Far North: Army in trouble at Mokong

Mokong village, located about thirty kilometers from Mokolo in the Far North region, suffered a real raid on the night of January 22.

Around midnight, armed men arrived in the village where they looted the health center.

After threatening Asta Angele, head of the center, they stole the sum of 750,000 CFA francs and headed towards the eye clinic where they stole more than 300.000FCfa, we learn in the daily newspaper kiosk in on Tuesday, January 26, 2016.

Not satisfied with their booty, they attacked a bar in front of the two institutions. "The shopkeeper was sleeping behind the counter. They woke him and asked him for his cash. It contained only 25,000 F CFA. The smallness of his recipe pushed the hoodlums to attack the merchant. They asked him why he had so little money," reports the newspaper.

The bandits stayed for sometime, deciding the next target. In this farming village, there was nothing to loot. They left more than three hours after their arrival. According to local residents, the army would be held responsible for these abuses.

The appointed Tchoubado, the inhabitant of Mokolo, is confident when he accused the law enforcement forces. He told the newspaper that the military "are the only ones allowed to move freely after 10 pm. They take the opportunity to do these robberies. Before, they were traders who were targeted. They killed one last November.

People had asked that they lift restrictions of movement so that they can organize their defense. The authorities have never accepted."

The populations of Mokolo showed in September, and November 2015 against these robberies after four soldiers were caught, says Le Jour, which emphasizes that lately, the BIR reinforced its patrols in the city of Mokolo.

At night, at least, 40 elite commandos constantly crisscross the city. This is perhaps why the bandits focus on less protected surrounding village.