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Niger warns of French invasion

mahla — Sat, 16 Sep 2023 21:05:26 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) –Niger’s new interim government has accused France of sending its troops and “large quantities of war material” to the region in preparation for a potential invasion to overthrow the coup leaders.

According to Niger’s new military officers, the French military forces have been deployed to several West African countries as part of the preparations for a military attack, in coordination with the regional bloc of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), against Niger.

Colonel Amadou Abdramane, a spokesman for Niger’s coup leaders and its new interim government, made the announcement on national television.

In a communique read on state television, the military officers, who ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in late July, also repeated their call for the departure of French troops from Nigerian soil.

The statement by Niger has appealed to “national and international opinion to witness the consequences of this aggressive, underhanded, and contemptuous attitude adopted by France.”

French “military cargo aircraft have enabled large quantities of war material and equipment to be unloaded in Senegal, Ivory Coast and Benin, to name but a few”, Abdramane said.

Relations between Niger and its former colonial power France have soured since Paris declared the new military-installed government as illegitimate.

Critics have accused France of being extremely hypocritical as Paris has previously supported interim governments that have come to power through military coups in various other countries in the region, including Algeria.

Analysts have said that France supports military coups in the continent depending on which French agenda they want to serve.

Amid a wave of anti-French sentiment, the military leaders in Niger have also followed the policies of the coup leaders in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso in seeking to end long-standing military ties with France. Numerous West African countries have accused the French armed forces of playing a destabilizing role in their countries to satisfy France’s economic interests.

When asked about the Nigerian military leaders’ latest remarks on a potential war, French President Emmanuel Macron said, “We do not recognize any legitimacy in the statements of the putschists.”

He refused to directly address the statements made by the Nigerian military that France was deploying troops elsewhere in West Africa as part of a plan to attack Niger.

The main regional bloc, ECOWAS, has imposed sanctions on Niger and activated a so-called standby force for the possible military intervention.

ECOWAS says the use of force would only be a last resort and that it would prefer a peaceful solution to the standoff. The regional bloc remains engaged in ongoing dialogue with Niger to try and find a diplomatic solution.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who holds the ECOWAS rotating chairmanship, has recently proposed a nine-month transition back to civilian rule, a measure that would satisfy regional powers. Niger’s junta has previously suggested a three-year timeline to restore order.

At the end of a two-day summit of G20 leaders in India, Macron was questioned on the roughly 1,500 French troops stationed in Niger. The French leader said any decision about their deployment would only be made in coordination with the deposed president.

“If we ever redeploy… I would do so only at the request of President Bazoum,” Macron told a news conference.

Experts believe that since the new leadership in Niger does not want to serve the French economic and colonial agenda, Paris is now leading the calls to push for a military attack.

What France has refused to acknowledge is the mass street protests that have been staged in Niger over the past weeks in support of the interim government.

Over the past seven days alone the people of Niger have been demonstrating and holding sit-ins outside the French military bases demanding that the French forces pack up and go home. It is a clear sign that Nigerians are against the French military presence in their country.

However, those calls have fallen on deaf ears. Paris has so far refused to address the protests or open dialogue with the coup leader’s interim government.

Experts have attributed this to the fact that France gets most of its uranium to run its nuclear power stations from Niger.
If France were to sever its relations with Niger, Paris would lose out on a major source of uranium for its electricity power plants, especially as French households are in vital need of electricity.

The Ukraine war which led to the cut of gas imports from Russia has pushed energy prices in Europe, including France.

The source of this electricity is something that France desperately requires at the moment.

From an economic standpoint, France also maintains its colonial mindset, with 50 percent of Niger’s revenues being deposited into the French treasury. This economic policy

which has been practiced for decades has contributed to high rates of poverty among Niger’s population of about 26 million.

Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is also suffering from a rising inflation rate.

Niger is not the only country in the Francophone West Africa region being forced to hand over 50 percent of its revenues to France.

