Sources close to Lieutenant-Colonel Evrard Somda, the former chief of staff of Burkina Faso’s gendarmerie who was dismissed in October, revealed on Monday that he has been kidnapped from his residence by unidentified “armed individuals.”
According to a security source familiar with the ex-police chief, the perpetrators cordoned off the neighborhood and surrounded his home before forcibly taking him on Sunday in the capital, Ouagadougou.
The circumstances surrounding Somda’s abduction remain unclear. One source suggested the possibility of it being an arrest sanctioned by military or judicial authorities, while another speculated that it might be another instance of kidnapping.
Somda’s removal from office came a week after the detention of four police officers on suspicion of involvement in a “plot against state security,” a scheme claimed to be foiled by the ruling military regime.
Despite being a well-respected officer who had held the position since February 2022, Somda’s authority weakened with the arrest of the four officers, including two of his close associates.
Last month, he was interviewed as a witness by the military justice system as part of the inquiry into the alleged plot.
In a separate incident, influential businessman Sansan Anselme Kambou, associated with Somda, was kidnapped by intelligence agents in September.
Despite an administrative tribunal issuing an order for his release in November, his family reports that he remains in captivity.
Reports from Ouagadougou indicate a series of kidnappings in recent months. In December, former foreign minister Ablasse Ouedraogo, also an ex-deputy director general of the World Trade Organization, was reportedly taken from his home by individuals claiming to be police, according to his opposition party, Le Faso Autrement.
Burkina Faso’s junta leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, seized power in September 2022, marking the country’s second coup in eight months.
Both coups were triggered in part by discontent over the failure to contain a jihadist insurgency that originated from Mali in 2015, resulting in significant casualties and internal displacement.
