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Council of European Union’s Africa Working Group Begins 4-day Visit to Nigeria
Council of European Union’s Africa Working Group Begins 4-day Visit to Nigeria
By: Michael Mike
Members of the Council of European Union’s Africa Working Party (COAFR) have arrived in Abuja to begin a four-day working visit to the country.
During the visit taking place from 26-29 February 2024, the COAFR members will engage with Nigerian authorities, government agencies, civil society groups, regional and international organisations and private sector actors in Abuja and in Lagos.
According to a statement on Sunday by the European Union in Nigeria, the Africa Working Party (COAFR) is mandated with the supervision and management of EU external policy towards the 46 countries of the sub-Saharan Africa, the African Union and other sub-regional organisations, including ECOWAS.
The Africa Working Party (COAFR) is composed of representatives of all 27 EU Member States, chaired by a permanent member of the European External Action Service (EEAS), and assisted by representatives of the Commission and the General Secretariat of the Council. It works under the auspices of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), itself composed of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense and/or development of the 27 Member States of the European Union.
The statement said in Abuja, the visiting COAFR members will meet with key Federal Government ministries and agencies starting from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, among others.
They will also have an interactive session with the ECOWAS Commission on regional developments and integration processes.
In Lagos, the COAFR is expected to meet with the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Consuls General of EU Member States, and the leadership of the European Business Chamber (EuroCham) Nigeria.
They will also visit several EU-funded projects in the state featuring digital and innovation, critical infrastructure and connectivity and migration. Deliberations during the meetings will centre on further boosting EU-Nigeria partnership.
The Africa Working Party’s (COAFR) visits to African countries aim at promoting direct contact, mutual information exchange and feedback between the political and foreign policy organs of the European Union and their African counterparts. They play an important role on taking stock of state and non-state actors views, perspectives, aspirations and expectations regarding their partnership with the European Union, its closest neighbour and its sister continent.
The team will commence a similar visit to the neighbouring Republic of Benin at the end of its current mission in Nigeria.
According to the statement, this is the group’s first-ever working visit to Nigeria, noting that in addition to the representatives of 17 EU Member States also officials from EU institutions, are expected to be in the team.
The statement further revealed that this year’s working visit will be the eleventh visit of the COAFR to the African continent, and the third visit to West Africa – following earlier visits to Senegal and Burkina Faso (2015) and Ivory Coast and Ghana (2019).
It said more than ever before, several top EU officials have visited Nigeria in recent years and months, underlining the importance the EU accords its partnership with the country.
Last October, the EU’s Commissioner for International Partnership, Ms. Jutta Urpilainen, her counterpart for Energy, Ms. Kadri Simson, led other top officials to participate in the EU-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue Meeting held Abuja. The Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Ms Helena Konig, and the Managing Director, Africa at the EEAS, Ms. Rita Laranjinha, were also in the country shortly before then, following the visits in 2022 of European Commission’s Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager in February 2022, EU and Member States Maritime Security Coordinators in April 2022 and senior officials of the European Commission in charge of Energy and Home Affairs.
is mandated with the supervision and management of EU external policy towards the 46 countries of the sub-Saharan Africa, the African Union and other sub-regional organisations, including ECOWAS.
The Africa Working Party (COAFR) is composed of representatives of all 27 EU Member States, chaired by a permanent member of the European External Action Service (EEAS), and assisted by representatives of the Commission and the General Secretariat of the Council. It works under the auspices of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), itself composed of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense and/or development of the 27 Member States of the European Union.
In Abuja, the visiting COAFR members will meet with key Federal Government ministries and agencies starting from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, among others. They will also have an interactive session with the ECOWAS Commission on regional developments and integration processes.
In Lagos, the COAFR is expected to meet with the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Consuls General of EU Member States, and the leadership of the European Business Chamber (EuroCham) Nigeria.
They will also visit several EU-funded projects in the state featuring digital and innovation, critical infrastructure and connectivity and migration. Deliberations during the meetings will centre on further boosting EU-Nigeria partnership.
The Africa Working Party’s (COAFR) visits to African countries aim at promoting direct contact, mutual information exchange and feedback between the political and foreign policy organs of the European Union and their African counterparts. They play an important role on taking stock of state and non-state actors views, perspectives, aspirations and expectations regarding their partnership with the European Union, its closest neighbour and its sister continent. The team will commence a similar visit to the neighbouring Republic of Benin at the end of its current mission in Nigeria.
This is the group’s first-ever working visit to Nigeria. In addition to the representatives of 17 EU Member States also officials from EU institutions, are expected to be in the team. This year’s working visit will be the eleventh visit of the COAFR to the African continent, and the third visit to West Africa – following earlier visits to Senegal and Burkina Faso (2015) and Ivory Coast and Ghana (2019).
More than ever before, several top EU officials have visited Nigeria in recent years and months, underlining the importance the EU accords its partnership with the country. Last October, the EU’s Commissioner for International Partnership, Ms. Jutta Urpilainen, her counterpart for Energy, Ms. Kadri Simson, led other top officials to participate in the EU-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue Meeting held Abuja. The Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Ms Helena Konig, and the Managing Director, Africa at the EEAS, Ms. Rita Laranjinha, were also in the country shortly before then, following the visits in 2022 of European Commission’s Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager in February 2022, EU and Member States Maritime Security Coordinators in April 2022 and senior officials of the European Commission in charge of Energy and Home Affairs.
