The defense minister of the Ivory Coast announced the end of the mutiny of soldiers who had been protesting in demand of better compensation and living conditions.

Alain-Richard Donwahi said an agreement had been reached with the soldiers who have taken to the streets in protest in the country’s largest cities.

In a statement carried on Ivorian television, he urged soldiers “to free up the roads, to go back to their barracks and to keep the peace.”

The soldiers are part of a group who had launched a mutiny back in January seeking bonus payments.

When a group apologized to the president and the head of the army on national television last week, dissatisfied soldiers took the streets.

The brief statement released late Monday night did not contain details of the agreement.

Two spokesmen told reporters in the city of Bouake on Tuesday however that the deal included an immediate bonus payment of 5 million CFA francs ($8,400) for the 8,400 mutineers and a further payment of 2 million CFA francs at the end of June.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Ivory Coast’s banking association lifted an order issued a day earlier for banks to remain closed, a senior association official told Reuters, as the mutiny appeared to ease.

Employees at several banks in the commercial capital, Abidjan, confirmed that they were opening their branches as soldiers removed road blocks and many businesses that had been closed on Monday reopened.

Media reports had earlier said that the mutinous soldiers had rejected the government deal.