appreciated the time spent with the said group, stating it was an opportunity to school them on the some principles of justice and truth, accusing his kidnappers of carrying out same unjust acts they accused the government of Cameroon of doing to the people of the Anglophone regions.

“ I spoke to them in the camp and told them, I have been to places where the Ambas are Bamessing, Esu, Njindom and Batibo and I have met Amba boys who are cooperative ,who understand the course and , who do not want people to suffer. I told them you are making people to suffer, you cannot be fighting for justice, for truth and you are talking about freedom and the rest, yet you prevent people from travelling. I was very clear to them. And I talked to the general about that on the phone too”, he said.

Although uncertain at that moment if he would be released or not, the Archbishop kept stinking the consciences of his kidnappers.

“I said we cannot achieve any good thing with evil. Evil can only cause evil and God will not hear our prayers if we continue to do things that are not correct. Thou shall not kill, thou shall not touch your people, thou shall not make other people to suffer and do to others what you expect them to do to you. People whom you pretend to be taking care of or to be fighting for are suffering”, cried the Archbishop to Amba boys.

He also accused the military of burning down some villages and attacking the hospital in Esu, Menchum Division where he recently visited.

He further revealed that armed separatists in the area (Boyo Division) are the most radical group of armed separatists he has ever encountered .

“..they started apologising to me. But of course, a number of them had taken Mbanga (Indian Herm) and you could see that in their hands. And I asked what are you smoking, they said its cigarettes and I asked which kind of cigarette do you smoke, and they said its the bad one. The one which makes them strong “, said the Man of God.

However, he regrets that he didn’t meet the said Amba general in charge of the camp, but on phone he tried to remind him that they had gone off their limits in their search for freedom.

“And I tell them, if you contribute to it, then what good are you doing to the people. You are spoiling our course…..So we have to make these boys understand that fighting for freedom or fighting for whatever thing they call they should not destroy they want to build up. If you want justice, then you should start practicing justice, if you want our lives to be protected, we should start by protecting other people's lives. That is what I told them”, he insisted.

The Archbishop at every point remarked that although held by the group, he was treated like a King as most of them spared the lone bed at the camp for him, while they slept on the floor.

He also said they were interactive and some of those he spoke to, saw a lot of reasoning in what he was preaching. He used the opportunity to propagate school resumption, appealing to the group to let the children go to school, as it is their fundamental right.

After a five day trip he embarked on, to some areas badly hit by the conflict, the Archbishop accompanied by his driver and other prelates, were heading back to Bamenda, when they met over five road blocks, decorated with local charms. He narrated how he removed these charms until when they got to Njinikejem and some five men on three motorcycles, stopped them and took them away.

He said despite his plea to speak to the head of the camp and explain why he had to be in Bamenda, they insisted he had violated the law and must sleep in their camp. He was later allowed to go, and accompanied to Mbingo, still in Boyo Division, where he continued till Bamenda.