Africa

10, June 2016

Chad sends 2000 troops to Niger ⁰

Chad has sent some 2,000 troops to neighboring Niger to help the fight against Boko Haram following last week’s terrorist attacks by the Takfiri militants in the Nigerien town of Bosso. The “heavily armed” soldiers will “search everywhere for Boko Haram,” a military source said Wednesday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that some 50,000 people have fled the town of Bosso in Niger’s troubled Diffa region near the Nigerian border following deadly attacks by Boko Haram terrorists.

Boko Haram militants first took the town of Bosso on Friday in an attack, during which 26 soldiers, including two from Nigeria, were killed. A total of 55 militants from the Nigeria-based militant group were also killed during the fierce fighting. The terrorists reportedly torched military barracks, police facilities and looted shops during the terror campaign in the town. The ambush and looting came as Niger’s army was preparing to attack Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, which straddles Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Nigerien troops later retook Bosso on Saturday, but the militants once again took over the town on Sunday night.

The mayor of Bosso, Mamadou Bako, and a military source confirmed the takeover on Monday, but the Nigerien government denied it. Regional countries have created a joint military force that plays a key role in helping Nigeria fight the terrorist group. Back in February, the four littoral nations of Lake Chad launched a military campaign, together with a contingent from Benin, to confront the threat from Boko Haram militants in the region.

The Boko Haram terrorist group, which has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri militant group, has killed thousands of people, mostly civilians, since it launched its terrorist activities in Nigeria in 2009. The Takfiri militant group has intensified its campaign of terror since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in the African country in May 2015.

Presstv

10, June 2016

Cameroon sets deadline for unidentified mobile phone subscribers ⁰

Unidentified subscribers to the Cameroon Telecommunications, Camtel, MTN Cameroon, Orange Cameroun and Nexttel have for over a month been again receiving messages inviting them to rush to sales points to update their files and or correct bad identification. The response has been prompt. The operation has been launched separately by mobile telephone operators under the auspices of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications with the Telecommunications Regulatory Board playing watchdog role.

Some operators like MTN Cameroon have opted for proximity identification, given the stakes of the exercise. The company has deployed teams to Yaounde neighborhoods like Ngoa-Ekelle, Mvan, Ngoussou, Bastos, and Soa etc to reach maximum clients. It is motivating subscribers with free airtime to scale up the number of identified clients. Other operators like Orange Cameroun have remained true to themselves, sensitizing clients on the reasons for having their identities in the database. The company’s sales points and shops have since witnessed unprecedented crowds, with subscribers committing to the exercise.

Information garnered from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication reveals that previous operations did not meet the expectations of the Head of Government wholly. Government is therefore out for serious business. Security stakes are high and no government will fold arms to jeopardize the livelihoods of its citizens. Today June 10, 2016, is deadline for identification. Mobile phone operators have warned feet-dragging subscribers that their lines will be suspended if not found in the database.

The operation comes after that which was carried out late last year. It was prompted by the Prime Ministerial decree of September 3, 2015 spelling out the conditions for identifying subscribers. Subscribers, according to the decree, are expected to submit original copies of their National Identity Cards, residence permits for foreigners, complete address and sketch of the home’s location as well as the international identity of the equipment terminal (IMEI) for identification.

Unlike in the past when subscribers upgraded profiles with photocopies of ID cards, the current operation obliges subscribers to present originals of their particulars for complete identification. Mireille Flore Dongmo, one of the agents of MTN Cameroon, told Cameroon Tribune at CETIC Ngoa-Ekelle, Yaounde yesterday June 9, 2016, that subscribers are yet to draw a line between registration and identification. The agents are using innovative technology to scan ID cards and have them signed by subscribers to complete the identification procedure.

Cameroon Tribune

8, June 2016

Congo Kinshasa: Rebels kidnap 100 civilians ⁰

Suspected Ugandan rebels have kidnapped about 100 people during an attack in the troubled northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN says. Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Amouzou Codjo, spokesman for the UN Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), told a press briefing on Wednesday that members of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted the civilians during an assault on two villages during the attack in Bas-Uele province on June 4.

He said rebels also went on a looting spree across the volatile region. “These attackers also kidnapped nearly a hundred people to carry the loot,” Codjo told a press conference in the capital, Kinshasa. The spokesman also strongly denounced the regular atrocities committed by the ruthless LRA against civilians in the northeast of the African country.

Formed in 1986, the LRA is engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government in what is now one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts that has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and displaced another two million.

Presstv

8, June 2016

Darak: 40 fishermen kidnapped by Boko Haram ⁰

Forty people mostly fishermen from Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon were kidnapped late on Tuesday in the town of Darak bordering Nigeria. Cameroon military sources say heavily armed men described by some locals as Boko Haram militants attacked the village of Darak and took along with them the forty men.

Cameroon Intelligence Report was reliably informed that 10 other fishermen were killed during the Boko Haram raids. Our informant also revealed that Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to the Organization of Islamic State and is now called Islamic State in West Africa.

Militarily weakened by the strikes of the coalition, the Nigerian Islamic sect has changed tactics. It now proceeds through suicide bombings or raids to sow death among the population.

CIR

8, June 2016

Cameroon: National Oil and Gas Company pays 82,44 billion FCFA to the treasury ⁰

The National Oil and Gas Company of Cameroon SNH has announced that oil production in Cameroon estimated at 12.3 million barrels on April 30th 2016 is experiencing a noticeable increase of 19.42% compared to the same period a year ago. Despite lower crude oil prices on the world market with a barrel selling below $ 30, oil production in Cameroon is expected to increase in the coming months with the commissioning of new oil fields. SNH revealed recently that gas production amounted to 4,286,600,000 cubic feet, down 5.77% compared to the same period last year.

