The main opponent of the Chadian junta of General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, his cousin Yaya Dillo Djerou, was killed on Wednesday in the army’s assault on his party’s headquarters, announced Thursday February 29 to Agence France- Press (AFP), the government spokesperson.
In the morning, the N’Djamena public prosecutor announced the death the day before of several people, including Yaya Dillo, without specifying the circumstances.
Yaya Dillo died “where he had holed up, at his party headquarters. He did not want to surrender and shot at the police,” said Abderaman Koulamallah, government spokesperson and minister of communications.
The opponent was accused of having attacked, during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the premises of the intelligence services, after the arrest of one of his supporters for “attempted assassination against the President of the Supreme Court”.
“Staging”
Questioned by AFP, a few hours before his death, Mr. Dillo had fiercely denied it, denouncing “a lie” and a “staged” intended to exclude him from the presidential election scheduled for May 6.
On April 20, 2021, General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno was proclaimed by the army president of the transitional authority, at the head of a junta of 15 generals, after the death of his father, Idriss Déby Itno, killed by rebels by going to the front, according to the junta.
He immediately promised to return power to civilians in elections scheduled for eighteen months later and subsequently assured that he would not run. The deadline was ultimately extended by two years.
Although he has not yet spoken out, the Patriotic Salvation Movement, the majority party founded by his late father, recently nominated him for the vote.
