Would you like to receive notifications on latest updates of the following headlines?

France Deploys Troops, Bans TikTok To Halt Unrest in New Caledonia

POSTED ON May 16, 2024 •   Politics      BY Benedicta Bassey
New Caledonia’s Protest/ Photo credit: The standard


France deployed troops to New Caledonia’s ports and international airport, banned TikTok and imposed a state of emergency on Thursday following night of clashes that have left four dead and hundreds wounded.

Pro-independence, largely Indigenous protests against a French plan to impose new voting rules on its Pacific archipelago have spiralled into the deadliest violence since the 1980s, with a police officer among several killed by gunfire.

On major thoroughfares, the torched detritus amassed over four days of unrest was scattered amid fist-size hunks of rock and cement that appeared to have been flung during riots.

As part of a sweeping French response, security forces placed five suspected ringleaders under house arrest, according to a statement by the high commission, which represents the French state in New Caledonia.

House searches will be carried out “in the coming hours”, it said.
More than 200 “rioters” have been arrested since the clashes broke out, the high commission said.

Hundreds of people, including 64 police, have been wounded, officials said.

Presently according to reports from the French authorities, the third night of “clashes”, though AFP correspondents in the streets of the capital Noumea said the situation and environment appeared calmer than previous nights.

White residents in some neighbourhoods sat on garden chairs, manned barricades and strung up improvised white flags, a symbol of their intention to keep peaceful watch over the streets looted shelves and discarded packaging.

“We just grabbed what there was in the shops to eat. Soon there will be no more shops,” said one woman in a suburb of the capital, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We need milk for the children. I don’t see it as looting,” she told AFP.

In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron offered to hold talks Thursday with New Caledonian lawmakers and called for a resumption of political dialogue.

– TikTok ban –

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told a crisis ministerial meeting that troops had been deployed to secure ports and the international airport, which has been closed to commercial flights.

TikTok had been banned because it was being used by rioters, he said. By Thursday morning, AFP could identify fewer than 20 accounts related to the violence on the platform.

READ ALSO
Tinubu Orders Urgent Repairs on Flood-Damaged Bridge in Mokwa
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 4, 2025 0

NIGER, Nigeria (NAN)- President Bola Tinubu has instructed the Federal Ministry of Works to repair t...

READ ALSO
Road Maintenance Crisis: FERMA Requires N880 Billion Yearly Amid Budget Shortfalls
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 3, 2025 0

ABUJA, Nigeria - The Federal Government needs approximately N880 billion each year for the upkeep of...

READ ALSO
PDP Leaders Slam Minister for Backing Tinubu's 2027 Campaign
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 3, 2025 0

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Coalition of United Pol...

READ ALSO
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Set to Appear in Court as F G Files Defamation Charges
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 2, 2025 0

The suspended senator for Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, is scheduled to...

READ ALSO
Sanusi, El-Rufai, and Yusuf Discuss Nigeria's Poverty and Governance
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 1, 2025 0

ABUJA, Nigeria - Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Emir of Kano and ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Niger...

READ ALSO
Cabinet Reshuffle Looms: President Tinubu Set to Announce Changes Post-Eid
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 1, 2025 0

If everything goes smoothly, President Bola Tinubu is expected to announce his cabinet members who w...

READ ALSO
Tinubu Commits to Collaborative Efforts with AfDB's New Leadership, Congratulate Sidi Tah
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 30, 2025 0

President Bola Tinubu has praised the election of Sidi Tah as the ninth president of the African Dev...

READ ALSO
Oshiomhole, Sowore Clashes Over Nigeria's democracy
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara May 29, 2025 0

The 2023 Presidential Candidate for the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, and the Senator for...

OUR CHANNELS:

70-Year-Old Faces Manslaughter Charges After Fatal Accident
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 4, 2025 0

LAGOS, Nigeria - A 70-year-old man, Isiaka Afolayan, has been detained for careless driving and the...


Police Arrest 49 years old Suspect for Abduction of Two-Month-Old Baby
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 4, 2025 0

DELTA, Nigeria - The police in Delta reported the arrest of a suspect named Joy Temitope for the abd...


43 Lives Lost in Benue Armed Attacks
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 4, 2025 0

BENUE, Nigeria - At least 43 individuals lost their lives when armed assailants targeted communities...


Health Equity: Nigeria's Push for Universal Health Coverage
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 4, 2025 0

In alignment with the global effort towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC), Nigeria is striving to...


Road Maintenance Crisis: FERMA Requires N880 Billion Yearly Amid Budget Shortfalls
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 4, 2025 0

ABUJA, Nigeria - The Federal Government needs approximately N880 billion each year for the upkeep of...


Okocha Urges Victor Osimhen to Consider Staying at Galatasaray
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 4, 2025 0

Nigerian football icon Jay-Jay Okocha has shared advice with Victor Osimhen amid growing speculation...


60,000 Nigerians Abroad Register on Diaspora Data Mapping Portal
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 4, 2025 0

Approximately 60,000 Nigerians residing overseas have registered on the Diaspora Data Mapping Portal...


PDP Leaders Slam Minister for Backing Tinubu's 2027 Campaign
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 3, 2025 0

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Coalition of United Pol...


Gunmen Shot Dead Real Estate Investor, Abduct Wife
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 4, 2025 0

OWERRI, Nigeria - A real estate investor lost his life after being attacked and fatally shot by a gr...


JUST IN: Former Super Eagles Star Emmanuel Udoh Passes Away
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara June 4, 2025 0

The team manager of Akwa United and a former defender for the Super Eagles, Emmanuel Udoh, has been...


More Articles

Load more...

Menu