Five students, three of them from the same family, were abducted Friday morning in Bois-Verna, between Caméléon and Dufort streets, in the Lalue area of downtown Port-au-Prince. This mass kidnapping, occurring in the midst of the school year, adds to a series of abductions affecting every social class. Neither the PNH, nor the Gang Suppression Force, nor the Superior Council of the National Police appear capable of curbing the phenomenon.
According to several local media outlets, the students were intercepted by armed individuals as they were leaving their home. The kidnappers forced them into a vehicle before quickly disappearing from the area. So far, no information has emerged about the identity of the kidnappers, the motive behind the mass kidnapping, or the conditions in which the five children are being held. Their families remain without news.
This mass kidnapping comes just two weeks after authorities announced a special security plan for the 2026-2027 school year. The government had promised to mobilize 10,750 police officers across the country to protect students, teachers, and schools. On the ground, that promise has not translated into effective security along school routes, particularly in the metropolitan area, where daily commutes to school expose students and parents to the risk of kidnapping.
A multiplication of cases in just a few weeks
This mass kidnapping is not an isolated act. It is part of a dramatic surge in abductions in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. On September 9, two other students had already been kidnapped in Delmas 75 while on their way to school. Their driver was also taken by the kidnappers.
The list of victims keeps growing and now spans every layer of society. Also on September 9, journalist Wesly Renaud Jean was abducted in Delmas 31. On September 7, lawyer Caleb Jean-Baptiste and the Director General of ONAPE, Stéphanie Paultre, were kidnapped in Gros-Morne by armed individuals described as members of the “Kokorat San Ras” coalition. More than three months ago, it was James Boyard, Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defense and a recognized figure in the security sector, who was abducted in Bourdon, considered one of the safest neighborhoods in the capital.
Students, journalists, lawyers, public administration officials, senior state officials: no one is spared. Families live in terror, and daily commutes, especially school routes, have become high-risk journeys.
The PNH and the FRG under fire
Faced with this escalation, the inaction of law enforcement is being increasingly openly denounced. The Haitian National Police (PNH), despite the staffing announced for the school year, is unable to secure the routes used by students or prevent kidnappings. Search and rescue operations for victims remain rare, often late, and rarely successful.
The Gang Suppression Force (FRG), deployed since May 2026, remains barely visible on the ground. Several months after its deployment, its contribution to security operations remains difficult to identify. In the matter of kidnappings, its role is practically nonexistent in the eyes of the population.
This situation echoes the findings of the RNDDH in its September 16, 2026 report on the Kenscoff massacres. The organization already denounced “the passivity and lethargy of the Superior Council of the National Police,” “the disinterest displayed by the PNH high command,” and “the barely perceptible presence” of the Gang Suppression Force.
The deafening silence of the CSPN
At the heart of this apparatus, the Superior Council of the National Police (CSPN) stands out for its silence. Chaired by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who serves as the highest executive authority in security matters, the CSPN has issued no substantive statement on the wave of kidnappings sweeping the country for several weeks.
No press conference. No emergency plan announced. No communication with the families of victims. The contrast is all the more striking given that, at the same time, the government is multiplying declarations about election preparations and the need to “create the conditions” for a peaceful vote.
The RNDDH, in its report on Kenscoff, had already noted that the CSPN president, Prime Minister Fils-Aimé, was “the highest current executive authority” and that, despite this role, “the fundamental rights of the population are continually violated without this seeming to disturb the sleep of the members of the Superior Council of the National Police.”
An electoral context that overshadows the security emergency
The multiplication of kidnappings comes amid a political context dominated by electoral preparations. The CSPN held a meeting on September 17, 2026, on the eve of the abduction of the five students in Bois-Verna, to announce the launch of a “new phase of territorial reconquest,” with the stated goal of “creating the necessary conditions for the holding of the next elections.”
This priority given to the electoral calendar worries the population. For many observers, the security of citizens appears to have been relegated to the background, subordinated to the political imperatives of the moment. Yet how can credible and inclusive elections be envisioned in a country where children are kidnapped on their way to school, where journalists are abducted in broad daylight, and where state officials themselves are targets?
In Bois-Verna, as in Delmas, Bourdon, or Gros-Morne, the population feels abandoned to its fate. The families of the five students abducted Friday are waiting for news, without any official communication from the authorities. Parents hesitate to send their children to school. Professionals in the press and legal fields wonder if they will be next on the list.
