₦airaland Forum

France has said it will immediately begin evacuating its citizens and other Europeans from Niger, days after a junta toppled the president, Mohamed Bazoum, and seized power in the west African country.

Tensions between Niger and the former colonial power, France, have escalated after the coup on 26 July overthrew one of the last pro-western leaders in Africa’s Sahel region, which has faced jihadist insurgencies.

France’s decision to swiftly evacuate its citizens from Niger goes further than its reaction to putsches in recent years in neighbouring former French colonies Mali and Burkina Faso, where French people were not evacuated after military coups.

The Italian government also said it would arrange a special flight to repatriate its nationals from Niger.

The French foreign office said: “Given the situation in Niamey, and the violence that took place against our embassy [on Sunday] and the closing of airspace that leaves our citizens without any possibility of leaving the country by their own means, France is preparing to evacuate those of its citizens and European citizens who want to leave the country. The evacuation will begin today.”

It added the evacuations would take place within “a limited time span”.

French people were told the evacuation would be coordinated with Niger, that it would be quick, and that people should prepare their ID documents, a minimum of small luggage, and water and food for the wait for departure. There are believed to be about 500 to 600 French nationals in Niger, fewer than the usual number of about 1,000 because many left earlier this month for school holidays.

Antonio Tajani, the foreign minister of Italy, which has about 90 nationals in Niamey and 500 in the wider country, said: “The Italian government has decided to offer our fellow nationals present in Niamey the possibility to leave the city with a special flight for Italy.”

Tajani said the embassy in the capital, Niamey, would “remain open and operative, in particular to contribute to the mediation efforts under way”.

On Sunday, supporters of the junta burned French flags and attacked the French embassy in Niamey.

An EU spokesperson said the bloc had not instigated any evacuation programme but was supporting any member states that were removing staff from its military support and civilian programmes on a voluntary basis.

Bazoum has been detained by his own presidential guard, the latest in several coups in the Sahel, in recent years, includingthose in Mali and Burkina Faso.

The juntas leading Mali and Burkina Faso warned that any military intervention in Niger to restore Bazoum would be considered a “declaration of war” against their two countries.

They said the “disastrous consequences of a military intervention in Niger … could destabilise the entire region”.

Niger’s junta on Monday accused France of seeking to intervene militarily to reinstate Bazoum, which the French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, denied. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday vowed “immediate and uncompromising” action if French citizens or interests were attacked, after thousands had rallied outside the French embassy in Niamey.

Bazoum’s PNDS party has warned that Niger risks becoming a “dictatorial and totalitarian regime” after a series of arrests.

Since the coup, the junta has arrested the country’s oil, mining, interior and transport ministers; the head of the PNDS’s executive committee; and a former defence minister, according to the party.

The EU condemned the arrest of ministers from the ousted government and demanded they be freed immediately.

At an emergency summit on Sunday, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) demanded that Bazoum be reinstated within a week, or it would take “all measures” to restore constitutional order. “Such measures may include the use of force,” it said in a particularly strong statement.

Niger, with a population of 26 million, frequently ranks at the bottom of the UN’s human development index benchmark of prosperity. The country, which became independent from France in 1960, is a landlocked state, and strict economic sanctions against it could affect many supplies, including electricity.

The coup, according to the putschists, was a response to “the degradation of the security situation” linked to the jihadist conflict, as well as corruption and economic difficulties.

As Niger struggles with two jihadist campaigns – one in the south-west, which swept in from Mali in 2015, and the other in the south-east, involving jihadists from north-eastern Nigeria – the coup has shone a spotlight on France’s reduced and contested military presence in the Sahel region of Africa after 10 years fighting jihadist insurgencies.

The coup is a serious threat to French strategy in the Sahel, after several military coups in other countries had already forced France to rethink its decade-long military presence and anti-jihadist mission.

France first deployed troops against jihadists in Mali in 2013 under the Socialist president François Hollande, but in the past three years several military coups in the region, as well as a continued jihadist presence, have exposed the limitations of the military strategy and forced France to scale back its presence and focus its efforts in Niger, with Bazoum as a firm ally. It has 1,500 troops in the country and an airbase near Niamey.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/01/niger-coup-france-evacuate-european-citizens

FreeStuffsNG:
Small yansh dey shakes

Any military intervention in Niger to restore deposed President Mohamed Bazoum would be considered a "declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali", the two countries said in a joint statement Monday.

