For over 20 years, kidnappings for ransom have plagued the border regions of Cameroon and the Central African Republic. The lack of an effective response from the Chadian state raises fears of a regional security crisis affecting its neighboring countries.
By Joris Bolomey
(Illustration photo: A Chadian Army Soldier who is a simulated casualty awaits medical assistance during a simulated assault in Faya-Largeau, Chad) (Photo by U.S. Forest Service / CC0 1.0)
"Armed men broke into my house in the middle of the night, chained me up, and took me into the bush," recalled Djouda May, who was kidnapped in March 2023 for ransom in Chad’s Mayo-Kebbi Ouest region, which borders Cameroon. He was held for over a month in the Central African Republic with other Chadian and Cameroonian victims. "I was deprived of food and tortured to pressure my family," he continued. "My neighbor, who was captured at the same time, was executed by the kidnappers. Since then, whenever I hear dogs barking, like on the night I was taken, I relive those scenes. I'm terrified it will happen again."
Traumatized by this ordeal, this farmer is also tormented by the inability to provide for his family. "My relatives had to sell the 15 cows I owned and the entire year's cereal harvest to pay the ransom," Djouda explained. "Since then, I can't work and can't afford to send my children to school."
Over 1,500 victims in 20 years
The kidnappings have become a scourge in southwest Chad, with over 1,500 victims in about twenty years, according to estimates from the Organization for Support of Development Initiatives (OAID), which has been monitoring the issue since the early 2000s. Mayo-Kebbi Ouest, one of the country's most populous regions, is the epicenter of this phenomenon.
From farmers to merchants, civil servants to NGO workers, anyone with savings is a target. This leads to the impoverishment of the area, noted Timothée Fenessoubo, a lawyer from Pala, the capital of Mayo-Kebbi Ouest, and a member of a legal collective formed in February 2023 to assist kidnapping victims in the region. "Residents are abandoning their lands to seek refuge in towns and villages. Agriculture and livestock farming allow families to pay for their children's education," he explained. "If the government doesn't address this problem and help the victims, the region could ignite." He warned that this banditry could escalate into structured rebellions.
Local complicity
"In this border area between Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic, dubbed the 'triangle of death' due to general insecurity, local state representatives fail to do their job and are sometimes complicit with the kidnappers," said Barka Tao, national coordinator of the OAID. "This corruption also affects some security forces members. Instead of protecting the population, they rent out their weapons to kidnappers from Chad, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and even Niger or Nigeria."
Local authorities declined to comment on our questions. However, Public Security Minister Mahamat Charfadine Margui acknowledged the problem: "Since I took office in March 2023, I have dismissed all administrative authorities in Mayo-Kebbi Ouest, as well as security forces leaders, but nothing has changed. The kidnappers also benefit from village complicity, with neighbors denouncing each other out of jealousy or greed," he explained. He also highlighted the area's challenging accessibility.
Necessary cooperation agreements
Criminals exploit porous borders to evade state control. "The cross-border identity of those involved in ransom kidnappings, states' inability to control this area, and the lack of regional cooperation allow this phenomenon to thrive," said Remadji Hoinathy, anthropologist and researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in N’Djamena. "As Boko Haram faces military setbacks around Lake Chad, the risk now is that they will send mobile commandos to the Chadian border to generate revenue from kidnappings, as they already do in Nigeria. If Boko Haram takes over this phenomenon, it will be even harder to curb."
To combat this, he emphasized the urgency of establishing cooperation agreements allowing cross-border pursuit rights or forming a multinational joint force, like the one fighting Boko Haram around Lake Chad. "The idea is floated, and there have been initial discussions with Cameroon," Margui said. But so far, negotiations have not resulted in any agreements.
Surveillance committees
Without an effective state response to curb this scourge, Mayo-Kebbi Ouest residents have taken matters into their own hands. Since 2018, they have formed vigilance committees to gather intelligence within the cantons. "We have over 4,000 members in each village in the region," said Amos Mbairo Nangyo, director of a security company in Pala and coordinator of the vigilance and surveillance committees in Mayo-Kebbi Ouest.
"Whenever someone suspicious appears, we report the information to the governor. We also serve as guides for security forces pursuing kidnappers."
Beyond vigilance, the committees actively pursue kidnappers after an abduction. "We don't just sit idly by. Enough is enough," declared Nangyo, surrounded by about 20 committee members, armed in a forest south of Pala. Equipped with bows, spears, and slingshots, they confront kidnappers to free hostages.
However, the spontaneous response has raised concerns. "If these committees are not supervised and controlled by the state, there's a risk of score-settling," warned Bishop Dominique Tinoudji of Pala. "There's also the danger of sparking rebellions. It's up to the Chadian state to take responsibility to prevent the situation from deteriorating."
Kidnapping, a lucrative business
According to data from local NGOs in the Mayo-Kebbi Ouest and eastern Logone provinces collected by the Institute for Security Studies:
In 2022, 46 people were kidnapped, 12 were murdered, and 42,925,000 CFA francs (about $70,000) were paid as ransom in eastern Logone.
In 2023, 41 people were kidnapped, 8 were killed, 2 were missing, and 52,405,000 CFA francs (about $85,000) were paid in Mayo-Kebbi.
In Chad, kidnappers mainly come from cross-border Fulani, Arab, and Hausa communities.
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