AfricaNews-Chad's Public Security Minister, Ahmat Mahamat Bashir, has banned the use of Land Cruiser pick-ups and reserved them "exclusively for military use," in a press statement on Tuesday following their frequent use by rebel forces to oppose the government of President Idriss Deby."Any ownership of an all-terrain Land Cruiser pick-up is banned across the territory except those owned by the administration, by NGOs, by diplomats and by traditional chiefs," he said."This decision stems from a choice made by the government to consider this type of truck as a vehicle reserved exclusively for military use and related purposes.”According to SAPA, owners of such pick-ups are required to "deliver them to the administrative authorities" so that an "ad hoc commission (can make) an evaluation of the worth of the vehicles and pay compensation to owners who have proved their rightful claim."Land Cruiser pick-up is quite common in Chad and are often used by rebel groups when they make their offensives. The last clashes were in May and involved a force, the Popular Front for National Renaissance (PFNR) that operates inside the country.
Ndjamena residents are however graved with the government’s decision and the president of the Chadian Association to Support Prisoners, Jean Bebegue has added his voice to the call saying, “everybody knows that these vehicles are used by the security forces and the rebels. If the government expects by this means to stop rebellion and insecurity, it is wrong."For Honore Ngounlao, an agronomist, "the government should rather seize Toyota Land Cruisers without registration plates, which certain men in military uniform use for other means.""This decision is arbitrary and unfair," said Didier Nouba, a teacher. "The people who made this vehicle did not say that it should be used exclusively by the military."The government has been working to resume talks with other groups that are based across the border in western Sudan.
