The people of Divo expressed, on Thursday June 17, 2021, their joy at seeing the former President of the Republic, Laurent Gbagbo, return to Côte d’Ivoire after ten years of absence.

Questioned by the AIP, most of them wanted this return to be a factor in strengthening reconciliation between all Ivorians.

In the Bada, Boudoukou and Dioulabougou districts, reactions are mostly the same. A relief for some and a great joy for others.

“I am very happy for the arrival of President Laurent Gbagbo and I have a message of reconciliation. We want peace, love, no war ”, declared Dago Jean-Pierre, resident of the Bada district, who had just followed this arrival live on an international television channel.

No demonstration on the main roads of the city of Divo but some supporters have erected tarpaulins to celebrate this return together. This is the case in the Libreville district where young people from the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) gathered to feast.

“We as young Ivorians are proud of President Laurent Gbagbo, proud of his fight, and today we learned of his return. We are in joy, in celebration, ”explained the local deputy general secretary for youth of the FPI, Bobi Serges, in the Libreville district. Wearing T-shirts bearing the effigy of their mentor, these young people expressed their joy by dancing and commenting on the event around the drink.

In the Dioulabougou district, old and young people have also declared that they are happy with this return to the country of the former president. The young Sidiki Konaté, and the adult Traoré Alassane, hoped that this return bodes well for a better tomorrow for all Ivorians. “It is when there is peace that there is happiness, and it has come back to us, we agree. Let’s go to peace,” insisted Traoré Alassane.

Laurent Gbagbo returns after having been definitively acquitted by the International Criminal Court, in The Hague, following a trial lasting several years. After the post-election crisis of 2010-2011, he was prosecuted on several counts, including that of crimes against humanity.

Source: Agence Ivoirienne de Presse