News Alert Africa

21/04/2021

The Senate on Wednesday expressed shock at the provision of ‘N2 billion incentive’ for Nigeria Custom Service retirees. The incentive was revealed by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs, Senator Francis Alimikhena, in the 2021 budget report for the Nigeria Customs Service. He said that the sum of N2 billion would be used to settle retirees. “That the Senate do receive and consider the report of the Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs on the 2021 budget of the Nigerian Customs Service.”...

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/21/n2-billion-retirement-incentive-n180-million-fumigation-for-customs-shock-senate/

The Senate on Wednesday expressed shock at the provision of ‘N2 billion incentive’ for Nigeria Custom Service retirees. The incentive was revealed by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs, Senator Francis Alimikhena, in the 2021 budget report for the Nigeria Customs Servi...

21/04/2021

Gunmen have attacked a private university in Kaduna State on Tuesday night, abducting an unspecified number of students. The academic institution, Greenfield University, is located along the Kaduna–Abuja Highway in Chikun Local Government Area, and also the first private university in the state established three years ago. The latest incident is the first major attack that bandits will launch on communities around the Kaduna-Abuja Highway since 300 female soldiers were deployed to the general area in January this year....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/21/gunmen-attack-private-university-in-kaduna-kidnap-students/

Gunmen have attacked a private university in Kaduna State on Tuesday night, abducting an unspecified number of students.  The academic institution, Greenfield University, is located along the Kaduna–Abuja Highway in Chikun Local Government Area, and also the first private university in the state ...

21/04/2021

General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, 37, who on Tuesday was named transitional leader as head of a military council in Chad following the death of his father Idriss Déby Itno, has been named president. The youthful general Mahamat Idriss Deby, who stood watch over his father as head of the presidential guard, wore trademark dark glasses that hid a strong, little known personality....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/21/debys-son-named-president-of-chad-as-opposition-decries-coup-detat/

General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, 37, who on Tuesday was named transitional leader as head of a military council in Chad following the death of his father Idriss Déby Itno, has been named president. The youthful general Mahamat Idriss Deby, who stood watch over his father as head of the presidentia...

20/04/2021

President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for the "right" verdict in the racially charged trial of an ex-policeman accused of murdering George Floyd and described the case now before a Minneapolis jury as "overwhelming." Biden's unusually strong comments in the White House came on the tense, second day of jury deliberations. The president stressed that he would not be speaking out if the jury had not been sequestered, meaning that it is isolated from the public until it reaches a decision....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/20/biden-says-evidence-overwhelming-in-tense-george-floyd-trial/

President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for the “right” verdict in the racially charged trial of an ex-policeman accused of murdering George Floyd and described the case now before a Minneapolis jury as “overwhelming.” Biden’s unusually strong comments in the White House came on the tense, s...

20/04/2021

Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr Faisal Shuiabu has revealed the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccines may not arrive in Nigeria due to the global scarcity of vaccines. He disclosed this in Lafia, Nasarawa State at the North Central zonal town hall meeting on COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria. According to him: “I would like to state that there is a global scarcity of COVID-19 Vaccines due to high demand for the vaccines, especially in countries where they are being produced.“For this reason, we anticipate a delay in vaccine supply to Nigeria....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/20/second-dose-of-covid-19-vaccines-may-not-arrive-nphcda/

Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr Faisal Shuiabu has revealed the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccines may not arrive in Nigeria due to the global scarcity of vaccines. He disclosed this in Lafia, Nasarawa State at the North Central zonal town hall mee...

20/04/2021

KANO- Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state on Tuesday promised to accept and work with any decision reached by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum on judicial autonomy. Ganduje who spoke when joint leaders of Kano and Ungogo branches of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) paid him a courtesy call, at his office, Tuesday, on the directive of the National President of the association, to press demand for autonomous judiciary....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/20/i-will-accept-governors-forum-decision-on-autonomy-of-judiciary-ganduje/

KANO- Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state on Tuesday promised to accept and work with any decision reached by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum on judicial autonomy. Ganduje who spoke when joint leaders of Kano and Ungogo branches of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) paid him a courtesy ca...