The comments from Niger's two neighbours -- which have both seen recent military coups -- come after West African leaders threatened to use "force" to reinstate Bazoum.

bur-stb/rox/lcm

The Barron's news department was not involved in the creation of the content above. This story was produced by AFP.

NLPoliceWoman:
Seun Mynd44 Dominique Justwise.
Rule 2.

jackcanfield:
I am just laughing, you will tell us whether us that have been doing business with Russia since time immemorial or you that is just a convinent bride that Russia would trust ....In anyway it shows you don't even have enough stockpile to start with. You wanna fight us , better check what you are smoking and come to the dialogue table. Nigeria that has a lot of fustrated mad men, if they decend on your country enh ... You would think they come for War Tourism after the damages...

HarunaWest:
This is how you know that African nations have problem. Niger that is struggling with a worse form of poverty is buying weapons. The westerners keep selling us weapons instead of sharing their technologies. Nawa ooh for black man.

In a startling revelation this evening, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the leader of the coup plotters in #Niger, made a concerning statement that has sent shockwaves through the nation and the international community.

According to General Tchiani, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is set to declare war on their group within a week.

This declaration comes in response to the recent coup attempt that has heightened tensions in the region.

ECOWAS, a regional organization committed to promoting peace and stability in West Africa, has been closely monitoring the situation in Niger and has expressed its strong condemnation of the attempted overthrow of the government.

In an apparent move to bolster their position, General Tchiani revealed that they are expecting to receive heavy weapons from their Russian allies. This revelation adds a new layer of complexity to the crisis, potentially escalating the conflict and further straining diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation peacefully.

Moreover, General Tchiani issued a stern warning to those individuals who may be collaborating with ECOWAS or the government they attempted to overthrow, declaring them as enemies. This raises concerns about potential internal divisions and the risk of further violence within the country.

ManirBK:
Jagaban with his master stroke strategy


Glod bless Tinubu
God bless Me
God bless Nigeria

Ttalk:
No wonder you prefer UGM to the Police

Ttalk:
What I don't understand about Obidients is their attempt to destroy Nigeria.

The only thing that gives them joy is the negative news about Nigeria

Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who remains active despite leading a failed mutiny against the Russian army’s top brass last month, has hailed Niger’s military coup as good news and offered his fighters’ services to bring order.

A voice message on Telegram app channels associated with Wagner, which they said was Prigozhin, did not claim involvement in the coup but described it as a moment of long-overdue liberation from Western colonisers and made what looked like a pitch for his fighters to help keep order.

What happened in Niger is nothing other than the struggle of the people of Niger with their colonisers. With colonisers who are trying to foist their rules of life on them and their conditions and keep them in the state that Africa was in hundreds of years ago,” said the message, posted on Thursday evening.

The speaker had the same distinctive intonation and turn of phrase in Russian as the Wagner boss, although the Reuters news agency was not able to confirm with certainty that it was him.

“Today, this is effectively gaining their independence. The rest will, without doubt, depend on the citizens of Niger and how effective governance will be, but the main thing is this: They have got rid of the colonisers,” the message said.

It was unclear who was in charge of Niger after soldiers on Wednesday evening declared a military coup and held President Mohamed Bazoum in the presidential palace

The voice message was the latest sign that Prigozhin and his men remain active in Africa, where they still have security contracts in some countries like Central African Republic (CAR), and are keen to expand.

Prigozhin, 62, appears to continue to enjoy freedom of movement despite what the Kremlin said last month was a post-mutiny deal that would see him relocate to neighbouring Belarus, where some of his men have already started training the army.

He was heard in a video released earlier this month telling his men in Belarus that they should gather their strength for a “new journey to Africa“.

There have been various sightings of Prigozhin in Russia since the post-mutiny deal was clinched, and the Kremlin said he had even attended a meeting with Putin, who had earlier called the abortive mutiny “a stab in the back”.

The voice message’s release coincided with the publication on Telegram of at least two photographs purporting to show Prigozhin meeting African attendees of a showcase two-day Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, which concludes on Friday.

Reuters verified the location shown in one of the photographs as the Trezzini Palace Hotel in St Petersburg, Prigozhin’s hometown. The lanyard worn by the official from Central African Republic (CAR) he is shown meeting in the same photograph matches those given to the summit’s delegates.

