West Africa

Nigerian government has uncovered more than 120 companies and 96 individuals linked to the financing of terrorism, the information minister has said. Minister Lai Mohammed, said 45 people suspected of funding terrorism had been arrested and would soon be prosecuted. He said Nigeria’s financial crimes agency recovered at least $750m …

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said it will deploy security forces to Guinea-Bissau to help stabilise the country after this week’s attempted coup. The regional bloc made the announcement after a summit held in Accra, Ghana. “The force will help prevent any attempted coups in future,” it …

Ghanaian president Nana Akufo Addo has warned that West Africa is in great danger as a result of recent coups in the region. At a key meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Nana Akufo-Addo who chairs of the regional bloc described last year’s military takeover in …

The French defence minister, Florence Parly, is on a two-day visit to Niger as part of plans to devise a new security strategy for the Sahel. This follows mounting tensions with neighbouring Mali’s military leaders, including the expulsion of the French ambassador earlier this week. Germany has called into question …

Nigerian security forces said they managed to eliminate three suspected kidnappers in Edo state in the south of the country, while many others fled. Army spokesman Onyema Nwachukwu said the men were part of a notorious gang that was intercepted as it set up an ambush on a major highway. …

Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has questioned whether her country’s military mission in Mali should continue, the BBC reports. On Tuesday, France said it was reviewing its military presence in the West African nation following the expulsion of the French ambassador by Mali’s junta. “Given the most recent steps by …

Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo survived an attempted coup on Tuesday but said many members of the security forces had been killed repelling an attack on democracy that may have been linked to drug trafficking. Earlier, heavy gunfire rang out near a government compound where Embalo had been chairing a …

In a very brief telephone interview with AFP, Guinea-Bissau President, Umaro Sissoco Embaló reassured his population that everything was fine and that the situation was under control. This Tuesday, February 1, 2022, shootings were reported in the city center near the country’s institutions. Armed men in civilian clothes opened fire …

The European Union has said it will impose travel bans and asset freezes on five members of Mali’s government following the report on elections scheduled for February. The measures, which have political support of all 27 EU governments and should take effect later this month, follow a raft of restrictions …

Mutinous soldiers arrested Guinea-Bissau’s president Umaro Sissoco Embaló and his ministers as they were holding a meeting, BBC News reports, citing a local journalist. It has not been possibly to independently verify this allegation, and no official word has been given yet of the whereabouts of Guinea-Bissau’s president and prime …