Burkina: The first auxiliary gendarmes ready to regain territorial integrity

Nearly 1,500 auxiliary gendarmes trained in a rapid, direct and efficient manner, are ready to reinforce the workforce, in order to quickly win the fight against terrorism, said Friday the first official of the national gendarmerie from Burkina, Lieutenant-Colonel Evrard Somda.

The Burkinabè army is registering new fighters in its ranks. Nearly 1,500 national gendarmerie auxiliaries trained at the National Gendarmerie Training Center located in the Gbakonon district of Gaoua have just completed their graduation on Friday August 25, 2023.

The very first promotion of this category of gendarmerie personnel has just officially joined the ranks of the Burkinabè army after their recruitment in March 2023. After 5 months of initial military training in the barracks, 1498 auxiliary gendarmes including 09 girls with 100 specialists in various fields were presented to the flag of Burkina Faso.

They are now able to reinforce the manpower of the National Armed Forces and to serve the Nation. This promotion is called “Yari Adama Oussé”.

For the Chief of Staff of the National Gendarmerie, Lieutenant-Colonel, Évrard Somda, this baptismal name is a strong symbol that honors the memory of a pioneer of the Center.

Because the late Yari Adama Oussé, former policeman and former canton chief of Gaoua had expressed the wish to see the realization of such an institution in Gaoua.

“Auxiliary gendarmes are rank-and-file soldiers of the national gendarmerie. The decision to recruit them was taken to quickly train soldiers with a view to making them available to operations as part of national security,” he said, while indicating that these auxiliary gendarmes will help to densify the network of the territory and bring added value to all the operations in progress.

He also stressed that given the current security situation, this training was done quickly, directly and efficiently in order to have the maximum number of personnel possible to quickly win the fight against terrorism.

Continuing, he affirmed that certainly the training is of short duration but adapted to the security situation.

For his part, Squadron Leader Emile Soudré, in charge of the day-to-day business of the CIGN, the training consisted in giving them the knowledge, the know-how and the know-how necessary so that they are not only soldiers, but also fighters who will contribute to reconquering the national territory.

The godfather of the promotion, Colonel Boukari Zoungrana, meanwhile, provided advice to his godchildren. He has, in fact, made it clear that the profession of gendarme is a priesthood.

This is why he invited them to work tirelessly, to fulfill their duties without expecting anything in return and above all to cultivate the values of patriotism, loyalty, legality and honor which underpin the National Gendarmerie. These fighters have thus made a commitment to put the knowledge acquired at the service of the Nation with the aim of reconquering the national territory.

Source: Burkina Information Agency