Metro

Security forces rescue women, children, kidnapped by jihadists in Burkina Faso

Published

2 years ago

January 21, 2023

Burkina Faso security forces have successfully rescued 66 women and children who were kidnapped by armed jihadists in the northern parts of the country while they were searching for food last week.

The extremists have abducted the women and their children on January 12 and 13 outside two villages in the district of Arbinda, in the Sahel region’s Soum province according to media reports in the West African country.

But in a daring rescue operation on Saturday morning, security forces stormed the stronghold of the terrorists and freed 27 women and 39 babies, children and young girls in the adjacent Centre-Nord region, national broadcaster, Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina (RTP) said.

“They have found freedom after eight long days in the hands of their kidnappers,” an RTP presenter said in a broadcast.

The abduction of the women and the children had prompted worldwide outcry with the United Nations and Amnesty International calling on the country’s military government to immediately rescue the victims.

For several years, Burkina Faso has been bedeviled with growing insurgency with a rampant armed uprising from extremists linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

Armed rebels have occupied several territories in the country’s arid and mainly rural north, executing hundreds of villagers and displacing thousands more in the process.

The citizens who are often faced with acute food shortages, resort to picking wild fruit, leaves and seeds to feed their families and these have led to many of them falling prey to the jihadists who kudnapp them for ransom and on most occasions, kill the victims.

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Metro

Zambia’s ruling party UPND warns against personal attacks on President Hichilema

Published

2 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Zambia’s ruling party, the UPND, has warned opposition politicians and critics against personal attacks on President Hakainde Hichilema as his meekness should not be mistaken for weakness.

Secretary-General of the UPND, Batuke Imenda, who gave the warning in a statement in Lusaka on Monday, urged political opponents to always engage in mature and issue-based discourse.

Zambia Monitor reports that Imenda’s warning, was directed at the leader of Zambia Must Prosper (ZMP) party, Kelvin Bwalya Fube, whose recent remarks Imenda described as “provocative” and a “feeble attempt to mislead citizens.”

“Provocative words uttered by Kelvin Bwalya against our party and President Hichilema are a clear demonstration of naivety,” Imenda said in the statement.

He further advised Bwalya to abandon personal attacks and focus on substantial political issues.

The UPND Secretary suggested that Bwalya’s attacks stemmed from a desire for relevance amid declining political fortunes, hinting at a possible alignment with former President Edgar Lungu.

“It appears KBF is hoping that Edgar Lungu might support his embattled political career by unjustly attacking President Hichilema,” he said.

Imenda defended the President’s record, highlighting that under Hichilema’s leadership, Zambia’s democratic space had expanded compared to the previous PF administration, which he accused of stifling freedoms.

He noted that while criticism was welcome, it should not devolve into baseless attacks, warning that opposition figures should not misinterpret Hichilema’s restraint as weakness.

Imenda also criticized Bwalya for overlooking the gains in transparency and justice since the change in government, claiming that past regimes were marked by resource mismanagement and corruption.

Metro

Following backlash, Nigerian govt withdraws treason charges against minors

Published

9 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The Nigerian government has officially withdrawn the treason charges it entered against some minors who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest that spread across the country from August 1 to the 10th.

The nation was thrown into shock on Friday when the Nigeria Police presented 76 protesters at the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges bordering on treason. Among the suspects were four minors who slumped before they could be arraigned before the court.

This caused serious uproar in the country with Nigerians condemning the government and calling for the unconditional release of the kids and the dismissal of the charges against them.

The decision to withdraw the charges against the underage accused came following a directive by President Bola Tinubu who ordered the immediate withdrawal of the charges and an in-depth investigation into what led to the arrest and detention of the minors.

Tinubu had also ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, (SAN) to officially take over the case file as well as review the cases following public outcry that came with the arraignment of the minors.

The charges were finally withdrawn on Tuesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja through an application for discontinuance filled by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of the AGF.

According to Abubakar, the discontinuance application was based on provisions of sections 174(1), (b) and (c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.

The DPPF also applied for further proceedings to be conducted without the presence of the minors in the courtroom, in line with provisions of Section 266(b) of the ACJA, 2015, and Section 1 of the Childs’ Rights Act.

In response, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Fanala (SAN), who stood in for the accused as well as other defence lawyers in the matter, did not oppose the applications which promoted the judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, to strike out the charges, while the four affected minors were also delisted from the charge sheet.