CODECO
CODECO (French: Coopérative pour le développement du Congo) is a loose association of various Lendu militia groups operating within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The name is an abbreviation of the group's lesser-known full name, the Cooperative for Development of the Congo, sometimes also styled the Congo Economic Development Cooperative.
| Cooperative for the Development of the Congo | |
|---|---|
| Coopérative pour le développement du Congo | |
Truck burnt by a CODECO attack on 1 March 2022. | |
| Also known as | CODECO |
| Founding leader | Bernard Kakado until 2003 |
| Military leader | Justin Ngudjolo † ?–March 2020 |
| Religious leader | Ali Ngadjole Ngabu ?–present |
| Dates of operation | 1970s–1999 (As agricultural cooperative) 1999–present (As coalition of rebel militias) |
| Group(s) | (Lendu) |
| Headquarters | Ituri Province, D.R. Congo |
| Active regions | Ituri Province, D.R. Congo |
| Ideology | Lendu interests |
| Status | Active (Ceasefire since August 2020) |
| Size | 2,350 armed militiamen (Self-reported in June 2019) |
| Allies | FRPI FPJC FNI Lendu militias |
| Opponents | Congolese Army MONUSCO Union of Congolese Patriots Hema militias |
The group was once a peaceful agricultural cooperative, before eventually transforming into an armed rebel movement. The movement was reorganized under different leaders several times, becoming looser and less cohesive as time went on. Several of the militias that claim CODECO affiliation stand accused of massacres and war crimes by United Nations officials. Today it is described variously as an armed political-religious sect, an association of Lendu militias or a political-military sect.
The group declared a unilateral ceasefire in August 2020., however, CODECO increased attacks in 2021-2022, leading the Government of the DRC to declare a State of Siege in the Ituri and North Kivu in response to various CODECO and Islamic State-DRC attacks and massacres.