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Tag: War

  • Implications of ECOWAS military invasion of Niger for Nigeria – Shehu Sani

    Implications of ECOWAS military invasion of Niger for Nigeria – Shehu Sani

    Sen. Shehu Sani, a former Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, says military incursion into Niger Republic by an ECOWAS standby force will be synonymous with a declaration of war by Nigeria.

    Sani expressed this thought in an interview with NAN in Abuja.

    The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said on Thursday that it had ordered the deployment of a “standby force’’ to Niger to restore constitutional order in the country.

    The order was given after the junta who took over power from President Mohamed Bazoum on July 2, defied an Aug. 6 ultimatum issued by ECOWAS leaders for the junta to revert to status quo.

    Sani said there was nothing wrong in applying pressure on the junta in Niger after the coup but deploying military force against the junta in the Francophone country sharing the northern border with Nigeria had a lot of implications.

    “Armed invasion of Niger by ECOWAS will simply be a war between Nigeria and Niger because Nigeria foots the bills of ECOWAS.

    “If we are going to get into war with the Nger Republic, what will be the future of states like Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Sokoto, Yobe, and Borno that share borders with Niger? What will be the fate of people living in these areas?

    “Right now there are more than 303,000 Nigerian refugees that were sacked by terrorist groups living in villages in Niger Republic,’’ he said.

    According to him, in the 1990s, the West pledged support for Nigeria and for the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) to move into Liberia, and Sierra Leone to restore peace and Nigeria took the mandate on the basis that they would get the support they needed.

    “Nigeria moved into Liberia and the Francophone countries refused to join the ECOMOG. Senegal joined but after a few of its soldiers were killed it pulled out leaving only Nigeria and a few other smaller West African countries.

    “Only one person served as an ECOMOG commander from Ghana. All the other commanders from the beginning to the end of the war were Nigerian.

    “Nigeria ended up spending 8 billion dollars according to figures provided recently by the former Chief of Defense Staff Lt.-Gen. Lucky Irabor.

    “These were monies that could have been used to connect the states by railway lines but we blew it in Liberia and the support never came,” he said.

    According to him, If we get into an armed confrontation with Niger Republic, in the 21st century there is no one-week war. There is no one-month war. It is years of war.

    “Saudi Arabia moved its troops into Yemen, thinking that would bring an end to Houthi rebels and restore order. But it is still there now for five to six years.

    “Russia moved into Ukraine thinking it would bring an end to the Ukraine government but it is still there for more than a year. America went to war in Afghanistan and it fought the war with the Taliban for 20 years – 2001 to 2021 – only to pull out leaving the Taliban to take back power.

    “What resources do we have to prosecute a war? Does our military have the experience to fight a war in the Sahel, or the desert?

    “The coup happened when the French and U.S. had military bases in Niger.

    “If these could not stop the coup, they could not protect Bazoum, and they could not restore Bazoum to power, is it the Nigerian army that has security challenges in Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna, Yobe, Borno, Plateau, Nasarawa that will neglect these places and go fight a war in Niger?,” he questioned.

  • Tension doused as Senate reject military action against Niger

    Tension doused as Senate reject military action against Niger

    The Senate has rejected an option of military operations in Nigeria’s neighbouring Niger Republic, however, calling on the ECOWAS Parliament and other leaders to condemn the coup d’etat in the country.

    According to the Nigerian Senate, the Niger political impasse should be addressed politically rather than using military action.

    Tinubu had written the Senate on Friday, seeking for the implementation of the Resolutions of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government on the political situation in Niger Republic.

    The communique issued by the ECOWAS leaders chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is the chairman, stated that military action would be carried against any country that forcefully toppled a democratically elected government.

    But considering the executive communication during a closed-door session that lasted for more than two hours on Saturday, which was raised by the Senate leader, Bamidele Opeyemi, the Senate rejected military action and insisted on engaging with the Nigerian President on resolving the issue.

    Speaking after the closed-door session, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said at the closed-session they considered Tinubu’s request and resolved to go for a political solution rather than military action, considering the long-standing relationship between Nigeria and Niger.

