Tensions escalated on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Vridi 3, a working-class neighborhood of Port-Bouët better known as "Zimbabwe." Hundreds of residents took to the streets to voice their outrage at a threatened eviction scheduled for June.

Between anger and anxiety, the crowd—made up of men, women, and young people—demonstrated, whistling, and waving signs and banners. While the residents claim they are not opposed to the modernization of their town, they condemn the heavy-handed approach, the glaring lack of official communication, and the complete absence of any accompanying measures.

A schedule deemed "inhumane": school exams and the rainy season

For the protesters, the timing of this operation is particularly disastrous. It comes in the middle of major school exams and at the start of the rainy season, two factors that risk plunging thousands of families into extreme poverty.

"Our children are struggling. Many families are already barely scraping by. Throwing us out today is a social catastrophe," protests a mother.

To make their voices heard, Kouadio Boniface, president of the Neighborhood Management Committee, and Traoré Saïdou, president of the Board of Directors of the Community Health Center, held a press conference to denounce the lack of clarity surrounding this issue.

An informal warning that awakens old demons.

According to Kouadio Boniface, no official notification was sent to residents. The alert came from informal channels, including police officers and a health worker.

"We learned the news from a reliable source, even though the town hall claims not to be aware of it. The mayor himself was completely taken aback when we contacted him," he explains.

The community now fears reliving the trauma of the eviction of the Abattoir district a few years ago, an operation that left many families out in the cold, without any relocation solution.

Vridi 3: A structured neighborhood, not just an anarchic site

Traoré Saïdou sought to refocus the debate: the residents are not anti-development, but they demand respect and consultation. With over 40,000 inhabitants, Vridi 3 is not just another impoverished slum. The site is serviced and has real infrastructure.

1. A health center and a pharmacy.
2. Schools.
3. Religious buildings.
4. Functional networks of running water and electricity.

Environmental threats that add to the anxiety

To make matters worse, local residents are worried about the landfill work carried out in recent weeks on the adjacent lagoon. They believe these changes to the terrain risk blocking the flow of water and causing serious flooding during this period of heavy rain.

While the neighborhood should have been celebrating Tabaski, a climate of fear prevails. Families live in constant dread of bulldozers arriving at dawn.

Community leaders are therefore making an urgent appeal to the government to favour a concerted restructuring of the neighbourhood rather than outright demolition, in order to reconcile urban development and human dignity.