The markets are closed and there is no more weekly fair. The supply of the villages of Kouakourou, Toguéré Coumbé and Dialloubé is done under army escort.
It is Thursday, the day of the weekly fair of Mopti, capital town of the fifth administrative region. In the city center, the streets and alleys are crowded. A little further, on the banks of the Niger River, merchants from wihin the region sell and buy various items under a blazing sun. The exchanges or communications are mainly in Fulani, Bozo, Sonraï and Bambara. Behind this melting pot, hides a real worry in some people. Especially, those from Kouakourou, Toguéré Coumbé and Dialloubé. These three villages are surrounded by terrorist groups who accuse their inhabitants of collaborating with the Malian State.
For more than a year, soldiers have taken positions in these different localities. The armed groups accuse the people of having called the Malian soldiers. That’s why they don’t hesitate to kidnap or even kill people who dare to venture into these areas. There, the markets are closed and there is no more weekly fair. “It is impossible today to go fishing on the river when you are from Kouakourou”, says a young fisherman who we will name by his initials A. T.
“We just want to be free from this embargo …”
A native of Kouakourou, he comes from a fishing family. Each year, they operate along the river. But since two years, A. T. is forced to leave fishing to become a fuel seller in the city of Mopti. Today, he has rented his canoes because of the situation prevailing on-site. He can no longer go to his native village, nor travel on the Niger River. As part of our story, A. T. takes us to one of his relatives. Aged 53, Sidi (assumed name) arrived in Mopti in 2017 and has no longer returned to his village in Kouakourou. “We just want to be able to free ourselves from this unjust embargo and join our family …” he says. And to add: “Even if I want to send a bag of rice to the village, no canoe owner will risk his life to transport it”.
Abuses by armed groups are intensifying in the center of the country, forcing people to flee. On the banks of the river, more precisely in Mopti-Hindé, a neighborhood of Komoguel 2, about twenty Bozo women recount their ordeal. They witnessed the kidnapping of their own husbands and children by terrorists around Kouakourou. “We can’t talk about forgiveness as long as our loved ones are detained”, a woman told Sahelien.com correspondent. Her husband and son are among those kidnapped. And to continue that they were forced to abandon the canoes to take refuge in a neighboring village. With the help of the villagers, they arrived in the city. “Since then, it is the inhabitants of Mopti-Hindé who are taking care of us. We only once received help from the governor”, she said.
Sahelien.com