Council of European Union’s Africa Working Group Begins 4-day Visit to Nigeria
News
Social media reckless leaks of U.S. ISR flights over Lake Chad force ISWAP fighters to relocate
Social media reckless leaks of U.S. ISR flights over Lake Chad force ISWAP fighters to relocate
By: Zagazola Makama
Reckless disclosure of sensitive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations by social media users has compromised ongoing counter-terrorism efforts in the Lake Chad region, forcing Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters to relocate from monitored locations, reliable security sources told Zagazola Makama.
The social media handler had posted that the United States Air Force ISR aircraft, which has flown missions over the Lake Chad basin for three consecutive days, again returned on Saturday to conduct surveillance on ISWAP’s “Mantiqah Krinwa” in northern Borno. The aircraft, as with previous sorties, was tracked taking off from Accra, Ghana.
The operational gains, however, were undermined when a social media handler, identified as Brant Philip on Twitter (X), published the real-time flight paths and details of the ISR operations that were expected to remain covert.
The sources said that although ISWAP fighters were not recently concentrated in Krinwa, the ISR media leaks had unsettled the group, prompting a tactical movement from Dogon Chikun to Bulabulin in an apparent attempt to avoid potential air interdiction in identified locations.
“Once the details of the ISR mission were posted online, the terrorists became aware of the surveillance and began repositioning. These kinds of leaks directly endanger operations and personnel,” a security source said.
Another source noted that online exposure of such highly sensitive military activity compromises not only Nigerian security efforts but also partner operations.
“People on social media must understand that sharing operational intelligence, especially in real time, is not content, it is sabotage. Terrorists monitor these platforms too,” the source added.
Social media users, bloggers and open-source enthusiasts must exercise restraint and avoid amplifying sensitive information that could compromise missions, or empower terrorist networks.
Social media reckless leaks of U.S. ISR flights over Lake Chad force ISWAP fighters to relocate
Nine killed in katsina-ala multiple crash as nurtw officials arrested over road blockade
By: Zagazola Makama
The death toll from Friday’s multiple motor accident in Katsina-Ala, Benue State, has risen to nine, while four injured victims are currently receiving treatment in hospital, officials have confirmed.
The crash, which occurred on the Katsina-Ala axis, involved several vehicles after an alleged deliberate obstruction of the expressway by two members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
Sources told Zagazola Makama that the two drivers – Stephen Kahungur, of Gbor community, who drove a Toyota car with registration number Benue MKD 569 TJ, and Saater Vihiga, of Ammafu Village, who drove a Toyota Carina with registration number Benue AX 896 MKD – were arrested for allegedly blocking the highway and causing the fatal chain collision.
Also arrested was the Chairman of the NURTW Katsina-Ala branch, Aja Vanger, who was said to have mobilised the suspects to block the road.
The three suspects are currently in custody.
Authorities say investigation into the circumstances surrounding the obstruction and the fatal crash is ongoing.
Nine killed in katsina-ala multiple crash as nurtw officials arrested over road blockade
Police Scorpion squad arrests two notorious kidnappers, recovers three vehicles in zamfara
By: Zagazola Makama
Operatives of the Scorpion Squad have arrested two notorious kidnappers and armed robbers in Zamfara State and recovered three suspected stolen vehicles.
The operation, coordinated by ACP Victor O. Godfrey, was carried out on Nov. 25 following what security sources described as actionable digital reconstructive intelligence.
The suspects, Dalhatu Bashiru (aka Yellow), 38, and Chidiebere Nwadigo Emmanuel, 34, both ex-convicts, were apprehended for their alleged involvement in multiple kidnapping and car-snatching operations across several states.
Recovered from the suspects were: A black Toyota Corolla, Reg. No. JUX 578 AA, A grey Toyota Corolla, Reg. No. JUX 890 AA, an ash-coloured Toyota Camry (Pencil Light), Reg. No. APR 459 AE
According to sources, the suspects confessed to participating in several high-profile criminal operations, including the Jan. 18, 2024 abduction of Mr. Segun Akinwumi O. near Rita Lori Hotel, Garki, Abuja.
In that incident, the victim was kidnapped from his residence and taken toward Kano. While en route, the gang allegedly dispossessed him of his ATM cards in Kaduna, where ₦500,000 was transferred from his bank account.
Luck ran out for the gang after they were intercepted at a filling station in Kaduna. Three members escaped, but Chidiebere, Dalhatu (Yellow), and another suspect, now at large were identified. Their accomplice, Chinanza Philip Okoye Michael, was arrested, the victim rescued unhurt, and his vehicle recovered.
Investigations further revealed that the arrested suspects had previously been apprehended in November 2023 for similar offences and arraigned at the High Court, Kwali, but allegedly returned to crime while on court bail.
Police operatives also recovered three Beretta pistols from the suspects.
Security authorities said the suspects confessed to snatching over 20 exotic SUVs within Abuja.
Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the remaining fleeing suspect.
Police Scorpion squad arrests two notorious kidnappers, recovers three vehicles in zamfara
Social media reckless leaks of U.S. ISR flights over Lake Chad force ISWAP fighters to relocate
Nine killed in katsina-ala multiple crash as nurtw officials arrested over road blockade
Police arrest own inspector, brother over alleged attack and forceful seizure of corpse in Benue
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