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Scores killed as Ambazonian separatists attack Cameroonian city of Douala

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Cameroonian authorities say Ambazonian separatists from the English speaking region of the country killed six people and injured several others when they staged audacious attacks on military posts near the country’s port city of Douala on Monday.

In a statement by the country’s military, about 15 heavily armed fighters attacked a military post in Matouke, a farming village less than 40 kilometers west of Douala where six people were killed while many others were wounded.

In another attack on another military formation, five soldiers and a civilian were reportedly killed by the rebels, the military statement said.

Governor of Cameroon’s Littoral region which includes Matouke and Douala, Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, who also confirmed the attacks, said the separatists carried out the attacks as part of their campaign for self- determination for the English speaking parts of the Central African country.

Diboua said both the military and civilians would not accept separatists extending attacks and disorder to Douala, which is an economic hub in the country.

He added that military presence had been increased on the border between Cameroon’s Littoral region and the English-speaking Southwest region where the fighters came from, while civilians had been mobilized to denounce suspected fighters in their towns and villages.

Local media reports that the attack was the first time the rebels had struck close to Douala, a seaport of about four million people that supplies 80% of imported goods for the landlocked Central African Republic and Chad.

A clearing agent at the Douala seaport, Francis Mbah told journalists that any attacks on the economic hub would impact all of Cameroon and central Africa.

“This attack close to the economic capital of Cameroon is a sign that the government still has a lot to do to reinforce security permanently,” Mbah said.

“It is a bad signal given that there are many citizens, Cameroonian citizens, living in the economic capital. This is a call for the government to step in and say this crisis must be stopped.”

The Ambazonia region, an English-speaking part of Cameroon, has been fighting since 2017 to break out of the country and carve out an independent state from the French-speaking-majority nation, citing marginalisation.

On numerous occasions, the Ambazonia rebels have vowed to attack military posts along the borders with Cameroon’s Francophone regions, and have been credited with over 40 attacks on military formations and bases across the country, killing around 6,000 people and displacing more than half-a-million, according to the International Crisis Group.

Metro

65% of Nigerian households lack money for healthy food—Survey

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A survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that around 65% of Nigerian households, which is about two-thirds of the population, lack the financial means to eat healthy food.

According to the survey by the agency, the decline is a reflection of the multidimensional poverty in the country and the impact of continuous reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians due to rising prices of goods and services.

And as a result, two-thirds of households in the country lack money to eat healthy, nutritious food, the NBS said.

Titled “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024),” the survey examined demographics, education, and health trends in Nigeria, comparing data from Wave 4 (2018/19) and Wave 5 (2023/24).

On food insecurity, the survey stated:

“Approximately two out of three households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days.

“Similarly, 63.8 per cent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should.”

It added that between Waves 4 and 5, the proportion of households that reported being worried about not having enough food to eat because of lack of money increased significantly, from 36.9 percent to 62.4 percent.

On access to energy, the survey revealed said:

“82.2 percent of urban households have electricity, compared to 40.4 per cent in rural areas. Nigerian households face an average of 6.7 power blackouts weekly.

“Cooking typically involves traditional three-stone stoves (65.0 percent), primarily using wood as fuel (70.2 per cent), but with use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rising significantly.

“Many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water. Waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 percent of households using bushes or streets,” it added.

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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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