Several years ago, ECOWAS mulled the idea of forming a common currency, known as eco, to bypass this process.

ECOWAS reached a consensus on the plan before France got involved and sabotaged the entire initiative, as it stood to lose a huge amount of financial income, in particular from the countries that were subject to France’s former colonial rule.

Analysts say this is just one of the reasons why there is so much anti-French sentiment in the West African region.

One of the reasons that military officers ousted President Bazoum was that his government failed to effectively counter militants despite cooperation with France.

Critics warn that military intervention in Niger will not eradicate terrorism in the country. Instead, they say, it will exacerbate the security situation by creating a power vacuum in the country which the terrorists will misuse to wreak more havoc on Niger and beyond.

All the coups in West Africa over the past several years, including Mali, Burkina Faso, and others, were staged with the aim of cutting relations with France.

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Iran, Nigeria set up joint sci-tech working group

mahla — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 20:21:33 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) –A joint working group has been formed by Iran and Nigeria with the aim of broadening ties in the fields of science and technology.

The decision to set up the working group was made during a meeting between the Iranian deputy science minister, Hasham Dadashpour, and the Nigerian ambassador to Tehran, Yakubu Santuraki Suleiman, IRNA reported.

In fact, the field of science and technology is very important, and since Iran has developed in the field of science and technology, Nigeria is very interested in benefiting from the capabilities of Iran, the Nigerian official said.

“We hope that the bilateral relations will increase in the fields of science and technology and that durable relations between the two countries will be established.”

The Iranian official, for his part, said thanks to existing capacities, Iran and Nigeria have a good opportunity to develop their scientific cooperation and help each other.

Nigeria is considered one of the important countries in Africa. So, the Ministry of Science has decided to expand its cooperation with Nigeria in the fields related to science and technology, Dadashpour added.

Iran is planning to attract 250,000 international students and become a global hub, he said, adding: “In order to achieve the goal, we will organize workshops and exhibitions in addition to sending various delegations to other countries.”

Students are the best ambassadors for the transfer of science, knowledge, and technology, and they can create unique opportunities for the future of the two countries, he highlighted.

“In order to benefit from the capacities of the two countries, it is necessary to sketch a roadmap, and forming a joint working group is of particular importance.”

Houses of innovation and technology

In 2021, Iran inaugurated its first house of innovation and technology (IHIT) in Africa in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

The center serves as a base for the creation of innovative ideas, the commercialization of these ideas, and the export of Iranian knowledge-based products and services to the East African market.

The IHIT, by supporting innovative ideas, and holding technological and innovative events will be a platform for the development and promotion of Iranian knowledge-based companies, startups, and creative industries.

Trade with Africa

Aiming to develop trade with Africa, Iran has opened eight trade centers in the countries of the continent.

“A network of eight business centers have been activated across Africa to provide a wide range of services to manufacturing and exporting companies that have a presence in the African market,” Mohammad-Sadeq Qanadzadeh, an official with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), has said.

These centers are located in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria, and South Africa, and this network will be further expanded and completed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

In June last year, TPO Head Alireza Peyman-Pak said the country is taking the necessary steps to increase annual trade exchanges with African countries to $5 billion by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 2025-March 2026).

Peyman-Pak said the trade with the mentioned countries is expected to reach $2.5 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year.

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Iran, Nigeria ink MOU to expand energy cooperation

mahla — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 20:40:05 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) –Iran and Nigeria have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to expand cooperation in various energy fields, Shana reported.

The MOU was signed by Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources of Nigeria Timipre Sylva in Tehran on Saturday.

Sylva who visited Tehran on top of a high-ranking delegation was received by Oji at the place of the Oil Ministry to discuss avenues of mutual cooperation between the two countries.

Exporting technical and engineering services to Nigeria, collaborating with Nigerian companies for manufacturing dual-fuel cars, using Nigeria’s capabilities in the field of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), developing Nigeria’s oil and gas fields and the reconstruction and renovation of Nigerian refineries are among the fields of cooperation covered in the MOU.

