Yaya Dillo Djérou facts for kids
Yaya Dillo Djérou (18 December 1974 – 28 February 2024) was a Chadian politician, leader of the opposition as the president of the Socialist Party without Borders. He was a cousin of Mahamat Déby.
Biography
On 14 October 2005, the government of Idriss Déby had to admit desertions in the army, especially by the Zaghawa, the President's ethnic group. These deserters were under the leadership of Djérou; based in the Sudanese region of Darfur. Djérou, a former telecommunications engineer, had left Déby's party MPS and become president of a revolutionary junta ("président du collège révolutionnaire") heading an organization called Platform for Change, Unity and Democracy (SCUD), a rebel alliance. The group declared its plans to overthrow Déby, and is of Zaghawa ethnicity. To open negotiations with the government, he demanded that all political prisoners be freed.
Djérou subsequently laid down arms to become a cabinet minister in Déby's government.
On 28 February 2021, security forces raided Djérou's home in N'Djamena, killing five of his relatives, including his mother and son. A government statement said the raid was an operation to arrest him. Two other people were also killed and five wounded in the ensuing fight.
In March 2021, Djérou affirmed that he would "take international justice" against the regime of Idris Déby.
In February 2024, an attack on the offices of the powerful Chadian intelligence services caused "several deaths" in N'Djamena. The Chadian government blamed the Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF) led by Djérou. This attack came after the arrest of a PSF member accused of "attempted assassination against the president of the Supreme Court" and a day after the announcement that the presidential elections would be held on 6 May. In response, military vehicles surrounded the PSF headquarters amid heavy gunfire. According to an internet watchdog Netblocks, connectivity was restricted. Djérou was killed on 28 February after his party's office was besieged by the Chadian Army amid unrest over the elections.
