Nigeria is adjusting how it conducts air operations against armed groups as part of an updated security arrangement with the United States. Under the new framework, Nigerian fighter aircraft will increasingly rely on U.S. reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering...
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Nigeria: Questions Mount Over U.S. Airstrikes in Northern Nigeria
By Leslie Varenne, MondAfrique: The American strikes carried out in Nigeria on Christmas Day raise serious questions. Beyond the confusion surrounding the objectives of the operation, inconsistencies in official statements, and the unclear nature of the targets, the...
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Nigerian president Tinubu under pressure to avoid war with northern neighbor Niger
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Sahel: Unfolding humanitarian crisis in Niger with growing masses of refugees from Nigeria and from within
Posted On 4 March 2021
The United Nations warned Tuesday that bloodshed in northwestern Nigeria was fuelling an exodus into neighbouring Niger, where violence was also rising. The UN Refugee Agency said fear of armed groups and communal clashes in Nigeria had sent nearly 7,700 Nigerian refugees fleeing into Niger’s southern Maradi region since the start of the year. At the same time, another 3,500 Niger citizens had been displaced inside their country.
“Most of the refugees are women and children, displaced following recent attacks in Nigeria’s Sokoto state,” UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov told reporters in Geneva. “People fleeing are in urgent need of water, food, shelter, and health services,” he said, adding that “most have fled empty-handed in the rush to save their lives.”
The Maradi region now hosts close to 100,000 displaced people, including 77,000 Nigerian refugees, he said. UNHCR teams in Niger had meanwhile recorded a surge in deadly violence inside Maradi itself. Cheshirkov said more casualties and serious incidents had been recorded there in the first two months of 2021 than throughout the second half of 2020. “Refugees describe gruesome murders, kidnappings for ransom and looted villages,” he said, adding that many others had also been caught up in clashes between farmers and herders as well as vigilantism.
The UNHCR meanwhile was providing life-saving assistance and protection in the area, and had scaled up its monitoring activities along the border. “We are working closely with Nigerien authorities to relocate refugees away from the border and into safer localities where basic assistance and services are available,” Cheshirkov said.
A range of armed groups in the Sahel and Lake Chad regions have been fuelling one of the world’s fastest growing displacement crises. According to UN figures, more than 3.2 million people have been displaced across the Lake Chad basin, which is shared by Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
UNHCR warned that its resources to respond to the swelling crisis were “dangerously overstretched,” adding that its operations there required $128.6 million this year, but that it so far had received just 10 percent of that amount.
AFP
Recent News from Nigeria
Nigeria Adjusts Airstrike Strategy Under Expanded U.S. Security Cooperation
Nigeria is modifying how it conducts air operations against armed groups under a revised security arrangement with the United States. The new framework places greater emphasis on U.S. intelligence and reconnaissance support while shifting operational responsibility to Nigerian forces. The approach reflects Abuja’s effort to balance external assistance with domestic control amid ongoing security challenges in the country’s northwest.
Nigeria: Questions Mount Over U.S. Airstrikes in Northern Nigeria
The U.S. airstrikes carried out in northern Nigeria on Christmas Day have triggered confusion and skepticism across the region. Conflicting statements from Washington and Abuja, uncertainty over the identity of the targeted groups, and reports from strike locations where no militants were found have raised serious questions about the operation’s objectives. In an already fragile security environment, the lack of clarity risks adding instability rather than addressing Nigeria’s complex security challenges.
Nigeria’s Conflict Goes Global With Washington Entering the Fight
U.S. airstrikes in northwestern Nigeria mark a rare moment in which a long-running domestic security crisis crossed into direct American military involvement. While Nigerian forces have relied on aerial bombardment for years against insurgents and armed groups, the decision to authorize U.S. strikes introduces new political signaling, diplomatic pressure, and strategic implications. This analysis examines why the intervention occurred now, how it differs from Nigeria’s own military operations, and what it reveals about the growing internationalization of conflict in West Africa.
