Category Archives: Africa

Mali’s Elections Declared Peaceful and a “Great Success”

France’s Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault declared on Monday that elections in Mali, which were held on Sunday, were a “great success” for the country and for France, which deployed its troops to the African nation earlier this year in order to dislodge Islamist militant groups from the northern regions of the country.  A high turnout has been reported despite renewed threats from Islamist groups that polling stations would be attacked.

Thousands of United Nations troops kept the peace on Sunday as Malians voted for a new president in a bid to usher in a new period of peace and stability in the first elections to be held since a military coup helped plunge the country into chaos.  Early indications showed a record turnout in much of the country, where voters were choosing from twenty-seven candidates, all of whom have pledged to restore peace.  Preliminary results collated by journalists in polling stations suggest that former premier Ibrahim Boubacar Keita had taken a clear early lead.  The unofficial projection may indicate that Mr. Keita, 69, could win the elections after the first round.  Amongst the twenty-seven candidates, Mr. Keita is seen as the frontrunner.  His main rival is thought to be Mr. Soumaila Cisse, a former chairman of the Commission of the West African Monetary Union.  An official announcement on the first-round results however is not expected until Friday.  If no candidate winds an overall majority, then a second round run-off between the top two contenders will be scheduled for August 11.

Voting stations opened on Sunday at 8:00AM (0800 GMT) under heavy security just one day after the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), which is one of the main armed groups linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), had threatened to “strike” polling stations.  However there have been no reports of any serious incidents occurring.  Voting in the northern regions of the country also passed off peacefully.  In Gao, which is northern Mali’s largest city, dozens of people lined up to vote in a school near Independence Square.  Meanwhile in Timbuktu, voting went ahead after initial problems with organizations, in which many voters were unable to find their names on the voting lists.  A large portion of the worry ahead of the polls had been focused on Kidal which was occupied for five months by Tuareg separatists until a ceasefire accord allowed the Malian army to provide security earlier this month.  In the run-up to the elections, ethnic clashes between Tuareg rebels and black African left four people dead.  In turn, gunmen, though to be from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) kidnapped five polling officials 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Kidal.

Parliamentary Elections Go Ahead in Togo

On Friday, officials in Togo began to tally up the votes after long-delayed parliamentary elections were held on 25 July.  On Thursday, voters had queued up in order to cast their ballots in what officials have indicated were mainly peaceful elections.  The head of the African Union’s observer mission, Guinea’s Prime Minister Kabine Komara, has indicated that the election process seemed smooth throughout the early hours of voting.  The polls come after months of protests which were backed by the opposition in its bid to weaken the ruling family’s decades-long grip on power.  Final results, along with a breakdown of the number of seats won by each party in the proportional electoral system, are not expected for another several days.  However the vote is seen as an indication of what will likely happen when presidential elections are held next year, with some experts indicating that yesterday’s elections could expose weaknesses in the grip of the Ganssingbe family which has ruled the country for more than four decades.

While the African Union observer mission indicated that the election process seemed smooth, roughly two hours after polling stations were opened on Thursday, the most   prominent opposition leader in the West African nation voiced his concerns over some initial issues however he noted that he was confident that the vote would be clear.  Jean Pierre Fabre, who is running for a parliamentary seat, indicated that several polling stations had opened after the agreed time of 0700 GMT and that ballot materials had not been delivered on schedule at a number of ballot stations.  Crowds of several hundred had built up at some of the polling stations, with some complaining that their names could not be found on the voter lists.

The polls mark the latest step in the country’s transition to a democracy after Gnassingbe Eyadema’s rule from 1967 to his death in 2005, when the military installed his son Faure Gnassingbe as president.  Since 2005, Faure Gnassingbe has won elections in 2005 and 2010 however the opposition has denounced both winnings as fraudulent.  Thursday’s elections are the first legislative polls to occur since 2007, when President Gnassingbe’s party won 50 of the 81 seats.  This time, ninety-one seats will be decided.  Since 2007, the polls have been rescheduled twice as mediators struggled to bring the government and opposition to an agreement.  A total of 1,174 candidates are standing in Thursday’s elections, with 159 women among them.

