Central Africa‘s political bloc, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), condemned the coup in a statement, saying it planned an „imminent“ meeting of heads of state to determine how to respond. It did not give a date.
The African Union‘s Peace and Security Council will meet on Thursday to discuss the coup, a spokesperson for the African Union Commission chair said.
Fielding questions on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, also dismissed insinuations that ECOWAS was acting under the influence of a foreign power.
He explained that the community’s chances of using military force to restore constitutional order in Niger were very likely.
He said: “Right from the 1960s, I have never seen a coup that has not enjoyed continuous support from the people.
(Fri August 18, 2023)
Abdel-Fatau Musah, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace & Security of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc, said that military forces are “ready to go anytime the order is given” for military intervention in Niger.
“The D-day is also decided, which we are not going to disclose,” Musah told journalists after the two-day meeting of West African defense chiefs in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.
On Thursday, the bloc ordered the deployment of a “standby” force to restore constitutional rule in Niger, with Nigeria, Benin, Senegal and Ivory Coast saying they would contribute troops.
But it’s unclear when, how or if the troops will deploy. The move could take weeks or months to set into motion, and while the bloc decides what to do the junta is gaining power, some observers say.
Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, who led the Nigerian delegation, made the announcement on Sunday, a day after his group held talks with General Abdourahamane Tchiani in the Nigerien capital Niamey.
The meeting took place as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) explores its options to restore civilian rule in Niger, including potential military intervention,
It‘s unclear when or where the force will deploy and which countries from the 15-member bloc would contribute to it. Conflict experts say it would likely comprise some 5,000 troops led by Nigeria and could be ready within weeks.
On Wednesday, Nigeria’s former central bank governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, met with coup leaders in Niamey to begin talks. But the junta appeared unwilling to budge without first receiving major concessions, including easing sanctions on the military regime to allow medicine and food to enter the country as well as forcing Nigeria to restore electricity to Niger.
But catering to junta demands and looking wishy-washy over its threat of military intervention is not a great look for the regional bloc.
Leaders from the West African bloc ECOWAS will meet on Thursday for an emergency summit on the coup in Niger, after the country‘s military chiefs defied an ultimatum to restore the elected president.
The coup of the 26th July 2023 in Niger was precipitated by the stated desire of former President Bazoum to remove the head of the presidential guard. Irrespective of the reasons for the coupists seizing power, the coup, to gain legitimacy, has tapped into a festering resentment against the ex-colonial power, France. French control of Niger’s economy through fiscal and monetary means using a regional version of the Franc (CFA Franc), with the collaboration of elements of Niger’s elite, has meant that France has the scope and access to pillage the country’s resources relentlessly.
As Niger has no control over its currency, it is unable to embark upon any form of meaningful development to lift or transform the living standards of the people. The CFA Franc and the fiscal and monetary control that France has over its ex-colonies is a scandal. It represents the rawest form of neo-colonial domination.
Western allies are pressuring Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to take a tough stance against the new Niger junta. But lawmakers back home have signalled they are against using Nigerian troops.
Mali said it and Burkina Faso, both neighbours of Niger run by military juntas, were sending delegations to Niger to show support. Both countries have said they would consider any intervention in Niger as a declaration of war against them.
I might also say that the – you know, the threats of other countries supporting the coup leaders – those are even more risible than the threat of invasion.
INSKEEP: Oh, meaning that other countries aren‘t – they don‘t have very many resources to make much of a difference even if they do want to support.
PHAM: Well, no. I mean, yes, definitely. For example, Burkina Faso, which has been very vocal, it‘s gone through two coups in recent years – very vocal in its support of the junta in Niger.
(07.08.2023)
A military source told CNN that Niger‘s armed forces brought in a convoy of about 40 pick-up trucks from other parts of the country on Sunday evening.
The U.S. has evacuated some staff from its embassy in the capital in Niamey, while the estimated 1,000 American troops stationed in the country were restricted to their bases.
(Aug 05, 2023)
ECOWAS Defence Chiefs finalised an intervention plan and urged militaries to ready resources. However, the Niger junta has threatened ‚devastating consequences‘ in case of an intervention. Watch this video for details.
As the deadline for the military junta in Niger Republic to vacate power expired on Sunday, President Bola Tinubu has met with the governors that share common boundaries with the troubled country at the State House in Abuja.
The meeting is part of the consultations by the president on the situation in Niger and as chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Authority of Heads of State and Government.
A source who was privy to the discussions among the senators, who met behind closed doors, said lawmakers from seven northern states, which share border with Niger Republic namely; Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa, Yobe and Borno, vehemently rejected the move.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “It was a stormy session with concern on the implications of the war if allowed to start.
Aug 6, 2023
(04.08.2023)
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has sought parliamentary approval to place sanctions on the Republic of Niger and mobilise the military for a possible intervention should the junta not respond to the conditions sought by the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS).
(05.08.2023)
Nigeria deploys troops to its border for preparation of invasion into Niger. Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, Spokesperson for the Nigerian Ministry of Defense, has stated that no official order has been issued yet, but preparations are ongoing. France, the European Union, the United States, and Senegal have declared their readiness to support military intervention in Niger.
