Burkina: armed men kidnap the Grand Imam of Djibo

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

In Burkina Faso, the Grand Imam of Djibo in the Sahel was kidnapped Tuesday by armed men. The kidnapping took place while he was returning from the capital Ouagadougou.

Publicity

The imam, Souaibou Cissé, 73, was in a public transport vehicle on the Namsiguia-Djibo axis, a section of about thirty kilometers that is unsecured. He was taken off the bus by his captors after an identity check before being taken away. He is the only passenger on the bus who has been kidnapped, and his relatives are without news 24 hours after his kidnapping.

This religious leader who is also the president of the Muslim community in Soum province in the Sahel region was apparently in the sights of terrorists. One of his relatives said he regularly receives death threats.

Protection waived without explanation

The imam also escaped an assassination attempt in May 2017. Shots were fired at his home, he escaped unharmed. It was after this event that he was placed under the protection of the gendarmerie until the beginning of this year when the protection was lifted without explanation. “  About ten gendarmes stood guard in front of his courtyard, they checked the identity of all the people who entered it. But we did not think that this device would be lifted all of a sudden,  ”explains one of Imam Souaibou Cissé's sons.

The Burkinabè authorities have so far not communicated on this kidnapping which takes place two weeks after that of the village chief of Nassoumbou under the same conditions and on the same road axis.

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

• Burkina Faso
• Religion
• Terrorism