Tag Archives: Foreigners

Nigerian Army Arrests 40 Foreigners After Fall Of Sambisa Forest

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More than 40 foreigners have been arrested in the last one week, following the fall of the dreaded Sambisa Forest, The Nation has learnt.

The profiling of the foreigners has started to determine whether or not they were working in cahoots with Boko Haram insurgents, who are fleeing their former stronghold.

The military has blocked all known entry and exit points to Sambisa Forest to hem in the remnants of the insurgents.

According to a military source, the identities of the foreigners and their missions in Sambisa Forest will not be revealed until after a thorough screening has been completed.

Intelligence officers are profiling the foreigners, who are suspected to be providing “back-up” for Boko Haram.

The source said: “”In the last one week since we launched massive operations in Sambisa Forest,  we have arrested over 40 foreigners.

“We will come up with the details later after the profiling of these suspects. They are all being debriefed. But we discovered that there were so many foreigners in the midst of Boko Haram.

“We have also rescued  a lot of people who are being screened too.”

Responding to a question, the source explained the significance of the military routing of the insurgents in Sambisa.

He said the troops’ success was no fluke.

He added: “As for the operations in Sambisa Forest, our gallant troops have successfully taken over Camp Zero and Camp S (Shape) which are the headquarters of Boko Haram.

“The success of the operations is significant because there is no habitation beyond these areas in Sambisa Forest. The area is about 66,000 sq kilometres and there are so many parts uninhabited.

“Many insurgents, including their leaders, were killed and many were captured. Many insurgents are now fleeing. The situation now is that Boko Haram insurgents have been dispersed and dislocated.”

On the fate of the remaining Chibok girls, the source said: “The fleeing Boko Haram insurgents must have relocated them from Sambisa Forest but we are already hunting for them.”

Director of Defence Information Brig-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said: “The operation in Sambisa Forest is still ongoing. Troops are not relenting. We are now all over the place. We’ll ensure no entry to Sambisa Forest; no exit.”

“We have advised Nigerians to be wary of fleeing insurgents who may likely disguise.”

A source in the Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday said the invasion of Sambisa Forest had entered the second phase, which is the pursuit of the fleeing insurgents.

The source, who admitted that the operations in Sambisa were both intelligence-driven and military onslaughts, said the elimination of the insurgents from the forest was 90 per cent completed.

The security chief added: “We have finished almost 90 per cent of the job with Boko Haram. We are now in the second phase which is the most difficult. We are pursuing the fleeing Boko Haram insurgents.

“The good thing is that we prepared for this fallout (the fleeing of the insurgents) long before the takeover of Sambisa Forest. We are trained professionals to curtail the effects of Boko Haram insurgency, especially the fallout of routing them out.

“We are apprehending the fleeing insurgents. Even yesterday, we took some of them in.”

Bayelsa Guber: Immigration Warns Foreigners Against Voting

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The Bayelsa State Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has warned foreigners resident in the state to stay away from the Dec. 5 governorship election.

 

The Comptroller of NIS in the state, Mr Sule Wunti, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenogoa on Monday.

 

Wunti said the command would deal decisively with any defaulter particularly nationals of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) resident in the state.

 

He said that as part of security preparations ahead of the polls, the command had convened a stakeholders’ forum to sensitise ECOWAS nationals resident in the state on the election.

 

“As part of security preparedness ahead of the election, the command has invited leaders of ECOWAS Citizens Associations to a forum to warn them to keep off the elections coming up on Dec. 5.

 

“We have taken time to explain to them that the elections are for Nigerian citizens alone, and anyone who flouts the directives will be arrested and make to face the wrath of the law,” Wunti said.

 

The Comptroller said that the NIS was working with other security agencies in Bayelsa to provide adequate security for the elections.

 

 

(NAN)

Xenophobic Attacks In South Africa Spread To Downtown Johannesburg

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Twelve people were arrested overnight as anti-foreigner attacks in South Africa spread to parts of downtown Johannesburg, police said Friday.