20/04/2021

Tensions have risen since Saied said Sunday that his powers included control of the internal security forces, amid a dispute with the Ennahda-backed prime minister. TUNIS – Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda Movement escalated its rhetoric against the president on Tuesday, releasing a statement in which it accused Kais Saied of authoritarian tendecies and contempt to the country’s laws and legislations. In the statement, Ennahda, led by current Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, expressed its surprise at the new constitutional “violation” perpetrated by the President of the Republic who “used an invalid text as a reference to justify his tendency towards authoritarian rule.”...

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/20/tunisias-islamists-escalate-showdown-with-president/

Tensions have risen since Saied said Sunday that his powers included control of the internal security forces, amid a dispute with the Ennahda-backed prime minister. TUNIS – Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda Movement escalated its rhetoric against the president on Tuesday, releasing a statement in which...

20/04/2021

The governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, has disclosed that the newly formed Ebube Agu security outfit for the South-East region is not an alternative to the police, army and other federal government established security outfits. The governor in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Oguwike Nwachuku, said that Ebube Agu is but “a local outfit meant to gather information on criminal activities and give to the security operatives for proper processing and action.”...

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/20/ebube-agu-not-alternative-to-police-army-says-uzodinma/

The governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, has disclosed that the newly formed Ebube Agu security outfit for the South-East region is not an alternative to the police, army and other federal government established security outfits. The governor in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Oguw...

20/04/2021

No fewer than 30 bandits and five people have been killed in an attack repelled by Zamfara State Police Command in Maradun and Bakura local government areas of the state. The attack was repelled following a call received by the police that attacks was taking place in Gobirawa, Gora, Rini , Madoti and Dankule, a total four villages across coucil areas of Maradun and Bakura....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/20/30-bandits-10-residents-killed-as-police-repel-attacks-on-5-zamfara-villages/

No fewer than 30 bandits and five people have been killed in an attack repelled by Zamfara State Police Command in Maradun and Bakura local government areas of the state. The attack was repelled following a call received by the police that attacks was taking place in Gobirawa, Gora, Rini , Madoti an...

20/04/2021

Mali's Supreme Court on Monday confirmed that the charges against several personalities, including a former prime minister and a star radio host, accused since December of preparing a coup d'état with mysterious outlines, had been dropped. "The court has deliberated. It has rejected the appeal of the public prosecutor" lodged against a decision to drop the proceedings taken in March by the Bamako Court of Appeal, Cheick Oumar Konaré, the lawyer for two of the defendants, told AFP....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/20/mali-drops-coup-charges-against-ex-prime-minister-radio-host/

Mali’s Supreme Court on Monday confirmed that the charges against several personalities, including a former prime minister and a star radio host, accused since December of preparing a coup d’état with mysterious outlines, had been dropped. “The court has deliberated. It has rejected the appea...

20/04/2021

Some 40,000 displaced and urgently needing food, work suspended on a multi-billion-dollar gas investment, and scores of dead still being counted. The damage caused by Mozambique's extremist rebels in their deadly assault on the northeastern town of Palma continues to be assessed. Four weeks after the rebels launched a three-pronged attack, which lasted at least five days, Mozambican police and relief agencies are working to help the thousands uprooted by the violence and restore the town to daily life....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/20/40000-displaced-in-north-mozambique-after-assault-on-palma/

Some 40,000 displaced and urgently needing food, work suspended on a multi-billion-dollar gas investment, and scores of dead still being counted. The damage caused by Mozambique’s extremist rebels in their deadly assault on the northeastern town of Palma continues to be assessed. Four weeks after ...

