More than 10,000 panic-stricken Cameroonians were said to be running from border regions with Borno State for safer locations after attacks by Boko Haram have intensified.

Government officials were quoted as saying that Boko Haram has, in the past month, raided at least two dozen villages and towns in northern Cameroon, while kidnapping dozens of people during an attack on Mabass Village on Sunday.

The Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, said a humanitarian and food crisis looms, as the insurgents are looting food and livestocks.

Students and teachers are among those who have fled their homes. More than 10 schools were deserted after attacks on Sunday, adding to the about 140 schools that have shut their doors because of the insurgency spilling over into Cameroon, said the country’s Minister of Education, Monouna Fotso.

He said the government was, however, trying to accommodate the affected students.

There is a moral obligation for safer schools to admit the children despite limited resources and space, said Bernadette Appi, a teacher at a primary school in Maroua, where some children have been moved.

Boko Haram attacked Mabass village, in the Far North region of Cameroon, early on Sunday and staged its largest kidnapping yet in the country, according to the government. The military said up to 60 people were kidnapped, though about 30 eventually escaped.

Chadian troops began arriving in Cameroon on Sunday to support Cameroon’s army in the fight against the militants.

Boko Haram has also been recruiting fighters in all three countries, officials said.

•Sourced from Newswatch Times.