Boy escapes months-long kidnap in Darfur

A 12 year-old child who was kidnapped by gunmen from a village south of Bileil last year has been found. People in Kabkabiya started a search for his relatives.

A member of the native administration in the locality told Radio Dabanga that the child, Idris Adam Hussein, was kidnapped by Sili militia last year. “He told us he had remained in one of the settlements in south-east Kabkabiya until he managed to escape from his kidnappers.”

Members of the AU-UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur (Unamid) discovered the boy on the road between Kabkabiya and Sortoni, and handed him to the police in Kabkabiya which in turn brought him to the native administration.

“The Sheikh of his home village is called Yahya Abdallah,” according to the administration member. “Whoever recognises Idris or his relatives: the child is with us in Kabkabiya.”

The length and details of his stay with the abductors were unknown at this time of reporting.

Last December, the 11-year-old son of the deputy of the Chamber of Commerce was kidnapped in Kabkabiya. Abductions are a recurring phenomenon in Kakbabiya, the resident said, pointing to the proliferation of militia groups that use vehicles and motorcycles to patrol the local markets and bring weapons into the neighbourhoods.