SOCIETY
CENTRAL AFRICA: Inter-community violence worries.
Inter-communal violence continues to worsen in Central Africa. Since the departure of former president François Bozizé in March 2012, driven out of power by the rebel coalition Séléka, the country is doomed to uncontrollable violence for over 5 years.
Seleka Muslims are opposed to anti-balaka who represent self-defense militias. Because of this internal fratricidal war, the population trapped as if in a vise, is defenseless, they are victims of repeated attacks and killings.
It is since March 2012 when President François Bozizé is ousted by the rebel Séléka coalition that the country has sunk into an unprecedented spiral of violence. The rebels had demands on the negotiating table. They wanted and still want to make their voices heard, including the implementation of the 2008 agreements that provided for their reintegration into the army. They also want more investment for the northern regions, completely neglected by the central government.
Since then, a resurgence of violence due to the clashes of the militias on both sides threatens the internal security of the country. Yet, on June 19, 2017 a glimmer of hope finally emerged for the country and its more than 5 million inhabitants. The signing of a peace agreement in Rome that provided for an immediate ceasefire and the final deposit of arms was signed by all political actors but also by the fourteen armed groups. This historic agreement was intended primarily to bring peace to the country but also to curb the unbridled struggle and violence between communities. Unfortunately, the deal quickly shattered in less than 24 hours.
To fight against this insecurity, which disrupts the socio-economic life of the population, between the end of May and June 2017, the Central African authorities set up a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration program for the disarmament of thousands of rebels involved in the Second World War. that shook the country. 1000 people followed the program. However, this commendable initiative has unfortunately not allowed the total demilitarization of the different rebel groups.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017, yet another deadly attack was committed in the south-east of the country, a region long spared by violence. Civilians are always targeted according to their community or religious affiliation. Cars destroyed, motorcycles burned, churches and mosques looted, all acts of violence that testify to the situation of insecurity in the cities.
A renewed tension more and more disturbing. On Sunday, 22 October 2017, two soldiers from Minusca, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, were killed in the city of Bangassou after firing from the self-defense groups while securing a point of access to water for 2000 civilians displaced by the fighting. 40,000 of the city’s 45,000 inhabitants have been displaced. 90% still have not returned to their homes. A little further in the city of Zemio, 290 kilometers from Bangassou, there is a growing conflict between the Muslim community and the anti-balaka elements. In the city of Bria in the north, the FPRC, a faction of the former Séléka still controls the territory. The turmoil of deadly violence in the cities of Batango, Bria or Bangassou have caused enormous loss of life, caused by massive displacement of people. People who yearn for peace are worried.
There are more than a hundred dead and more than one million displaced, including 600,000 in neighboring countries: Chad, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Cameroon, about 7 million children, including more than 1.5 million in school, do not have a birth certificate. The absence of this essential document for access to education, health and other public services, particularly affects rural areas and the regions of the Far North, Northwest and Southwest. The subject was discussed during the 3rd International Economic Days of Municipalities (JEICOM), held from June 2 to 4, 2025, at the Palais des Congrès in Yaoundé.
A deplorable situation at the moment when Cameroon is celebrating the 5th edition of Children’s Day under the theme “Child-sensitive budgeting and planning: a strategic lever for the promotion and protection of children’s rights”.
Faced with the constant problem of establishing birth certificates in Cameroon, the government, through the National Civil Registry Office (BUNEC), collaborates with partners such as UNICEF or the World Bank in order to provide an effective response to the phenomenon.
In this dynamic, the Bunec provides the town halls with tools to ensure a “compliant and reliable registration of births”. It also supports them in the modernization of the civil status system, including the digitization of registers. UNICEF has enabled some town halls to strengthen their human resources capacities and develop innovative strategies.
Several initiatives were launched, notably the national forum on universal birth registration, organized in April 2024, which brought together mayors, civil status officials, and partners to discuss solutions to the problem.
A violent mutiny broke out this Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at the Maison Pénale de Bouaké in Ivory Coast. While the Prison Administration was conducting a routine search within the establishment, it encountered hostility from the inmates of Building E. According to the prosecutor’s statement, they “were attacking them with the help of clubs, machetes and other blunt objects.” To clear themselves, the agents were forced to carry out warning shots in order to cover their retreat.
Unfortunately, this incident led to a heavy toll: “the death of five (05) detainees is to be deplored. Twenty-nine (29) injured, including six (06) prison officers and twenty-three (23) detainees, were also recorded,” said the public prosecutor. He specifies that the injured were taken care of and a coroner was requested for findings of use in such circumstances.
The rapid intervention of the forces of the Gendarmerie and the National Police allowed to limit the violence and restore order. The search operation then continued without further incidents. She led to the discovery of “several blocks of cannabis, platelets of Tramadol tablets, eighteen (18) mobile phones, including eight (08) smartphones, three (03) grenades, knives etc… strictly prohibited in detention.
The prosecutor recalled that previous excavations had already led to the discovery of bladed weapons
More than 200 people were found dead after the sudden floods that hit the Central West of Nigeria on Thursday, May 29, 2025, announced the humanitarian coordinator of the state of Niger in a new report, Tuesday, June 3. Hundreds of victims are still missing.
The balance sheet is getting heavier. Trapped by sudden floods in west-central Niger, many people were still missing on Tuesday 3 June. The humanitarian coordinator of Niger state said that the death toll now exceeds 200, while hundreds of people are still missing.
“We have more than 200 bodies,” Ahmad Suleiman told Channels Television. “No one can say at the moment how many deaths there are in the state of Niger because we are still looking for other bodies,” he added.
The research continues
“We continue to search but sincerely, we cannot be sure of anything,” he added. Many victims were counted in Mokwa, the most affected agglomeration and a neighborhood of which was wiped out within hours Thursday by flood waters from the Niger River. Since then, volunteers and rescue teams have been combing the area under an overwhelming heat, sometimes finding bodies up to 10 kilometers away.
The coordinator’s announcement comes after the official toll remained stuck at 150 deaths, although some residents deplore the loss of more than a dozen family members.
Fifteen of the 36 states in Nigeria had been placed on flood alert a few days before the disaster. Climate change amplifies extreme weather events in Nigeria but for the people of Mokwa, the tragedy is also linked to human failures. In Mokwa, muddy waters swept away hundreds of houses in the town, including the lack of maintenance of the nozzles designed to evacuate floodwaters, which were clogged with debris on the day of the flood.
The death toll could exceed the 321 deaths from the floods that occurred in 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states in 2024. The Nigerian government claims to have provided aid, but on the spot, the inhabitants feel left to themselves and several families said they had received nothing.
Source: la-croix.com/ Photo credit: TV5
