N’DJAMENA: After its leader was killed in an army attack on the building, the major opposition party in Chad to the ruling junta began to demolish its offices on Friday.
Yaya Dillo Djerou, the prominent opponent and cousin of Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, who was declared transitional president by the junta in 2021, lost his life on Wednesday during a military operation targeting the offices of the Socialist Party Without Borders in the capital city of N’Djamena. His party alleges that Dillo was the victim of an “assassination”.
Prior to his death at the age of 49, Dillo had expressed to AFP his concerns about threats on his life, indicating a desire to “physically eliminate me” ahead of the scheduled presidential election on May 6, aimed at restoring constitutional order in the central African nation.
Journalists from AFP witnessed a large excavator demolishing the three-story party building on Friday afternoon, while an army security cordon prevented people from approaching, with armored vehicles stationed around the area.
The government had accused Dillo of leading an attack against the offices of Chad’s internal security agency on the night before his demise. According to Communications Minister Abderaman Koulamallah, Dillo had “himself fired on the security forces”, resulting in the deaths of four soldiers and three individuals described as “assailants”, including Dillo, in the altercation on Wednesday.
