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Burkina Faso Soldiers Protest Prison Sentence, Injuring 10, Ministry Says
Ten people were injured after soldiers at a military base in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, protested against a court decision to sentence officers involved in a dispute to prison, according to the Defense Ministry.
Several businesses were ransacked during yesterday’s demonstration, Moussa Cisse, communication and press director of the ministry, said in a statement read on state-owned radio and television.
The ministry is in talks with the protesters to “normalize the situation,” Cisse said. Five soldiers were sentenced to jail terms March 22 following a dispute with civilians last month.
The Dakar-based West African Central Bank’s office in Ouagadougou did not open today amid concerns over security following the protests, said Issouf Sawadogo, head of the institution’s communication office in Burkina Faso.
“We’ll wait to see how the situation evolves” to decide on whether to reopen, he said by phone. Some commercial lenders also closed when they were unable to access money from the central bank office, he said.
Ouagadougou’s main market was also closed following the protests, said Seydou Zangre, president a network of shopkeepers’ associations. The Gounghin district of the city where the demonstrations took place was calm today.
To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Gongo in Ouagadougou via Accra at ebowers1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net.
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