Niger is besieged by armed clashes and trafficking of all kinds, from drugs to human beings, Agenzia Fides reported last week. 

Father Mauro Armanino, missionary of the Society for African Missions (SMA) described how conflicts and violence continue in the African country despite the appeal for a “global and immediate ceasefire in all corners of the world,” launched by UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierres, and supported by Pope Francis, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to Agenzia Fides, he stated that “there were substantial concerns regarding the condition of displaced people in refugee camps where armed clashes are taking place amid possible outbreaks of contagion.”

On the southern border, the army is fighting, together with Nigerian, Chadian, Cameroonian and Beninese troops, a war against the militiamen of Boko Haram. Furthermore, groups linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb are also active and connected to those present in neighbouring Mali, Fr Mauro explained. 

“The Pope’s appeal comes here as a distant echo. The whole population are already exhausted by misery and disease,” he said.

Priest kidnapped in Niger in 2018 seen in recent jihadist video

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