The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Cameroun

  • Buhari, Biya to strategise against Boko Haram in Yaoundé

    Buhari, Biya to strategise against Boko Haram in Yaoundé

    The Cameroonian Minister of Communication, Issa Bakary, said on Tuesday that security issues are expected to domination talks as Paul Biya hosts his Nigerian counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari on a two-day State Visit.

    According to Bakary, Buhari and his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya, will also discuss other issues that will boost the two countries ‘brotherly relationship’.

    He said the visit would afford the two leaders the opportunity to map out strategies to defeat militants, Boko Haram who have been wrecking havoc in the parts of the two nations.

    “The visit follows the continuing attacks on both countries by Boko Haram,’’ he said.

    Bakary also said the visit became necessary as the insurgents, having been defeated frontally, have changed their attack strategy, including suicide bombings.

    He called on all Cameroonians and the people of far north region in particular, to increase their vigilance and spare no effort in collaborating with local authorities and security forces.

    He also said there was the need to share information on how to identify positions of Boko Haram and their accomplices.

  • Dangote Cement for Cameroun

    Dangote Cement for Cameroun

    DANGOTE Cement bags, the 3x Premium, will be introduced into the Camerounian market in January, a statement from the company said yesterday.

    The General Manager of the Dangote Cement Plant, Baba Abdullahi, an engineer, said this while conducting Cameroonian reporters round the 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum capacity facility in Douala.

    He added that the plant was already being test run, explaining that full production would start next month.

    He said Dangote Cement would be deploying its “state of the art machinery and latest technology from the point of production to delivery to customers.”

    He added that the company was known for employing the best practices in its operation.

    According to him, the entry of Dangote cement in the Cameroonian market would contribute to the growth of the country’s economy.

    According to him, “the management of Dangote cement is upbeat about the prospect of stimulating the construction and housing sectors of the economy of Cameroun.”

    He stated that the country’s cement customers were anxious to buy the cement because the Dangote 3X 42.5 grade would be the first in the market that is produced locally.

  • Boko Haram kills four Camerounians in cross-border attack

    Boko Haram kills four Camerounians in cross-border attack

    Four civilians have been killed in northern Cameroun in a cross-border attack by Boko Haram terrorists, state radio said yesterday.

    Boko Haram struck in the early evening on Thursday in the village of Assighassia near the city of Mokolo. It is the latest of its   incursions into the hilly side of neighbouring Cameroun in recent months.

    Cameroun’s army responded, and two of the militants were killed and a Camerounian soldier injured, state-run Cameroun Radio Television reported late on Friday.

    “Two hours later, the terrorist group again attacked the village of Ganse, also close to Mokolo, and killed four civilians.”

    Officials in the defence ministry said yesterday they had been informed of the clashes and were seeking to confirm the details.

    More than 40,000 people have fled to Cameroun to escape Boko Haram attacks in northern Nigeria, according to the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, leaving behind few but the elderly and the disabled in their villages across the border.

    But once over the border they are still not safe and UNHCR is seeking to transfer many of them to a refugee camp further from the frontier at Minawao.

    Foncha Ngeh, a businessman based in Cameroun’s northern hub of Maroua, said that hundreds of people were fleeing from isolated border villages in Cameroon.

  • Cameroun’s onslaught

    Cameroun’s onslaught

    •Arrest of 50 suspected Boko Haram sponsors shows it is proactive in its anti-terror war

    Reports that Cameroun’s military authorities have arrested 50 Nigerian businessmen for allegedly collaborating with the Boko Haram insurgents in its attacks on Nigeria, are heart-warming. Yes, we can argue that no prima facia case has been proved against the businessmen since the matter is still in the realm of allegation, the point is that it shows the Camerounians have now woken up to the sad reality of the dangers posed not only to Nigeria but also to their own country as well, by the Boko Haram.

    This point is more vividly reinforced when taken alongside the killing of 10 insurgents by the Camerounian soldiers. According to the Voice of America (VOA), the killings took place in Mora, along the Cameroun border with Nigeria. The soldiers also seized vehicles and a large number of weapons from the insurgents.

    Obviously, as confirmed by the spokesman of Cameroun’s military, Chioka Pierre, who spoke with the VOA,  the businessmen’s arrests and the killing of the insurgents were the result of sweeps conducted as part of an intensified crackdown on persons suspected to be involved in violent incidents in Cameroun, and believed to be connected to Boko Haram. About three weeks ago, Cameroun’s soldiers also detained 40 suspected Boko Haram militants in Maroua, and sealed off a market where they suspected terrorist could be hiding arms.

    These actions, on the part of Cameroun are proactive, given that Boko Haram has not become a major threat to that country. But the signs are manifesting that it could be, so it is better to keep the insurgents in check before they become a malignant tumour or a festering sore in Cameroun.

