Success Stories

After the attacks of 15 January 2016, there were no indications for possible solutions: all the attackers were shot dead, no useful documents or objects were seized, except for the three assault weapons.

The examination of the seized weapons revealed that the same weapons (with similar serial numbers) were used in the Grand Bassam attacks in Côte d’Ivoire. Requests for assistance were sent to the Ivorian authorities through official channels; three (03) years later, responses through official channels have still not been received.                                     

It is therefore through the informal channels that results were achieved immediately after the crisis. Thus, thanks to UNODC initiatives, the Burkina Faso judicial authorities in charge of the 15 January 2016 attack case (Judge BADO N. Idrissa, Prosecutor SAGNAN Tondjoa who is also WACAP focal point) but also the central authority, the Director of the Judicial Police and a captain of the gendarmerie forged ties with their Ivorian counterparts during the training of trainers held in Abidjan in September 2015.

Through informal exchanges based on the good practices and channels advocated by the WACAP network, it was possible to make a link between the attacks in Ouagadougou and Grand Bassam in Côte d’Ivoire, which led to the arrest of an individual who provided information on the people who assisted the attackers.

Informal exchanges allowed us to trace the history of the 15 January 2016 attack in Ouagadougou. These results were made possible thanks to informal cooperation between judicial actors.