N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – Sobbing relatives on Friday stood around a coffin holding the body of Chadian journalist Oredje Narcisse, 31, one in every of dozens of individuals killed within the violence that erupted from pro-democracy protests last week.
Narcisse was shot in front of his home in Chad’s capital N’Djamena on Oct. 20, when a whole lot demonstrated across Chad to demand a quicker transition to civilian rule after the military government pushed back promised elections by two years.
His neighbour Iya Sisi saw Narcisse fall to the bottom after a bullet hit his chest. He was rushed to hospital in a taxi but died soon after arriving.
“There have been no ambulances to take him to hospital due to the unrest,” Sisi told Reuters before the funeral, with chorists humming within the background as people filed in to pay their last respects.
Narcisse’s widow stood by with their one-year-old child.
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Narcisse, a radio journalist who had worked with Reuters prior to now, was heading out to cover the banned demonstrations when security forces intervened.
Chad’ military leader Mahamat Deby has described the protests as an armed rebel aiming to “seize power”, but rights groups say security forces fired live rounds on unarmed civilians.
No less than 50 people died and a few 300 were wounded, in line with the federal government, which has opened an investigation.
“We demand justice and reparations for the family,” said Narcisse’s older brother, Apollinaire Rititingar.
Multiple burials were held across N’Djamena on Friday despite heavy flooding barring access to town’s predominant cemetery. The funerals had already been delayed for autopsies and body counts.
Sporadic protests have broken out in Chad since Deby seized power in April 2021 after the battlefield death of his father, long-standing ruler Idriss Deby.
But tensions have flared since recent resolutions adopted this month pushed back elections to 2024 and allowed Deby to run for president within the eventual vote.
(Reporting by Mahamat Ramadane; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Nellie Peyton and Josie Kao)
Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.
