The military court in Abidjan sentenced Warrant Officer KYI of the Ivory Coast armed forces to life imprisonment. The non-commissioned officer was prosecuted for sexual assault on a 12-year-old minor.

The trial began on Thursday, January 8, 2026, at the Abidjan Military Court. Adjutant KYI, serving in an infantry battalion in a military region in the interior of the country, was in the dock.

He was appearing in court for the rape of a minor.

According to reports, the warrant officer had sent AM, a 12-year-old girl, to buy him cigarettes.

The girl obeyed. But upon her return, she entered the soldier's house to give him the cigarettes.

The soldier took advantage of the little girl's vulnerability to rape her. It was the victim herself who told her parents about her ordeal.

Shocked, they contacted the relevant authorities. After an investigation, the non-commissioned officer was arrested.

Found guilty, he received a heavy sentence: life imprisonment.

Having been informed, the Minister for Women, Family and Children, Nassénéba Touré, welcomed the decision of the military tribunal.

“I strongly welcome the decision rendered by the Military Tribunal of Abidjan in the case of assault on a minor perpetrated by Warrant Officer KYI

Sentencing a perpetrator of a sexual crime against a minor to life imprisonment is to affirm without ambiguity that the protection of our children is non-negotiable.

“Justice has spoken firmly. And it was right,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

“In Ivory Coast, no status, no function, no proximity protects child abusers,” she adds.