Forty-four Boko Haram terrorists found dead in Chadian prison

Forty-four Boko Haram jihadists were found dead in their prison cell in N’Djamena last Thursday, April 16.

Autopsies attribute the terrorists’ cause of death to high doses of a lethal substance found in their bloodstream, which caused heart attacks and asphyxiation.

The 44 late jihadists were among a larger group of 58 Boko Haram insurgents that were captured by the Chadian Army during a sweeping military campaign in the Lake Chad marshlands, which had been ordered by Chadian President Idriss Déby. This operation, spanning from March 31 through April 8 and killing over 1,000 Boko Haram militants and 52 Chadian troops, was a retaliatory attack against a March 23 Boko Haram onslaught in the same area, in which a record 98 Chadian troops were slain.

Security sources privy to the situation have reported appalling conditions to which the prisoners had been subjected. An anonymous security source reported that “the 58 prisoners were placed in a single cell and were given nothing to eat or drink for two days.” Secretary general of the Chadian Convention for the Protection of Human Rights Mahamat, Nour Ahmed Ibedou, followed up on these accusations, stating, “[Prison officials had] locked the prisoners in a small cell and refusing them food and water for three days because they were accused of belonging to Boko Haram.”

The government of Chad has vehemently denied any such allegations, claiming that the prisoners’ deaths may have been an act of “collective suicide.” This is pending further investigation.

The jihadists had been scheduled to stand trial in N’Djamena in due course.

President Déby has notified regional allies that the Chadian Armed Forces will be indefinitely suspending all operations outside of the nation, though, according to French Defense Minister Florence Parly, Chad will maintain its commitment to the G5 Sahel anti-jihadist organization.

Source: IR Insider