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Negotiation fails, Niger junta to recall ambassador from Nigeria

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The General Abdourahmane Tchiani-led military junta in the Republic of Niger is planning on recalling the Nigerien Ambassador to Nigeria after failing to come to terms with the delegation of the Economic Community of West African States, on the return of democracy in Niger.

The junta is also planning to recall Nigerien Ambassadors to Togo, the United States, and France, as it pushes to evict French and US troops in the country,while declaring an end to all Memorandum of Understanding between France and the Republic of Niger.

Defence sources privy to the ongoing meeting in Niamey, the Niger capital confirmed the development to our correspondent Friday morning.

“The ongoing negotiation has failed. The junta has declared that it’ll recall Niger’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Togo, France, and the US,” an impeccable defence source said in a terse message sent to our correspondent Friday morning.

“The junta has just announced that it’ll evict French and US troops in Niger Republic, noting that all MoU agreements between France and Niger has ended,” another source privy to the development noted.

The military junta in Niger led by Tchiani, the former Head of Presidential Guard to the hoisted President, Mohamed Bazoum, detained Bazoum in a palace coup on July 26, 2023, while Tchiani later declared himself Head of State.

In an attempt to resolve the political crisis in the Niger Republic, the ECOWAS on Thursday dispatched two missions abroad, with the mandate to achieving a resolution to ending the crisis.

While the first delegation led by former Nigerian Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), led the engagement with the coupists and other parties in the Nigerien impasse in the country’s capital, Niamey; another delegation, led by Ambassador Babagana Kingibe led the engagement with the leaders of Libya and Algeria concerning the Niger crisis.

A statement on Thursday by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, Chairman of the ECOWAS’ Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Bola Tinubu, who dispatched both teams on the mission, charged the General Abubakar’s team with a mandate to expeditiously resolve the crisis in the troubled country.

The mission to Niger Republic which departed for Niamey immediately after President Tinubu’s briefing, was in line with the resolution reached at the end of the extraordinary summit of the ECOWAS held last weekend at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The former Nigerian Head of State is joined in the delegation by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray.

Briefing the two delegations, President Tinubu charged them to engage all stakeholders robustly with a view to doing whatever it takes to ensure a conclusive and amicable resolution of the situation in Niger for the purposes of African peace and development rather than a move to adopt the geopolitical positions of other nations.

“We don’t want to hold brief for anybody. Our concern is democracy and the peace of the region,” the President said.

Speaking after the meeting, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.) said the delegation would meet the coup leaders in Niger to present the demands of the ECOWAS leadership.

Both leaders of the two missions expressed optimism about the outcome of the assignments.

Speaking to journalists before departing the Villa for Niamey, former Head of State, General Abubakar, revealed the task his team was charged with, which he said was to express the displeasure of the leaders of the subregion with the developments in Niger to those who hijacked power in the country.

“We have just been given our marching orders to go to Niger and convey the feelings of our heads of state in the region that they are not happy with what happened. And they gave them an ultimatum that the coupists should desist from what they are doing and give back power to an elected President and again, to make sure that this message is sent loud and clear to them.

“That’s what we are here for. So far, we are going there to convey this message to them and hear their response and report back what they have said”, Abubakar said.

Kingibe said talking with Libya and Algeria, two countries bordering Niger to the North, will stimulate the solidarity required for peaceful talks.

“Of course, this kind of situation requires solidarity. It requires coordination with all parties that are relevant to the situation.

“In that regard, Libya and Algeria are also very important neighbours of Niger. So, my mission is to go there with a message from President Tinubu. To brief them on the ECOWAS position and solicit solidarity and cooperation,” he said.

He expressed optimism that the talks will avert a possible military intervention saying, “We hope to find a diplomatic solution. Nobody wants to go to war, especially with neighbourly, brotherly people across the border with whom we share a common language, culture and religion.”

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Crime

Indonesia to Repatriate British Grandmother on Death Row, Says Official

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Indonesia will sign an agreement on Tuesday to repatriate two British nationals convicted of drug-related crimes, including Lindsay Sandiford, a grandmother sentenced to death, according to a senior Indonesian government source.

“The practical arrangement will be signed today. The transfer will be done immediately after the technical side is agreed,” the official told AFP, naming Sandiford and Shahab Shahabadi, 35, as the individuals to be returned to the UK.

Sandiford was sentenced to death in 2013 after she was caught smuggling cocaine worth over $2.1 million into Bali from Thailand. The drugs were discovered concealed in a false bottom of her suitcase. Shahabadi, arrested in 2014, is currently serving a life sentence for separate drug offences.

