Political Violence Paralyzes Abidjan

Protests erupted on the streets of Abidjan October 24 following uncertainty over the results of the country’s October 22 presidential elections. Government soldiers and police clashed with unarmed demonstrators, leaving an estimated 200 people dead since the violence began eight days ago. G. Boakye-Dankwa, a Seventh-day Adventist Church leader in the region, says that hundreds of thousands of the city’s residents crowded into the downtown area and, at the height of the rioting, gun shots and grenades could be heard in the streets.

Two days after the first wave of protests began, the streets had almost returned to normal, except for some “sporadic gun shots or heavy artillery,” reported Jean-Emmanuel Nlo Nlo, communication director for the Adventist Church in the region (known as the Africa-Indian Ocean Division (AID)). The building that houses the church’s headquarters, located 100 yards from the presidential palace, the site of the largest protest, was closed. Violence again broke out on October 26, lasting another 24 hours.

AID personnel, due to fly from Abidjan to Ghana on October 26 for a division-wide meeting, were delayed until the street protests subsided.  Office staff at the church headquarters returned to work this week.

The protests were sparked when political opposition leader Laurent Gbagbo contested the results of the October 22 election after the incumbent military leader, General Robert Guei, declared himself the winner.  Guei seized power in Cote d’Ivoire in a December 1999 military coup.  After promising free and fair elections, Guei was accused of tampering with the electoral process, dissolving the country’s electoral commission when early election results indicated a swing towards the civilian candidate, Gbagbo.  Gbagbo has since been inaugurated as president and Guei has fled the country.

There are some 7,000 Adventist Church members in Cote d’Ivoire, many of them in the capital, Abidjan.