Residents of villages near Lake Chad have faced new cases of abduction attributed to Boko Haram in recent weeks. Ali Cheick Djibrine, mayor of Hile-Alifa, told L'œil du Sahel that "the situation is getting worse and worse," causing people to flee their homes and seek refuge in makeshift camps in Darak and Hile-Alifa, two districts in the Logone-et-Chari department.

"They have nowhere else to go,” the mayor said. Several times, people have been forced by kidnappers to pay ransoms to get their relatives freed. Young boys and women are now kidnappers’ main targets. While Mayor Ali Cheick Djibrine is certain that the kidnappings were carried out by members of Boko Haram, Paul Ferdinand Enoka, a historian at the University of Maroua, points to burglars instead. "Boko Haram does exist, but these kidnappings may be the work of burglars," he said.

Michel Ange Nga