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KOGI EXPLOTION: DSS Apprehends ISWAP Commander Behind Attacks.

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The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested the mastermind of the Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) attack which occurred on 29th December, 2022, near the Palace of the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland in Okene, Kogi State during the visit of the President to commission some projects in the state.

A statement from the Public Relations Officer of the Service Peter Afunnaya, says, Men of the DSS arrested Abdulmumin Ibrahim OTARU (aka Abu Mikdad) and one of his associates, Saidu SULEIMAN on 3rd January, 2023.

The statement says OTARU sustained a gunshot injury on his left foot while attempting to escape and currently receiving treatment at a health facility.

the statement says, during investigations, it was ascertained that OTARU is a high commander of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) who either coordinated or was involved in so many terrorist operations. which includes The 24th June, 2022 attack on Nigeria Police Area Command, Eika-Ohizenyi, Okehi LGA of Kogi State where a Police Inspector, Idris MUSA was killed and two (2) AK-47 rifles carted away, The 5th July, 2022 attack on Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kuje Area Council of the FCT; and 5th August, 2022 attack on West African Ceramics Ltd (WACL) in Ajaokuta LGA, Kogi in which three (3) Indian expatriates were kidnapped which resulted in the killing of (5) persons including one (1) Indian, two (2) Policemen and two (2) drivers of the company before the kidnapped expatriates were later released on 31st August, 2022.

The statement added that OTARU operated terrorist cells in and around Kogi State where he and his gang had staged several kidnap operations in Kogi and Ondo States.

Meanwhile, the suspects are in custody and will be prosecuted accordingly.

” The Service reiterates its commitment to the safety of the nation. It assures to work assiduously with stakeholders including sister security agencies to tackle the menace of terrorism and other forms of criminality and threats to national security. It, therefore, calls on citizens to support it and other law enforcement organisations with relevant information and all the necessary cooperation required to achieve a peaceful country.” Afunanya said

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Gabon Coup Leader Sworn In As Interim President

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General Brice Oligui Nguema of Gabon
General Brice Oligui Nguema of Gabon
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General Brice Oligui Nguema, who led a coup last week that toppled Gabon’s 55-year-old dynasty, took the oath of office as interim president on Monday, promising to hold “free… (and) transparent elections” after an unspecified period.

Oligui, head of the elite Republican Guard, led officers in a coup on Wednesday against President Ali Bongo Ondimba, scion of a family that had ruled since 1967.

The ousting came just moments after Bongo, 64, was proclaimed victor in last month’s presidential election — a result branded a fraud by the opposition.

“I swear before God and the Gabonese people to faithfully preserve the republican regime,” said Oligui.

Dressed in the red ceremonial costume of the Republican Guard, Oligui also swore to “preserve the achievements of democracy”, at the ceremony held before judges of the Constitutional Court.

He immediately pledged in a speech to hold “free… (and) transparent elections” after a transition period which he did not specify, and to amnesty “prisoners of conscience.”

Elections Promised 

The coup leaders on Wednesday said they had dissolved the nation’s institutions, cancelled the election results and temporarily closed the borders.

Other countries have not acknowledged Oligui as Gabon’s legitimate leader and he faces pressure to spell out his plans for restoring civilian rule.

Oligui was lifted up triumphantly by his troops following the announcement of the coup, and in the days since has been seen flanked by generals and colonels.

He has also held hours of high-profile discussions with business and religious leaders, unions, political parties, NGOs, diplomats, and journalists, and has been taking notes and responding at length to questions and grievances.

On Friday, he vowed to create more democratic institutions that respect human rights, but said he would proceed “without haste”.

A fringe of the former opposition is urging Oligui to hand over power, but many people in Gabon seem happy about the overthrow of the Bongo dynasty, with celebrations in the streets of the capital Libreville and the economic hub of Port-Gentil.

Several Western countries and organisations have condemned the coup while acknowledging that it is different to others on the continent due to concerns over the credibility of the vote itself.

“Naturally, military coups are not the solution, but we must not forget that in Gabon there had been elections full of irregularities,” said the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

‘Make Noise’ 

Former president Bongo had been seeking his third term in office after coming to power in 2009 following the death of his father Omar, who ruled Gabon with an iron fist for over 40 years.

The coup leaders said they had put him under house arrest and placed him “in retirement”.

But Bongo managed to distribute a video on social media where he said his son and wife Sylvia had been detained, appealing to “all friends that we have all over the world… to make noise” on his behalf.

National TV on Friday showed rolling images of the deposed president’s son Noureddin Bongo Valentin and other arrested officials in front of suitcases filled with cash allegedly seized from their homes.

The military has accused them of treason, embezzlement, corruption and falsifying the president’s signature, among other allegations.

Five other countries in Africa — Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Niger — have undergone coups in the last three years. Their new rulers have resisted demands for a short timetable for returning to barracks.

 

AFP

 

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Niger Military Govt withdraws French ambassador’s immunity, orders his expulsion

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Niger Army
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Niger’s new military rulers have withdrawn the French ambassador’s diplomatic immunity and ordered police to expel him, according to a letter seen Thursday by AFP.

The envoy “no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as member of the diplomatic personnel in the French embassy,” according to their letter, dated Tuesday, to the foreign ministry in Paris.

“(His) diplomatic cards and visas and those of the members of his family have been cancelled. The police have been instructed to proceed to his expulsion,” it said.

The move follows a coup in the troubled Sahel state on July 26 that toppled a close French ally, President Mohamed Bazoum.

Relations with France spiralled downwards after Paris stood by Bazoum and refused to recognise Niger’s new rulers.

On Friday, the authorities gave French envoy Sylvain Itte 48 hours to leave the country.

France refused the demand, saying that the government had no legal right to make such an order.

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron singled out Itte for praise after he remained at his post.

French military spokesman Colonel Pierre Gaudilliere on Thursday warned that “the French military forces are ready to respond to any upturn in tension that could harm French diplomatic and military premises in Niger”.

“Measures have been take to protect these premises,” he said.

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ECOWAS Rejects Niger Military’s Three-Year Transition Plan

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ECOWAS Secretariat, Abuja
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The Economic Community of West African States has rejected the Niger Military Government plan for a transition of power presumably to a democratic government within three years.

“Our ambition is not to confiscate power,” General Abdourahamane Tiani said in a televised address. Any transition of power “would not go beyond three years”, he said.

However, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, in a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today Monday, stated that the West African bloc was not having it.

“This offer is completely unacceptable and ECOWAS insists on the restoration of constitutional order as quickly as possible,” he said, arguing that the commission had the experience of “these cat-and-mouse games with these military regimes”.

Musah cited the creation of Niger’s “new” constitution in 2010, which he said was revised in 2017.

“What dramatic change do you need in the governance architecture of the country to require three years to experiment with something else? This is like subterfuge to throw ECOWAS off-course and then do whatever they want,” he said.

“In some other countries under military regime in West Africa, they had about three years, and already they are ‘negotiating’ with their population to have another 18 months. Even a democratically elected president in Nigeria has only four years to run.

“So, what legitimacy do they have to already begin with three years? And we know it is not going to end there.”

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