    “At our executive session, the Senate condemned in totality the coup that took place in Niger Republic.

    “The Senate commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other Heads of State of ECOWAS on their prompt response.

    “The Senate recognises the fact that President Tinubu, by the virtue of his correspondence, has not asked that we should approve a request to go to war, but he expressed a wish to solicit support in the successful implementation of the ECOWAS communique.

    “The leadership of the Senate is mandated to further engage the President on how best to engage and resolve the issues,” Akpabio said.

    Speaking further, the Senate President said the Senate was calling on the President of Nigeria, who is also the Chairman of ECOWAS, to further engage leaders to strengthen political options in resolving the political situation in Niger.

    “The Senate is mandated to further engage President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on how best to resolve the issue in view of the cordial relationship between Nigeria and Niger.

    “The Senate called on the ECOWAS Parliament to rise to this and condemn the military coup in Niger and to resolve the impasse,” Akpabio added.

    Meanwhile, the Northern Senators Forum has condemned the Niger coup, but rejected planned military action against the Junta.

    The Northern Senators, who cautioned against the use of military power in Niger, added that Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should use diplomatic channel to address the situation rather than military might.

    The lawmakers also frowned at economic and other sanctions imposed on Niger, adding that if the issue is not well managed, it will affect some of Nigerian States like Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa, Yobe and Borno negatively.

    “We, the Northern Senators of the Northern Senators Caucus of the 10th Senate under the leadership of Sen Abdul Ahmad Ningi, note with concern and condemn in its entirety the unfortunate development in Niger Republic, where the military forcefully upstaged a democratically elected government of President Mohammed Bazoum.

    “The Northern Senators also take cognizance of the efforts of the ECOWAS leaders under the chairmanship of our Dear President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in resolving the situation in Niger Republic.

    “The emphasis, however, should be focused on political and diplomatic means to restore democratic government in the Niger Republic.

    “We also take exception to the use of military force until other avenues as mentioned above are exhausted as the consequences will be casualties among the innocent citizens who go about their daily business. Besides, about seven northern states shared the border with the Niger Republic namely Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa. Yobe and Borno will be negatively affected,” spokesman of the group, Senator Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila, said.

    According to him, “We are also aware of the situation of Mali, Burkina Faso and Libya, which may affect the seven Northern states whose military force is used.

    “There is a serious implication for our country, its military force is used without exhausting all diplomatic channels.

    “As democrats and representatives of the people we are here by urging our colleagues to observe due diligence in invoking section 5 subsection (4) (a) and (b) of the constitution”

  • Customs closes border, says not at war with Niger Republic

    Customs closes border, says not at war with Niger Republic

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says the closure of Nigeria borders with Niger Republic is not a declaration of war between the two countries as speculated.

    Mr Adewale Adeniyi, the NCS acting Comptroller General, made the assertion while addressing Illela border community of Sokoto State on Friday.

    Adeniyi, who was at the Illela border to ascertain the level of compliance, clarified that what is happening in Nigeria is also happening in other states of West Africa that shares same border with Niger Republic.

    “My mission here is to restate the directives of President Bola Tinubu, been not only the Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria but also Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

    “As we are aware one of the Chairman’s responsibility is to promote trade between members of ECOWAS.

    “But we all know that trade cannot happen in an environment where there is no peace.

    “So the intention of government is to ensure that we leverage perfectly on the nexus between trade and security,” he said.

    The acting comptroller general added that the situation happening in Niger Republic is such that trade cannot strive.

    “This development initiated the ECOWAS Heads of States decision to seize trade with our neighbours, the Republic of Niger.

    “However, there are other measures that are ongoing, the diplomatic front, there are engagement going on with the authority of Niger to ensure the crisis is peacefully resolved,” he added.

    Adeniyi further stated that the action is not only restricted to Illela border but all other areas where the Niger Republic is bordering the country.

    “So what we are saying is that the closure will be a temporary thing until we have final resolution of the crisis in Niger Republic.

