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Tag: niger

  • France ends military presence in Niger after coup, recalls ambassador

    France ends military presence in Niger after coup, recalls ambassador

    French President Emmanuel Macron has announced an end to France’s military presence in Niger and the recall of its ambassador, in response to the recent coup that ousted the democratically elected president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum.

    This decision is a notable blow to France’s policy in Africa, especially concerning the Sahel region where they had stationed thousands of troops to fight against Islamic extremist groups.

    France had maintained around 1,500 troops in Niger since the July coup, but tensions have escalated between France and Niger in recent weeks.

    An aide to Niger’s deposed President, Ali Sekou Ramadan, said that Bazoum had requested the withdrawal of the French ambassador to reduce tension.

    In an interview on French television, Mr. Macron also said that the country’s ambassador to Niger would leave “within the next hours.”

    He added, “And we are ending our military cooperation with the de facto authorities in Niger, because they no longer want to fight terrorism.”

    This decision comes after military interventions in other African countries like Mali and Burkina Faso, where France faced tensions with ruling juntas and subsequently withdrew its troops.

    Niger’s junta has responded to this announcement, viewing it as a step toward the sovereignty of their country.

    They declared that imperialist and neo-colonialist forces are no longer welcome on their national territory, emphasizing a new era of cooperation based on mutual respect and sovereignty.

    “Imperialist and neo-colonialist forces are no longer welcome on our national territory. The new era of cooperation, based on mutual respect and sovereignty is already underway,” it said in a statement.

    The coup leaders also declared the closure of Niger’s airspace to French planes, both commercial and military.
    The withdrawal of troops is expected to be gradual, likely by the end of the year and will be coordinated with the coup leaders to ensure a peaceful transition.

  • France won’t cut cultural ties with Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso – Minister

    France won’t cut cultural ties with Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso – Minister

    France does not intend to cut cultural ties with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, the culture minister, Rima Abdul-Malak said.

    Abdul-Malak said this after entertainment businesses slammed a decision this week to ban all partnerships with artists from these African countries.

    “France has always been an open and welcoming nation for artists, so this is not a shift in policy.

    “It’s an adaptation to an extremely deteriorated security context,” she told RTL radio.

    Niger’s government was overthrown in a military coup in July, while Burkina Faso has been overrun by hardline militants for years.

    Mali’s military has also been fighting a rebel alliance since August, which has led France to ban visas and halt development aid for all three countries.

    Abdul-Malak’s remarks appeared intended to defuse a confrontation with the union of artistic and cultural businesses SYNDEAC, which had demanded to meet with her after her ministry issued a directive to halt all cooperation and financial support to institutions from the three countries.

    SYNDEAC had called the ban “completely unprecedented”.

    “This total ban on three countries experiencing very serious crises makes no sense from an artistic point of view and is a major mistake from a political point of view”, the union said in a statement.

    Following the outcry, Abdul-Malak said she had asked her ministry to send out “clarifications” to the entertainment businesses.

    She added that existing partnerships would not be affected by the ban, only new projects that would require travel visas for artists.

    France is home to a large community of people with ties to the three African countries and performers from the region, in particular musicians, are popular at festivals

  • USA resumes surveillance flights over Niger

    USA resumes surveillance flights over Niger

    United States has resumed its surveillance flights over Niger, which had been interrupted with the military coup at the end of July, a Pentagon spokesperson said on Thursday, specifying that the rest of American military operations in the country remained frozen.

    “We can confirm that U.S. forces in Niger have conducted “ intelligence and reconnaissance ” flights to ward off threats and ensure the protection of our forces ,” said the spokesperson for the Pentagon’s Africa Command.

    “We have obtained approval from the appropriate authorities,” she clarified, noting nonetheless that “the United States always reserves the right to conduct operations with the aim of protecting our forces and our staff, if necessary.

    Although surveillance flights have resumed, exchanges with Nigerien forces such as training or anti-terrorist cooperation remain frozen, the spokesperson said.

    The United States has some 1,100 soldiers stationed in Niger, who were operating against jihadist groups active in this region.