Report on Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea

Hijacks

• 16 July 2013 – Armed pirates in two speedboats approached, boarded and hijacked a Marshall Islands-flagged product tanker, the Ocean Centurion, at 0430 LT, approximately 45 nautical miles south-east of Lome, Togo.  They took hostage all the crew members on board the tanker, stole their personal belongings and ordered the Master to sail south and then north towards the Togo/Benin border where they disembarked and escaped via a speedboat, 12 nautical miles from the coastline.  The Togo Navy was informed about the hijacking and a patrol boat was dispatched which escorted the tanker to the Lome anchorage for investigation.  Two crew members on board the tanker were injured during the incident and were transferred to a clinic for medical attention.
• 14 July 2013 – Officials confirmed on Monday that pirates have seized a Malta-flagged, Turkey-owned tanker, the MV Cotton, off the coast of Port-Gentil, Gabon.  The vessel has twenty-four crew members on board, all of which are Indian nationals.

Unsuccessful Attacks/Robberies

• 19 July 2013 – Vanuatu-flagged, US-operates OSV, the C Viking, reported being attacked by pirates at 01:00 LT near position 04:18 N – 007:46E, Usari field, offshore Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.  The crew members on board the OSV were mustered into the citadel; no injuries were reported.  Pirates looted the vessel, including the bridge, and destroyed some bridge equipment before departing.  This is reportedly the second time that the C Viking was attacked by pirates in the same area.
• 18 July 2013 – Duty Officer on board an anchored USA-flagged bulk carrier, the Liberty Grace, spotted an unlit skiff with 5 – 6 persons on board approaching the bulk carrier at 0150 UTC in position 06:05N – 001:17E, approximately 3 nautical miles off Lome breakwater, Togo.  The Duty Officer directed the ship’s search light towards the skiff, raised the alarm and activated the fire hoses.  The Togo Navy was called.  It was observed by the crew members on board the carrier that the robbers, who were wearing hoods pulled over their heads, were attempting to board the vessel using a pole and hook.  Three flares were fired in the direction of the skiff.  Seeing the crew members’ alertness, the robbers aborted the attempt and moved away.  During the incident, another two skiffs were observed close to the vessel.  A Togolese Navy boat later arrived on location.  The bulk carrier has been reported as safe.
• 14 July 2013 – Around twenty armed robbers in a speed boat approached and boarded a Gabon-flagged landing craft, the Renovation, while underway at 2246 UTC in position 00:29S – 008:51E, Port Gentil, Gabon.  The robbers stole the crew’s personal belongings and escaped.  Port maritime authority was notified of the incident.  No injuries to the crew members not any damage to the vessel was sustained during the incident.

Suspicious Activity 

• 10 July 2013 – Armed security personnel on board an anchored chemical tanker noticed a small boat with an unknown number of persons approaching at 0330 UTC while in position 06:17.8N – 003:21.2E, around 5.4 nautical miles south-west of Fairway Buoy, Lagos Anchorage, Nigeria.  As the boat continued its approach to within 50 metres of the vessel, the armed team fired one warning shot, resulting in the boat moving away.

Weather Analysis

• Gulf of Guinea – Southerly winds of 10 – 15 knots and seas of 4 – 6 feet.

• Extended Forecast – Southerly winds of 10 – 15 knots and seas of 4 – 6 feet.

Briton Kidnapped in Nigeria Released

The British High Commission has confirmed that a man, who was kidnapped by gunmen on Friday shortly after landing at the international aiport in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, has been released.

On Friday, Wale Adebayo, spokesman at the Deputy High Commission in Lagos, indicated that “there was a kidnapping of a Briton and we are working with the Nigerian authorities.”  He had declined to provide further details, including the day the attack occurred.  A private security source familiar with the incident indicated on Friday that the British man had been abducted on Tuesday while travelling into the city after landing at the airport.  According to the source, the attackers opened fire on the vehicle and “the driver was injured by a gunshot,” before the Briton was seized.  There is typically heavy traffic well into the night on most of the roads that lead from the airport in the Ikeja neighbourhood towards central Lagos.  However it currently remains unclear where the attack occurred or whether there were any witnesses nearby.

Today, Mr. Adebayo stated that “we can confirm the release of the British national…following his abduction on July 16.  The man was released on Sunday and no comments have been made on whether a ransom payment had been made.

The kidnaping for foreigners for ransom is common in Nigeria, particularly around the oil-rich southern coast.  There has also been a rise of such incidents occurring in Lagos.  In March of this year, a British man, working for the French energy company CGG, was kidnapped in the upscale Victoria Island area of the city.  He was released days later.  However officials refused to confirm reports that a ransom had been paid for his release.  In the oil-producing Niger Delta region, foreigners working in the oil sector are often released following an armed abduction.  Their employers and officials typically do not reveal details about ransoms.  Foreigners have also been kidnapped in the northern regions of the county, however those attacks are considered difference and have been blamed an Islamist extremists.  A Briton was amongst seven foreigners kidnapped in February of this year from a construction site in the northern Bauchi state in an attack that was claimed by the Islamist group Ansaru.  Ansaru later posted a video that appeared to show the corpses of some of the hostages.  In 2010, 28-year-old Briton Chris McManus was abducted along with an Italian national, Franco Lamolianra, in the northern Kebbi state.  They were both killed in the northwestern Sokoto State nearly a year later amidst a rescue operation which had been jointly planned by British and Nigerian authorities and authorized by British Prime Minister David Cameron.  That attack was later blamed on Ansaru, a group which is seen as being an offshoot of Boko Haram.

Tagged as: British High Commission, Briton, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

Spanish Aid Workers Freed After Nearly Two Years In Captivity

Two Spanish aid workers, who were kidnapped in Kenya nearly two years ago and held in neighbouring Somalia, have been freed according to their employer.

In a statement that was released by Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the organization confirmed that the two women are both “safe and healthy and keen to join their loved ones as soon as possible….Once again, MSF strongly condemns this attack on humanitarian workers who were in Dadaab offering life saving medical assistance to thousands of refugees.”  MSF indicated that it would give any further details before a press conference which has been scheduled in Madrid on Friday.
Montserrat Serra (40) and Blanca Thiebaut (30) were kidnapped on 13 October 2011 by gunmen who opened fire on their vehicle inside the Dadaab refugee camp complex.  Their Kenyan driver was shot and wounded.  At the time of the kidnapping, Kenyan police had stated that they had been seized by members of Somalia’s Islamist al-Shabaab group, however no group has actually claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.  Just days later, Kenya deployed its troops into neighbouring Somalia in order to fight al-Shabaab militants.

Dadaab, said to be the world’s largest refugee camp, houses some 500,000 people who have fled years of conflict and drought across the border in Somalia.  MSF, which at the time of the kidnapping had 49 foreign and 343 local staff in Dadaab, has since reduced its activity there to a minimum.  Both women were working as logisticians for MSF in Dadaab.  Ms. Serra, a qualified teacher from Girona, Spain, had been working in Kenya for two months before she was kidnapped.  She had previously worked on aid projects in Latin America and Yemen.  Ms. Thiebaut, from Madrid, had recently completed a degree at the London School of Economics and is an agricultural engineer by training.

The abduction of the Spaniards followed the kidnapping of a French woman and a British woman from the Kenyan coast near the Somali border.  Briton Judith Tebbut, in her late fifties, was seized from a remote Kenyan resort on 11 September 2011, by armed men who killed her husband David.  She was released in March 2012 after being held for more than six months.  A ransom was reportedly paid by her son.  Marie Dedieu, 66 and partially paralyzed, was seized from her beachfront home in the Lamu archipelago on 1 October 2011.  She was reported dead later that month, with French officials stating that the death was probably due to her having been deprived of essential medication by her kidnappers.  On 25 October 2011, two aid workers with the Danish Refugee Council were seized by armed men in Galkayo in north-central Somalia.  They were freed during a raid that was launched by US Commandos in January 2012.  Meanwhile in January of this year, al-Shabaab fighters killed a French hostage, an intelligence agent known under the pseudonym Denis Allex who was held since 2009, during a botched rescue attempt by French forces.  A colleague of Mr. Allex, who was kidnapped at the same time, managed to escape in August 2009.  A Briton and Kenyan, who were employed by an Indian subcontractor of a UN agency and who were kidnapped in southern Somalia in 2008, are feared dead.  While an American national kidnapped in January 2012 is still being held.

Meanwhile thirty-nine seamen of various nationalities from the Naham 3, a fishing vessel that was captured in March 2012, along with crew members from two other boats, are still being held in Somalia.  The fate of a further fifteen crew members, whose vessel, the MV Albedo, sunk early last week, remains unknown.