IVORY COAST :BOUAKE MUTINY LINKED TO GREED

IVORY COAST :BOUAKE MUTINY LINKED TO GREED
BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU[LAGOS/NIGERIA],TAMASIN  FORD IN [ BOUAKE/IVORY COAST]

 RENEGADES IN BOUAKE AS AT PRESS TIME

Militant elements from the Former President Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast also known in French as Cote D’ Ivoire who were absorbed into the  Ivorian  Army shortly after the civil war  ended have being fingered as those linked to the recent shoot out incident that engulfed Bouake,Cote’D Ivoire ‘s second largest city.

In his submissions to The News office Desk of Paedia Express Multimedia  Group in Lagos,Nigeria during a chat ,a key public affairs commentator on African affairs said that what the Ivory Coast was experiencing  was a normal graphical curve in the life of militants globally.

He revealed that since the soldiers as militants were used to been pampered before they joined the army ,they will find it very difficult to cope when their salaries were not paid in time .

He cited the example of various groups of Niger Delta militants who held Nigerian government officials hostage when they were no longer getting any cash during the amnesty programme and as such concluded that they had the same trait globally.

The mutineers helped the president take office in 2011. The former rebels make up about 8,400 of Ivory Coast's 22,000-strong army.

Announcing the putative deal, Mr Donwahi said: "After talks, an agreement has been reached on ways of ending the crisis

"As a result, we appeal to all soldiers to free up the corridors (town entrances), return to barracks and respect peace".

Rejecting the latest government announcement, two spokesmen for the rebel soldiers told Reuters they wanted more money.

One, Sgt Seydou Kone said: "They proposed five million CFA francs (each) to be paid shortly. But we want seven million to be paid in one payment and immediately."

It is unclear how many of the soldiers the men are representing.

Pro-government forces had backed off from advancing towards Bouaké, the epicentre of the mutiny, apparently because they want to avoid a fight, the BBC's Tamasin Ford reported earlier from Abidjan.

On Sunday, armed forces' chief of staff General Sékou Touré vowed to end the mutiny, but the mutineers said they would fight back if loyalist troops intervened.

Mutineers at the army headquarters in Abidjan's financial district, near the presidential palace, had been shooting in the air, forcing schools and offices to shut, our reporter says.

Gunfire was also heard at the Akouédo barracks, in a suburb where many middle-class Ivorians and expatriates live, she said .

Pro-government forces responded by closing roads in the city, while French troops were deployed to guard French-owned transport firm Bolloré, a major investor in Ivory Coast.

Sustained gunfire also broke out at the entrance and centre of Bouaké, which for many years was the main rebel-held city.

One person was killed by a stray bullet on Sunday after mutinous troops seized control of Bouaké.

Other areas hit by unrest include San Pedro, the biggest cocoa exporting city in the world, and Daloa, a major trading hub in Ivory Coast's cocoa belt.

Cocoa is the West African state's main foreign currency earner.

The mutiny has raised fears of a resurgence of the violence seen during Ivory Coast's 10-year civil war, which ended in 2011.

Pro-Ouattara forces from Bouaké swept into Abidjan at the time, helping Mr Ouattara take office after his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept defeat in elections.

Many of the rebels were rewarded for their backing by being given jobs in the army.

EDITORS FOOTNOTE;

Additional report from the British Broadcasting Corporation[B.B.C],Reuters news agency