Regional News
More to be done to combat threats in W/Africa – Buhari. Source: Blue Print
President Muhammadu Buhari has called for greater cooperation among neighbouring countries with Nigeria to better combat escalating volatilities and multiplicity of threats across West Africa and the Sahel. The president spoke Thursday in Niamey, the capital of Niger Republic, at the launch of the French version of his biography, Muhammadu Buhari: the Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria, after inaugurating a 3.8km length and 160m- wide Boulevard named after him by the government of Niger Republic.
Terrorists kill 19 in Zamfara village, residents flee. Source: Punch
Terrorists have reportedly killed 19 persons during an attack on Riyoji village in Birnin Tsaba District, in the Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State. PUNCH Metro gathered that the terrorists also injured some residents during the attack that happened around 10pm last Wednesday. An indigene of the area, Mohammed Lawal, during a telephone conversation with our correspondent, said told the terrorists stormed the village on motorcycles and started shooting sporadically.
Dozens of Chadian soldiers killed in Boko Haram surprise attack. Source: rfi
The Chadian government said the unit had been dispatched to set up an army outpost on the island of Bouka-Toullorom, where Boko Haram has carried out several offensives in recent years. The outpost, between the villages of Ngouboua and Kaiganear Ngouboua, is part of a military reorganisation to deal with jihadists. Reports said numerous Boko Haram fighters attacked the unit in successive waves, managing to enter the outpost – which they destroyed – before stealing weapons.
West African states to increase cooperation as jihadists move beyond Sahel. Source: rfi
West African coastal states are holding talks on boosting military cooperation against jihadist violence spilling over from the Sahel. This follows recent announcements that several international peacekeeping contingents are being withdrawn from Mali. Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo are confronting increased risks from Islamic State jihadists and Al Qaeda militants waging war over their northern borders in the Sahel. As part of the so-called Accra Initiative, representatives of coastal states on the Gulf of Guinea, the European Union and others met in the Ghanaian capital on Thursday for talks on security and intelligence cooperation.
France halts development aid to Mali. Source: rfi
France will stop sending public development aid to Mali because of the West African country’s alleged ties to Russian paramilitaries, according to the French foreign ministry. “Given the attitude of Mali’s junta leader, allied with the Russian mercenaries of Wagner, we have suspended our public development aid to Mali,” a ministry source said on Thursday. The announcement comes three months after France announced that it was winding down its anti-jihadist operation known as Operation Barkhane. The ministry said it will maintain humanitarian aid, however, and continue to support civil society organisations.
Lake Chad: At Least 7 People Dead In Multiple Attacks On Mallam Fatori. Source: Humangle
Insurgents have killed at least seven people in a series of attacks on a temporary transit camp for resettled refugees in Mallam Fatori, a Nigerian town on the shores of Lake Chad. HumAngle has learned that the insurgents carried out three attacks between Friday and Saturday. The final death toll is not yet known, and could rise, sources said. The town is the headquarters of Abadam in northern Borno and borders the Niger and Chad republic. It also hosts the Army’s 68th battalion.
The Schoolgirls Of Birnin-Yauri: Living Through The Pains Of Captivity. Source: Humangle
Almost 17 months after a mass abduction at the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, in Nigeria’s Northwestern Kebbi State, 11 schoolgirls are still in captivity. The girls, including a 12-year-old, are enduring unimaginable ordeals. Since January, the parents and guardians of the 11 girls have intensified their appeals to the government for their intervention, but to no avail. Their anguish grows as they feel their yearning is not heeded. They are only too aware that their children are being sexually abused in the forest, perhaps just 100 miles from the school where they were seized. The abductors have sometimes called the parents to torment them cruelly.
Buhari Urges Non-state Actors to Support the Fight Against Terrorism and Transnational Organised Crimes. Source: PRNigeria
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, bilateral and multilateral development partners and other non-state actors to support their host governments in the fight against terrorism and transnational organised crimes.
The Nigerian President, who was speaking in Accra, Ghana, at the Accra Initiative Summit of Heads of State and Government on November 22, 2022, said the fight against terrorism and other transnational crimes requires the active participation of members of all spheres of society, including non-state actors.
Represented by the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (Rtd) , Buhari also expressed appreciation to the various partners of the Accra Initiative who keenly supported the actualisation of the various meetings taking place in Ghana.
