ABUJA, Nigeria: The Nigerian Army has appointed a new commander to lead the fight against Boko Haram militants in the country’s restive northeast, where attacks on military targets have spiked in recent months.
Major General Benson Akinroluyo has replaced Major General Abba Dikko as head of Operation Lafiya Dole, according to an army statement released at the weekend.
Akinroluyo becomes the fifth commander in two years to head the fight against the Islamist insurgents, who have staged a series of attacks on military bases, killing dozens.
Dikko was only appointed in July. Since then there have been at least nine attacks on military bases, most of them in the northern part of Borno state near the shores of Lake Chad.
Most have been blamed on or claimed by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a Daesh-backed faction of Boko Haram whose recent activities have prompted speculation the group has been taken over by hard-liners.
The conflict has claimed more than 27,000 lives since 2009 and nearly two million people still cannot return to their homes in the Lake Chad region.
Despite government insistence that Boko Haram is near defeat, northeastern Nigeria is still hit by regular attacks.
On Saturday, hundreds of people were forced to flee their homes when Boko Haram raided Jimmi, a village near the key city of Maiduguri, torching homes and carting away livestock.
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Nigeria appoints new commander against Boko Haram
Nigeria appoints new commander against Boko Haram
- Despite government insistence that Boko Haram is near defeat, northeastern Nigeria is still hit by regular attacks
- The conflict has claimed more than 27,000 lives since 2009 and nearly two million people still cannot return to their homes in the Lake Chad region
Suspected Russia shadow tanker anchored off French coast
MARTIGUES: An oil tanker seized by France in the Mediterranean and suspected of being part of Russia’s sanction-busting “shadow fleet” lay anchored Sunday near a southern French port and guarded by the French navy.
The Grinch was intercepted Thursday morning in international waters between Spain and North Africa.
The French navy escorted it to the Gulf of Fos in southern France, the regional maritime prefecture said in a statement on Saturday.
The vessel will be kept at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag, it added. The captain and crew will also be questioned, according to a source close to the case.
The tanker was at anchor about 500 meters off the town of Martigues, an AFP photographer observed on Sunday morning. A French navy ship and two gendarmerie patrol boats were stationed nearby.
The prefecture said nautical and air exclusion zones had been established around the anchorage site.
Some 598 vessels suspected of belonging to the shadow fleet are under European Union sanctions.
Authorities said the 249 meter long Grinch appears under that name on a UK sanctions list of Russian shadow fleet vessels, but as Carl on lists compiled by the EU and the United States.
The operation is the second of its kind in recent months.
France in late September detained a Russian-linked ship called the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy.”
The Boracay’s Chinese captain is to stand trial in France in February.
The Grinch was intercepted Thursday morning in international waters between Spain and North Africa.
The French navy escorted it to the Gulf of Fos in southern France, the regional maritime prefecture said in a statement on Saturday.
The vessel will be kept at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag, it added. The captain and crew will also be questioned, according to a source close to the case.
The tanker was at anchor about 500 meters off the town of Martigues, an AFP photographer observed on Sunday morning. A French navy ship and two gendarmerie patrol boats were stationed nearby.
The prefecture said nautical and air exclusion zones had been established around the anchorage site.
Some 598 vessels suspected of belonging to the shadow fleet are under European Union sanctions.
Authorities said the 249 meter long Grinch appears under that name on a UK sanctions list of Russian shadow fleet vessels, but as Carl on lists compiled by the EU and the United States.
The operation is the second of its kind in recent months.
France in late September detained a Russian-linked ship called the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin, a move Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy.”
The Boracay’s Chinese captain is to stand trial in France in February.
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