A Chadian opposition party has alleged that its secretary general, Robert Gam, was abducted by intelligence agents in the latest crackdown on dissent by the country’s military rulers.
According to Mahamat Alifa Yousouf, the general coordinator of the Socialists Without Borders (PSF) party, Gam disappeared following a meeting with other opposition figures on Friday.
“After the visit of comrades from the Patriots party at the PSF headquarters, Secretary General Robert Gam went missing,” Yousouf told AFP on Saturday. He claimed Gam had faced harassment and intimidation ever since the military junta’s “odious assassination” of PSF’s former presidential candidate, Yaya Dillo Djerou, in February.
Fatime Adoume Youssouf, Gam’s deputy, reported that three unmarked vehicles and several suspicious motorcycles were seen near the party’s headquarters on Friday, shortly before Gam vanished. “It is clear that secretary general Robert Gam was kidnapped by intelligence agents,” she stated during a press conference.
The PSF previously accused the military of executing their former president, Yaya Dillo, with a bullet to the head during an attack on party headquarters by the presidential guard. Dillo was killed just two months before the presidential elections, which he had intended to contest. The military, however, denied any execution, claiming the incident arose from an attempt to apprehend Dillo after he allegedly orchestrated an attack against intelligence services.
Chad’s security forces have been widely criticised for their treatment of opposition figures. Both Amnesty International and the World Organisation Against Torture have documented several cases of opposition leaders being detained without due process.
Despite fierce political rivalry, Dillo was a cousin of President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno. Mahamat Deby assumed power in April 2021 following the death of his father, longtime ruler Idriss Deby Itno, in a battle against rebels. Mahamat Deby was declared head of state by the military and later won a presidential election in May 2024, which was boycotted by the opposition and deemed neither free nor credible by international observers.