Armed separatists kidnapped at least 79 students and three staff members from a Presbyterian school in a troubled English-speaking region of Cameroon.
The numbers provided by North West Region Governor Deben Tchoffo were larger than his earlier estimate of the people kidnapped in Nkwen, a village near the regional capital, Bamenda.
The students are aged 11-17 and the school principal was among the staff members abducted, he said.
"It is rather unfortunate that this is happening. That 79 of our children and three of their staff can be picked up by terrorists," Tchoffo said. "We have asked our military to do everything and bring back the kids alive."
A video purporting to show the kidnapped students was released on social media from a group of men who call themselves "Amba boys," a reference to the state of Ambazonia armed separatists want to establish in Cameroon's Anglophone North West and South West regions.