Four senior aides to former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo have returned to Cote d’Ivoire from exile

Four senior aides to former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo have returned to Cote d’Ivoire from exile in Ghana, more than five years after his ouster.

Laurent Gbagbo was forced from power after a war erupted over the result of the 2010 elections, in which his opponent Alassane Ouattara was deemed to have won. 

The four men, including former defence minister Kadet Bertin, were persuaded to return following negotiations with the government and guarantees that they would not face charges related to the civil war.

Accompanying Bertin were Kacou Brou, leader of Gbagbo’s Fesci youth militia, Yaon Franck, a presidential bodyguard, and Watchard Kedjebo, another militia leader.

Five years after the conflict that killed 3,000 people, the country, the world’s leading cocoa producer, has been reborn as one of Africa’s economic stars, held up by many as a model of post-conflict reconstruction.

CCTV