Rebel Group Moves To Oust Deby’s Son, Says Chad ‘Not A Monarchy’

A rebel group in Chad known as the ‘Front for Change and Concord’ reportedly said it was “heading toward N’Djamena at this very moment” to oust the son of late President Idriss Deby, General Mahamat who has been named President of the Transitional Military Council.

“Chad is not a monarchy…There can be no dynastic devolution of power in our country,” the group said in a statement as quoted by the Associated Press.

Following Tuesday’s killing of Deby , the army had dissolved Chad’s constitutional government while assuring that it would hand over to a democratically elected government within 18 months.

It said it was taking immediate steps to ensure that the country was not overrun by terrorist groups.

“Our commitment to the fight against terrorism for which the Marshal of Chad sacrificed himself will not weaken. We will be present and active, as usual, alongside friendly countries, to fight relentlessly the terrorist hydra and obscurantism,” the council said on Wednesday.

Nigeria, which is a neighboring country to Chad, had expressed concerns over the development.

Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, urged the respective armed groups to embrace dialogue.

“Nigeria expresses great concerns over evolving developments in Chad. The interim leadership of Chad and all stakeholders, at home and abroad, including the two armed groups still fighting must not allow the evolving developments in Chad to feed into more chaos with its attendant consequences.

“Nigeria calls for urgent consideration of dialogue among all the stakeholders, which Nigeria is willing to guide and mainstream, within the framework of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and ultimately, the African Union (AU).

“An early return to democratic governance in Chad should be the ultimate goal but the immediate objective is the stabilisation of Chad as well as the regions of ECCAS, ECOWAS and the Sahel,” he said.

The United States Embassy in Chad had already advised U.S. citizens to leave the country, citing potential unrest.