The 13 people arrested during a proscribed march over the shortage of gas in Chad were Friday paraded at a court in the capital N’Djamena for a hearing that was eventually cancelled but two women stole the limelight from the drama.
Two young women among those arrested have been setting social media abuzz.
Novelist Zenaba Dinguest and former radio host Racky Diallo, are being presented as the heroic faces behind the protests.
Despite a ban on any planned march, the pair ladies defied the authorities to lead a group of artists determined to express their dissatisfaction on the streets near the National Assembly in Gassi, a district of the Chadian capital.
“I will go out, I will demonstrate,” Zenaba Dinguest wrote on her Facebook page before the march and she was true to her words hours later.
Many Chadian internet users consider Zenaba and Racky as heroines, even comparable to the young Sudanese woman, Alaa Salah who galvanized the crowds during the Sudanese demonstrations that led to President Omar al-Bashir’s ouster.
“Zenaba Dinguess aka Zenab Orti and Racky Diallo have just followed in the footsteps of Alaa Salah,” wrote one user.
AHD/te/pn/as/APA