    “But certainly we are not at war with Niger Republic and no such declaration has been made,” he said.

    On his remarks Alhaji Buhari Tukur, the District Head of Illela, appreciated the customs chief.

    Tukur, represented by Alhaji Abubakar Abdullahi, assured that the community would continue to remain law abiding and respect government policies.

  • Sudan risks full-blown war – United Nations

    Sudan risks full-blown war – United Nations

    Following a recent airstrike in  Omdurman, the United Nations has warned that Sudan is at risk of a full-blown war.

    Conflict-torn Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” that could destabilize the entire region, the United Nations warned Sunday, after an air strike on a residential area killed around two dozen civilians.

    The latest attack leaves about 22 persons dead while a large number got wounded among the civilians” from the strike on Khartoum’s sister city Omdurman, in the district of Dar al-Salam, which means “House of Peace” in Arabic.

    The War in Sun has lasted for three months, but the latest air strike on a Sudanese city, Omdurman has provoked outrage.

    Around 3,000 people have been killed in the conflict, survivors have reported a wave of sexual violence and witnesses have spoken of ethnically targeted killings. There has been widespread looting, and the UN warned of possible crimes against humanity in the Darfur region.

    A video posted by the health ministry on Facebook showed apparently lifeless bodies after the airstrike, including several women. The narrator says that residents “counted 22 dead”.

    The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), fighting the regular army, claimed that the strike killed 31.

    Since the war began, paramilitaries have established bases in residential areas, and they have been accused of forcing civilians from their homes.

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday condemned the air strike in Omdurman, which he said “reportedly killed at least 22 people” and wounded dozens, his deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement.

    Guterres “remains deeply concerned that the ongoing war between the armed forces has pushed Sudan to the brink of a full-scale civil war, potentially destabilising the entire region”, Haq said.

    He added: “There is an utter disregard for humanitarian and human rights law that is dangerous and disturbing.”

    Nearly three million people have been uprooted by Sudan’s fighting, among them almost 700,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries according to the International Organization for Migration.

    The UN and African blocs have warned of an “ethnic dimension” to the conflict in the western region of Darfur, where the United States, Norway and Britain have blamed the RSF and allied militia for most of the widespread violations.

    Haq expressed support for efforts by the African Union and East African bloc IGAD to end Sudan’s crisis.

    On Monday leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan — IGAD members handling the Sudan file — are to meet in Addis Ababa.

    Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have been invited but neither side has confirmed they will attend.

    Numerous ceasefires in the war have been announced and ignored.

  • 126 more Nigerians arrive Abuja from Sudan

    126 more Nigerians arrive Abuja from Sudan

    No fewer than 126 Nigerians stranded in Sudan arrived Abuja on Saturday following the continued crisis in the war-torn country.

    The returnees arrived on a Tarco Aircraft ST-TAL B737-300 at about 5:15 p.m.

    The returnees were received by staff of NEMA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, NIDCOM, NAPTIP, among others.

    Of the 126 evacuees, three are students while 23 are children.

    This brings to total 2,660 stranded Nigerians evacuated to the country in 16 batches since the crisis broke out in Sudan.

    The returnees were given N100,000 cash as well as food and drinks upon arrival.

    Mr Mustapha Ahmed, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) welcomed the returnees on behalf of the federal government.

    Ahmed who was represented by Dr Onimode Bandele, Director, Special Duties, NEMA, said that arrangements had been made to return more Nigerians stranded in Sudan.

    “This evacuation started before the end of the last administration, and being a caring government, President Bola Tinubu administration inherited the process and gave us the backing we need to bring them back.

    “The success we are seeing today is because the Federal Government supported us and the director-general of NEMA has been on top of the situation, getting these flights out of Port Sudan,” he said.

    Mr Akwari Henry, a returnee who had stayed in Sudan for six years, appreciated the federal government for bringing them back to the country.

    “I was playing football for a club in Sudan and I have been there for six years. I do not pray we face this same crisis in Nigeria because the experience has been traumatising.