    The first question that comes to mind from the Camerounian onslaught against the insurgents is why is it that it was Cameroun, and not Nigeria, that arrested the businessmen? After all, Boko Haram has its roots here in Nigeria where it had wreaked unquantifiable havoc. So, Nigeria should naturally be the major country pursuing the bandits.

    From Pierre’s account, locals have been of tremendous help to the Camerounian soldiers in fishing out the insurgents. It is the locals that have been reporting the strange faces in their communities to the authorities, thereby facilitating arrests. It would appear things went out of hands in Nigeria’s war with terror because locals and the government were hardly on the same page. The locals did not trust the government; that is if they ever believed it was serving their interest.

    Another point to note from the developments in Cameroun is the fact that the country recognised that it is vulnerable to terror attacks because of the widespread unemployment in the country. “We are seeing most of our graduates every year having no jobs. Tell me, if somebody comes and proposes a high sum of money to join this organisation, most youths are desperate, they will be forced to do everything to get into these extremist activities,” Bipong Dennis, a Camerounian said.

    These are issues we have raised in several editorials on Boko Haram – the need to carry the locals along in the terror war; and the need to provide a conducive environment for business.

    Also, the point has been severally made that Boko Haram cannot be defeated by Nigeria without the active participation of its immediate neighbours, particularly Cameroun. The Camerounian onslaught has proved just that.

    We commend Cameroun for these efforts. Indeed, it should probe the arrested businessmen thoroughly and thereafter unmask them. We need to know those funding the terror group and block the sources of funding. When this is done, it is only a question of time before it dies. It is in the mutual interest of both counties that Boko Haram is exterminated and this is why we plead with Cameroun to do more by way of assistance to stamp out the sect.

     

  • 50 Boko Haram members, two soldiers killed

    50 Boko Haram members, two soldiers killed

    •Banki Bridge seized from terrorists

    The Islamic sect, Boko Haram has lost the strategic Banki town and its bridge in Borno State to Nigerian troops at what sources described as a great cost to its members.

    No fewer than 50 insurgents were killed in a 72 hour battle with soldiers deployed to seize the border town between Nigeria and Cameroun.

    Two soldiers were killed and four others wounded in the operation.

    Sources said Boko Haram had been using the link bridge to invade Borno State from Cameroun at will.

    A military source described the bridge as vital to “our counter-attacks against the insurgents.”

    “I think their plan was to blow up the bridge but we were able to abort this. We are also in total control of Banki town. Many troops have been deployed in the area while air raid of the cells and bases of the cell continues,” the source said.

    “The insurgents suffered many casualties; we were able to kill about 50 of them. The Boko Haram will not admit but the military is firmly in control.

    “We have pursued the insurgents back to their new bases along the Camerounian borders.”

    When contacted, the spokesman for the Defence Headquarters, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade said the troop lost two soldiers while four others were wounded.

    He said: “The fighting took place in Banki to repel the insurgents. The troops have secured the territory but we have placed the entire border town under heavy air and ground surveillance.”

    There was no independent confirmation of the claim.

    In the last one month, the troops and the insurgents have been locked in a series of clashes in Bama, Lake Chad and Banki areas.

    The Defence Headquarters put the casualty figures on the side of the sect at about 113 as at December 30.

    The figures included about 50 Boko Haram insurgents and 15 soldiers that were killed in a pre-dawn attack of Mohammed Kuru Barracks in Bama.

     

  • Boko Haram: Nigeria may reach out to France, Cameroun

    Boko Haram: Nigeria may reach out to France, Cameroun

    •Intense diplomatic option begins

    •Nigeria may deploy drones along borders with Cameroun

    The Federal Government is in the process of reaching a tripartite diplomatic/defence collaboration with France and Cameroun in containing the insurgency of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram.

    The proposal is already being worked on, The Nation gathered yesterday in Abuja.

    The development was triggered by the latest attacks on military formations by Boko Haram from new bases in Cameroun having been largely driven out of Nigeria in the wake of the military onslaught.

    The diplomatic collaboration is expected to be managed in a way that Cameroun will not be hurt by the effects of the onslaught against Boko Haram in its territory.

    Sources also said that the Federal Government might deploy drones against the insurgents next year following intelligence reports that the insurgents have created new bases and platforms in Cameroon.

    “They relocated in spite of the fact that in October, the Camerounian gendarmes killed more than 180 Boko Haram members,” a military source said.

    “They find it difficult to cope again in the country because more than 500 coordination bases/cells of the sect had been destroyed in Borno and Yobe states.

    “So, we have a situation in which they now come from Cameroun to lay ambush on villages and major roads to kill innocent citizens.”

    Sources said that government has therefore resolved to collaborate with France and Cameroun on how to address the security challenges posed by the insurgents along the Cameroonian borders.

    It was gathered that the issue featured in the discussion between President Goodluck Jonathan and French officials during his recent trip to Paris.

