N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – Chad’s former prime minister and opposition leader Succes Masra was abducted by security forces from his home on Friday morning, a member of his party said, though the reason was not immediately clear.
Legal proceedings against Masra would exacerbate concerns of shrinking democratic space in Chad, where the government frequently bans demonstrations and is accused of restricting media organisations’ ability to operate.
A Facebook post by Ndolembai Sade Njesada, vice president of the Transformers opposition party headed by Masra, showed footage of what appeared to be uniformed armed men escorting Masra out of a residential building.
A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Masra emerged as a staunch opponent of the junta headed by President Mahamat Idriss Deby, who seized power after his father, long-serving President Idriss Deby, was killed as he was visiting troops fighting militias in the north of the country in 2021.
Masra was appointed prime minister in January 2024 in a bid to appease the opposition, four months before an election that Mahamat Idriss Deby won, with the state election body giving him 61% of the vote.
Before the official announcement of the election’s preliminary results, Masra had claimed victory and alleged that electoral fraud was being planned.
He tendered his resignation as prime minister before Mahamat Idriss Deby was sworn in.
Chad was the first of the junta-led states in West and Central Africa to hold elections following a string of coups in recent years.
(Reporting by Mahamat Ramadane, Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet, Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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