NIGER: NGOs in north calling for peace

A mayor in northern Niger has warned that civilians are increasingly being caught up in insecurity caused by fighting between the Nigerien army and armed militias, and has called for an end to hostilities.

“The goal is to limit the humanitarian crisis which is emerging, and to appeal to the warring parties for a halt in hostilities in the interest of everyone,” Issouf Ag Maha, the mayor of Tchirozerine and the head of a local association of non-government organisations (NGOs), told IRIN.

Despite Maha’s call, analysts warn that insecurity in the region may be escalating, and possibly spilling into neighbouring countries. In two separate incidents in the last week the army in Mali has been attacked by armed fighters, although both the Malian authorities and the main militia group operating in Niger – the Nigerien Movement for Justice (MNJ) – have denied the attacks were related to the situation in Niger.

Nigerien President Mamadou Tanja has imposed a three-month state of emergency on the Agadez region of northern Niger.

“The state of emergency gives powers to the police, and defence and security forces to assure the defence and the security of citizens on the territory. The measure is made necessary by the insecurity which is increasing in the north. It is necessary to control the movements of people and goods in this region,” Communications Minister Mohamed Ben Omar told IRIN.

Human rights groups have reacted cautiously. “The state of emergency is legal, even if it does curtail some of our freedoms,” said Badje Hima, spokesperson for the Nigerien Association for Human Rights (ANDDH). “Our hope is that it will not become a source of frustration.”

In the absence of peace, Maha has formed a collective of local NGOs working to provide local people with food, shelter and medical assistance. The region is believed to have been hard hit by flooding in August, but international aid agencies have not been able to reach many parts of the north because of landmines laid by the army and militias.

“The objective is to unite our energies, centralise aid and act rapidly and efficiently, in the interest of the civilian population,” Maha said of the NGO collective, which is called TCHINAGHEN.

Agadez was used as a stronghold by rebels from the Touareg ethnic group who waged a civil war against the Nigerien government from 1990 until 1995. ANDDH’s Hima blames the current rebellion on the government’s failure to keep to the terms of a 1995 agreement with Touaregs. However, the government accuses the MNJ of being a front for bandits and drug smugglers profiting from the instability.