Nigerien politician and former rebel leader
Mohamed Akotey is a Nigerien politician of Ifoghas Tuareg heritage and former rebel leader.
Biography
Akotey was born around 1967 in the village of Tidene, just north of Agadez.[1] He studied geography in Niamey, and later left to study archaeology at Sorbonne University.[2]
On December 15, 1995, his uncle Mano Dayak, the head of Temoust Liberation Front, died in a plane accident during the Tuareg rebellion.[1] Akotey was urged by his family to lead the Coordination of Armed Resistance, a coalition of anti-government Tuareg groups led by Dayak that included the TLF.[1] Unlike Dayak, however, Akotey joined government negotiations and made amends with Rhissa Ag Boula, another Tuareg leader who had a rivalry with Dayak.[1]
Akotey was appointed Nigerien Minister of the Environment and Fight Against Desertification in 2007 by Mamadou Tandja.[3]
In 2008, Akotey resigned from his post to become chairman of the board of directors of Imouraren SA, which controlled the Imouraren mine.[1] In 2010, Salou Djibo entrusted Akotey with securing the release of the Arlit hostages kidnapped on September 16, 2010.[1] This role continued under the Issoufou administration. Akotey helped release the hostages on October 27, 2013, after mediating with jihadist leader Ibrahim Ag Inawalen.[4] After the release of the Arlit hostages, Akotey negotiated the release of Serge Lazarevic, who was kidnapped in Mali in 2012.[2]
References
