BREAKING: Boko Haram ambushes Niger soldiers guarding agricultural site
Boko Haram ambushes Niger soldiers guarding agricultural site By Promise C. Agbaso Boko Haram fighters ambushed and wounded five Nigerien soldiers who were protecting a key agricultural site near the Nigeria border, local authorities said Wednesday. ikembaNews reported that the site is one of two in Niger’s southeastern Diffa region created to boost rice and wheat production and generate more than 12,000 jobs, according to the agriculture ministry. Diffa governor General Mahamadou Ibrahim Bagadoma said on national television that the soldiers were ambushed “by Boko Haram elements” as they headed to a newly created post to secure the agricultural development programme in Lada. “We are determined to continue this (cultivation) work in the interest of the people,” the general said. At the end of last month, Niger’s military regime, which came to power in a July 26 coup, launched work to develop the two agricultural sites. The project is estimated to cost more than two bil...