Issa Palkoubou, a teacher in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena, was released on the morning of May 21, 2009. He was weak and sick and did not know why he had been detained. He had not been seen since he was abducted on September 3, 2008 at the American Language Center in N'djamena, where he teaches English. He was abducted by three men in plain clothes. When challenged, Issa Palkoubou's abductors refused to show any identification. He is now known to have been held in a cell run by the security services in N'Djamena. Issa Palkoubou's enforced disappearance fits a pattern of similar cases in Chad, where people not known to be members of any particular political party are abducted.