Tag Archives: Niger Republic

Boko Haram Fighters Surrender In Niger Republic

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Niger Interior Minister on Wednesday said dozens of Boko Haram fighters have given themselves up to authorities in southern Niger, days after the Islamist group suffered key losses over the border in Nigeria.

Minister Mohamed Bazoum said that 31 young people from Diffa, who were enrolled a few years ago in Boko Haram, decided to surrender.

The fighters arrived in the remote desert town of Diffa in groups and were being held by local authorities.

“I learned that the first who surrendered were not arrested, and I surrendered.

“We expect a pardon from the government so that we can participate in the development of the country and help us get rid of the trauma,” a former Boko Haram combatant told newsmen.

In June, tens of thousands of people fled Diffa as Boko Haram swept the region.

However, five Niger soldiers were killed by the militants near Diffa in September.

It was not clear what would become of the ex-Boko Haram fighters, but authorities said there was the possibility of reintegrating them back into society.

A security source said a meeting was planned for Wednesday in Diffa to discuss “the conditions of surrender”, without providing further details.

Boko Haram has killed 15,000 people and displaced over 2 million during a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state in Nigeria.

In recent years its attacks have spilled into neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters surrendered in Chad in October and November as the group ceded territory.

The group controlled an area about the size of Belgium in early 2015 but has since been pushed back by international forces including troops from Niger.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday said Nigeria’s army captured its last enclave in the vast Sambisa forest on Friday.

Rift Valley fever kills 32 in Niger Republic.

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At least 32 people have died since late August in an epidemic of Rift Valley fever in the western Niger region of Tahoua, the country’s health ministry said Thursday.

 

A ministry statement read on national radio said 230 people had been infected with the fever-causing viral disease that mainly affects animals but also humans, “unfortunately including 32 deaths”.

The mortality rate had fallen from 50 percent three months ago to 14 percent due to a government information campaign urging people to bury animal carcasses and handle contaminated animals with care and avoid drinking raw milk.

 

Symptoms include fever, headaches and stomach pain in people, while in livestock, common symptoms are fever and bleeding.

NNPC Considers Crude Importation From Chad, Niger Republic For Kaduna Refinery

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As part of the efforts to address frequent disruptions to the supply of crude oil to the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) as a result of the Niger Delta militancy, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is considering importing crude oil from Chad and Niger Republic, investigations have revealed.

This is coming as the President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Qatar’s Energy Minister, Mohammed Al Sada, has stated that oil prices would rebound during the third and fourth quarters of 2016.

NNPC, it was learnt, is also considering the option of using railway transportation to move crude from the Niger Delta to the refinery complex.

A top official of the NNPC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, disclosed yesterday that the corporation might refit the Kaduna refinery to be able to process Nigerien and Chadian crude grades, following the incessant attacks on the pipelines that feed the plant with Nigerian Bonny Light crude.

According to him, the refinery was originally designed to process Nigerian crude and foreign heavy crude at the ratio of about 70:30.

Read More: Thisday

 

Nigerian En Route To Dubai Arrested With N1bn Cash In Niger Republic

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The police in neighbouring Niger Republic have arrested a Nigerian carrying 4.6m Euros (N1.05bn) in cash. The man was arrested at the Diori Hamani Airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger, en route Dubai in the United Arab Emirate.

The Nigerien police said they suspected that the man was fleeing with the money in order to avoid being caught by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been prosecuting an anti-corruption campaign since assumption of office on May 29.

They also expressed worry that there had been an upsurge in the number of Nigerians trafficking huge sums of money in cash through the neighbouring country.

The police in Niger are already working on the suspicion that the money traffickers have accomplices in the country.

Read More: punchng

NEMA Distributes Relief Materials To 272 Deportees From Niger Republic

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Wednesday in Ibi, Taraba, distributed relief materials to 272 Nigerians deported from Niger Republic.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the materials were distributed to the deportees and also to victims of insurgency at the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp in the area.

Alhaji Muhammed Sani-Sidi, NEMA Director-General, presented the materials to the IDPs in Ibi on behalf of the Federal Government.

Sani-Sidi told the victims that Federal Government was committed to ensuring that peace returned to all warring communities across the country to enable them settle in their various villages.

He thanked the people of the Ibi for hosting the deportees, an urged them to continue with the gesture because government was taking necessary steps to resettle all affected persons.

Read More: ngrguardiannews

‘Stop Chasing Foreign Help’ – Balarabe, Others Tell President Buhari

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FOURTEEN opposition parties under the aegis of Credible Alternative Alliance on Thursday in Abuja said it was “too early” for the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to be relying on foreign countries for support and direction on certain policy issues pertaining to governance.
The CAA, which also includes 13 civil society organisations, restated their resolve to provide a credible opposition to the All Progressives Congress.
Congregrating under the CAA are the Social Democratic Party, Peoples Redemption Party, Fresh Democratic Party, Nigeria Advance Party, People’s Salvation Party, Change Advocacy Party, United National Party for Development, Peoples Progressive Party and the Action Party of Nigeria.
A former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa; elder statesman, Dr. Tunji Braitwaite and former Minister of Finance, Chief Olu Falae, who spoke at a press briefing by the National

Coordinator of CAA, Dr. Damian Ogbonna, on Thursday, said Buhari’s administration’s “ability and readiness to meaningfully govern Nigeria remain in doubt.”

