Boko Haram frees Amadou Ali’s wife, 10 Chinese

Akaoua Babiana, the wife of Cameroon's deputy 

PM, was among the hostages released

Twenty-seven people held for months by suspected Boko Haram militants have regained their freedom. The hostages were handed to Cameroonian authorities after being freed early on Saturday. They were flown immidiately to the capital Yaounde.
    Among the freed hostages was the wife of Vice-Prime Minister, Amadou Ali and 10 Chinese workers.
    They were seized in two separate raids in May and July close to the Nigeria border. It is not clear how their release was secured.
    Boko Haram is seeking to establish an Islamist state in Nigeria but its fighters often cross the long and porous border with Cameroon.
    More than 200.000 Nigerian civilians in border towns have fled to Cameroon to escape militant attacks, which have been stepped up in recent months.

    In July, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger agreed to form a 2,800-strong regional force to tackle Boko Haram militants.
    Cameroon has reinforced its troops in its northern regions.
    The freed hostages were taken to Yaounde general hospital upon their arrival in the capital, CRTV reported.
    "You can imagine that after the ordeal they are very happy to be released and very relieved," Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Minister of Communications, told reporters.
    "But they are very weak. They are in very poor physical condition."
    President Paul Biya announced their release in a statement read on state radio: "The 27 hostages kidnapped on May 16, 2014, at Waza and on July 27, 2014, at Kolofata were handed this night to Cameroonian authorities.
    "Ten Chinese, the wife of the Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali, the Lamido (a local religious leader) of Kolofata, and the members of their families kidnapped with them are safe."
    No details were given on the circumstances of the release or whether a ransom was paid.
    In July, Cameroon said Mr Ali's wife, Akaoua Babiana, and her maid were abducted in "a savage attack" on his home in Kolofata by Boko Haram militants.
    Mr Ali managed to escape to a neighbouring town. Efforts to step up regional co-operation gained momentum after Boko Haram caused an international outcry by abducting more than 200 girls from a boarding school in north-eastern Nigeria.
    The girls are thought to be held in the vast Sambisa forest, along Nigeria's border with Cameroon.