(May 21, 2021)
In May, Black Cube resurfaced in the news, when it was revealed it was used to get information on two Americans who supported the Iran nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump has since pulled out of.
According to the New York Times, Black Cube assembled a file on Ben Rhodes, a former national security adviser to President Obama that contained “pictures of his apartment in Washington, telephone numbers and email addresses of members of his family, as well as unsubstantiated allegations of personal and ethical transgressions.”
Additionally, Black Cube collected information on Colin Kahl, a national security adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden.
(17.10.2022)
Khalid bin Salman on Sunday said he was „astonished“ by claims his country was „standing with Russia in its war with Ukraine“.
„It is telling that these false accusations did not come from the Ukrainian government,“ he wrote on Twitter.
“It is a decision well taken,” said APPO secretary-general Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim. “I believe it is the right thing to do to save the industry and also to ensure that there is stability for today and tomorrow.”
The decision by OPEC, which includes major oil producers Russia and Saudi Arabia, as well as African countries and APPO members Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Congo and Libya, saw the price of Brent crude oil rise 1.5% to more than $93 a barrel.
A consultant working in a NHS hospital refused to remove the vital organ a 15-year-old who was allegedly trafficked to London from the streets of Lagos by the former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate and his wife, a court heard.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and Beatrice Ekweremadu, 55, are accused of taking the homeless youngster to the UK from Nigeria to transplant his organs into their daughter who is suffering from kidney failure.
Nigeria‘s top-ranking army commander Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru was killed on Friday when his plane crashed in the country‘s north, an air force spokesman said.
The US views China‘s infrastructure projects as a threat to American influence
Biden hat die Beziehung zwischen den USA und China als einen ideologischen Kampf zwischen „Demokratie“ und „Autokratie“ dargestellt.
(16. Februar 2008)
Um die Ereignisse der letzten Wochen in einer der vielen ex-Kolonien Frankreichs plausibel und zusammenhängend für die Wächter der Öffentlicheit zu machen, veröffentlichen wir eine Dokumentation mit 48 öffentlich zugänglichen allgemeinen Quellen. Wir haben Szenarien einfliessen lassen, um oft taktische und für den Betrachter verwirrende Äusserungen der beteiligten Akteure in einen subjektiven Zusammenhang als einen möglichen Vorgang hinter dem Vorhang zu setzen.
Starten wir die Suche in einer Stadt, der einst unübersichtliche, geschichtenreichen Gassen und Häuserschluchten das Herz zusammennähten und die heute zu einer innen noch ein bisschen rauschenden, aber mehr und mehr dunkler werdenden Ansammlung von Zwiebelschalen rund um die noch mächtigen Flure des Elysée-Palastes geworden ist.
—
Paris: …
In response to the protests, the head of Nigeria‘s police force on Sunday dissolved the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit that demonstrators have accused of beatings, killings and extortion.
Demonstrators have called for more meaningful reforms. Protesters say they fear a new unit, whose creation to „fill the gaps“ left by SARS was announced on Tuesday, was just a rebranding of the squad.
As he drove towards Wuse, a busy market in the Nigerian capital, the 21-year-old was flagged down by three operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for what he thought was a routine check of his vehicle documents. The gun-wielding police officers ordered him to step out of his car and hand in his mobile telephone for a search.
Wabba said the NLC would also mobilize its members, civil society allies and other social partners to try to resist the policies that they claimed have driven many into poverty.
Soldiers in Niger executed dozens of civilians during the counterinsurgency campaign against jihadists in the country‘s troubled Tillaberi region earlier this year, a probe into the deaths reported.
Niger, Mali und Burkina Faso gehen militärisch gegen Dschihadisten vor. Die UNO-Mission in Mali (Minusma) hatte Anfang April den Armeen der drei Sahel-Staaten eine Zunahme von Vergehen vorgeworfen. So habe die malische Armee zwischen Januar und März 101 Menschen ohne ein Gerichtsverfahren hingerichtet, die nigrische Armee habe sich auf malischem Boden etwa 30 außergerichtlicher Hinrichtungen schuldig gemacht.
Kyari acted as the gatekeeper to Buhari. He travelled to Germany in early March with a delegation of other Nigerian officials for meetings with Siemens AG. He attended meetings with senior government officials upon his return to Nigeria.
President Idris Deby says Chadian troops will no longer take part in military operations outside the country‘s borders.
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Yokohama, Japan, sought the support of the Asian government in combating piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as well as illegal fishing in that region.
Speaking on the former status of Nigerian community in Pointe Noire, he said Nigerians were not well organised, adding that some were involved in illegal deals which gave concern to the host community.
Facebook has faced pressure to more transparently tackle misinformation since the revelation that Russia used Facebook to sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
(16. Februar 2008)
August 2006:
Der seit 1990 durch einen Putsch mit Hilfe Frankreichs an die Macht gekommene Diktator Idriss Deby verlangt eine Erhöhung der Anteile am Ölprofit auf 60% (bis zum damaligen Zeitpunkt 20%). Er spricht von „Krümeln“, die der Tschad (sprich: er) bis dahin von den Energiemonolen bekommen habe.