    With him on the trip was the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki.

    Nigeria believes it has a lot to benefit from the French operation in Mali against terrorists and expects that the Mali experiment will be extended to the Camerounian borders with Nigeria.

    Cameroun, sources said, has been a bit circumspect in giving its support because it does not want to be fully drawn into the Boko Haram insurgency to avert any consequence on its security.

    But one of the sources said that in a sub-region like ours, a threat to one country is a threat to another and therefore it will be in the interest of Yaounde to co-operate with Abuja in checking the Boko Haram threat.

    A Multinational Task Force is said to be already in place but the target is the ‘final phase’ of the campaign against the insurgents.

    Meanwhile, the Federal Government may consider the use of drones along the borders with Cameroun to check the insurgents.

    This is part of anti-insurgency plans in 2014 in order to make the North-East safer.

    Sources said the use of drones comes with less casualties and maximum impact because it would help the military in pre-emptive coordination.

    “I think from next year, the Federal Government may deploy in drones. The truth is that the battle is almost won against insurgency in the North-East except for the shift of Boko Haram base to Cameroun.

    “The drones have worked well in Niger Republic and we may adopt same with the ongoing ground and air strikes.”

    For the second time in two months, Boko Haram members, at dawn on Friday, invaded and shelled Kuru Mohammed Barracks in Bama, Borno State with rockets.

    The sect had in October launched another deadly attack at a military checkpoint close to the Nigerian border with Cameroun, leading to the killing four security operatives.

    The death toll of the latest attack was unclear as at press time but the Defence Headquarters claimed that it was still taking stock.

    Ground and air troops have already been deployed in Bama to repel the insurgents.

     

  • Plantain: From Cameroun with harm

    Plantain: From Cameroun with harm

    It takes almost a whole day to transport a lorry load of plantain from Okada, Uruomi and other parts of Edo State where it is grown in large quantities to Idi-Oro in Mushin and other markets in Lagos.

    At Idi-Oro, which is reputed to be the largest plantain market in Nigeria, there are various categories of traders. There are those who buy from farmers within the country and those who import from Cameroun, Benin Republic and other West African countries.

    It takes those in the latter group a minimum of two days to move their wares from wherever they are buying to Idi-Oro market where they sell to retailers and consumers.

    Although many customers rarely notice, traders at the market say there are slight differences between imported plantains and local ones.

    One of them, Alhaja Taibat Shittu, said the plantains from Cameroun and other countries are smaller in size compared to those grown locally. She added that traders who import do so because it is cheaper to buy from other countries and bring them into the market illegally.

    “Our plantains are bigger than the ones they import. But some traders here prefer buy from Cameroun and Benin Republic because it is cheaper and they bring them into Nigeria through illegal borders. I prefer to buy from our farmers here because I am used to them and even though it is expensive, I think it is better than the ones they import”.

    Trading in a perishable product like plantain comes with a catalogue of risks and the traders have various ways of dealing with them. To preserve their wares, some traders at the market especially retailers engage in some unhealthy practices. Those who sell ripe ones use carbide and ashes to quicken the ripening process while those who sell unripe ones sometime dump them in filthy places when offloading from the Lorries.

    Kingsley Izeh, one of the lorry drivers at the market, said the traders use the carbide and ash methods to enable them recoup their investments fast.

    According to him there is no health risk associated with ashes but there have been complaints about carbide because it contains some chemicals that are dangerous to human health.

    “If the plantains don’t get ripe on time, the traders will lose their money. That is why they use ashes or carbide. The ash is naturally because they also use it in the villages but there have been some complaints about the use of carbides but these traders won’t stop”.

  • Nigeria should evolve beyond oil, or perish – NGE president

    Nigeria should evolve beyond oil, or perish – NGE president

    The President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Femi Adesina, on Thursday in Asaba said that Nigeria needed to envision and evolve a nation beyond oil or it could “perish.”

    In his address of welcome at the 9th All Nigerian Editors Conference, Adesina said “Nigeria must now diversify, or die. For well over four decades, we have run a mono-product economy.

    “Petroleum has been our mainstay, and we have allowed the easy money from oil to strangulate other cash cows like agriculture, solid minerals, tourism and many others.

    “But as they say, `everyday is not Christmas, and the Egungun (masquerade) festival must end one day. The honeymoon is about ending.’’

    Adesina also told the conference that “oil is fast becoming a vanishing source of easy revenue. Nigeria once had a pride of being one of the largest producers of petroleum on the continent, but not anymore.

    “Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Cameroun, Chad and some others have also found oil. And much more contentious is the fact that America, our largest customer has discovered shale oil and so may not need to patronise us again.

    “I tell you doomsday is by the corner, except we become proactive and stave off the evil.’’

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that he argued that it was inconceivable that a country which could no longer fund its imports remained a consumer nation.