In a dramatic change of government policy, the SNH released a statement observing that the sales of crude oil and natural gas on behalf of the State of Cameroon enabled the company to transfer to the government treasury 82, 44 billion FCFA cumulatively between January and April.

CIR

7, June 2016

War on terror: Boko Haram kills 8 Cameroonian fishermen, injures 3 soldiers ⁰

Ten bodies presented as fishermen; 8 Cameroonians and 2 Chadian were discovered at dawn today by residents of Darak in the Lake Chad area. They were reportedly killed during a raid attributed to Boko Haram which has recently pledged allegiance to the Organization of Islamic State in West Africa. In another development in the war on terror, a Boko Haram mine exploded under an army patrol vehicle on the Kolofata- Amchide-axis in the Far North region. Three Cameroonian soldiers were injured in the explosion.

CIR

7, June 2016

50,000 flee Boko Haram in Niger ⁰

Tens of thousands of people have fled a town in the troubled southeastern Niger following deadly attacks by Takfiri Boko Haram terrorist group, the UN refugee agency says. Adrian Edwards, the spokesman for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that some 50,000 people fled the town of Bosso in the country’s troubled Diffa region near the Nigerian border.

The spokesman noted that most of those fleeing the violence walked toward the village of Toumour, which is located some 30 kilometers west of Bosso. “Many people are reportedly traumatized and worried about their safety,” he said. The UN sources say people are sleeping in the open and urgently need shelter and other assistance.

Boko Haram militants first took the town of Bosso on Friday in an attack in which 30 soldiers from Niger and two from Nigeria were killed. A total of 55 militants from the Nigeria-based militant group were also killed during the fierce fighting. The terrorists reportedly torched military barracks, police facilities and looted shops during the terror campaign in the town. The ambush and looting came as Niger’s army was preparing to attack Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, which straddles Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

UN figures show that the violence by Boko Haram militants have displaced more than 240,000 people across the Diffa region over past months. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently said that more than nine million people living in the Lake Chad region are in dire need of food aid, blaming Boko Haram for triggering the unrest in the area.

Presstv

6, June 2016

Camair-Co Palaver: MPs call for a speed up in the recovery process ⁰

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Yéguié Cavaye Djibril has voiced concerns about the goings-on in the Cameroon Airlines Corporation (Camair-Co). Some reports have suggested that MPs from both the ruling CPDM party and the SDF opposition have decided to speak with one voice on the poor bill of health of Camair-Co. Speaker Cavaye Djibril fired the first salvo on June the 2^nd during his opening speech to the House when he observed that the company was indeed “sick”.

Honorable Joshua Osih, Vice President of the SDF parliamentary group noted that something should done and done in a hurry to remedy the situation. Joshua Osih reminded the House that Camair-Co belongs to the Cameroonian taxpayer. Our National Assembly correspondent who contributed to this report revealed the MPs are worried about the airlines company. The MPs want an immediate speed up in the recovery process of Camair-Co. An audit of the company has already been ordered.

CIR

6, June 2016

Raila Odinga destabilizing Kenya again!!!!! ⁰

At least two people have lost their lives and six others sustained injuries during clashes between Kenya’s police and protesters demanding the dissolution of the country’s electoral commission prior to next year’s presidential election. The casualties occurred on Monday in the western Kenyan city of Kisumu as police opened fire to disperse protesters during the latest in a series of rallies by opposition groups and their supporters demanding that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) be scrapped for allegedly being biased.

Carrying banners, the protesters who are all Raila Odinga loyalists blocked the roads with burning tires and stones in both Kisumu and the country’s capital of Nairobi, and chanted the slogan “IEBC must go.” “We have confirmed two people shot dead. We are yet to establish the circumstances,” said Dennis Onyango, a spokesman for Kenya’s main opposition group, the Coalitions for Reforms and Democracy (CORD). The Red Cross in the East African country said six protesters suffering from gunshot wounds had been taken to hospital.

Presstv/CIR

6, June 2016

SOPECAM Affair: Board Chairman 1, GM 0 ⁰

The General Manager of the Cameroon News and Publishing Corporation (SOPECAM) Marie-Claire Nnana was recently taken aback when the board chairman, Joseph Le, Deputy Director of President Biya’s civil cabinet put his foot down at the ongoing crisis meeting between the two parties to insist that he can still appoint persons within the corporation without holding any board meeting.

Explaining his position of authority, Joseph LE has signed decisions in four areas of SOPECAM. The decisions that were read over state radio and television, promoted Ignatius Ozela Claude to technical director, Koume Honore, parachuted to the Sales and Marketing department, Ngane Gustave now heads Administration and Finance while Olinga Biyo’o Georges leads Management Control service.

Cameroon Tribune, the newspaper edited by SOPECAM published just a part of the Joseph Le decision bearing the appointments of Ozela Claude Ignatius and Koume Honore leaving out the names of Ngane Gustav and Olinga Biyo’o. An aide to the GM was quoted as saying the Deputy Director of the Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic was staging a coup at SOPECAM. Marie-Claire Nnana was heard murmuring privately that what Joseph Le has done is in her view totally irresponsible. Cameroon Intelligence Report understands Marie-Claire Nnana is out of the country on a CPDM mission. Our source at SOPECAM hinted that it will need the intervention of the head of state for things to normalize at SOPECAM.