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South African court sentences serial rapist, kidnapper to seven life imprisonment

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A 40-year-old serial rapist and kidnapper, Elvis Aaron Zulu, has been sentenced to seven life imprisonment sentences and a further 83 years term by a court in the Mpumalanga district after he was found guilty of abducting several women and raping them at gunpoint.

According to court documents, the Daantjie man had “spent three years kidnapping and raping women at gunpoint at graveyards, abandoned buildings and a church yard.”

In sentencing the convict, Judge Takalane Ratshivhumo told the court that the accused failed to show remorse to the victims for his actions.

Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), in Mpumalanga, Monica Nyuswa, said between January 2011 and November 2014, Zulu raped at least nine women, one of them who was a minor.

“The accused would target his victims at gunpoint, take them to a nearby house and rape them. He would sometimes take his victims to a nearby graveyard, rape them and rob them of their belongings like cellphones and cash. These crimes were carried out in Pienaar, in the KwaBokweni district,” said Nyuswa.

The NPA said three other victims were gang raped by the accused and his accomplices.

“In one of the incidents on January 30, 2011, a 38-year-old woman was on her way to the shop when Zulu approached and and started speaking to her.”

“While they were talking, he grabbed her at a nearby abandoned house at gunpoint and raped her more than once. Zulu released the victim the following day and gave her taxi fare to travel back home,” Nyuswa said.

“In another incident, 10 months later, a woman was at the Msogwaba cemetery when the accused and his co-perpetrator emerged. Brandishing a knife and a firearm, the men laid the woman on a grave and gang-raped her on a tombstone.

“The accused’s rape spree came to light in November 2014, after he and his accomplices accosted another victim at Pienaar. They took a victim’s cellphone and dragged her to Hope of the Nations Ministry Church and raped her taking turns.”

“The accused was arrested after one of the victims was able to identify him to the police. Buccal swabs were taken and positively linked him with other rape cases. He pleaded not guilty in court and claimed consent from the victim who identified him,“ Nyuswa added.

She said evidence in the form of the women’s testimonies, was led by State advocate Tshepo Mahasha along with DNA evidence linking Zulu to the rapes and victim impact statements.

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Zambia: APP leader lampoons PF over pledge to reverse forfeited properties

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Leader of one of Zambia’s opposition parties, Advocates for People’s Prosperity (APP), Mwenye Musenge, has criticised the Patriotic Front (PF) over its promise to reverse forfeited properties if the party won the 2026 presidential election.

Musenge, who was reacting to a statement credited to the PF Member of Parliament (MP) for Lukashya Province, George Chisanga, described the PF’s promise as a betrayal, saying the declaration had exposed the party’s disregard for accountability and justice.

The APP leader, who spoke to Zambia Monitor in a telephone interview from Kitwe, expressed shock that Chisanga, a former Law Association of Zambia president, would endorse what he termed a “regressive agenda,” accusing the PF of prioritising the protection of corrupt individuals over the welfare of citizens.

“This declaration reveals the PF’s true intentions, returning to power not to serve Zambians, but to shield their corrupt network and restore stolen assets,” Musenge said.

He alleged that former President Edgar Lungu’s consistent calls to protect his family, who he claimed cannot explain their amassed wealth, further demonstrate the party’s self-serving mission.

Musenge further described the PF as “a political carcass animated by greed and nostalgia for its days of unchecked looting,” and accused its leaders of leaving Zambia impoverished while enriching themselves.

“Allowing them near power again would be akin to handing a butcher’s knife to a thief already drenched in the blood of the nation’s resources.

“The PF represents everything wrong with Zambian politics—a relic of the past clinging to survival through recycled lies and corrupt agendas,” he added.

Musenge went on to call for the party to be permanently eradicated, saying it had no vision, morality, or credibility to serve Zambians.

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Nigerian Senate confirms influx of terrorists from Mali, Burkina Faso into the country 

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The Nigerian Senate has raised the alarm over the influx of terrorists from Mali and Burkina Faso who operate in the name of Lakurawa, into Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna and Niger States in the northern parts of the country.

The Upper Chamber, which raised the alarm during plenary on Wednesday, called on the military to set up early warning mechanisms to forestall further incursions by terrorist groups as well as maintain presence and vigilance in the affected communities to halt the activities of the terror group from spreading further across the region.

The resolutions of the Senate were sequel to a motion titled, “Urgent need for the federal government to take stringent measures to stop the infiltration of a group of violent terrorists, known as Lakurawa, from entrenching themselves in some northwest states of Sokoto and Kebbi,” and was sponsored by the senator representing Kebbi North, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, and co- sponsored by Senators Adamu Aliero, from Kebbi Central, and Garba Musa Maidoki, representing Kebbi South.

While presenting the motion, Senator Abdullahi said:

“The Senate is aware that a group of terrorists from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, known as Lakurawa, has infiltrated the country through the Nigeria-Niger border, at Illela, Tangaza and Silame Local Government Areas of Sokoto and are from there, attacking communities in Augie and Arewa LGAs in Kebbi State.

“Recall that this violent gang of terrorists had raided and dispossessed these communities, prior to the large-scale invasion of Mera, a village in Augie Local Government, on November 8, 2024, killing more than 20 people and fleeing with their livestock, amounting to hundreds of millions of naira.

“Senate is aware that Kebbi State government promptly responded by sending a delegation with relief materials to the affected villages and assistance to the families of the deceased.

“Aware that Senator Yahaya A. Abdullahi (Kebbi North) and Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi North Central) and Senator Garba Musa Maidoki (Kebbi South), along with some members of the House of Representatives from Kebbi State, have been to those areas, to commiserate with victims of the attacks on behalf of the National Assembly.

“Aware that if timely, adequate and decisive measures are not taken, this group can spread its reign of terror to other northern parts of the country and beyond.

“Notes the prompt response of the ministry of defence and the armed forces who despatched a well-armed military response squad that was able to dislodge the terrorists and secured the release of herds of cattle and other livestock stolen by the terrorists. These foreigners have invaded the country.

“We need to nip the situation in the bud, they have international connections, heavily armed with very dangerous weapons, the federal government should take the matter very seriously.

‘These terrorists are well armed with highly sophisticated weapons, this is a very serious matter on national security, they control the whole of Northern Mali and now attacking Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Niger, and others. The time to act is now, we have to take action on how to tame terrorism.”

He said the Senate should revisit past resolutions on terrorism and send them to the Presidency for immediate action.

”I want us to recall what happened in the 8th and 9th Senates. We discussed extensively how we can stem the tide of banditry and terrorism. We made far-reaching recommendations, and we asked the Executive arm of government to implement those resolutions.

“It is still relevant for us to insist that those resolutions should be implemented, if we do so, it will reduce the incidences of banditry and insurgency in the country. We can reduce it to the barest minimum.”

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