    The Pentagon announced on September 7 that it was repositioning its troops “as a precaution “, transferring certain soldiers from a base in the capital Niamey to an air base further north.

  • Niger denounces military cooperation agreement with Benin

    Niger denounces military cooperation agreement with Benin

    Military in power in Niger has said that it had denounced a military cooperation agreement concluded in 2022 with neighbouring Benin, which they accuse of “considering aggression” against their country.

    In a press release read on national television, the military regime of Niamey indicated “having called on several occasions for compliance with the obligations” of this agreement signed on July 11, 2022, with Benin which they decided to “denounce”.

    The military who came to power in Niger through a coup d’état on July 26, claim that Benin has “decided to consider aggression against Niger instead of supporting it”.

    “The Republic of Benin has authorised the stationing of mercenary soldiers and war materials in view of an aggression desired by France in collaboration with certain countries” of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS against Niger, they assured Tuesday while reiterating their “desire to avoid escalation”.

    For several weeks, ECOWAS has been threatening military intervention in Niger to restore constitutional order and reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, held prisoner and refusing to resign.

    This agreement with Benin concerned in particular the exchange of intelligence, air assistance to monitor the movements of jihadists, and joint operations between the two Beninese and Nigerien armies.

    Northern Benin, bordering Niger and Burkina Faso, two countries undermined by recurring jihadist violence, has been the scene of attacks and incursions by these groups in recent months.

    This weekend, the new authorities in Niamey also accused France of preparing “aggression” by deploying “forces” in several West African countries. Accusations denied by Paris which does not recognize the military regime.

    Several military agreements with France were also denounced by the generals in power on August 3 who claim that the presence of 1,500 French soldiers on their territory is now illegal.

  • Palliative ‘wahala’: Watch moment Nigerians struggle to collect foodstuffs

    Palliative ‘wahala’: Watch moment Nigerians struggle to collect foodstuffs

    A video clip showing Nigerians in Gwada Ward located in Niger State, North Central struggling to collect foodstuffs tagged palliative.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports the clip clearly depict a scramble for palliatives that can never be enough.

    WATCH:

  • War looming as Niger Junta exposes how France is mobilizing forces, war equipment ahead of invasion

    War looming as Niger Junta exposes how France is mobilizing forces, war equipment ahead of invasion

    The Niger military administration has accused France of building up forces, and war equipment in several neighbouring West African countries in preparation for an aggression against the country.

    Relations with France, Niger’s former colonial power, soured after Paris stood by ousted President Mohamed Bazoum following the July coup.

    In a statement broadcast on national television late Saturday, putchists’ spokesman Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane said, “France continues to deploy its forces in several ECOWAS countries as part of preparations for an aggression against Niger, which it is planning in collaboration with this community organisation.”

    Abdramane added that France had deployed military aircraft, helicopters and 40 armoured vehicles to Cote d’Ivoire and Benin.

    “Military cargo aircraft have enabled large quantities of war material and equipment to be unloaded in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Benin, to name but a few,” he said.

    Niger is also embroiled in a standoff with the West African bloc ECOWAS, which has threatened to intervene militarily if diplomatic pressure to return Bazoum to office fails.

    However, the regional bloc has said it does not want Niger to repeat “the experiences of Mali, Guinea and Burkina”, with which it had to haggle over the durations and conditions of transition periods.

    On August 3, the coup leaders renounced several military cooperation agreements with France, which has about 1,500 soldiers stationed in the country as part of a wider fight against militants.

    Paris, which refuses to recognise the military regime in Niger, does not consider the mutinous soldiers who ousted President Bazoum as party to those cooperation deals.

    France is engaged in a tug of war with Niger, which has also withdrawn the diplomatic immunity of French ambassador Sylvain Itte and ordered police to expel him.

    France has refused the demand on several occasions, saying the military regime has no legal right to make such an order.

  • (TNG ANALYSIS) Coups: ECOWAS, AU’s ‘shakara oloje’ designed to resolve political impasse in Niger, Gabon

    (TNG ANALYSIS) Coups: ECOWAS, AU’s ‘shakara oloje’ designed to resolve political impasse in Niger, Gabon

    Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s hit song ‘Shakara oloje ni’ of the late 1980s succinctly captures the way and manner African regional blocs, the ECOWAS and African Union, AU are handling the resolution of the political impasse in Gabon and Niger.