Speaking at the meeting with Sylva, Oji referred to the potentials of Iran and Nigeria in the energy sector and expressed hope that signing such MOUs would pave the way for increasing cooperation between the two countries.

Mentioning the negotiations held between Iran and Nigeria on the sidelines of the recent Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF)’s summit, Oji said Iran and Nigeria are both members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), OPEC+, and the GECF, which makes the energy cooperation between the two sides easily possible.

Iran and Nigeria have large reserves of oil and gas and Nigeria is the sixth exporter of LNG in the world, the minister stressed.

The Nigerian minister for his part emphasized that Iran and Nigeria have had a lot of bilateral cooperation under the framework of OPEC, JECF, and OPEC+ alliance, saying: “Today, a good memorandum was signed between the two countries for the transfer of technology and engineering services from Iran to Nigeria, development of Nigeria’s oil and gas fields and manufacturing of dual-fuel cars in Nigeria.”

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Iran, Nigeria Sign 9 MoUs to Boost Economic Ties

mahla — Sat, 11 Jun 2022 04:37:08 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran and Nigeria have signed nine major memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to expand their economic and trade ties.

Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Reza Fatemi Amin and Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zubairu Dada watched over the signing of the cooperation documents between the two countries during an a meeting in Tehran.

Local media reports said that the MoUs covered various fields, including culture, tourism, petroleum, agriculture, sports and trade.

They said that the agreements had been reached as part of a sixth round of intergovernmental committee meetings held between officials of Iran and Nigeria.

Iranian trade minister said the value of bilateral trade between Iran and Nigeria has witnessed a 300% growth within the last 9 months of the past Persian Calendar year (ending on March 20).

The value of trade between Iran and Nigeria reached about 125 million dollars, witnessing a 300% growth in the last 9 months of the Iranian year 1400 (March 21, 2021 – March 20, 2022), Fatemi Amin said during a meeting with a high-level delegation from Nigeria, headed by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dada.

Fatemi amid said, however, that an annual bilateral trade figure of $125 million does not match the position of Iran and Nigeria as two major economies in their respective regions.

He said launching direct flight routes between Iran and Nigeria will be a first step in facilitating trade between the two countries.

Fatemi Amin said despite the good history of cultural cooperation between the two countries, unfortunately, the level of bilateral trade is not favorable and needs to be improved.

“The two countries are members of international organizations, including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Islamic Development Bank, D8 Group, etc. which provides the necessary opportunities for further development of trade cooperation between Iran and Nigeria,” he noted.

The Iranian trade minister also pointed to the economic capacities of Iran and Nigeria and said their economies can complete each other.

Fatemi Amin also called for drafting a roadmap envisaging economic cooperation between Iran and Nigeria.

“As the first step to develop trade ties between Iran and Nigeria, it is necessary to facilitate the visits by Iranian and Nigerian businesses via establishment of direct flights between Iran and Nigeria,” the Iranian trade minister concluded.

Meanwhile, Nigerian Minister of State for Foreign Dada described the bilateral ties between Iran and Nigeria as “long-term and cordial”, saying that his country attaches significance to the expansion of ties with Iran.

“Iran and Nigeria have already had good cooperation at the bilateral and international levels. Nigeria attaches great importance to its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran because there are good potentials and capacities that if used, can serve the interests of both countries,” Dada underscored.

He described the participation of the Nigerian delegation in the 6th Iran-Nigeria Joint Commission in Tehran as his country’s “commitment to the implementation of agreements and contracts” with Iran.

“Despite the cordial relations between the two countries, the bilateral economic relations are not satisfactory, Dada noted.

“During Iran-Nigeria Trade Summit, nine cooperation documents were signed between the two countries in various fields of culture, tourism, oil, agriculture, sports, and trade,” the Nigerian official said, expressing hope that the Sixth Iran-Nigeria Joint Commission can pave the way for boosting bilateral trade between Iran and Nigeria.

