Africa-Press. Last week, bulldozers and excavators destroyed homes and businesses in a neighborhood of the Koumassi municipality in Abidjan, following orders from a man named Jack Bro, who appeared in a video waving a document he claims grants him permission to demolish about 34 hectares of the area, accompanied by security forces, according to a local source.
A week after the demolition, only piles of rubble, broken metal roofs, and shattered furniture remained, leaving residents in a state of destitution. One resident and father of five, who now sleeps on the floor of a mosque after his home was demolished overnight, recounted: “It was a huge shock for us, we were surprised, we didn’t know what to do, and we were not informed of anything. When I returned to get the television, security forces prevented me from entering, so we left and left everything behind because we didn’t know how to react.”
Dozens of families found shelter in a government school, with the help of a group of young volunteers who are collecting donations and responding to the needs of families daily. Musa Dembélé, one of the heads of families, stated: “The children are scattered; we tried to leave them with relatives, some are here and some are there, while my wife and I are living in the open air.”
Mango Touré, head of the crisis cell monitoring the case of the affected, explained that “184 affected individuals are registered with us, and the priority is to find temporary shelter and relocate these families to other homes.”
Meanwhile, the public prosecutor in Abidjan has opened an investigation into the incident, confirming that “the court decision on which Jack Bro relies does not authorize any demolition of buildings,” noting that the demolition request submitted by Bro himself concerned only five houses, which the court rejected. The prosecutor described the events as “a breach of public order and acts of violence and deliberate destruction of others’ property.” An order was issued for his arrest, and he remains at large.
The revelations from the prosecutor have sparked anger among civil society and political parties. Charles Ble Goudé, head of the African People’s Congress for Justice and Equality, questioned: “Bro went accompanied by security forces; who assigned them this task?” He announced that he has hired a lawyer to pursue legal action on behalf of the affected, aiming to obtain moral and material compensation for the damages.
For its part, the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire, led by Tidjane Thiam, found it hard to believe that such a large-scale operation could have been carried out by one person, questioning the logistical means used in the demolitions, especially the heavy machinery and security presence observed at the site, and called for identifying potential administrative or political responsibilities in the case.
This incident comes at a time when authorities in the independent district of Abidjan are carrying out a series of demolitions of informal neighborhoods in recent days due to the risks associated with the rainy season and the resulting collapses in these areas.
