“What happened in Dabou, Daoukro, Bonoua… It could happen here. It quickly ignites ”, launches the former prefect of Abidjan Vincent Toh Bi, to the inhabitants of the Boussangadougou slum in the economic capital of Côte d’Ivoire, where Ivorians of all ethnicities and many foreigners live together.
The violence linked to the October 31 presidential election, which saw the re-election of President Alassane Ouattara for a controversial third term, has degenerated into intercommunal clashes in several towns in Côte d’Ivoire, killing some 40 people since the month of ‘August.
“We are in a situation of extreme volatility. The key word is anticipation. When there is a crisis, the first victims are in precarious neighborhoods. That doesn’t happen in Cocody-Golf ”, an upscale neighborhood of Abijan, explains Mr. Toh Bi, in front of about fifty people from Boussangadougou, a normally unbuildable area, in lowlands threatened by floods and landslides .
Here the tangled houses are made of wood and tin, many have been covered with black plastic bags in this season when thunderstorms are abundant. Residents weave their way through a muddy maze.
Surrounded by a retired commissioner, a village chief, a blogger and a lawyer, the former prefect, who launched a “citizen platform” “Aube Nouvelle”, travels for meetings in high-risk neighborhoods with the aim of avoiding conflagrations.
He organizes a first game of “cordless telephone” by whispering a phrase in the ear of a resident who repeats it to the next, and so on. At the beginning, Mr. Toh Bi said, “What he just did is not normal.” Upon arrival, the sentence that the last interlocutor understood is: “This gentleman, I will finish with him”.
All Africans
The inhabitants exclaim in front of such a difference. “This is for 22 people! Imagine for a city, for 24 million Ivorians, for a few million on Facebook or social networks! », Continues the former prefect. “If there are some who say we are going to kill you, what are you going to do?” Believe them? “
A young Burkinabè gardener looks amused: “It’s good. It gives us ideas. We are afraid of violence ”.
Aicha Touré, 24, whose family is from the north of Côte d’Ivoire, thinks of her two children and recalls the post-election crisis of 2010-11, which left 3,000 dead.
“2010, it really traumatized us. It scares me a little. At least without children you can run, but with children it is difficult. I always pray to God to protect this neighborhood, ”she explains.
She says that her brother-in-law was almost attacked with a machete at a roadblock in the Agni country (an ethnic group favorable to the opposition) because he is Burkinabè, therefore deemed to be favorable to the power of President Ouattara, who is coming from northern Côte d’Ivoire.
“But here in Boussangadougou, it’s like a family. There is no ethnic group here. There is no point in saying you are Burkinabe, he is something. Here we are the same. We are all Africans! », She concludes.
“I was born here”, says Maré Madi, of Bété ethnicity, waiter, “There are all kinds of communities here. It’s like a village. There is no conflict. We are afraid that violence will happen here, that’s why we always stay in communication, ”he explains, ensuring that he does not listen to politicians.
“You have to communicate. Always, ”concludes Mr. Toh Bi. “It can go very quickly one way or the other. But, by discussing, we solve the problems ”.
“We told young people not to set foot in there (politics), assures Christophe Gouba, spokesperson for the village chief. “Boussandougouou is one and the same calabash. We’re all part of the calabash. You must not break your calabash ””.