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Transcript/Script
IVORY COAST SECURITY MILITIAS (TVPKG)
HEADLINE: Northern Ivory Coast: Militias Supplement Security as Further Instability Looms
TEASER: Analysts Warn Rule of Law and Intercommunal Tensions Could Cause Further Conflict
PUBLISHED AT: 4/5/2022 at 6:01 p.m.
BYLINE: Henry Wilkins
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Korhogo, Ivory Coast
VIDEOGRAPHER: Henry Wilkins
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:49
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) [[In remote areas of northern Ivory Coast, militiamen known as Dozos are supplementing state security amid the threat of further instability. Analysts warn a weak rule of law and intercommunal tensions could lead to increased tensions. Groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida based in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali have carried out attacks in Ivory Coast multiple times in the last two years. Henry Wilkins reports from Korhogo.]]
((NARRATOR))
In the north of Ivory Coast, local militiamen called Dozos help the state provide security. Unlike the nation's prosperous south, development, security and rule of law have struggled to reach here. In
Armed groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida already wreak havoc less than a hundred kilometers away, over the country’s northern border in Burkina Faso and Mali. As they begin to attack and try to recruit in Ivory Coast, Ivorian analysts say many of the conditions that caused conflict in Burkina Faso and Mali are present here: lack of state security, development, and intercommunal tensions.
One Dozo, who gave his name only as Sekongo, said violence and crime led the militias to organize and supplement state security.
((Sekongo, Dozo Militiaman (in French, ?? secs)))
“The rangers, the police, the gendarmerie, we work with all of them. Often, they call us and tell us to join them on missions together and they congratulate us for it.”
((NARRATOR))
In Burkina Faso and Mali, militia groups also emerged in areas now overrun by terror groups, where state control was weak.
Bakary Ouattara runs the chapter of the Dozos in Korhogo, a major city in the Ivorian north.
((Bakary Ouattara, Chief of Korhogo Dozos (in French, ?? secs)))
“The government does not have enough resources to install security forces in the smaller villages, especially those that are 25, 50, and 60 kilometers away from the gendarmerie or the police station. Imagine if the population is attacked, by the time the police arrive and intervene, the attackers will already have left.”
((NARRATOR))
He added that security in the region remains good, however.
Traditional leaders in the north also supplement justice and the rule of law by arbitrating disputes.
((Issa Coulibaly, Korhogo Traditional Leader (in French, ?? secs)))
“When they have a problem that goes beyond them, they turn to me.”
((NARRATOR))
The traditional leader also says development in the north has improved in recent years, although the majority of those living outside of big towns or cities interviewed by VOA disagreed.
Another major cause of the conflict in neighboring countries is tension between herder and farmer communities which one analyst says is also a problem in Ivory Coast.
((Lassina Diara, Timbuktu Institute Analyst (in French, ?? secs)))
“The lack of cohesion between these Fulani communities and other communities, I have not yet seen a very strong action on the part of the state.”
((NARRATOR))
But, Arthur Ranga, who advises the government on the security situation in the north, played down the issue…
((Arthur Ranga, Military Historian at Félix Houphouët Boigny University (in French, ?? secs)))
“So, there is concern, but there is no exodus or displacement yet, because so far the government has been able to give a good military response and is also trying to build a social response.”
((NARRATOR))
The Ivorian Ministry of Security did not respond to an interview request by VOA.
((Henry Wilkins for VOA News, Korhogo, Ivory Coast))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Korhogo, Ivory Coast
Embargo DateApril 5, 2022 20:40 EDT
Byline
((Henry Wilkins for VOA News, Korhogo, Ivory Coast))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
