Sadiq al-Kabir, governor of the Central Bank of Libya, said he and other senior bank staff have been forced to leave the country to “protect our lives,“ fearing attacks by armed militia, according to a Friday media report.

“Militias are threatening and terrifying bank staff and are sometimes abducting their children and relatives to force them to go to work,” Kabir told the Financial Times by telephone. 

The report did not reveal to which country Kabir and the senior bank staff had fled.

Libya is Africa’s biggest oil producer, in July pumping almost 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd). The Central Bank, which controls billions of dollars of state oil revenue and operates independently of the Tripoli-based government, has been in crisis for more than a week, after its head of IT, Musab Msallem, was kidnapped from his house by an unidentified group on Aug. 18. The bank, whose main branch is located in the capital, suspended all operations in response, and Msallem was released several hours later. US special envoy to Libya Richard Norland described the abduction as an attempt to get Kabir to step down.