In a Burkinabe locality bordering Côte d’Ivoire, two Ivorian gendarmes who were present at an illegal gold mining site in Burkinabe territory were arrested on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, according to a message exchanged among Ivorian authorities.
On Tuesday, September 19, 2023, two Ivorian gendarmes were captured at an illegal gold mining site in Burkina Faso, as per a message that leaked on social media, allegedly originating from internal sources within Ivorian security forces. The clandestine gold mining site, known as “Kouamé Ya,” is situated in a village on the Ivorian-Burkinabe border.
The leaked message from authorities reports the “arrest and detention in Burkina Faso of two gendarmes from the Bouna gendarmerie squadron, apprehended at an illegal gold mining site called Kouamé Ya since Tuesday, September 19, 2023.” According to Burkinabe security sources, the gendarmes are identified as MDC Konan Yao Toussaint and Kessé Mah Stéphane, belonging to the Bouna gendarmerie squadron in the Bounkani region, located in the northeastern part of Côte d’Ivoire, bordering Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Burkinabe authorities state that the soldiers provided different accounts regarding the purpose of their presence at the gold mining site. However, authorities from both countries are in talks to secure the release of the gendarmes held in Ouagadougou. The message specifies, “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, September 20, 2023.”
This incident recalls a similar one in March 2023, when three Ivorian policemen were apprehended in the border area between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso by traditional Dozo hunters.