NAF Aircraft Bomb Enclave of Turji’s Weapon Supplier in Shinkafi. Source: PRNigeria
In sustained offensives against terrorists, aircraft of the Nigerian Airforce (NAF) have striken the enclave of notorious gun runner Mallam Ila at Manawa Village in Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State. A defence operative told PRNigeria that the gun runner was the major supplier of sophisticated weapons to the notorious terrorist, Bello Turji in Zamfara.
Protection Levy: Terrorists hold five negotiators, give Zamfara community two extra days to gather balance. Source: Premium Times
Terrorists working for notorious kingpin, Bello Turji, are holding five elders of Moriki community in Zurmi area of Zamfara State after the village failed to gather the N20 million protection levy imposed on it. PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported how the terrorists imposed a N20 Million protection levy on the residents of Moriki. Sources told this newspaper that every household was asked to pay the sum of N6,500 to raise the money. Moriki has witnessed relentless terrorist attacks for years and resident agreed to pay protection levies imposed by the terrorists to stall further attacks on the community.
EXCLUSIVE: ISWAP Terrorists Attack Two Nigerian Army Bases In Borno, Confirm Deaths Of Over 30 Soldiers, Burning Of Vehicles. Source: Sahara Reporters
Militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, have attacked two military bases located in Malam Fatori, Borno State. Malam Fatori in Abdama Local Government Area lies close to the Komadougou Yobe river and shares border with Lake Chad and the Niger Republic.
Ten Chadian Soldiers Killed In Boko Haram Attack On Military Post. Source: Humangle
The terrorists looted the forward military post at Bouka-Toullorom island during the attack in the early hours of Nov 22. Among the victims were the Commander of the Ngouboua military sector, whose name was not mentioned. “Early this morning, a unit of the forces of defence and security, dispatched as a prelude to the installation of an advance post of the Chadian national army in the island of Bouka-Toullorom, between Ngouboua and Kaiga, Lac Tchad province, was taken apart by elements of the Boko Haram sect, resulting in the death of ten and others wounded”, a statement by the Chadian security forces declared.
Protection Levy: Terrorists hold five negotiators, give Zamfara community two extra days to gather balance. Source: Premium Times
Terrorists working for notorious kingpin, Bello Turji, are holding five elders of Moriki community in Zurmi area of Zamfara State after the village failed to gather the N20 million protection levy imposed on it. PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported how the terrorists imposed a N20 Million protection levy on the residents of Moriki. Sources told this newspaper that every household was asked to pay the sum of N6,500 to raise the money. Moriki has witnessed relentless terrorist attacks for years and resident agreed to pay protection levies imposed by the terrorists to stall further attacks on the community. Two local sources told PREMIUM TIMES over the phone Wednesday morning that the elders were among seven residents tasked with the responsibility of delivering the already gathered N10.5 million to Mr Turji’s commanders, Tuesday afternoon.
Soldier runs amok, kills colleague, humanitarian worker, injures pilot. Source: Premium Times
A soldier of the 25 Task Force Brigade in Borno ran amok on Thursday and shot a female humanitarian aid worker to death while injuring a UN pilot. The soldier also killed one of his colleagues who tried to disarm him. Reports said he would have taken more lives, but for the quick intervention of his colleagues who neutralised him. Reacting to the incident, the Theatre Command of “Operation HADIN KAI’’, expressed regret at the sad occurrence at one of its military bases. Samson Zhakom, assistant director, Army Public Relations, said the soldier shot and killed a staff member of one of the NGOs providing humanitarian support in the North-east.
Chad to add troops to UN mission in Mali following France’s withdrawal. Source: rfi
Chad says it will increase its contribution to the United Nations Minusma peacekeeping mission in Mali, as France discusses with the UN Security Council how its decision to pull troops out of Mali will impact the mission. country would increase its troop numbers in the UN peacekeeping, force following France’s withdrawal of its troops from its Operation Barkhane anti-insurgent force and from Europe’s Takuba force, which is under French command.
