Mohamed Bazoum
President Buhari presides over extraordinary summit of Lake Chad Basin Commission
President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an extraordinary summit of Heads of State and Government of Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Newsmen report that other sub-regional leaders participating in the summit include the Presidents of Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum and Central African Republic, Faustin Touadera. Others are Mahamat Idriss Deby, President of the Transitional Military Council of the Republic of Chad, while Cameroon’s President Paul Bryan, was represented at the meeting. Other participants at the summit include representatives of Mohamed Al-Menfi, Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya, and the Sudanese President. Newsmen report that the leaders would be discussing the growing security threats in Sahel and Lake Chad region, politica...
Chad rebels ready for ceasefire; opposition presses for civilian rule
Rebels in northern Chad are ready to observe a ceasefire and to discuss a political settlement after the battlefield death of President Idriss Deby last week, a rebel spokesman said on Sunday. The rebels, known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), came over the northern border from Libya on April 11 calling for an end to Deby’s 30-year rule. They came as close as 200-300 km (125-185 miles) from the capital N’Djamena before being pushed back by the army. Deby was killed on Monday while visiting troops at the front, just after he won an election. His death shocked the Central African country, which has long been a Western ally against Islamist militants. The air force has since bombarded rebel positions, the military and rebels said. The military said on Saturday it had “annih...
Niger’s new president blasts terrorists for war crimes
Niger’s new president Mohamed Bazoum lashed out on Friday at jihadists who have carried out devastating attacks on his country, accusing them of “war crimes” after he took the helm of the troubled nation. The inauguration marked the first-ever transition between elected presidents in Niger’s six decades of independence from France — a historic moment that has been widely praised. But the Sahel country’s problems were deeply underscored in the run-up to Friday’s ceremony, after a string of jihadist massacres and an alleged attempted coup just two days before the handover. Bazoum hit out at “terrorist groups whose barbarity has exceeded every limit.” These groups “carry out large-scale massacres of innocent civilians, and in doing so, commit real war crimes,” Bazoum declared. Niger is being ...
President Buhari condemns attempted coup in Niger Republic
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the attempted coup in Niger Republic, saying “any illegal effort to depose a democratically elected government is not only despicable, but also unacceptable to democratic governments around the world.” Speaking in a telephone conversation with Mahamadou Issoufou, his counterpart and outgoing President on the situation in Niger Republic, President Buhari according to a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu warned that “the international community is hostile to the change of government by violent and unconstitutional means.” “It is utterly naive to attempt the removal of an elected government by force. “Military political adventurers should respect the will of the people and respect constitutional order. “I’m particularly concerned about the negati...
Ever-present Boko Haram threat casts shadow in Niger
Seven years after the first Boko Haram attacks in southeastern Niger, people in the city of Diffa, dare not even speak the group’s name. Residents live in a state of siege, frightened and struggling with the economic impact of the Islamist threat. For fear of reprisals, people speak of “insecurity”, of the “problems” or the “current situation”. The fear is well-founded, according to one security source who says Boko Haram sympathisers in the city pass on information to the group. Among the poorest countries in the world, Niger, which is holding presidential elections on Sunday, faces jihadist groups from the Sahel in the west and Boko Haram in the east. “I don’t have 1,000 CFA francs (1.5 euros) in my pocket. I have been unemployed for four years,” says Abdou Maman, 46, who has two wives a...
