Jihadist threat stirs anti-Fulani hostility in Ivory Coast

By Derrick E. Bangura

Jihadist attacks in the northern Ivory Coast have heightened hostility toward the Fulani, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group accused of providing the majority of the raiders.

In Kafolo, a little hamlet near the Burkina Faso border where terrorists have struck twice in less than 18 months, killing 16 troops, tension and distrust is almost palpable.

The army has set up a massive camp at the town’s entrance, and the few visitors are greeted by a watchtower that overlooks the dusty trail that leads to the settlement.

Village head Bamba Tiemoko claimed the first attack in June 2020 had had severe ramifications while sitting in the shadow of a large tree, the air fresh and dry in the early harmattan wind.

“Everyone was terrified – it was the first time something like this had happened to us.” “People stopped going into the fields or going fishing,” he explained.

“Most of those who came and carried out the attacks are Peul. We are wary now.”

“We’re always terrified,” said Lamissa Traore, head of the region’s youth group. “We try not to spend too much time on the fields and return before noon.”

“I don’t go into the fields anymore because I’m frightened of coming across Peuls,” Clarisse Siphoho, secretary of a local women’s association, said, referring to the Fulani’s common name.

“Peul made up the majority of those who arrived and carried out another attack. We’re on the lookout now.”

‘We are very suspicious’

In the absence of claims of responsibility for the Kafolo attacks, the Ivorian authorities have said they were the work of foreign nationals.

More locally the language is veiled, but the finger usually gets pointed at Fulani — semi-nomadic herders who are scattered across several countries in West Africa and often cross the porous border with Burkina Faso to graze their oxen in Ivory Coast.

“We have our eyes on them,” acknowledged a regional official who said the public was being urged to alert the authorities if they spotted anything untoward.

“We are very suspicious when a foreigner arrives in the village. We ask questions about his purpose of travel, his destination and we can take him to the soldiers,” Tiemoko, the village chief, confirmed.

After the June 2020 attack, many Fulani who had been part of the community left overnight.

“There used to be a great brotherhood. But after the attack, there were arrests and the Peuls left,” said Tiemoko.

“If they leave, it’s because they blame themselves for something,” he insisted.

“Because of the attacks, they were afraid of reprisals and left the village,” said Siphoho.

All people contacted by AFP in Kafolo stated that this was not the case, and local sub-prefect Issouf Dao backed up their version of events.

“We embrace the Fulani since they have been here a long time,” Dao remarked. “There’s no issue — but there’s apprehension about Peuls, who we don’t know.”

While the heavy military presence comforted locals, many were disappointed by the assaults’ implications, particularly for tourism in the region, which has been classed as a red zone by most Western nations, limiting visitation to required business visits.

Years of Islamist strikes in the Sahel region to the north of the Ivory Coast have decimated the economy of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.