Metro

Over 500 Sudanese children have died of hunger in three months —Report

Published

4 months ago

August 23, 2023

International children charity, Save the Children Foundation, says no fewer than 500 children have died from hunger in Sudan since fighting erupted in the country on April 15, between the army loyal to Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Force led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The charity, in a report on Tuesday, said the dead children included two dozen babies in a government-run orphanage in the capital of Khartoum, while at least 31,000 children lack access to treatment for malnutrition and related illnesses since the charity was forced to close 57 of its nutrition centres in Sudan.

“Never did we think we would see children dying from hunger in such numbers, but this is now the reality in Sudan. We are seeing children dying from entirely preventable hunger,” Arif Noor, Save the Children’s Director for Sudan, said in the report.

Save the Children said that between May and July, at least 316 children, mostly younger than five years of age, died of malnutrition or associated illnesses in the southern While Nile province.

“More than 2,400 children have been admitted to hospitals in the past eight months with severe acute malnutrition the deadliest form of malnutrition,” the report stated.

“In the eastern Qadarif province, at least 132 children died from malnutrition in the government-run Children’s Hospital between April and July.

“And at least 50 children, including two dozen babies, died of starvation or related illnesses in an orphanage in Khartoum in the first six weeks of the conflict as the fighting prevented Save the Children staff from accessing the building to care for them”, it added.

The charity also warned that special food supplies for treating malnutrition were running critically low at 108 facilities.

It also revealed that it still operates across Sudan since the country was plunged into chaos after months of tensions between the military and a rival paramilitary force exploded into open fighting.

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Metro

Nigeria’s VP Shettima admits hardship, poverty, pleads for patience

Published

32 mins ago

December 10, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Vice President Kashim Shettima of Nigeria has become the first official in the President Bola Tinubu’s administration to admit that majority of Nigerians are angry with government officials as a result of the rising cost of living and its attendant hardship and poverty.

Shettima, who made the admission in Abuja on Saturday at the graduation ceremony of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 16, however, pleaded with Nigerians to be patient and support Tinubu so that he could work to solve the problems.

In his keynote address at the occasion, Shettima said the Tinubu-led administration was aware that Nigerians were going through harrowing times, and was doing everything possible to ameliorate the pains as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy and the attendant inflation.

“All of us here belong to a tiny segment of the Nigerian population. And you don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that the poor are angry with us,” the VP said.

“The poor are the most neglected segment of our society. You can hardly differentiate between them and their animals. Even the animals they rear belong to those in the city. So, there have to be kinetic and non-kinetic solutions to all the problems.

“We have to improve the quality of governance. And what we have is a tiny window of not more than 10 to 20 years. Let’s improve the quality of governance.

“I want to ask you to give the President the benefit of the doubt. Let us be patient. Let us support him.

“Let us rally round him and be reassured that he is determined to redefine the meaning and concept of modern leadership, and is ever ready to reposition the Nigerian nation. But without the support of you and I, he can’t do much”, he just added.

Shettima also suggested that creating jobs and giving hope to the populace would go a long way in curbing insecurity in the country.

“Let’s create jobs; let’s give hope to the populace. And once we create jobs, all this madness of insecurity will disappear.

“There won’t be Boko Haram and banditry if this is done, especially for us from the North. We can blame the bandits, but we in leadership positions owe it to posterity to address this”, he said.

Metro

DR Congo: President Tshisekedi says Rwanda’s Kagame acting like Adolf Hitler

Published

18 hours ago

December 9, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Democratic Republic of Congo President, Félix Tshisekedi, has taken a dig at President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, comparing him to German dictator, Adolf Hitler, while on the campaign trail in the troubled east of the country.

While addressing his supporters on Friday at a rally in Bukavu, capital of South Kivu, Tshisekedi, who is seeking a second term in office in the general elections scheduled for December 20 after first coming to power in January 2019, said Kagame behaved like Hitler while pursuing his “expansionist aims”.

“I’m going to address Rwandan President Paul Kagame and tell him this: since he wanted to behave like Adolf Hitler by having expansionist aims (in the DRC), I promise to end up like Adolf Hitler,” declared Tshisekedi.

“When I took power as president of this country, I proposed a plan to live in peace with our neighbors, but the problem is that our neighbors have eyes bigger than their stomachs, and that’s the case with my colleague Paul Kagame.

“But this time, Paul Kagame has met a son of the country determined to protect his country against all kinds of foreign aggression,” he stated.

Tshisekedi’s speech was not unconnected with the activities of the M23 (March 23 Movement) rebels who are mainly Tutsis believed to have the backing of the Rwandan government and have been wreaking havoc in North Kivu and Ituri in South Kivu and other eastern provinces of the DRC in the past 30 years.

Relations between the DRC and neighboring Rwanda have also witnessed tense turmoil which reached a climax in 2021 with the resurgence in North Kivu of the rebellion, allegedly supported by Kigali, seizing large swathes of the province.

On numerous occasions, Tshisekedi has denounced what he often describes as Rwandan aggression under the guise of the M23.

Tshisekedi has also accused Rwanda of sponsoring the rebels, an accusation Kigali has vehemently denied.

He has also described Rwanda as a “horrible neighbor” which wants to monopolize the mining wealth of DRC which is largely located in the eastern Congo.