The verdict has been handed down for the 24 suspects arrested during the joint police operation known as “Nawa 2” on May 6-7 in the department of Soubré. This police operation was led by the Sub-Directorate of the Criminal Police in charge of combating child trafficking and juvenile delinquency (SDLTEDJ) in partnership with the National Committee for the Monitoring of Actions to Combat Trafficking, Exploitation, and Child Labor (CNS), resulted in the rescue of 63 children and the arrest of 24 individuals suspected of trafficking and exploiting child labor on cocoa plantations and in other forms of activity after a 48-hour manhunt and investigation in the Nawa region.
On Tuesday, May 18, 2021, nearly two (02) weeks after the operation, the Ivorian courts ruled on the 24 people arrested during this police operation. And as Mr. Alexandre Koné, the prosecutor of the Soubré Court, had suggested on May 7, it is now time for zero tolerance.
Six individuals suspected of child trafficking on cocoa plantations were sentenced on the evening of Tuesday, May 18, 2021, at the Soubré Court to 20 years in prison. The young Nounfo's unscrupulous uncle is among those convicted by the court. Young Nounfo was found by a police patrol in a cocoa plantation near Buyo. He had arrived in Côte d'Ivoire with his father at the age of 13. Seventeen other people were sentenced to five years in prison and two people were acquitted due to lack of evidence against them.
Six (06) individuals, namely OUEDRAOGO Idriss, 18 years old, from Burkina Faso, FOFANA Ali, 45 years old, from Côte d'Ivoire, KOUAME Yao Gérard, 28 years old, from Côte d'Ivoire, GANAME Amadé, 60 years old, from Burkina Faso, SAWADOGO Tasseré Kouda, 28 years old, from Burkina Faso, BANCE Moumouni, 55, from Burkina Faso, charged with human trafficking and tried under summary proceedings before the Criminal Court of SOUBRE on May 18, 2021.
According to Articles 3, 4-3° and 4°, 5, 6, 7-1°, 9, and 11 of Law No. 2016-1111 of December 8, 2016, relating to human trafficking, during the month of May 2021; The Public Prosecutor's Office requested the dismissal of GANAME Amadé from the proceedings for unproven charges and the sentencing of the six (06) others to twenty (20) years' imprisonment and a fine of 50,000,000 francs, additional penalties and costs. The Court effectively followed the Public Prosecutor's Office in dismissing the case against GANAME Amadé for unproven charges and sentencing OUEDRAOGO Idriss, FOFANA Ali, KOUAME Yao Gérard, SAWADOGO Tasseré Kouda, and BANCE Moumouni to twenty (20) years' imprisonment and a fine of 50,000,000 francs each, 10 years' deprivation of the rights provided for in Article 68 of the Criminal Code, a five-year ban on appearing in public and a ban from the territory of the Republic, the publication of the decision in a legal gazette at the expense of the convicted persons, as well as costs," explained Mr. Koné Alexandre, Prosecutor of the Soubré Court, following these convictions.
Regarding the 17 other individuals sentenced to five years in prison, the prosecutor also provided some insight. "Eighteen (18) people, namely BELEM Karim, 25, from Burkina Faso, KOUASSI Eric, 26, from Côte d'Ivoire, BELEM Sayouba, 46, from Burkina Faso, OUESSENI Diarra, 31, from Burkina Faso, NALOURGO Yéo, 41, from Côte d'Ivoire, OUEDRAOGO Salif, 23, from Burkina Faso, ZEBRET Ayouba, 31, from Burkina Faso, LOUA Anicet, 41, from Côte d'Ivoire, CAMARA Amara, 44, from Côte d'Ivoire, TRAORE Mohamed, 33, from Côte d'Ivoire, TRAORE Lamine, 35, Ivorian, BEBANE Yacouba, 54, Ivorian, KOUAME Konan Thierry, 31, Ivorian, DAGNOGO Ibrahim, 20, Ivorian, SAWADOGO Wendpouiré, Burkinabe, SAWADOGO Hado Boureima, 51, Burkinabe, COULIBALY Bah Siaka, 38, Ivorian, DIOMANDE Tiémoko Modeste, 27, Ivorian, charged with dangerous child labor during the month of May 2021 and tried under summary proceedings before the Criminal Court of SOUBRE on May 18, 2021.
According to Article 433 of the Penal Code relating to dangerous child labor, during the month of May 2021; The Public Prosecutor's Office requested the dismissal of KOUAME Konan Thierry from the proceedings for unproven charges and the sentencing of the seventeen others to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 1,000,000 francs, as well as costs. The court followed the Public Prosecutor's Office's recommendation by dismissing the case against KOUAME Konan Thierry for unproven charges and sentencing BELEM Karim, KOUASSI Eric, BELEM Sayouba, OUESSENI Diarra, NALOURGO Yéo, OUEDRAOGO Salif, ZEBRET Ayouba, LOUA Anicet, CAMARA Amara, TRAORE Mohamed, TRAORE Lamine, BEBANE Yacouba, DAGNOGO Ibrahim, SAWADOGO Wendpouiré, SAWADOGO Hado Boureima, COULIBALY Bah Siaka, and DIOMANDE Tiémoko Modeste to five (05) years' imprisonment and a fine of 1,000,000 francs each, as well as costs. In total, of the twenty-four (24) people prosecuted, two (02) were released for lack of evidence and twenty-two (22) were convicted," he said.
This sentence brings to 23 the total number of people convicted in the last two months in Soubre for child trafficking and exploitation.This sends a strong message from the Ivorian authorities to traffickers and exploiters of child labor in cocoa production. The time has come for crackdowns.
It should be noted that the “Nawa 2” police operation was launched following “Bia 1” and “Bia 2” in 2011, “Nawa 1” in 2014, and “Bia 3” in 2020. It mobilized a total of around 100 members of the Defense and Security Forces, including the police, gendarmerie, water and forestry authorities, Interpol, UTC, and civilians. The children rescued from traffickers and exploiters were placed in the care of the Soubré Children's Reception Center, a center built by the Children Of Africa Foundation of Mrs. Dominique Ouattara.