The high-ranking Nigerian delegation headed by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs also had separate meetings with top Iranian officials including the first Vice President Mohammad Mokhber.

The Nigerian official hailed the resumption of intergovernmental committee meetings between Iran and Nigeria after more than eight years.

He said the presence of the Nigerian trade delegation in Iran is a sign the African country is committed

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Nigeria Convoy Attack Leaves 30 Dead

reporter 1222 — Sat, 26 Sep 2020 13:54:23 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The death toll from a militant attack on the convoy of the regional governor in northeast Nigeria has risen to 30, security sources said Saturday.

Two sources told AFP fatalities from the attack Friday in restive Borno state had doubled as more bodies were found and now included 12 policemen, five soldiers, four members of a government-backed militia and nine civilians.

“The tally has increased to 30 as many bodies were picked in the surrounding areas after the attack,” one of the sources said, adding that “many people were injured.”

Sources had earlier told AFP that a convoy transporting Borno governor Babagana Umara Zulum came under attack from insurgents on Friday near the town of Baga on the shores of Lake Chad.

A second security source gave the same death toll of 30 from the assault and said the militants seized eight vehicles.

“The terrorists made away with an armored personnel carrier, a gun truck and six sports utility vehicles in the convoy,” the source said.

Police confirmed in a statement that the attack by suspected militants on the “security convoy” had killed eight policemen and three government-backed militia members.

It said 13 other people had been wounded and the attack had been “successfully repelled.”

Zulum — who sources said was unhurt in the attack — had flown to the area to prepare for the return of residents displaced from Baga by the conflict.

He was driving in the convoy accompanied by government officials under tight security towards Baga ahead of the arrival of the returnees.

The Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) in West Africa Province (ISWAP) group maintains most of its camps on islands in Lake Chad and the region is known as a bastion for the militants.

The militant group has recently intensified attacks on military and civilian targets in the region.

In July Zulum’s convoy came under gun attack from ISWAP outside Baga, forcing him to cancel his trip to the town.

The decade-long insurgency in northeast Nigeria has killed 36,000 people and forced over 2 million from their homes.

Most of the displaced have been housed into squalid camps where they depend on food handouts from international charities.

Local authorities have been encouraging the displaced to go back to their homes despite concern from aid agencies of the security risks.

ISWAP splintered from the main Boko Haram group in 2016 and has gone on to be the dominant insurgent force in the region.

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UN Warns of Famine in 4 Countries

reporter 1222 — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 07:56:15 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that there is a risk of famine and widespread food insecurity in four countries affected by conflict — Congo, Yemen, northeast Nigeria and South Sudan — and the lives of millions of people are in danger.

In a note to Security Council members obtained by AP on Friday, the UN chief said the four countries rank “among the largest food crises in the world,” according to the 2020 Global Report on Food Crises and recent food security analyses. But funding to help is very low, he said.

“Action is needed now,” Guterres said. “Having endured years of armed conflict and related violence, the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, northeast Nigeria and South Sudan are again facing the specter of heightened food insecurity and potentially famine.”

The UN chief said key indicators “are similarly deteriorating” in a number of other conflict-hit countries including Somalia, Burkina Faso and Afghanistan.

“The situation varies from country to country, but civilians are being killed, injured and displaced; livelihoods are destroyed; and availability of and access to food disrupted, amid growing fragility,” Guterres said. “At the same time, humanitarian operations are attacked, delayed or obstructed from delivering life-saving assistance.”

He said food insecurity in conflict-affected countries “is now further exacerbated by natural disasters, economic shocks and public health crises, all compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said in an interview with AP that the economic fallout from the pandemic including lock downs, border closures and restrictions on movement have all had “a big effect on food security and agricultural productivity.”