Although the Indonesian source listed Sandiford’s age as 68, public records indicate she is 69.

A joint press conference with Indonesian officials and the British ambassador to Indonesia was scheduled for later Tuesday, according to the Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs.

Tabloid Attention and Personal Testimony

Sandiford’s case received widespread attention in the UK after she admitted to the offences but claimed she was coerced by a drug syndicate that threatened to kill her son. In a 2015 article published in The Mail on Sunday, Sandiford wrote from prison about her fear of imminent execution:

“My execution is imminent, and I know I might die at any time now. I could be taken tomorrow from my cell. I have started to write goodbye letters to members of my family.”

Originally from Redcar, in northeast England, she also wrote that she planned to sing the Perry Como hit “Magic Moments” before facing the firing squad.

During her time in prison, Sandiford reportedly became close friends with Andrew Chan, one of the “Bali Nine” Australian drug smugglers who was executed in 2015.

Policy Shift on Repatriation

The planned transfer follows recent moves by the Prabowo Subianto administration to repatriate foreign nationals serving harsh sentences for drug crimes. In December 2024, Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina who spent nearly 15 years on death row, was allowed to return home. In February 2025, Serge Atlaoui, a French national, was repatriated after 18 years on death row.

Indonesia, known for having some of the world’s strictest drug laws, last carried out executions in 2016, when three Nigerian citizens and an Indonesian were executed by firing squad. As of early November 2025, more than 90 foreign nationals remain on death row in the country, all for drug-related offences.

The British Embassy in Jakarta declined to comment, directing inquiries to the Indonesian government.

Indonesian authorities have recently signalled the potential resumption of executions, after nearly a decade-long de facto moratorium.

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International

Protest in US over Trump’s policies

Organisers said seven million people marched in protests spanning New York to Los Angeles, with demonstrations popping up in small cities across the US heartland and even near Trump’s home in Florida.

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(AFP): Huge crowds took to the streets in all 50 US states at “No Kings” protests over the weekend, venting anger over President Donald Trump’s hardline policies, while Republicans ridiculed them as “Hate America” rallies.

Organisers said seven million people marched in protests spanning New York to Los Angeles, with demonstrations popping up in small cities across the US heartland and even near Trump’s home in Florida.

“This is what democracy looks like!” chanted thousands in Washington near the US Capitol, where the federal government was shut down for a third week because of a legislative deadlock.

Colourful signs called on people to “protect democracy,” while others demanded the country abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency at the centre of Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown.

Demonstrators slammed what they called the Republican billionaire’s strong-arm tactics, including attacks on the media, political opponents and undocumented immigrants.

“I never thought I would live to see the death of my country as a democracy,” 69-year-old retiree Colleen Hoffman told AFP as she marched down Broadway in New York.

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International

Thieves steal French crown jewels

They included the emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon gave his wife Empress Marie Louise, and the diadem of Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

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•A tiara worn by the Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III was stolen

Thieves wielding power tools raided the Louvre in broad daylight Sunday, taking just seven minutes to grab some of France’s priceless crown jewels, but dropping a gem-encrusted crown as they fled, officials and sources said.

Authorities recovered the 19th-century crown — damaged — near the museum.

The spectacular heist, one of several to target French museums in recent months, forced the closure of the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and home to the Mona Lisa.

Police are looking for a team of four thieves, Paris’s chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau, told the BFMTV channel.

Soldiers patrolled the famed glass pyramid entrance, while evacuated visitors, tourists and passersby were kept at a distance behind police tape.

It was “like a Hollywood movie”, one American tourist, Talia Ocampo, told AFP.

It was “crazy” and “something we won’t forget — we could not go to the Louvre because there was a robbery”, she said.

A culture ministry statement said eight items of jewellery had been stolen from the Gallerie Apollon which houses the French crown jewels.

“Two high-security display cases were targeted, and eight objects of invaluable cultural heritage were stolen,” said the ministry statement.

They included the emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon gave his wife Empress Marie Louise, and the diadem of Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

Beccuau said the thieves threatened museum guards with the angle grinders they used to break into the jewellery cases. She said a team of 60 investigators were assigned to the crime.

– ‘Unsellable’ –

The robbers used a powered, extendable ladder of the sort used to hoist furniture into buildings to get into a gilded gallery housing the crown jewels, sources and officials said.

The 19th-century crown of Empress Eugenie, was found broken near the museum afterwards, a source following the robbery said, asking to remain anonymous because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The crown, featuring golden eagles, is covered in 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, according to the museum’s website.

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