A mother of five, Anna Sobie’s wooden home is one of many that has been demolished in a shanty town in a lagoon in Lagos, with critics describing it as a “land-grab” by the authorities to gentrify the prime waterfront spot in Nigeria’s biggest city. Lagos State government officials deny the allegation, saying they are demolishing parts of Makoko – the country’s biggest informal waterfront settlement – because it is expanding near high voltage power lines, posing a major health and safety risk. Sobie and her children now sleep on the narrow broken platform where their house stood until a…
Author: Montage Africa
By Rédaction Africanews and AP Days after at least 15 people were killed in a deadly attack on a fuel tanker convoy in western Mali, Afp is reporting, based on local sources, that authorities are putting the blame on jihadists. The assault came amid a months-long fuel blockade that had only recently begun to ease. Local officials say dozens of tankers were set ablaze on Thursday along a key road linking the Senegalese border to the city of Kayes. The Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known as JNIM, said it ambushed Malian forces in the area…
By Rédaction Africanews The Malawian government has declared a polio outbreak, bringing fears of another resurgence of the disease since the 2022 crisis. The Ministry of Health and Sanitation confirmed that this is the second wave of polio resurgence. A statement from the ministry revealed that the discovery indicates active viral circulation and poses a serious threat to public health, particularly for children. It further called on all Malawians to take the situation seriously and adopt preventive measures immediately, with vaccination identified as the most critical line of defense. Poliovirus is typically spread in the faeces of an infected person…
By Rédaction Africanews The United Nations has announced that it would shortly send a peacekeeping mission to the city of Uvira in eastern DR Congo in order to closely monitor adherence to the ceasefire in the region. Is it a further glimpse of hope for eastern DRC? The United Nations is set to send a ceasefire monitoring mission to Uvira in eastern DR Congo in the next days, as announced on Monday by one of the main mediators in the DRC conflict, Qatar. At the meeting in Doha on Monday between representatives from both the M23 rebel group and the…
Ghana has paused citizenship applications for members of the African diaspora in order to make the system more accessible and user friendly. Since 2016, those who can prove their ancestors came from Africa have been able to get Ghanaian nationality. It was primarily aimed at the descendants of those who were victims of the transatlantic slave trade. More than 1,000 people – including African American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder – have obtained Ghanaian citizenship in recent years. However, some applicants have complained about the number of stages involved, as well as the high cost. Dr Erieka Bennet, ambassador for the Diaspora…
The authorities in Puntland, a semi‑autonomous region of Somalia, have executed a woman convicted of murdering a 14‑year‑old girl, in a rare case in the region in which the death penalty has been carried out against a woman. Hodan Mohamud Diiriye, 34, was killed by firing squad on Tuesday in the city of Galkayo after a court found her guilty of beating to death a teenager who had been working as a domestic helper. Saabirin Saylaan’s killing in November sparked protests in Galkayo, along with renewed calls for greater child protection. The case touched a deep nerve in a country…
Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been mentioned in the latest tranche of the Epstein files, after his name appeared in several emails from the late sex offender and others. They concerned a dinner Epstein seemingly arranged for Zuma in London in 2010, which the emails suggest was also attended by a “beautiful” Russian model. Being named among the Epstein files is not an indication of wrongdoing. The Jacob Zuma Foundation has described stories about the emails as “agenda-driven journalism built on innuendo” and “guilt by association”, adding that there was no “unlawful or improper conduct” by the former…
As the Rafah border crossing reopened Monday, many Palestinians waited impatiently at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza for relatives expected to arrive from Egypt. Iman Rashwan, who was sat outside the hospital with her children, told The Associated Press that she was waiting for her mother and sister who left Gaza almost a year ago. “We have been waiting for it for a long time, and every time it is not true, but this time it was true,” she said. “They called us yesterday and said they received news that they will leave. Thank god the news was…
By Rédaction Africanews with AP Three Libyan soldiers from the army of eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar were killed in clashes at the border with Niger, the force announced on Monday. Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls eastern Libya and parts of the south, said it “mourns the death of three soldiers” during a “cowardly attack carried out by mercenary groups and outlaw terrorist gangs in the early hours of Saturday, January 31.” “Three simultaneous attacks” were launched against three checkpoints along the border between the two countries, the LNA said in a statement. Several other fighters were “wounded and…
By Rédaction Africanews Nigeria’s armed forces said on Sunday that a key commander of the islamist organisation Boko Haram was killed in a night raid by the armed forces in Borno State. Abu Khalid was one of the key figures in the islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, which operates mainly in Nigeria’s north. The commander, reportedly the second-in-command for the group’s logistics and operations in Sambisa Forest in Borno State, was killed by a recent Nigerian military operation in the area, according to a statement by the armed forces on Sunday. Aside from Abu Khalid, ten Boko Haram militants also…