According to the Nigerien public radio station Voix du Sahel on Tuesday, more than 13,000 women and children have fled the islands of the Niger River following “exactions” by armed men in these areas of the Tillabéri region (west), where skirmishes between tribes have left several dead.
According to the radio, this settlement is 200 kilometres from Niamey and is “desolate (…) More than 13,000 women and children from 46 islands (in the Niger River) have fled the abuses of armed bandits” to seek safety there.
According to the radio, “armed bandits” (a term used in Niger to refer to alleged jihadists) have been abusing the communes of Dessa and Kandadji, where the nation’s first hydroelectric dam is situated, for a number of days.
Four citizens were killed and another injured in an incident in Dessa during the night of Saturday to Sunday, she claimed.
A dozen parliamentarians from the Tillabéri region went to the three localities on Monday “to provide support and comfort” to the “upset population” and “calm people’s minds”, according to the Voice of the Sahel. One of the deputies, Hassoumi Tahirou Mayaki , described “very bruised populations” by this violence.
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According to local sources, “violent clashes” had opposed in late April and early May sedentary Djerma and nomadic Fulani herders in villages and hamlets bordering the Niger River, causing ” several deaths, injuries” and “many displaced” towards Ayorou.
A local journalist explained that these clashes followed “several assassinations” of villagers by suspected jihadists who also steal cattle and “demand taxes”.
Elected officials from Ayorou and Dessa confirmed the clashes, without establishing a precise toll of the victims. “Before the clashes, armed men on motorbikes issued an ultimatum to sedentary people to leave their homes,” said the elected official of Ayorou.
The Nigerien government has not confirmed this community violence in these areas, where cohabitation is generally peaceful. The Tillabéri region, with an area of 100,000 km2, is located in the so-called “three borders” zone between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Several ethnic groups – Djerma, Fulani, Tuareg and Hausa – live in this region. Niger has launched several large-scale operations there against the jihadists, with the recent support, within the framework of a “combat partnership” , of French soldiers.