    “I looked forward to being invited by football clubs in Nigeria to start life again,” he said.

    Another returnee, Mrs Bilqis Bamijoko, also appreciated the federal government for evacuating them back to the country.

    “Since April when the war began, we have not been ourselves, we could not sleep not to talk of eating good food but I am happy to be back home,” she said.

    Armed conflict between rival factions of the military government of Sudan began on April 15, when clashes broke out in cities across Khatourm and Dafur regions.

  • The war must end in Ukraine-South African president, Ramaphosa tells Putin

    The war must end in Ukraine-South African president, Ramaphosa tells Putin

    South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is in Russia as part of a peace-seeking delegation, on Saturday, told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the conflict in Ukraine had to stop.

    “This war must be settled… through negotiations and through diplomatic means,” said Ramaphosa.

    He added that his delegation, consisting of seven African leaders, “would like this war to be ended.

    “This war is having a negative impact on the African continent and indeed on many other countries around the world,” Ramaphosa said ahead of formal talks with the Russian president.

    On Friday, the delegation held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

    “We have come to listen to you and through you to hear the voice of the Russian people,” said Comoros President Azali Assoumani, who currently heads the African Union.

    “We wanted to encourage you to enter into negotiations with Ukraine,” he said.

    African countries have been divided over their response to the conflict, with some siding with Ukraine, while others have remained neutral or gravitated towards Moscow.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday gave African leaders seeking to mediate in the war in Ukraine a list of reasons why he believed many of their proposals were misguided, pouring cold water on a plan already largely dismissed by Kyiv.

    The African leaders were seeking agreement on a series of “confidence building measures”, even as Kyiv last week began a counteroffensive to push back Russian forces from the swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine that they occupy.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after meeting them in Kyiv on Friday that peace talks would require Moscow to withdraw its forces from occupied Ukrainian territory, something Russia has said is not negotiable.

    Putin opened Saturday’s talks with representatives of Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Congo Republic, Comoros and South Africa in a palace near St Petersburg by stressing Russia’s commitment to the continent.

    But after presentations from the Comoran, Senegalese and South African presidents, he stepped in to challenge the assumptions of the plan – predicated on acceptance of internationally recognised borders – before the round of statements could go any further.

    Putin reiterated his position that Ukraine and its Western allies had started the conflict long before Russia sent its armed forces over the border in February last year, something they deny.

    He said the West, not Russia, was responsible for a sharp rise in global food prices early last year that has hit Africa especially hard.

    He told the delegation that Ukrainian grain exports from Black Sea ports that Russia has permitted for the past year were doing nothing to alleviate Africa’s difficulties with high food prices because they had largely gone to wealthy countries.

    And he said Russia had never refused talks with the Ukrainian side, which had been blocked by Kyiv. Moscow has, however, repeatedly said any peace must allow for “new realities”, meaning its declared annexation of five Ukrainian provinces, four of which it only partially controls – a red line for Kyiv.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised remarks that Moscow shared the “main approaches” of the African plan, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying it was “difficult to realise”.

    Peskov said Putin had shown interest in the plan, whose 10 points South African President Cyril Ramaphosa laid out in his presentation, and Russia would continue dialogue with the African countries.

    Lavrov said they had not brought the Russian leader any message from Zelenskiy.

    Putin said Moscow was “open to constructive dialogue with anyone who wants to establish peace on the principles of fairness and acknowledgement of the legitimate interests of the parties”.

    There was no immediate word on the bilateral talks that Ramaphosa, host of a summit in August featuring Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, had said he would have with Putin.

    Since the International Criminal Court indicted Putin in March on war crimes charges – which he rejects – South Africa, as a member of the court, finds itself in the awkward position of being obliged to arrest him if he sets foot there.

  • War: Over one Million Sudanese are displaced – UN

    War: Over one Million Sudanese are displaced – UN

    About one million Sudanese have been displaced due to the fighting between rival military factions in the country,  UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) says.