And extremists have taken the opportunity “to make hay out of all this,” he said.

“Everybody is very preoccupied by COVID and the virus,” Lowcock said. But “it is not the virus that’s creating most of the carnage. It is other things, and we need to focus on the things that will really cause the biggest loss of life.”

Lowcock said many of those things are consequences of COVID-19 __ the economic contraction, the declining availability of basic public services, “the insecurity into which extremist groups are occupying themselves.”

He said a lot of effort has gone into things like providing personal protective equipment, public information campaigns on the virus, water and sanitation campaigns, “all of which are good things.”

“But if you do those at the expense of basic humanitarian needs in these badly affected places, what you end up with is not a reduction in loss of life but an increase in loss of life,” Lowcock said.

He said having four countries meet the requirement in a 2018 Security Council resolution to report to the council when the risk of conflict-induced famine and widespread food insecurity occurs is highly significant.

According to the secretary-general’s note, escalating violence in volatile eastern Congo “is again driving disastrous levels of food insecurity and hunger,” and the latest analysis “indicates that over 21 million people are in crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity.”

With only 22% of the UN humanitarian appeal currently funded, Guterres said, “core programs will need to be reduced or suspended.”

In Yemen, where the international community mobilized to prevent famine two years ago, he said, “the risk is slowly returning.” Escalating conflict and economic decline brought the Arab world’s poorest nation to the brink of famine two years ago, and similar conditions and worsening key indicators are emerging today, he said.

A recent survey indicated that 3.2 million people in some areas are now “highly food insecure,” and food prices are 140% higher than averages before the conflict began in 2015, Guterres said. “But with only 24% of humanitarian requirements funded in 2020, agencies are now forced to reduce or close core programs.”

In northeast Nigeria’s Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, he said, “alarming levels of food insecurity and hunger have arisen largely as a result of the actions” of extremists affiliated with armed groups.

Guterres said estimates suggest more than 10 million people in the three states — about 80% of the population — need humanitarian assistance and protection, an almost 50% increase since last year and the highest recorded since humanitarian operations began. Yet, the UN appeal is only 33% funded, its lowest level, he said.

In South Sudan’s Jonglei and Greater Pibor administrative area, Guterres said the situation deteriorated rapidly in the first half of 2020, “fueled by escalating violence and insecurity,” Guterres said.

Fighting has been accompanied by widespread attacks on agricultural and pastoral land and the looting of livestock and food, leaving more that 1.4 million people in the area “facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity, he said. In addition, at least 350,000 children suffer from severe or moderate acute malnutrition.”

Guterres said the latest outlook from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network “is flagging worsening catastrophe conditions … in areas affected by the violence.”

Lowcock said “there’s a paradox” because overall UN humanitarian funding is ahead of 2019, which was a record year.

“But the money is not following the greatest need,” he said. “Some of our appeals are relatively well funded, but some of the places where the problems are worst are poorly funded — Nigeria, Yemen, Congo, they’re all in that category.”

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Suspected Boko Haram Members Kill 15 in Cameroon

reporter 1222 — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 05:33:56 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Suspected terrorists from Boko Haram killed 15 people and wounded six others in a grenade attack on a camp for displaced people in northern Cameroon on Sunday, a security source and a local official told Reuters.

In the early hours, Boko Haram assailants threw a grenade into a group of sleeping people inside the camp in the village of Nguetchewe in northern Cameroon, said district mayor, Medjeweh Boukar. The camp is home to around 800 people, he said.

The village is located in the district of Mozogo, close to the Nigerian border in the region of Far North.

Boukar was informed by residents that 15 had died. A security official confirmed the attack and the death toll. The wounded were taken to a nearby hospital, they said.

“The attackers arrived with a woman who carried the grenade into the camp,” Boukar said, adding that women and children were among the dead.

Over the past month there have been twenty incursions and attacks by suspected terrorists, Boukar said.

