Burkina Faso’s former chief of staff of the gendarmerie Evrard Somda, who was sacked in October has been abducted from his home by unknown gunmen.
“They sealed off the neighbourhood, surrounded his home before taking him,” a security source close to the ex-police chief told newsmen.
Lieutenant-Colonel Somda was taken on Sunday from his home in the capital, Ouagadougou, he added.
“We don’t know if it’s an arrest on the orders of the military or judicial authorities, or if it’s yet another kidnapping,” another source close to Somda said.
Somda faced dismissal a week following the detention of four police officers on suspicions of plotting against state security, a claim the ruling military regime asserted to have thwarted.
Despite being a respected officer since February 2022, Somda’s position was undermined by the arrest of these officers, including two close associates. In the previous month, he underwent a military justice system interview as a witness in the inquiry into the alleged plot.
In September, intelligence agents abducted influential businessman Sansan Anselme Kambou, a close associate of Somda.
Despite an administrative tribunal’s release order in November, his family insists he remains in captivity. Reports from Ouagadougou reveal multiple kidnappings in recent months.