West African states to increase cooperation as jihadists move beyond Sahel. Source: rfi
West African coastal states are holding talks on boosting military cooperation against jihadist violence spilling over from the Sahel. This follows recent announcements that several international peacekeeping contingents are being withdrawn from Mali. Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo are confronting increased risks from Islamic State jihadists and Al Qaeda militants waging war over their northern borders in the Sahel. As part of the so-called Accra Initiative, representatives of coastal states on the Gulf of Guinea, the European Union and others met in the Ghanaian capital on Thursday for talks on security and intelligence cooperation. Ghana’s National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah said collaboration was needed as the threat from extremism is “more widespread than previously thought and transcending borders”.
Boko Haram fighters kill 10 Chadian soldiers near Nigeria border. Source: news24
Boko Haram militants killed at least 10 Chadian soldiers in an attack on a military unit in Lake Chad province near the Nigerian border on Tuesday, Chad’s government said in a statement. The unit had been dispatched as a precursor to setting up an army post on the island of Bouka-Toullorom, between the villages of Ngouboua and Kaiga, where Boko Haram has carried out several offensives in recent years. Militants attacked early on Tuesday morning, killing around 10 men and wounding several others, the statement said.
Peace and Security
Sahel insurgency: What policymakers need to do differently. Source: The New Humanitarian
The power of jihadist extremists in the Sahel has been on the rise for the past decade, and now several groups appear poised for expansion into new areas of West Africa. Militants from Mali and Burkina Faso have moved south, launching attacks in the coastal states of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo. In Nigeria, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has started operations far further west and south than had previously been the case. This includes an audacious prison raid just outside the capital Abuja, several hundred kilometres from their usual areas of activity.
Confronting Terrorism In The Lake Chad Basin- The Multinational Joint Task Force In Perspective. Source: PRNigeria
The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in its present form was reorganized and re-operationalized in 2015. It has its headquarters in N’djamena Chad and former Nigerian Army Chief, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai (Rtd) was its first Force Commander (FC). The initial MNJTF was founded in 1994 by the Federal Republic of Nigeria with Headquarters in Baga Nigeria and had troops from Nigeria, Niger and Chad as participating members. This Force did reasonably well in tackling the cross-border crimes and light banditry issues it was set up to tackle. However, the advent of the Boko Haram (BHT) and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgency in 2009 and increasing nature of their cross-border operations straddling Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad necessitated the need for an appropriate response to counter the threat especially after they withdrew to the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) areas after government security forces routed them from the urban areas.
Humanitarian
Data Shows Children In Conflict Areas Of Northern Nigeria Lack Basic Education. Source: Humangle
According to data released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the majority of children aged ten and above in northern Nigerian states plagued by insecurity have not finished six years of basic schooling. The data revealed that Borno State, which has been experiencing insurgency-related violence for over a decade, is the worst affected, with 84 per cent, followed by Sokoto and Zamfara states, both of which have 77 per cent of all young children who lack access to education. 73 and 72 per cent, respectively, of the states of Katsina and Kebbi, which were also impacted by terrorism and farmer-herder clashes, have a deplorable level of education attainment for those 10 years of age and older. Terrorist kidnappings of schoolchildren have occurred in the states of Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, and Kebbi states; acts that have a direct impact on school enrollment in the states.
School Activities Resume In Nigeria’s Kirawa Community After 8 Years. Source: Humangle
Residents of Kirawa community in Borno state, Northeast Nigeria, expressed appreciation over the reopening of its primary school after it was closed down about eight years ago when the community was displaced by terror and violence as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency. The opening ceremony took place at the school’s premises on Nov. 16, five months after displaced people from the community were resettled back. Although it took a long time, it was the realisation of a pledge the Borno government had made while interacting with the community earlier this year.
Nigeria’s Floods Leave A Trail Of Ruin And Heartbreak — Photo Essay (II). Source: Humangle
Recent floods that swept across many parts of Nigeria turned about half of Tashena, a community in Zaki, into a river. Farms were buried in the flowing water. Houses collapsed on their dwellers, and according to locals, this killed at least 10 people. Families had to seek refuge in schools, tents, and huts as they waited for the water to recede, so they could start rebuilding. Houses levelled in the dozens, families separated, livelihoods lost. This year’s flooding disaster has spread devastation across Bauchi, Northeast Nigeria. In the second of three photo essays for HumAngle, Abubakar Sadiq Mustapha visited the communities worst affected.
Nigeria’s Floods Leave A Trail Of Ruin And Heartbreak — Photo Essay (III). Source: Humangle
In the third and final part of this series, we visit Niger, North-central Nigeria, where travellers were stranded and farmers turned to fishing because of this year’s unprecedented floods.
