By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Leader of the Burkina Faso military junta, Captain Ibrahim Traoré has announced the sack of chief of the country’s police.
Lieutenant-Colonel Évrard Somda was sacked on Wednesday, a week after four officers, including two of his former close associates, were arrested on alleged involvement in a “plot against state security”.
He has been replaced as head of the country’s national police by Lieutenant-Colonel Kouagri Natama, a presidential decree consulted by AFP had noted.
“Lieutenant-Colonel Major Natama Kouagri of the national armed forces has been appointed Chief of Staff of the national gendarmerie,” said the decree, signed by Captain Ibrahim Traoré.
Before his appointment, Lieutenant-Colonel Kouagri Natama, was the commander of the first police region.
He had equally headed the departmental unit of the police in Kaya (North), the region where the regiment of Captain Ibrahim Traoré was based.
Traoré seized power in a coup d’état on 30 September, 2022.
Evrard Somda, a former commander of the national police special units, had been in post since February 2022.
A respected officer, he was weakened last week by the arrest of four officers, including two commanders of special gendarmerie units, on suspicion of involvement in a “plot against state security”, according to the government.
On Friday, in an interview on public television, Captain Ibrahim Traoré denied rumours that the gendarmerie had been dismantled.
