N'DJAMENA — This past Wednesday, on June 16, a dual-national Swiss and
British Oxfam aid worker arrived in the Chad capital Wednesday after
being freed by troops from nine days' captivity at the hands of
kidnappers he said held him in the dark.
Hubert Ballaman, 57, arrived in N'Djamena on a government-chartered
plane a day after he was freed by soldiers from a joint Chadian and
Sudanese force which stormed the kidnappers' village hideout near the
border with Sudan.
Ballaman was captured on June 6 in Abeche, the main city in volatile
eastern Chad where several aid groups and UN agencies work with hundreds
of thousands of displaced people and refugees from the brutal conflict
in Darfur.
"I was locked up all day in a small room and they let me out at night,"
Ballaman told AFP on the plane from Abeche.
"I did not see daylight for eight days. I had no outside contact. When I
asked to contact Oxfam, they stopped me," he said.
Ballaman, who had an emotional reunion with his wife, said he did not
know who had seized him. Authorities said they had arrested two of the
kidnappers but did not day who they were.
"I was not hurt, I was well treated. I am relieved but very tired," he said.
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Thank you SO much for praying for Mr. Hubert Ballaman during his
captivity! As we learn of further needs to pray for Chad, we will let
you know...
