Thousands of displaced people have continued to flee the DR Congo territory of Nyiragongo, near Goma, the capital of North Kivu, as fighting between the Congolese national army the FARDC, and the M23 rebels rages on in the region.
The M23, a former Tutsi rebellion group, has been in constant conflict with the DR Congo army after it resurfaced last year with the support of neighbouring Rwanda, and has been laying siege to the northern parts of the country.
A United Nations report on Tuesday night said many of the residents have left their homes and have “taken off in the direction of Rugari in the north, or to Kibati, south of Goma.”
Local media also reported that the latest incident was as a result of a renewed attack in the village of Buhumba where suspected M23 rebels struck and killed several people.
“The M23 militia entered the town from the border with Rwanda. The rebels want to occupy the strategic region, which is close to the city of Goma,” a member of a regional local civil society, Ghislain Bolingo, said.
“We can confirm without fear of being contradicted that it is Rwanda that is supporting the M23 for the moment because the M23 had been defeated, it would no longer have the strength to come and attack our valiant FARDC,” Bolingo added.
The spokesman for the governor of North Kivu, in a statement, also denounced the invasion of the rebels as “a dramatisation of the situation by the Rwandan armed forces.”
A resident who spoke on the situation. Alexis Sikuli said:
“We are displaced, we are fleeing the clashes that took place today. Following this situation we are afraid, that is why we are going to Kibati near Goma.”
Another resident, Aline Mundozi, who has also been displaced had a message for DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi:
“I would like to tell our President Félix Tshisekedi that we are tired of war, we ask that he looks to save us from this suffering.”
President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria has insisted that all his tough policy decisions and reforms have been taken with the interest of Nigerians at heart.
Tinubu, who made the assertion in Hague, The Netherlands, during the business session of the bilateral meeting with the Dutch team led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, insisted that though some of the policies had brought hardship on Nigerian masses, he was not afraid to implement more of such policies as they would yield positive results in the end.
“I am a determined leader of my people. I am ever ready to take tough decisions in the best interest of the people, even if with initial pains,” Tinubu said.
“I have and will continue to take the difficult decisions that will benefit our people, even if there is short-term pain.
“We have gone through the worst of the storms. I am unafraid of the consequences once I know that my actions are in the best long-term interests of all Nigerians.
“The Nigerian naira is one of the world’s best-performing currencies today.
“We took the necessary risk, and all resilient Nigerians kept faith with us.
“They will be rewarded, and the reward will only be greater as we partner effectively with you on new opportunities for development.
“As leaders, we must make decisions for the benefit of our nations, and we cannot shy away from that.”
The President also noted that symbiotic economic ties remain the best long-term path to sustainable and mutual prosperity rather than one-sided relationships in which bilateral trade is skewed too much in one direction.
Nigeria’s minister of mines said on Wednesday that 924 expired mining licences had been cancelled immediately.
The country now wants investors to apply for the affected permits, which will be given out on a “first come, first served” basis.
In a statement, Mines Minister Dele Alake said that 528 exploration licenses, 20 mining leases, 101 quarry licenses, and 273 small-scale mining licenses would be impacted.
As part of major changes in the mining industry, more than 1,600 mining titles were taken away in November for not paying the required fees.
Alake said that the action was taken to stop “licence racketeering,” which is when people or businesses buy titles to minerals that are worth a lot of money and then sell the licenses to the highest price.
“By creating a secondary, black market to pawn mineral licences, the unsuspecting and unwary investor is misled into believing that he can only obtain licence by patronising the black market. This discourages investment,” Alake said.
“It is our belief that this decision will sanitise the licensing system by penalising those who have commercialized the opportunities offered by the sector into a bazaar, he added.
Nigeria wants to attract investors to a mining industry that hasn’t been developed much in the past. To do this, they are giving incentives like not having to pay taxes on profits and sending them back to Nigeria in full.
Nigeria has had trouble getting value from its huge mineral riches because it didn’t invest in or take care of them.
After making it harder for foreign companies to get mining licenses last year, Africa’s biggest oil provider will only give them to companies that process their minerals in the country itself. The country is also rich in lithium, gold, and limestone.