Musings From Abroad

2,000 UN peacekeepers to leave eastern Congo in first phase of withdrawal

Published

10 months ago

January 14, 2024

The United Nations has confirmed that about 2,000 of its troops will depart the troubled eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the end of April.

The head of mission, Bintou Keita, stated on Saturday that the withdrawals were part of the peacekeeping mission’s initial phase of its scheduled withdrawal from the nation.

Keita told a joint press conference with government officials on Saturday, “We have a ceiling of 13,500 troops authorised by the Security Council; as of April 30th, with the start of the withdrawal underway, we will reach 11,500.”

At the same press conference in Kinshasa, the Congolese Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula stated that the remaining U.N. forces are anticipated to leave the nation by December 31.

“The withdrawal of MONUSCO does not necessarily mean the end of the fight we are undertaking to protect the territorial interests of our country, we must continue to struggle,” Lutundula said.

Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Congo, requested in September that the peacekeepers’ exit be expedited, and the UN Security Council granted his request, approving the mission’s termination in December.

The mission has faced intense pressure in recent months to conclude its operations due to widespread criticism over its inability to bring peace to the country’s eastern regions, where various armed groups have been operating for three decades, killing, raping, and looting the area’s rich mineral resources, including gold and diamonds.

The 13,500-strong mission, known as MONUSCO, replaced a previous UN operation in 2010 to aid in reducing insecurity in the country of Central Africa’s east, where armed factions battle for resources and territory. It has also drawn criticism for being larger and more costly than any of the 12 UN peacekeeping operations deployed worldwide. Many have also urged for its termination.

Related Topics:Congo DR Featured UN UN Mission

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Musings From Abroad

Finnish court imprisons Nigeria’s Simon Ekpa for aiding terrorism

Published

12 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian separatist leader based abroad, has been placed under detention by the Päijät Häme District Court in Finland on suspicion of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism.

According to the local daily, Helsingin Sanomat, the court rendered the ruling on Thursday following his arraignment by the Central Criminal Police for his involvement in the terror attacks that have afflicted the southeast area of Nigeria.

“The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland with means that have led to violence against civilians in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria,” stated Otto Hiltunen, the crime commissioner and investigation head.

“The man has carried out his activity, among other things, on his social media channels.”

Hiltunen also informed the court that the police suspected four additional individuals in Finland of funding Ekpa’s activities.

According to the story, Ekpa is of Nigerian descent and was born in the Finnish city of Lahti.

His offence occurred between August 23, 2021, and November 18, 2024, according to court documents cited in the publication.

Ekpa is not the only person the police have arrested. In February 2023, they caught him at a private Lahtian flat, but he was freed the same day.

Through the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, Ekpa has continued to be outspoken on social media, raising money and agitating for a Biafran nation to secede. In the southeast part of Nigeria, both factions have been involved in acts of violence, murders, and maimings.

Since gaining formal independence in 1960, Nigeria has seen the emergence of several separatist organisations. The latest surge of calls for self-determination among different ethnic groups has been louder under its immediate previous President Muhammadu Buhari.

Musings From Abroad

Malian singer Rokia Traore arrested in Italy, to be sent to Belgium

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After Italy’s top court denied her appeal, well-known Malian singer, Rokia Traore, who was detained in Rome in June due to a global child custody dispute, will be sent over to Belgium in the next few days, her attorney announced on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old Traore is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and one of Africa’s most well-known vocalists.

“Rokia suffered an injustice. She was arrested without the Belgian criminal court hearing her voice. Now, the battle for Rokia’s rights moves to Brussels,” lawyer Maddalena Del Re said in a statement to Reuters.

The attorney also stated that in its decision late Tuesday, Italy’s Court of Cassation upheld an extradition decision from the European Court of Justice.

Under a European arrest order, Traore was taken into custody on June 20 at the Fiumicino airport in Rome. In October 2023, she was given a two-year prison sentence in Belgium related to a dispute over her daughter’s custody.

She had flown to perform outside Rome’s Colosseum, and she has been imprisoned in Civitavecchia, close to the Italian city, since her detention at Fiumicino.

Lawyer Del Re said that because a conviction was rendered without the defendant’s presence, the Belgian process goes against both international norms and Italian constitutional standards.

After she disregarded a court order to turn over her baby to her Belgian father, the singer’s divorced ex-partner, she was initially taken into custody in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant.

She disobeyed orders not to leave France until her extradition case was handled by taking a private jet to Mali months after being conditionally released. Mali is where her daughter resides.