Smiling and wearing blue jeans and a white polo shirt, Prigozhin looks relaxed in the photos as he poses to shake the hands of the delegates.

Prigozhin, in his voice message, appeared to boast of Wagner’s alleged efficiency in helping African nations stabilise and develop in what sounded like a sales pitch.

“Thousands of Wagner fighters are capable of bringing order and of destroying terrorists and of not allowing them to harm the local populations of these states,” he said.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said on Thursday that constitutional order in Niger should be restored.

Analysts said the Prigozhin appearances indicated that his private military company (PMC) would continue to play a role in furthering the Kremlin’s foreign policy agenda in Africa.

“Yes, it’s wild that Prigozhin is back in Russia, and apparently has been several times. But it’s also in line with both Wagner’s and Russia’s goals to project normalcy and business as usual,” Catrina Doxsee, an expert at the US-based think tank CSIS, said on messaging platform X.

“Moscow will likely use the Summit to reassure African partners of their commitment and continuity of PMC services in the wake of the uncertainty from the past month,” she said.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/28/russias-wagner-boss-appears-to-hail-niger-coup-tout-services

Lets start at the root. What is sin? Romans 4:15 says: “for where no law is, there is no transgression.” Sin is the transgression of law. Anyone who suggests that it is sin for a man to have more than one wife, should be able to easily come up with corresponding scripture that says it is against God’s law. That is a task much easier said than done.

A colleague of mine once challenged me to prove monogamy using only the Bible. After ten years of research on the subject, I found that the Bible only suggests monogamy for a man who wants to be a church leader in Greece. Beyond that, the Bible names 36 men who had multiple wives. These men come from all walks of life, both bad men and good men, rich men and poor men, young men and old men.

In Ezekiel, God claims to be a polygynist. In the new testament, Jesus portrays himself as a polygynist. God said to David “I gave you your predecessor’s wives.” That would make God complicit in creating the sin of having more than one wife… IF it was a sin.

In my book “The Biblical Case for Polygamy,” I have laid out the entire subject in a book format, using only The Holy Bible as an authority. It was enlightening to study the subject. It is available on Amazon.

Rolings:
Did I just read
"Being escorted to the boarding gate for my flight now" ?

Chai

Na so them take deport you shamelessly

Just like they did your master in London months back.

SHiNJA4RMDWEST:
He scam Ur papa?

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 22.79 per cent in June from 22.41 per cent in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The statistics office said the June inflation rate showed an increase of 0.38 per cent points when compared to May 2023 headline inflation rate.

The NBS said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 4.19 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in June 2022, which was 18.60 per cent.

“This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in June 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., June 2022),” it said.

According to the report, the food inflation rate quickened to 25.25 per cent in June from 24.82 per cent in May.

President Bola Tinubu had, in his inaugural address on 29 May, announced the removal of fuel subsidy.

Following the announcement, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) directed its outlets nationwide to sell fuel between N480 and N570 per litre, an almost 200 per cent increase from the initial price below N200.

The hike immediately triggered an increase in transportation fares and prices of goods and services by various percentages.

Inflation has remained high in Africa’s largest economy, prompting the apex bank to hike interest rates to their highest levels in nearly two decades.

In an aggressive push to contain the nation’s inflationary pressure, the Central Bank of Nigeria, in May, raised its benchmark lending rate to 18.5 per cent.

Last Thursday, Mr Tinubu declared an immediate State of Emergency on food insecurity to tackle the increase in food prices.

He also directed that “all matters pertaining to food & water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council.”

gigabyte13:
Thanks to this South African, American racist
Twitter is gradually becoming history
Elon the mumu man
And there was a Twitter

stasius:
Race

Morbeta11:
Oyibo treating us like animals since 1805...

clems88:
Racism at work. You can never take racism out of a white man.

peekspot:
https://lifestyle.thecable.ng/i-pray-to-die-same-day-with-my-wife-says-adeboye/

Geovanni412:
Abeg....

If you read Ecclesiastes, you already know that life is meaningless

I doubt righteousness2 has ever read Ecclesiastes

The only good thing in life is to eat, drink and be merry.

Every other thing is meaningless

Should May Edochie continue to feel sad and unhappy because Baba Yul wants to enjoy himself with an older woman when she gave him the best days of her youth?

Haba, even the Bible said that you should be faithful to the woman of your youth and gave that the only ground for divorce is adultery.

Righteousness2, allow May Edochie breathe.