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IRIN-WA Update 133 of Events in West Africa, (Wednesday) 28 January 1998
NIGERIA: Panel delivers "coup plot" findings
The Nigerian military authorities said they had completed an investigation into an alleged plot last month to overthrow the country's leader, General Sani Abacha, news organisations reported on Wednesday. Its findings would determine whether any of the 50 people arrested for plotting a coup will stand trial, a military spokesman said. The detainees include Abacha's former deputy, Lieutenant-General Oladipo Diya. "`The panel was to complete its work by the end of the month,'' the spokesman, Colonel Godwin Ugbo was quoted as telling Reuters. "`That is what it has done and we will now see if there will be any trials as a result.''
Ugbo declined to give further details. Meanwhile, the opposition Radio Kudirat which broadcasts from outside the country, quoted Anthony Enahoro, exiled leader of the opposition National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), as saying Abacha was secretly planning to murder Diya and others before any of their cases came to trial.
New Nigerian envoys appointed
On the diplomatic front, the Nigerian government on Tuesday announced the appointment of new envoys to the United States and several European countries, AFP reported. In what diplomatic sources said signalled a thawing of Nigeria's relationship with the outside world, the new envoys were appointed to Paris, Bonn, Brussels, Dublin, Geneva, Madrid, the Hague, Stockholm, Vienna, Washington and New York. The country's relationship with the outside world became strained following the execution in 1995 of the human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. The incident resulted in Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth and the temporary recall of several Nigerian ambassadors and Western ambassadors in Nigeria.
Ikimi on West African tour
Meanwhile, Nigerian Foreign Minister Tom Ikimi started a tour of four West African states on Tuesday to discuss peace and security in the region, AFP reported. He was expected to discuss the crisis in Sierra Leone and the future role of the Nigerian-led ECOMOG West African peacekeeping force with the leaders of Niger, Burkina Faso, The Gambia and Cote d'Ivoire.
Inter-communal clashes leave over 20 dead
At least 23 people were killed and 50 seriously injured in renewed fighting between rival communities in southwestern Nigeria, AFP reported on Tuesday. The fighting between the Ife and the Modakeke communities, which erupted in the early hours on Monday, continued throughout the day. AFP quoting a local newspaper, said the conflict arose after the felling of trees belonging to the Modakeke community. In recent months, there have been sporadic clashes between the two communities over local boundary changes.
Nigerian fuel imports to continue
Officials of the state oil marketing company on Tuesday said Nigeria would have continue importing crude until its refiniries could meet the country's demands, Reuters reported. "Imports will continue until the refineries meet local demand. That cannot be until maintenance is done and we have no idea when that will be,'' the agency quoted an official of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) as saying. It said about US $600 million have been budgeted for petroleum purchases. Only two of Nigeria's four refineries - Warri and Port Harcourt - are functioning. Together they produce a daily output of 175,000 barrels. Local demand is estimated at 280,000 bbl per day.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: MAIB denies responsability for attacks
A separatist group in the island of Bioko on Tuesday denied accusations by the government of Equatorial Guinea that they were responsible for three terrorist attacks last week in which in which eight soldiers and a civilian were reported killed, AFP said. The Movimiento para la Autodeterminacion de la Isla de Bioko (MAIB) also condemned in a local radio broadcast the arrest of 30 of its members following the attacks.
Within hours of the broadcast, however, the government reiterated the allegations and said it had also seized a number of unspecified weapons. The incident marked the first armed action in Bioko.
This MAIB is an organisation of the Bubi community who were the original inhabitants of Bioko, but who now a minority on the island. An Amnesty International report released last week said hundreds of Bubi people had been killed and arrested since MAIB's creation in 1994.
TOGO: Students released
Eleven students detained following a demonstration and strike last week at Togo's University of Benin were released on Tuesday at the behest of President Gnassingbe Eyadema, AFP reported. Their release came a day after the end of a three-day strike over student grants. Student leaders said, however, the issue still remained unresolved.
MALI: US to train Malian peacekeepers
The United States said it would send a team of 70 Special Forces experts to Mali to help train the army in peacekeeping operations, news reports said Wednesday. The training programme is part of the American-led effort to help create an African rapid deployment force capable of responding to regional crisies. American forces have conducted similar training exercises in Senegal, Uganda and Malawi.
Mezanwhile the Caisse Francaise de Developpement and the World Bank on Tuesday announced the allocation of FFr 110 million to finance a training programme for Mali's professional sector, AFP reported.
SIERRA LEONE: Reports of clashes denied
There were conflicting reports of fighting this week between Sierra Leone's ruling Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and ECOMOG forces, international news agencies said on Wendesday. However, sources in Freetown told IRIN they doubted any such clash had occurred. An aid worker based near Jui, the site of the alleged fighting 24 km southeast of the capital Freetown, said no shots had been heard in the vicinity. A similar report last month that ECOMOG jets had bombed Freetown had also turned out to be untrue, another source recalled.
A Sierra Leone analyst in Freetown told IRIN the AFRC had consistently claimed Sierra Leone was less stable than it really is. "If the peace process is on track, then there will be no excuse to refuse to handover power to the civilian government," the source said. Under the terms of the Sierra Leone peace plan, signed last October in the Guinean capital Conakry, the AFRC must restore power to ousted president Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah by April.
NOTE:
Further details on the implementation of the Conakry peace plan are included in special background briefing issued by IRIN-West Africa on Wednesday.
Abidjan, 28 January 1998 17:30 GMT
[ends]
[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN West Africa, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN-WA Tel: +225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci for more information or subscription. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this report, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports are archived on the Web at: http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@dha.unon.org . Mailing list: irin-wa-updates]
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 18:34:37 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 133, 98.1.28 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980128183100.24671A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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