Haiti violent gangs have released three more hostages from 17 missionaries, the Christian missionaries said on Monday, while others remain under abduction. The release of these three has taken the number of freed to five.
Without providing much details on their release, Christian Aid Missionaries said that, “the freed are safe and seem to be in good spirits.”
On November 21, the missionary shared that the 400 Mawozo gangs released the first two hostages of a group of 17 kidnapped in October. There are 12 adults and five children in the group of 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian, including an 8-month-old.
The organization did not provide their names or further detail about their circumstance of release, including whether the release was paid or not.
As per authorities, the gangs are demanding $1 million per person for their release. Unless they have threatened that they will kill them.
The statement further reads, “We would like to focus on fasting and praying for the hostages for next three days.”
The abducted group includes one Canadian and 16 Americans, who were abducted in October by a gang in the neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. Swaths of the city came under the control of criminal groups amid political and economic crises that followed the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July this year.
The abductees include five children, including an infant. Kidnapping has become an increasing crime in some parts of Haiti, targeting even students who are going to schools and pastors delivering sermons.
Meanwhile, they also demand $1 million per person’s release, and it is not yet clear whether they charged anything before freeing the five hostages they have released.
But as said by Haitian officials, “they have been known to release persons on a medical basis. As they have also released two people on medical standards.”
