According to a report by a UK-based human rights group, Burundi’s security forces systematically killed dozens of people on December 11 as an act of repression in the country’s capital, The government, however, blamed much of the violence on rebels. Amnesty International said it documented extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, and looting by the police in Bujumbura on what it called the single bloodiest day of the country’s escalating crisis. At least 87 people were killed, with many reportedly shot at short range. “In the single most deadly day since the current political unrest began, the streets of Bujumbura were left…
Author: Kunle Atiba
Hon James Abiodun Faleke, who was the running mate to the late Abubakar Audu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in November 21 governorship poll in Kogi State, has filed a petition before the State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal. Faleke, accompanied by Mohammed Audu, son of the late Abubakar Audu, and lawyers, submitted the petition to the clerk of the tribunal at about 12.20 p.m. in Lokoja, yesterday. Hundreds of party members and supporters converged on the state High Court premises, venue of the tribunal, to witness the event. However, the secretary of the tribunal, Mr Akanji Akinlabi, who received…
The Hisbah Board initiated by Kano State Government has repatriated 60,822 beggars to their respective states of origin and other countries between 2014 and 2015. The director-general of the board, Abba Sufi, made the disclosure in Kano yesterday during an interview with newsmen. He said the beggars were arrested at different locations within Kano metropolis. He said, “Some of the beggars were arrested and handed over to the police, while others were taken to court for proper prosecution.” Sufi added that those arrested were made up of 20,348 adult male and female beggars and 10,658 children beggars. He explained that out of…
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has inaugurated a 5-man panel to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the clash between the Nigerian Army and members of the Shiite Islamic sect in Zaria. The Executive Secretary of the commission, Professor Bem Angwe, who inaugurated the panel in Abuja yesterday, said that the investigation became necessary following a complaint tendered before the commission by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai. According to Angwe, the panel is expected to make recommendations to the commission on how to forestall a recurrence. He stated that the panel will investigate to determine…
South Sudan recently marked the second anniversary since a brutal conflict began that has killed thousands of people and forced two million others from their homes. Under immense international pressure, President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar signed a peace deal in August. Nevertheless, fighting continues in many parts of the country with widespread reports of atrocities against civilians. The United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNMISS) has been in South Sudan since the interim period that ushered in South Sudan’s independence in 2011. Since the eruption of the most recent conflict, 180,000 internally displaced people have sought protection inside its…
The government of Burkina Faso has issued an international arrest warrant for ousted leader Blaise Compaore in connection with the murder of former President Thomas Sankara, news reports said Monday. Sankara, a revolutionary figure who is still a hero to many in West Africa, was killed on October 15, 1987 during the coup that brought his friend and former comrade-in-arms Compaore to power. “I confirm that an international arrest warrant was issued against [ex-]President Blaise Compaore by the investigating judge,” Prosper Farama, a lawyer for Sankara’s family, told Reuters news agency. At least five other people, mostly former soldiers, have…
Not less than two people have been killed in an ambush on a passenger bus in Kenya’s northeast near the border with Somalia, an official and residents said. The bus was believed to be carrying more than 50 passengers when it was attacked between Kutulo and Daba village in Mandera county early on Sunday, Mohamud Saleh, the chief administrator of Kenya’s northeastern region, said. “The attackers tried to wave the bus down but then sprayed it with bullets when the driver refused to stop,” Saleh told Al Jazeera. “Two people were killed and at least three people were injured in the…
Gracious Omondi invigilates the classroom. With incessant, searching eyes, he zigzags the only quarter filled, unpainted room, looking out for the wandering gaze of a student. It’s the final week of the third term exams at Victoria View Academy in Maluba, a small fishing village in Uganda. He has been teaching for more than 10 weeks now in the small classroom near the shores of Lake Victoria. Today, it is time for the students to reap what they’ve sown these past weeks. Wearing a dark green shirt and gripping a thick wooden stick, Omondi patrols the classroom. It’s a maths…
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has come under renewed criticism for failing poor and developing countries in their 14-year-long battle to achieve a breakthrough in key agricultural trade talks. Several countries, including Kenya, India and Pakistan, have been calling the WTO to force developed countries to phase out subsidies paid to farmers whose overproduction threatens the livelihoods of farmers in the developing world. Many analysts argue that negotiations at the WTO have remained largely dominated by traditional economic powers, such as the US and EU, with discussions failing to deliver promised change. Some point to the failure of western governments…
The President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has urged Nigerians to be resolute in the face of the current challenges confronting the nation. He gave the advice at the Interdenominational Thanksgiving Service held in honour of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli Emiko in Warri yesterday. The service was held at the Foursquare Gospel Church inside the Palace of the Olu in Ekorode Itsekiri in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta. Orisejafor urged the people not to be deterred by the present situation, noting that God will intervene at the appropriate time. He said that clerics were…