The elder statesmen said, “We note that APC appears to want to cultivate and rely too much on the support of foreign governments. This is not good for the sovereignty of our nation. CAA calls upon APC to rely less on foreign support. The party should do more to cultivate domestic support and more so from political parties in the country. You cannot govern effectively when you do so alone; it is not sustainable.
“In conclusion, we wish the new administration well. However, its ability and readiness to meaningfully govern Nigeria remain in doubt. We pray, wait and hope for clarity in the days to come.
“Both the President and other leaders of APC have been in government for decades to warrant knowing exactly what they want to do and how they want to do it. Even those of us here at CAA with less than a year into our formation do have bold and visionary plan upon which we predicate our drive to govern Nigeria.”
According to them, when people lay claim to the ability to solve problems, it is taken for granted that they have diagnosed the problem and have ready solutions “otherwise, it amounts to a claim in deception and an exercise in futility.”
The CAA, according to its promoters, is formed to defend and advance progressive, democratic and patriotic entities and ideals in Nigeria “against reactionary tendencies of a rudderless and immensely corrupt governing system.”
Ogbonna said that after a careful review of the inaugural speech of Buhari and the current state of the nation, the CAA found the speech “embarrassingly tall on promises but depressingly short on vision and boldness.”
He said, “We searched for a silver lining in the speech laying out a new framework for the emergence of the new Nigeria of our dreams, and found none. There is no qualitative difference between the 2015 Presidential Inauguration speech and the inaugural speeches of past presidents.
“The President talked about enormous challenges; insecurity, pervasive corruption, fuel and power shortages and so on, but in no paragraph of his speech did he lay out new initiatives, new directions, new structures, new federation, new constitution or even new sets of legislation to tackle these enormous challenges.

Outcome Of Buhari’s Meeting With President Of Niger Republic

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Niamey, Niger, said he is confident that the Nigerian military will flush out Boko Haram.

Speaking with journalists after talks with President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger, President Buhari said the Nigerian Army remains a virile fighting force. “I am four days in office today and we have already started the process of ending the insurgency,” the president said. He said heads of the Nigeria Armed Forces and security agencies, in a five-hour meeting, informed him that operations against Boko Haram will be reviewed for better results.

The president said his visit to Niger was to seek more support from the country in bringing a quick end to activities of Boko Haram. President Buhari said he would hold similar meetings on security and the war against terrorism with the Chadian authorities after leaving Niamey on Thursday.

Credit: premiumtimesng

Niger Republic Deports 3,000 Nigerians

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The Niger Republic troops have deported more than 3,000 Nigerian fishermen and refugees escaping from Boko Haram, Associated Press has reported.

AP quoted the refugees as saying they were compelled to return to Nigeria after Boko Haram last week attacked an island in Lake Chad.

They also said the soldiers arrived at the fishing village of Lelewa and ordered them to leave. Niger officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Read More: dailypost

Nigerien President Expresses Confidence In Buhari’s Leadership

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President of Niger Republic, Mahamadou Issoufou, has expressed confidence that the president-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, would deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

Speaking through the majority leader of the Nigerien National Assembly, Mr. Zakari Umar, when a delegation from Niger Republic paid a congratulatory visit to the Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko at his residence in Sokoto, Issoufou said he had no doubt that Buhari would meet the expectations of Nigerians based on his antecedents.

He described Buhari as a man of integrity and an incorruptible leader that has what it takes to take Nigeria to the next level.

“Your excellency, the people of Niger Republic are happy with the wind of change and the peaceful conduct of the March 28 and April 11 general election in Nigeria.

“This is because of our belief that anything that affects Nigeria affect Niger Republic and other neigbouring countries,” he said.

The Nigerien leader therefore urged Buhari to be fair and just to all Nigerians irrespective of ethnic and religious affiliation.

He expressed optimism that the new change in leadership would usher in prosperity and progress to Nigeria.

In his response, Wamakko pledged to sustain the long existing relationship between the people of Sokoto and Niger Republic.

“The people of Sokoto and Niger Republic are brothers and of the same race but only separated by a border established by the colonialist over a century ago,” he stated.

He also promised to deliver the Nigerien president’s message to Buhari.

Boko Haram Attack on Niger Repelled by Army

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Niger’s army repelled the second attack in three days by Boko Haram on the border town of Diffa on Sunday, a day before its parliament votes on whether to join a regional offensive against the Nigerian Islamist group. Several people were killed in fierce early morning fighting when Boko Haram gunmen attempted to advance toward the town but were pushed back by the army, military sources said.

Residents reported hearing heavy weapons fire. Hours later, an explosion in Diffa’s market killed at least one person and left 20 injured, six of them in a serious condition, according to a doctor in the town hospital.

Credit: Wotchit

Shekau Burns Nigerian Flag, Calls Buhari an Infidel (Watch Video)

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In a full 35:59 minutes video, self acclaimed leader of Boko haram, burnt the Nigerian flag and hoisted the black boko haram flag.

In the video, Shekau predominately spoke in Arabic but revealed in Hausa that the massacre in Baga is just the tip of the iceberg. He mocked president Jonathan and called APC presidential candidate, General Buhari, an infidel. He also threatened the President of Niger Republic and insulted the government of France over a french news report he (Shekau) read, claiming the French government is not just at war with terrorists, but with all Muslims.

The group also flaunted sophisticated weapons they claim can destroy Nigeria and said they seized them from the raid in Baga. Watch video below and hear from the horses mouth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWwDwFMbkvM