 |
Nigerian
president Buhari (C) and the counterpart Boni Yayi of Benin (C-R) wave from a
car during Buhari's visit to Benin's capital Cotonou on August 1, 2015. Buhari
left for Benin hours after at least six people were killed when a suicide
bomber detonated explosives in the northeastern city of Maiduguri. (Photo/AFP)
|
Benin President
Thomas Boni Yayi apologized to the Netherlands for a corruption scandal
involving Dutch aid money and said the authorities are prosecuting those
involved. The
Dutch government cut all development aid to Benin in May after uncovering what
it said was a serious fraud case in which grants worth at least US$4.4 million
disappeared. The money was meant for drinking-water projects.
Bloomberg
and AFP report continues:
“I
present the gratitude and public apology from all the people of Benin,” Yayi
Boni said in a speech marking Independence Day in Benin Friday in the capital,
Porto Novo. “All those involved in this dramatic scandal will be severely
punished.”
Meanwhile Yayi
announced he will send 800 troops to join a new multinational force tasked with
fighting Boko Haram militants after meeting with his Nigerian counterpart
Muhammadu Buhari Saturday.
Buhari,
who was sworn in on May 29, is facing a particularly deadly surge of Islamist
violence at home, with more than 800 people killed in north-eastern Nigeria in
the last two months.
The
violence has spread to neighbours Chad and Cameroon, both of whom have faced an
unprecedented wave of suicide bombings on their soil in recent weeks.
After
a visit to Cameroon earlier this week to discuss the fight against the Islamist
group, Buhari was in Cotonou to attend celebrations marking Benin’s 55 years of
independence. Yayi told reporters after a meeting with Buhari that Benin will
show “solidarity” with its “brothers in arms” in the region by sending “a
contingent of 800 men… to permanently combat these outlaws”.
Troops
for the new multinational force, which includes soldiers from Nigeria,
Cameroon, Niger and Chad as well as Benin, were set to be deployed at any time,
according to its commander Major General Iliya Abbah on Saturday.
The
force, made up of 8,700 troops and headquartered in Chad, is expected to help
with better coordination of the regional offensive launched in February, which
has made a series of successful inroads against Boko Haram but has failed to
neutralise the militants.
The
extremist group has carried on its campaign of attacks on security forces,
suicide bombings and bloody raids on villages across Nigeria’s north and
eastern borders despite the military campaign against them. Boko Haram has
kidnapped thousands of civilians, including women and children, with many
either forced or indoctrinated into joining the extremists, rights groups say.
No comments:
Post a Comment