Central Darfur village sheikhs abducted for ‘blood money’

26/04/2015 11:22

A group of militiamen abducted the sheikhs of Waro, Deidama, and Gio villages, east of Deleig, on Thursday.
Speaking to Radio Dabanga from Waro, a villager said that the kidnappers demand payment of SDG180,000 ($30,000) as blood money for the killing of a militiaman in an attempted hijack of a vehicle belonging to the Central Darfur Ministry of Health on the Deleig-Zalingei road last week.
“They threatened to kill the sheikhs and destroy the villages. We are terrified as a large group of them came in vehicles and on camels and horses on Thursday and Friday, and surrounded the villages.”

A group of militiamen abducted the sheikhs of Waro, Deidama, and Gio villages, east of Deleig, on Thursday.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga from Waro, a villager said that the kidnappers demand payment of SDG180,000 ($30,000) as blood money for the killing of a militiaman in an attempted hijack of a vehicle belonging to the Central Darfur Ministry of Health on the Deleig-Zalingei road last week.

“They threatened to kill the sheikhs and destroy the villages. We are terrified as a large group of them came in vehicles and on camels and horses on Thursday and Friday, and surrounded the villages.”

He appealed to the Central Darfur authorities to “intervene, resolve the problem, so that we can leave our homes again and do our work”.

In an ambush of a vehicle belonging to the Health Ministry last Tuesday, three passengers were seriously wounded. The guards exchanged fire with the attackers, and killed one of them.