Lete Island

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Lété (also Lété Goungou ) is an inhabited island in the River Niger. It is located in the territory of Niger on the border with Benin.

Geography

The 40-km ² large river island belongs to the municipality of the country Tanda community in the department of Gaya. It is 16 km long and 4 km wide. Lété has a fertile soil and good pasture. According to the 2001 census, there were 1283 inhabitants in 164 households.

Territorial dispute

The island Lété was the subject of a border dispute between Benin and Niger. As a boundary between the two French colonies the rivers Niger and Mekrou were fixed, but without taking into account that the river course could change. Benin (then Dahomey Republic ) and Niger in 1960 independent states. The dahomeische President Hubert Maga Coutoucou, a good friend of the Nigerien President Hamani Diori, was forced to resign and hand over power to the military in October 1963. In December 1963, both countries sent their forces to the Niger River. The border was closed and Niger could not take advantage of the sea port of Cotonou for the export of peanuts. Hamani Diori was expelled from Dahomey native workers. 1965 mediated the Ivorian President Félix Houphouët-Boigny a temporary compromise under Lété was placed under the joint management of Dahomey and Niger. In the 1990s, the conflict flared up again when Benin claimed 24 more river islands and in return only want to give up the island Lété. Benin and Niger carried the dispute to the International Court in The Hague, which ruled in July 2005 that Lété and 15 other islands in Niger and nine islands are covered in Benin. Both countries accepted the decision.