In an article published on its website on May 7, 2021, Jeune Afrique, the pan-African newspaper reviews the circumstances of the death of former Chadian President Idriss Deby on April 18, 2021.
Our colleague reports that “two heads of state of the Community of West African Economic States (ECOWAS) regularly express their astonishment, in private, at the circumstances of Idriss Déby Itno’s death” while “A third leader, from Central Africa this time, is no less circumspect. Everyone is wondering: how did the Marshal of Chad succumb to injuries received at the front, in the face of the rebels? ” The publication specifies that this same question has been at the heart of the fact-finding mission that the African Union (AU) has just led to N’Djamena in recent days, under the leadership of the Peace and Security Council, headed by the Nigerian Bankole Adeoye and Djiboutian Ambassador Mohamed Idriss Farah.
“According to our information, the version delivered by the Chadian authorities to their interlocutors has not changed: the Chadian marshal died as a result of an injury received in the fighting. According to our sources, this sequence of events was given to the many diplomats, from the AU and the UN in particular, who met on several occasions with Mahamat Idriss Déby, head of the Transitional Military Council and son of the deceased ”, informs JA . The newspaper says it published the same information as early as April 20, 2021. Today it announces “new details.”
Info.kamerpower.com brings you the updated account of the tragic death of the statesman and top Chadian army officer in power since 1990, as published by Bashir Ben Yahmed’s newspaper.
“Gunshot, along with his aide-de-camp Party on April 17 at the 22 hours of N’Djamena in a Toyota armored vehicle (a style of pick-up that Chad regularly imports from Dubai ), Idriss Déby Itno arrived at the front, in northern Kanem, in the early hours of Sunday April 18. That same day, after meeting in a bivouac with some of his generals, the Chadian president found himself caught up in the fighting with the insurgents of the Front for Alternation and Concord in Chad (FACT), who had descended from the Libyan border.
This Sunday, some of them have already faced the troops led by Mahamat Idriss Déby, commander of the General Directorate of the Security Service of State Institutions (DGSSIE). But a column managed to re-mobilize and lead an offensive towards the lines held by Idriss Déby Itno. Engaged in combat in an armored vehicle, the marshal comes under fire from the rebels, who have in particular weapons of Russian origin, recovered in Libya. Beside him: the driver of the pickup and one of his aides-de-camp, a certain Moussa, who is also the son of the president’s sister. Despite the armor, several bullets managed to hit the occupants of the vehicle. The aide-de-camp was hit, as was Idriss Déby Itno. Idriss Déby Itno got out of the car. Under his clothes, the president is losing a lot of blood. According to our sources, the latter received a bullet – or a piece of ammunition – in the kidney as well as in the area of the right arm. Fighting continues in the area, but the driver is shocked and stunned. The president’s other aide-de-camp, Khoudar Mahamat Acyl, brother of the First Lady, Hinda Déby Itno, is not far away: he has taken his place in another pick-up. The driver of Idriss Déby Itno’s vehicle took a few minutes to regain his senses and manage to extricate his passengers from the combat zone. He brings the injured marshal and his aide-de-camp to the rear, where several generals bivouac along with part of state protocol. The president got out of the car. Under his clothes, he is losing a lot of blood. His doctor, Hassan Mahamat Hassan, quickly understood the seriousness of the injury.
The entourage of the head of state then warned the commander of the air force, Amine Ahmat Idriss, then Mahamat Idriss Déby. With the doctor’s consent, it was decided to proceed with an emergency evacuation by helicopter. A machine is stationed not far from Mao, about forty kilometers from the bivouac of Nokou, where the president is lying. 3/3 Idriss Déby Itno is unconscious and has not said a word since being injured. A quick evacuation was not enough: he succumbed to his injuries before he could be returned to N’Djamena. His nephew also dies, while the driver is unharmed.
The president’s remains were transported overnight from Sunday April 18 to Monday April 19 to the capital, where the helicopter landed directly at the presidency, an extremely rare occurrence. Only the closest family circle and the most loyal senior officers are aware of the tragedy that has unfolded far from N’Djamena. Everyone knows the crucial moment. It is decided to delay the announcement of the death, which will not be made public until more than 24 hours later, in the late morning of April 20. In the meantime, the family of the deceased reunited for several hours. Advised by high-ranking generals, she agreed in the late afternoon of April 19 to hand over the transition to Mahamat Idriss Déby.
At around 8 p.m., the President of the National Assembly, Haroun Kabadi, was notified and summoned to the presidency. Victim of unease upon learning of the Marshal’s death, he officially declines the burden of the transition, which should have fallen to him according to the Constitution. An hour later, the electoral commission, which is not informed, announces Idriss Déby Itno winner of the presidential election. At the headquarters of the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), the ruling party cadres celebrate the victory, without knowing that their champion is no more and that the sixth term for which they have campaigned will not take place. They don’t know it yet, but another Déby is in fact already holding the reins ”.
