Officials of both Cameroon and France have confirmed that the French family abducted in Cameroon by the militant group Boko Haram has been freed late yesterday.

The family was abducted in February this year by gunmen on motorbikes after they have visited the Waza National Park in northern Cameroon close to the Nigerian border and were returning home.

The Cameroonian Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary told the BBC African Service that the freed family were in good condition and unharmed.

He said the family were handed over to Cameroonian authorities yesterday in the evening but failed to give further details.

It is therefore unclear how the Nigerian and the Cameroonian authorities negotiated with the militants for the release of the hostages.

Boko Haram in March this year released a video on You Tube showing the family in a remote area with gunmen standing behind them.

The group then threatened in the video to kill them if steps were not taken by the Nigerian and the Cameroonian government to release some of their members they have imprisoned.

But the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday officially backed an amnesty talks with the militants by setting up a committee to look into the agitation of the group.

The committee is made up of 25 members include military figures, academicians and politicians who primary duty will be to address the underlying causes of insurgencies and to find solutions to prevent them recurring again.

The French presidency confirmed the release and said that Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had immediately left for Cameroon to greet the family and arrange for their return home.

The Cameroonian government reportedly thanked the French and the Nigerian government for their support and cooperation in the freeing of the hostages.

The freed family lived in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde where their father worked for the French gas group Suez and they were returning from a holiday from the Waza National Park when they were kidnapped by the gunmen.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

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