    The incursions of military adventurists into civil governance in both African states raised a lot of dust but the final result was laced in ‘shakara oloje ni’.

    EXPLANATION: ‘Shakara oloje ni’ when literally translated simply means threat backed by inaction.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) Africa’s most authoritative news platform in this brief analysis will take swipe at the pronouncements made as the July 26th and August 30th coups in two African countries, the Gabon and Niger Republic took African leaders by surprise. .

    It was like joke when suddenly the presidential guards in Niger Republic woke up one morning and President Mohamed Bazoum became a prisoner in his palatial presidential palace.

    Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu who is also chairman of ECOWAS immediately summoned an emergency meeting of the regional bloc on the next line of action to restore democracy.

    The economic sanctions, standby troops, invasion and what have you are all ‘shakara oloje’.

    The noise was so loud that ECOWAS defence chiefs also held various meetings in different states of the sub region. The bottom line was that a standby joint military troop was on standby to invade Niger Republic and teach the coupists a bitter lesson.

    ECOWAS leaders in ‘agbada’ threatened and one would have thought that within two weeks all the coupists must have been smoked out and properly given military drills.

    Sanctions were imposed, electricity disconnected yet the citizens volunteered to fight side by side with the coupists.

    Till date nothing has happened, “all na shakara oloje’. There was no invasion not even the popular Christmas knockout was not shot at the direction of the Republic.

    While African leaders were still contemplating on what to do in Niger, Gabon military officers too struck. AU mounted a loud speaker across Africa denouncing the take over from a democracy turned into monarchy where it’s the government of the father and by the son.

    “This time there was no ‘shakara oloje’ as there was no threat of military invasion.

    As at today, the Gabonese have announced a transitional government without a date while our Niger brothers have announced a three year transitional government.

    President Tinubu is still begging the Niger adventurists to try the Abdulsalami Abubakar’s nine months transition model to make it faster.

    Charity begins at home, before the Abdulsalami Abubakar’s model the military had been in civil governance since 1983 in Nigeria from General Mohammadu Buhari to General Ibrahim Babangida and who again please? General Sani Abacha.

    Tinubu is now singing a new song that military invasion of Niger is no longer on the table. It’s now a subtle appeal not even diplomacy to resolve the political impasse. All na ‘shakara oloje’.

  • Niger: Thousands rally to demand withdrawal of French troops

    Niger: Thousands rally to demand withdrawal of French troops

    Thousands rallied Saturday, in Niamey to demand that France withdraw its troops from Niger, as sought by the junta that seized power late June.

    The protesters gathered near a base housing French soldiers following a call by several civic organisations’ hostile to French military presence in the West African country.

    “We are here to express our determination, our commitment and our devotion to getting the French military force and all the military bases on our national territory out of the country,” explained protester Amidou Gourou.

    Niger’s military regime had fired a new verbal broadside at France on Friday, accusing Paris of “blatant interference” by backing the country’s ousted president Mohamed Bazoum.

    Early August, the regime announced the scrapping of military agreements with France, which has some 1,500 soldiers stationed in the country to help fight jihadism in the region.

    Paris ignored the move on grounds of legitimacy.

    The military rulers have also announced the immediate “expulsion” of the French ambassador Sylvain Itte and announced the withdrawal of his diplomatic immunity, stating his presence was a threat to public order.

    French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday hailed Itte’s work in Niger and said he will stay in the country, despite being given a 48-hour deadline to leave Niger a week ago.

  • Niger crisis: Tinubu insists military intervention last resort

    Niger crisis: Tinubu insists military intervention last resort

    President Bola Tinubu on Thursday said all diplomatic options would be exhausted with the military junta in Niger Republic before any military intervention.

    A statement on Thursday in Abuja by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said Tinubu also reiterated the non-acceptance of forceful removal of a democratic government.

    Tinubu stated this when he received the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, at the State House.