    The number of people displaced inside Sudan as at  Wednesday rose to more than one million.

    IOM said another 319,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries.

    Egypt, Sudan’s northern neighbour, took in the largest share of the refugees, with more than 132,000 people, while Chad took in some 80,000 refugees and South Sudan about 69,000.

    A long-simmering power struggle between the two warring generals in the country  escalated violently on April 15.

    The army under the command of the de facto president, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is fighting the paramilitary units of his deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

    The two generals jointly seized power in 2021.

    Even before the current crisis, Sudan was known for being one of the poorest and most politically unstable countries in the world, with 3.7 million internally displaced people due to previous crises.

    Now, IOM warns of a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country, which has a total population of around 46 million.

    The fighting is making access to basic goods and fuel increasingly difficult.

    However, the United Nations keep making provisions for displaced Sudanese in Chad and other neighbouring countries.

  • EU condemns Russian escalation of war against Ukraine

    EU condemns Russian escalation of war against Ukraine

    The European Union (EU) has accused Russia of further escalating war against Ukraine. The EU made the accusation in a statement on Friday.

    “This week marks another escalation in Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine with increasingly indiscriminate and bloody shelling of civilian areas,’’ the spokesman for EU Foreign Affairs Chief Josep Borrell said in Brussels.

    He cited missile and drone attacks on Odessa and Kiev as examples in addition to a large supermarket, a railway station and a petrol station hit with heavy artillery in the Kherson Region.

    “The latest of these Russia’s barbarities killed over 20 people and injured almost 50 in Kherson, all of them civilians.

    “This reckless killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure must stop immediately,’’ the spokesman said.

    He said that the EU remained committed to holding the perpetrators accountable.

  • Sudanese bloodbath: Rivals agree to 72-hour ceasefire

    Sudanese bloodbath: Rivals agree to 72-hour ceasefire

    The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Sudan’s warring generals had agreed to a three-day ceasefire starting Tuesday (2200 GMT Monday), after previous bids to pause the conflict quickly disintegrated.

    “Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours,” Blinken said in a statement two hours before the truce was to go into effect.

    “During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,” Blinken said.

    Blinken said that the United States was also working with partners to set up a committee that would negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Sudan, where the conflict between rival generals descended into deadly violence 10 days ago

  • German government evacuates 101 persons from war-torn Sudan

    German government evacuates 101 persons from war-torn Sudan

    The German government has evacuated 101 people from Sudan, following fierce fighting between rival generals in the Northern African country.

    The fighting between rival generals has entered its second week the army said on Sunday.

    An Airbus A400M carrying the evacuees “landed safely in Jordan” at around midnight local time (2100 GMT), the Bundeswehr said on Twitter.

    A total of three A400Ms had reached Sudan on Sunday to pick up people to be evacuated, it added.

    The German governmnrt also helped in evacuating other nationals from the country, an army spokesman said.

    Defence sources told AFP the German military planes were taking off from Azraq in Jordan and using a Sudanese airport near the capital Khartoum, about a three-hour flight away.

    The foreign and defence ministries had earlier said they were conducting “an ongoing evacuation operation… in coordination with our partners”.

    “Our aim is to fly as many (German) nationals out of Khartoum as possible in this dangerous situation in Sudan,” the ministries wrote on Twitter.

    “Within the scope of our possibilities, we will also take EU and other nationals with us,” they added.

    Several other nations have also begun evacuating their citizens from Sudan, including the Britain, France and United States.

    Germany had aborted an attempt to begin evacuations on Wednesday, according to Der Spiegel magazine.

    Three military transport planes headed for the country but were made to turn back, it said.

    he Bild daily reported on Sunday that the German government was planning to rescue around 300 German citizens.

    A ceasefire has been agreed for the duration of the mission, it said.

    Bild also reported that paratroopers from the German army have been sent to Jordan to potentially help with further evacuation efforts.

    The fighting between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s forces and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces began on April 15 over a dispute on the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

    The violence has left at least 420 dead and 3,700 injured, according to the World Health Organization.