Boko Haram has been fighting for a decade to carve out an authority based in Nigeria.

The terrorist group has killed thousands and displaced millions in northeastern Nigeria.

It has intensified attacks against the military in the last two years, repeatedly carrying out deadly strikes against soldiers.

In recent months, there has been an increase in attacks on civilians blamed on the group.

The decade-long conflict has killed 36,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in the northeast.

The violence has spread to neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the terrorists.

In June last year, around 300 suspected Boko Haram terrorists swarmed onto an island on Lake Chad in Cameroon’s Far North and killed 24 people, including 16 Cameroonian soldiers stationed at military outposts.

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World Trade Center Catches Fire in Nigeria

reporter 1222 — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 07:41:08 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Footages show a massive blaze breaking out of one of the towers of the World Trade Center in the capital city of Nigeria, Abuja.

The fire ignited at the massive tower, which is still under construction, on Monday. The flames triggered a large emergency services response as firefighters scrambled to extinguish the blaze.

Videos from the scene show a large column of gray smoke rising over the building, though open flames can’t be seen, RT reported.

The development of the World Trade Center began back in 2010, and the massive project was originally scheduled for completion in 2013. The complex, said to cost around $1 billion, was designed to include six towers, a mall, and a hotel, but still remains under construction.

The site saw another major accident in 2014, when a construction crane collapsed and badly damaged glass cladding on one of the towers. Luckily, no one was injured, as the collapse occurred when workers were not on the site.

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Saudi Warns Nigeria, Angola about OPEC Output Cut Agreement

reporter 1222 — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 10:26:47 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Saudi Arabia warned OPEC members Nigeria and Angola that it would ignite an oil-price war with them unless they toe the line.

In June, OPEC+ members agreed to continue reducing production in an effort to boost oil prices and what they did has helped stem the previous decline in oil prices.

Yet, there are still countries that are refusing to comply. In the meeting, OPEC members identified Iraq, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, and Angola, as key culprits among others. However, Saudi and Russia could convince Iraq to abide and compensate for its previous lack of compliance.

Now, Saudi Arabia has threatened Nigeria and Angola, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the kingdom has asked the two countries for a detailed description of how they plan to comply.

The ultimatum has been issued by Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman in recent weeks.

Riyadh has threatened to begin a price war with them should they fail to comply. Saudi Arabia can start the war by offering its crude oil at a special discount to the main customers like India and China.

One of the consequences of a new price war is that it would result in a sharp decline in crude oil prices.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices rose for the second straight day on Thursday as traders ignore the surge in coronavirus cases around the world especially in the United States.

While, Brent, the international benchmark went up by 0.70% to $42, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by 0.65% to $40.0.

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Iran’s Qom to Host Ceremony to Honor Nigeria’s Zakzaky

reporter 1222 — Sun, 22 Dec 2019 15:30:17 +0000

Iran’s Qom to Host Ceremony to Honor Nigeria’s Zakzaky

According To Iran News, Iran’s holy city of Qom is slated to host a ceremony to honor the top Shiite cleric and leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky.

The commemoration ceremony of Sheikh Zakzaky will be held at the shrine of Hazrat Masoumah (AS) in Iran’s central city of Qom on Thursday.

Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, a member of the Assembly of Experts, plans to deliver the keynote address at the ceremony.

Sheikh Zakzaky has been held in detention since December 2015 and was charged just in April 2018 with murder, culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, disruption of public peace and other accusations. He has pleaded not guilty.

In 2016, Nigeria’s federal high court ordered his unconditional release from jail following a trial, but the government has so far refused to set him free.

The top cleric, who is in his mid-sixties, lost his left eyesight in a raid which was carried out by the Nigerian army on his residence in the northern town of Zaria in December 2015.

During the raid, Zakzaky’s wife sustained serious wounds too and more than 300 of his followers and three of his sons were killed. Zakzaky, his wife, and a large number of the cleric’s followers have since been in custody.

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