Daraufhin geschieht Folgendes: das ehrenwerte US-Magazin “Forbes” zeigt sich plötzlich so erschüttert, dass es den Tschad als “korruptestes Land der Welt” bezeichnet und die höchst ehrenwerte Weltbank sperrt dem Tschad (also Deby) die Konten. (10)
Oktober 2006:
Die “Union of Forces for Democracy and Development” (UFDD) wird gegründet.
Ziel der „Tschad-Rebellen“: Sturz von Deby (12).
Anführer: der ehemalige Botschafter in Saudi-Arabien, General Mahamat Nouri, bis 2004 Minister von Deby und 1990 ebenfalls mit französischer Hilfe an die Macht gekommen (13).
Hauptquartier: Libreville, Gabun, ebenfalls ex-Kolonie von Frankreich. (5)
Ungefähr im gleichen Zeitraum gründet sich in Sudan, Provinz Darfur, die Guerillatruppe „Armee der Volkskräfte“ – „mit tschadischer Unterstützung“, wie es heisst. (14)
…
An den undemokratischen Zuständen in Ägypten stören sich weder EU noch Bundesregierung. Diktator Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi lässt das Parlament derzeit an einem Gesetz arbeiten, das ihm die Präsidentschaft bis 2034 garantieren soll. Regelmäßig gibt es Berichte von schwersten Menschenrechtsverbrechen. Auch im Hinblick auf alle anderen Staaten, deren Polizeiorganisationen zwecks Flüchtlingsabwehr von Deutschland oder EU gesponsert werden, berichten etwa Amnesty International und Human Rights Watch von immer wiederkehrenden willkürlichen Festnahmen, Folter und Zensur.
It will be recalled that the Saturday incident was the second time Mr Osinbajo’s helicopter would crash-land. In June 2017, he survived a similar accident when the chopper he was traveling in crash-landed shortly after take off in Gwagawalada, Abuja.
Held at Egypt‘s Mohamed Naguib military base, the largest in the Middle East and Africa that is located in Egypt‘s Mediterranean province of Matrouh, the joint exercises will last until Dec. 14.
Sie instruieren Nigerias Militär auch im Gebrauch von Bodenradargeräten, die Berlin dem Land für schärfere Grenzkontrollen zur Verfügung gestellt hat. Zudem hat Berlin Patrouillenboote finanziert, mit denen die nigerianische Marine in die Lage versetzt werden soll, Erdöldiebstahl und -schmuggel im Nigerdelta zu unterbinden. Nigeria war bis 2015 Deutschlands viertgrößter Öllieferant, musste dann aber die Exporte wegen eskalierender Kämpfe mit Schmugglern und Milizen reduzieren. Menschenrechtler werfen Nigerias Streitkräften willkürliche Festnahmen, Folter und weitere schwere Verbrechen vor.
Der Ausbau der EU-Flüchtlingsabwehr ist ein zentraler Schwerpunkt der gestern gestarteten Afrikareise von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel. Wie Regierungskreise bestätigen, wird Merkel nach ihren gestrigen Gesprächen in Senegal auch heute in Ghana und morgen in Nigeria über Schritte verhandeln, um die Flucht von Menschen vor Armut, Hoffnungslosigkeit und Krieg zu unterbinden und die Abschiebung von Flüchtlingen aus Deutschland zu erleichtern. In Umfragen geben fast die Hälfte der befragten Senegalesen und rund drei Viertel der befragten Ghanaer und Nigerianer an, ihr Land verlassen zu wollen. Ursachen sind krasse Armut und eine dramatische Jugendarbeitslosigkeit. Arbeitsplätze vernichten systematisch Unternehmen aus der EU, die etwa senegalesische Küstengewässer leerfischen und damit Senegals Fischereibranche schwer schädigen oder auch Ghana mit Dumpinggeflügel überschwemmen und damit die einheimische Geflügelbranche in den Ruin treiben. Gespräche über den Stopp derlei fluchtverursachender EU-Praktiken stehen nicht auf Merkels Programm.
(31.8.2017) Mercenaries are back, a dangerous trend occurring in the shadows. Their very lack of accountability is their main selling point; they offer plausible deniability and brute force to those too weak or squeamish to wage war. Customers are buying too, with mercenary proliferation in Afghanistan, Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen. Clients include countries, extractive industry and even terrorists. This trend may one day alter international relations: When anyone can rent a military, then super-rich and large corporations can become a new kind of superpower. Worse, mercenaries can start and elongate conflicts for profit, breeding endless war. A world with more mercenaries means a world with more war, which is why Prince’s proposal is so dangerous.
The ‘Our Water, Our Right Coalition,’ a civil society-led advocacy, has commended the 23 members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) who wrote a letter of solidarity siding with Lagos citizens in their struggle against water privatisation.
(7.4.2018) In his testimony last month to the U.K. Parliament, Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie threw an Israeli private intelligence firm known as Black Cube under the bus.
Wylie claimed that Cambridge Analytica hired Black Cube to hack Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari.