APA – Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) The Burkinabe authorities have yet to comment on the arrest of the Ivorian gendarmes.
On Tuesday 19 September 2023, Burkinabe soldiers arrested two Ivorian gendarmes who were at a gold panning site on the Ivorian-Burkinabe border, according to a message exchanged between the Ivorian authorities, a copy of which has been obtained by APA.
The message refers to “the arrest and detention in Burkina Faso of two gendarmes from the Bouna gendarmerie squadron, apprehended at a clandestine gold panning site called Kouame Ya, since Tuesday 19 September 2023.”
According to Burkina Faso security sources, the two men in question are MDC Konan Yao Toussaint and Kesse Mah Stephane, who belong to the Bouna gendarmerie squadron.
According to them, they gave different versions of the reason for their presence at the gold panning site.
However, the authorities in both countries are in talks to secure the release of the gendarmes detained in Ouagadougou.
“Mediation involving the sub-prefect of Danoa and the commander of the Bouna gendarmerie squadron is underway to secure the release of the detainees, who were transferred to Ouagadougou on Wednesday 20 September 2023,” the message states.
In Burkina Faso, social networks are awash with comments reminiscent of the scenario in Mali, where 46 Ivorian soldiers were arrested in July 2022, accused of being mercenaries by the Malian authorities.
Au cours d’un procès expéditif, ils avaient alors été condamnés à 20 ans de réclusion criminelle et à deux millions F CFA avant d’être graciés par le colonel Assimi Goita et libérés.
SD/te/fss/abj/APA