A retired major police officer, Béatrice Sanon was one of the architects, if not the main actor, of the arrest of Sia Popo Prosper, author of the hold-up of more than two billion CFA francs at the national agency of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in Abidjan, August 27, 2002. On the occasion of March 8, Sidwaya spoke with this honest woman, more than 20 years after the events , on the circumstances of this arrest.
Sidwaya (S): How long have you been retired?
Beatrice Sanon(BS) : I have been eligible to claim my pension rights since October 15, 2017. After 39 years of service. Indeed, I joined the police in 1977 just after the BEPC at the age of 18 at the Tounouma girls college in Bobo-Dioulasso. I passed my exam with the entrance to second. I gave up all that to go to the police competition because the first promotion of the vintage of policewomen of 1976 had just made its exit. So I decided to do the police competition.
S: How is your retirement life going?
B.S. : I carry out small activities which generate me a little resources from time to time. I also take care of the family orchard in Bobo-Dioulasso.
S: In 2002, you contributed to the arrest of Sia Popo Prosper, author of the hold-up of more than two billion CFA francs at the national agency of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO ) in Abidjan, on August 27, 2002. Can you come back to the context of his arrest at Ouagadougou international airport?
B.S. : It must be said that the arrest of Mr. Sia Popo Prosper was a collective effort. I was deputy police commissioner at Ouagadougou International Airport. Several actors work within the airports. We were on duty that day when colleagues noticed that Sia Popo Prosper’s visa was not in order. They challenged him to understand. It was then that Sia Popo Prosper explained that he came from Ghana with a fake Schengen visa in transit in Burkina Faso for Germany. Colleagues drove him to my office. After Sia Popo Prosper’s hearing, I noticed four things that intrigued me: the courtesy, the French-speaking accent with very clear French of the defendant who wore a wig as a disguise. So I decided to keep the passport in order to investigate. The next day, I consulted an Ivorian newspaper which included the name and photos of a suspected mastermind of the BCEAO attack. Sia Popo Prosper’s name was on it. Then we contacted Interpol who confirmed the same identity and as it was Saturday we kept the passport and the guest to come back on Monday. On Monday upon his arrival, the defendant got rid of his disguise wig, then said he was willing to offer a large sum in exchange for facilitating his departure to Germany. To corroborate my suspicions, I proceeded to the searches of the suitcase, where, I discovered an Ivorian national identity card where, is well written Sia Popo Prosper with a large sum of money. I left him with the search squad. I went back to town to do some shopping. On my return, I noticed that the colleagues were preparing to return his passport and release him on the pretext that Sia Popo Prosper said he had been the victim of fraud in Ghana in order to obtain the passport and the visa. It was then that I recovered the passport and informed the highest authorities of the situation with a report explaining the whole situation and who undertook to contact those of Côte d’Ivoire and the BCEAO. S: It was said at the time that Sia Popo Prosper offered you money to let him take his flight to Germany. When was it exactly? BS: The commissioner being absent for reasons of illness, I was therefore acting. I was assisted by a colleague to discuss with Sia Popo Prosper. Indeed, he said he had enough resources. The proposal was clear. There is no fixed amount. When I held his passport in my office, the officers left. I had the latitude to serve myself as I wanted. But that never crossed my mind. This is part of the values embodied by the National Police.
S: Did the BCEAO or the National Police reward you afterwards?
B.S. : Yes. The BCEAO in this case, the then governor, Mr. Charles Konan Banny, came to express the gratitude of his institution to the Burkinabè authorities. And, on this occasion, he gave a check for the National Police, the two agents who worked with me that day. We each received one million CFA francs. The amount of the check, I do not know. Afterwards, all the police personnel at Ouagadougou airport received something. I think it’s 40,000 FCFA per person. Then, the governor, on leaving, wanted to thank us verbally at the airport. At the level of the police, the then National Assembly received information that a police team from Burkina Faso arrested the mastermind of the hold-up of more than two billion CFA francs from the BCEAO in Ouagadougou International Airport. The national representation at the time wished a reward from the Nation to the whole team on an exceptional basis. To my great surprise, the two agents of the research brigade were decorated on December 11, 2002. I tried to understand why, there were three of us to carry out the work and it was two agents who were decorated without me. . Unfortunately, no explanation was given to me. I ended up absorbing this pain in myself to say that at the time I did not receive any reward from the police.
S: What has changed in your life since his arrest?
B.S. : There was no change. I simply continued to do my work for which I was hired by the National Police. This work recommends a certain number of values which make that one works without calculating in this trade. The team of the research brigade which followed the situation closely had decided to express its dissatisfaction and that it will not go to congratulate the recipients. I convinced the team to join in the festivities.
S: Admittedly, you were already a Medal of Honor from the National Police (2000), but with the arrest of Sia Popo Prosper, some of your colleagues who contributed to it were decorated and not you. How did you perceive this choice?
B.S. : It hurt me especially since I had no explanation. I even shed tears at the time. I continued to work until retirement came.
S: Finally, the ASCE/LC decorated you at the end of 2022. How did you welcome this decision by the ASCE/LC?
B.S. : It is only justice which was returned to me, indeed. The ASCE/LC decorated me on December 9, 2022. It was a nice surprise, because I wasn’t expecting it anymore. It was beyond my expectations, moreover, I have been eligible to claim my pension rights since 2017. The injustice has been corrected, although I am retired. I am very grateful to ASCE/LC for correcting this injustice. Also, I am grateful to the current General Manager and his entire team who awarded me an award in January 2023 for the service rendered.
S: Your managers at the time seem to have paid you in monkey money by not offering you decorations like your two other colleagues. Didn’t you regret at times your act which made it possible to pin down Sia Popo Prosper or didn’t you say in your heart of hearts why, I didn’t help myself and let him go?
B.S. : Honestly, I haven’t regretted it. Because when I saw the scale, the importance of this arrest, I said to myself that we have done a good thing. I was happy because we must not fail. Thank God we arrested him in Ouagadougou. He was going out with our stamp. He returned to Burkina via Dakola by road and there was the stamp of the Dakola border police on his document. At the airport, too, there would have been our stamp from the police. If he found himself somewhere, there would have been these traces. So, really, I did not regret. Then, I said to myself that at the level of the general management, they did not have the true version of the affair. As often, the bosses are complicit with each other and do not like to reveal flaws. The DG of the police was on mission in Europe. When I tried to explain that the agents under my command are being decorated and I am not, I saw that it did not work. I stopped so as not to be at the origin of a misunderstanding between the bosses. I said that what I did, God and the team of the day know it.
S: Do you think that your act left a trace within the police in terms of promoting the values of integrity?
S.B. : Now yes. Otherwise, at the time, I don’t think people saw it as an act of integrity. They said they had done a good job and period. Some did not see the corruption side. But currently, the police are in the process of understanding that it is necessary to change working methods, behaviors and abandon bad practices.
S: For several years, the police have been frequently cited in the reports of anti-corruption structures. What is your message for your brothers in arms and the younger generation?
S.B .: It’s a pity that we often find ourselves among the top five services or institutions cited where corruption reigns. When I have the opportunity to discuss with the younger generation, she says to me: “Mom, we came to find these practices within the body”. Now I urge them to abandon them. Discreet and sincere work is being done. I have faith in these veterans who are close to retirement and who are working to see the police reviewed differently. I have faith in them. The younger generation, I invite them to abandon these practices. This does not honor the body, nor those who are the actors on the ground, nor the nation. The message is getting through. And, the first people in charge are working for it.
Interview conducted by Emmanuel BICABA
