Three Chadians, the head doctor of a hospital, a nurse and their driver, were kidnapped in western Chad by members of the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram, civil and military authorities said Thursday.
The kidnapping occurred on Wednesday, and according to these sources, it is the first targeting medical personnel in this region of Lake Chad where Boko Haram is raiding villages, generally kidnapping women. The group runs training camps on several of the countless islands truffle this vast expanse of water also bordered by Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon.
« The head doctor (from Bagassoula Hospital), his assistant and the driver, all Chadians, were abducted in their car on their way to Chukuliya », a town on the northern shores of the lake , told AFP the governor of the province of Lake, Nouki Charfadine.
« They left Bagassoula Tuesday without informing us, then the locality of Ngouboua without informing local authorities, » detailed for AFP a senior official of the state in the province on condition of anonymity. « They were intercepted by elements of Boko Haram and we were alerted by the people who spotted the presence of their abandoned vehicle with the four doors open, » said the source, adding that the army has deployed, looking for them.
A senior military official and one of the administration also attributed the kidnapping to Boko Haram. « The kidnappers went with them on the lake in a motorized canoe, » said Governor Charfadine.
« This kidnapping occurred between two military garrisons, this is what is extraordinary », held in an interview with AFP, a local deputy who requested anonymity, ensuring: « the elements of Boko Haram have actually infiltrated our region. «
Seven people killed in a week
At the beginning of September, Boko Haram had killed seven people in one week, four civilians and three soldiers in this region. On August 14, a suicide bomber, according to the army, killed six people by detonating his jackets trapped in the courtyard of a traditional chief of the province.
The Boko Haram insurgency, which began in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, and its repression by the army, has left some 35,000 people dead and nearly 2 million displaced in the country in 10 years, according to the report. UN. The jihadist group has expanded to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Since 2015, the countries of the region are fighting against these jihadists in the Multinational Joint Force (MMF), a regional coalition committed around Lake Chad with the help of vigilance committees composed of inhabitants.
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