    “I must thank you for your several visits to Niger Republic, Your Eminence, but you will still have to go back. My fear has been confirmed in Gabon that copy cats will start doing the same thing until it is stopped.

    ‘’We are neighbours with Niger Republic, and what has joined Nigerians together with their great people cannot be broken. Nobody is interested in a war. We have seen the devastation in Ukraine and Sudan. But, if we don’t wield the big stick, we will all suffer the consequences together,” the President said.

    Tinubu noted that Nigeria, under Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, instituted a nine-month transition programme in 1998 that led the country into a new era of democratic governance.

    The President said that such action can be replicated in Niger Republic if the military authorities are sincere.

    “Your Eminence, please don’t get tired, you will still go back there. The soldiers’ action is unacceptable. The earlier they make positive adjustments, the quicker we will dial back the sanctions to alleviate the sufferings we are seeing in Niger,” the President said.

    On the hardship faced by many Nigerians post-fuel subsidy removal, the President assured that all ongoing reforms would reposition the economy and benefit the majority of the population in terms of opportunities, infrastructure, healthcare and education.

    “Nigeria is headed for a promise. Our diversity will turn into prosperity, not adversity. We will build a country that our children will be proud of,” the President assured.

    He told the delegation that the federal government was collaborating with state governments for provision of land for pan-national animal husbandry and agro-allied production as well as processing facilities for mass export, job creation and revenue generation.

    “If Nigeria is still looking for vaccines for basic health issues; if infant and maternal mortality is rampant, then we should examine ourselves. I will commit to consulting with other leaders, like the NSCIA, and we will meet the needs of our people,” he said.

    Vice President Kashim Shettima also said that the President had budgeted N50 billion to support the ongoing rebuilding of lives and property in the North West and North East.

    He said that this gesture was with a new focus on dialogue to address security challenges and complement the kinetic efforts.

    The Sultan of Sokoto pledged “one hundred per cent loyalty” to the President, affirming that a leader can only reach a position by the will of God, and not man.

    The Sultan assured the President that the NSCIA would be available for advice and support toward realising his dream for the country, adding that “God will hold all leaders to account, in justice and fairness.”

    He suggested that the distribution of palliatives across the country should be monitored and augmented, where it fails to reach some of the people who remain in dire need.

    “I honestly believe we will come out of the challenges stronger,” the Sultan said.

  • JUST IN: Niger Coup leader gives Nigerian, US, other Ambassadors 48 hours to leave country

    JUST IN: Niger Coup leader gives Nigerian, US, other Ambassadors 48 hours to leave country

    Niger’s military administration led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani on Friday gave the German, US and Nigerian ambassadors 48 hours to leave the country.

    The Diplomats were alleged of non compliance with Niger’s interest by failing to honour invitation for a discussion at the nation’s ministry of foreign affairs.

    “In reaction to German Ambassador Olivier Schnakenberg’s refusal to reply to an invitation by the ministry for a discussion on Friday August 25 at 11.00 a.m., and due to other actions of the German government contrary to Niger’s interests, the Ministry is giving 48 hours to Mr. Olivier Schnakenberg’s to leave the Nigerien territory,” according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

    “In reaction to Nigerian Ambassador Mohamed Usman’s refusal to reply to an invitation by the ministry for a discussion on Friday August 25 at 11.30 a.m., and due to other actions of the Nigerian government contrary to Niger’s interests, the ministry … is giving 48 hours to Mr. Mohamed Usman’s to leave the Nigerien territory,” it said separately.

    The military also gave the new US ambassador 48 hours to leave.

    US Ambassador Kathleen Fitzgibbons, who arrived in the national capital of Niamey last week was accused of failing to honor an invitation by the ministry for a discussion earlier in the day.

    The State Department said last week that FitzGibbon was to lead a US diplomatic mission and bolster efforts to help resolve the political crisis.

    Niger’s military administration earlier gave the French ambassador 48 hours to leave the country.

    French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna sent an Aug. 8 note to express solidarity with Nigerien Ambassador in Paris Aichatou Boulama Kane who refused to leave her position after the military administration took power.