Gunmen in Central Africa Republic free kidnapped government minister

Gunmen in Central African Republic have freed the minister for youth and sport who was kidnapped in January, the minister’s spokesman said on Wednesday. Armel Ningatoloum Sayo was kidnapped on Jan. 25 as part of a spate of hostage-taking linked to the anti-balaka militia that included the brief kidnapping of a U.N. staff member and a French charity worker. Sayo was returning from church with his wife and brother in north Bangui when four gunmen in a taxi stopped his vehicle, shot in the air and seized him before fleeing towards an anti-balaka stronghold, said his spokesman Tatiana Yangeko at the time.

The seizures highlight insecurity in the impoverished country where thousands have been killed and around a million displaced from their homes since 2013.

Reuters

Yangeko said Sayo was freed overnight. Sayo was a senior officer in the presidential guard before being arrested by former president Francois Bozize. He led a northern rebel group called “Revolution and Justice” but was named minister in the 2014 peace deal in the former French colony.

Africa Central African Republic