“Twelve suspects were arrested for trying to break into foreign-owned shops,” said police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini.

It was the latest incident in a wave of immigrant-targeted violence that began earlier this month in the port city of Durban, leaving at least six people dead.

According to local reports, the protesters from a local hostel demanded foreign nationals leave South Africa, setting cars alight and clashing with police.

No injuries were reported, said Dlamini.

The scene remained tense Friday morning, with hostel-dwellers telling reporters they wanted immigrants to know they were not welcome in the country.

President Jacob Zuma has condemned the violence in parliament.

“No amount of frustration or anger can ever justify the attacks on foreign nationals and the looting of their shops,” he said Thursday night.

Locals and African immigrants in South African often compete for scarce jobs, making them a target for violence and intimidation.

Early this year, foreign shopkeepers in and around Soweto, south of Johannesburg, were forced to vacate their premises after violence and looting broke out.

In 2008, 62 people were killed in xenophobic violence in Johannesburg townships.

South Africans To March Against Attacks On Foreigners

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After weeks of violence, primarily in KwaZuluNatal, thousands expected to take part in solidarity rally in Durban. Thousands of people are expected to attend a march in South Africa’s coastal city of Durban in solidarity with the country’s foreign nationals.

The march, which includes religious leaders and concerned citizens, comes after weeks of attacks against foreign nationals in which at least five people have been killed and 74 people arrested since the end of March, according to Colonel Jay Naicker, the police spokesperson.

On Thursday, as many people prepared to march in the coastal city of Durban in KwaZuluNatal, many shops also remained closed in the business capital of the country, Johannesburg.

Groups of people were said to be travelling from other provinces to join in the show of solidarity with the foreign nationals. She said that people had been gathering and that while the numbers were not yet big, the crowd was expected to grow. Similar attacks occurred in 2008 in which at least 60 people were killed.

Messages circulating on social media warned people in Gauteng province and KwaZuluNatal to be on high alert for possible attacks and to also remain indoors.

Read More: aljazeera

Foreigners Killed In South Africa Amid Zulu King’s Comment

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At least five killed in Durban since last week in violence that has left hundreds stranded, unable to return home.

Violence against immigrants in South Africa has killed at least five people since last week in one of the worst outbreak of violence in years against foreigners in years.

Hundreds of migrants mostly from other African countries had been forced out of their homes, authorities told the Associated Press news agency on Tuesday.

Most of the recent unrest occurred in and around the coastal city of Durban, where police said two foreigners and three South Africans were killed.

The dead included a 14-year-old boy who was allegedly shot during looting on Monday night and died at a hospital, police official, Jay Naicker, police spokesperson, said.

About 34 people have been arrested for possession of unlicensed firearms and other crimes in the last two days, he said.

“Police are deployed and in high alert in most of the areas where there are foreign nationals,” Naicker said in a statement.

Despite the increased police presence, authorities are hard pressed to stop unrest that recalls similar violence in South Africa in 2008 in which about 60 people died.

In January this year, four people died during a week of looting of foreign-owned shops and other violence in Soweto and other areas of Johannesburg.

Some South Africans have accused immigrants of taking jobs and opportunities away from them.

The latest violence followed reported comments by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, an influential figure among the Zulu ethnic group, that foreigners should “pack their bags” and leave.

Zwelithini has since appealed for an end to the unrest.

Read More: aljazeera

N. Korea to Quarantine Foreigners over Ebola Fears

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North Korean officials have announced they will quarantine foreigners for 21 days over fears of the spread of the Ebola virus.

An announcement distributed to foreign diplomatic missions in Pyongyang said that, regardless of country or region of origin, all foreigners will be quarantined under medical observation for 21 days.

It said foreigners from affected areas will be quarantined at one set of locations, while those from unaffected areas will be sent to other locations, including hotels. It said the staff of diplomatic missions and international organizations in North Korea will be allowed to stay in their residences.

A copy of the document, dated Wednesday, was obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. There have been no reported cases of Ebola in North Korea.