Nigeria’s 20m out-of-school children are potential Boko Haram members – Obasanjo. Source: Premium Times
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned the government to act fast in reducing out-of-school children or risk having potential 20 million Boko Haram members. Mr Obasanjo said this in Abuja on Tuesday while speaking at the National Summit on Tertiary Education Reform organised by the House of Representatives. The summit which was held in Abuja was conceived to provide answers to the incessant industrial actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Mr Obasanjo, in his speech, said government must devise innovative means to reduce out-of-school children. He added that there is a need to emphasize primary and secondary education in the country.
Deadly Conspiracies About Aid In Nigeria. Source: Humangle
The deeply ingrained prevalence of conspiracies in northeastern Nigeria continues to undermine the perception of humanitarian organisations and the safety of aid workers. The dangers of this were exposed this week when a soldier went on a sudden rampage, shooting at a UN-operated helicopter. On Nov. 17, the soldier on deployment in the Damboa area of Borno opened fire on the helicopter from the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) and the aid workers boarding it — causing the death of an aid worker and injuring a pilot. He also killed one of his colleagues who tried to prevent the incident from escalating before the rampaging soldier was shot dead. According to a source familiar with the incident, the soldier had previously spoken against the role of aid organisations in the region’s protracted conflict.
Reps Seek Agency For Almajiri, Out-Of-School-Children. Source: Daily Trust
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed for second reading, a bill seeking to establish a national commission for almajiri education and out-of-school-children. The bill, sponsored by Shehu Balarabe Kakale and 18 others, is titled: ‘A Bill for an Act to establish National Commission for Almajiri Education and out of School Children’.
Mali bans French NGOs as diplomatic row deepens. Source: rfi
Mali’s junta announced on Monday a ban on the activities of NGOs funded or supported by France, including humanitarian groups, amid a worsening row between Paris and Bamako. The West African nation’s interim Prime Minister Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga justified the move in a statement on social media, calling it a response to France’s recent halt to development aid for Mali. The French foreign ministry said last week it had made the decision, which came three months after finalising its pull-out of anti-jihadist forces from the country, over Bamako’s alleged use of paramilitaries from Russian group Wagner. Bamako denies this, acknowledging only the support of Russian military “instructors”.
French NGOs in Mali concerned for civilians in wake of suspension. Source: rfi
French-backed NGOs in Mali fear their future is in limbo after military-run authorities ordered the suspension of their activities earlier this week. The announcement marks a further twist in the downward spiral between the Sahel nation and its former colonial power. On Monday, Mali declared that all NGOs financed or supported by France would be banned — a move that strikes at vital aid work in the country. The junta has given no details as to which NGOs are concerned or the type of support which could lead to their banning. Mali’s interim prime minister, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, blamed the ban on a move by France to suspend its development aid for Mali.
Stabilization and economic development
Kolmani Oil: We’ll avoid mistakes of Niger Delta — Gombe Governor. Source: Premium Times
Inuwa Yahaya, the governor of Gombe State, says the North-east will not go down the path of the Niger Delta and other oil-producing areas around the world. Mr Yahaya stated this on Tuesday during an interview on “Politics Today,” a political Programme on Channels TV. President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier flagged off the first crude oil drilling project in northern Nigeria, on the boundary of Bauchi and Gombe States. The NNPC had in October 2019 announced the discovery of hydrocarbon deposits in the Kolmani River II Well on the Upper Benue Trough, Gongola Basin, in the North-eastern part of the country. The new oil field has over 1 billion barrels of oil reserves and 500 billion cubic feet of gas, according to official figures.
French-speaking countries begin Tunisia summit focused on economy. Source: rfi
The world’s French-speaking countries gathered in Tunisia on Saturday for talks focused on economic cooperation, more than a year after President Kais Saied began an internationally criticised power grab. The two-day meeting and an associated economic forum will officially focus on technology and development, but it is also an opportunity for Western and African leaders to discuss issues like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Around 30 heads of state and government, including the heads of six African nations and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, are at the summit on the southern Tunisian resort island of Djerba. French President Emmanuel Macron said the International Organisation of Francophonie (IOF) should be “a space of resistance and reconquest” and called for it to reclaim its role.