20/04/2021

Residents of Chad's capital have reacted with incredulity to news of President Idriss Deby Itno's death. Itno, who ruled the central African nation for more than three decades, died Tuesday of wounds suffered on the battlefield during a fight against rebels, the military announced on national television and radio. The stunning announcement of Debys death came just hours after electoral officials had declared Deby the winner of the April 11 presidential election, paving the way for him to stay in power for six more years....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/20/chadians-react-with-shock-to-news-of-president-idriss-debys-death/

Residents of Chad’s capital have reacted with incredulity to news of President Idriss Deby Itno’s death. Itno, who ruled the central African nation for more than three decades, died Tuesday of wounds suffered on the battlefield during a fight against rebels, the military announced on national te...

20/04/2021

Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno, who has been in power for 30 years, died on Tuesday from injuries sustained while commanding his army in fighting against rebels in the north over the weekend, a spokesman announced on state television. "The president of the republic, head of state, supreme head of the army, Idriss Déby Itno, has just breathed his last while defending the territorial integrity on the battlefield....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/20/chads-president-idriss-deby-dies-of-injuries-in-combat-with-rebels/

Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno, who has been in power for 30 years, died on Tuesday from injuries sustained while commanding his army in fighting against rebels in the north over the weekend, a spokesman announced on state television. “The president of the republic, head of state, supreme hea...

09/04/2021

What took place in San Francisco on March 26, 2021, when hundreds of Eritrean and Ethiopian pro-regime supporters took to the streets, should be condemned for what it was – a reactionary, fascist mobilization no different than white supremacists storming the streets with chants to “make America great again.” There is no coincidence that there were several signs that read “make Ethiopia great again” at this rally....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/09/end-the-war-on-africans-the-truth-about-eritrea-and-ethiopias-brutal-regimes/

What took place in San Francisco on March 26, 2021, when hundreds of Eritrean and Ethiopian pro-regime supporters took to the streets, should be condemned for what it was – a reactionary, fascist mobilization no different than white supremacists storming the streets with chants to “make America ...

09/04/2021

Mike Ozekhome (SAN), a human rights lawyer, has slammed Usman Alkali Baba’s appointment as acting Inspector-General of Police, calling it illegal and nepotistic. Ozekhome enumerated his stance via a detailed statement on Wednesday, April 7, titled ‘Buhari’s Northernisation Of The Nigeria Police Force’. President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday announced the appointment of Baba to succeed Mohammed Adamu. Adamu, whose tenure ended in February after completion of his mandatory 35 years of service, got a three-month extension by the President but he had only spent about two months of the three-month extension when he was replaced....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/09/buharis-unconstitutional-nepotistic-appointment-of-alkali-as-igp-ozekhome/

Mike Ozekhome (SAN), a human rights lawyer, has slammed Usman Alkali Baba’s appointment as acting Inspector-General of Police, calling it illegal and nepotistic. Ozekhome enumerated his stance via a detailed statement on Wednesday, April 7, titled ‘Buhari’s Northernisation Of The Nigeria Polic...

09/04/2021

A 3000-year-old "lost golden city" has been unearthed in the southern city of Luxor, a discovery that could be the most significant find in Egypt since the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamen. The lost city, known as Aten, is believed to have been founded by King Amenhotep III, the ninth king of ancient Egypt's 18th dynasty who ruled the country from 1391 to 1353 BC, the mission's statement said....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/09/extraordinary-a-3000-year-old-lost-golden-city-has-been-unearthed-in-egypt/

A 3000-year-old “lost golden city” has been unearthed in the southern city of Luxor, a discovery that could be the most significant find in Egypt since the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamen. The lost city, known as Aten, is believed to have been founded by King Amenhotep III, the ninth king of an...

09/04/2021

The United Nations (UN) says it’s following with deep concern new reports of violations against civilians, including alleged beheadings and unverified reports of the use of child soldiers during attacks by non-state armed groups and clashes in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado’s Palma District. The global body says they have been monitoring this since violent escalations on March 24th. “It is extremely difficult to verify information on these incidents at this time for us, but we are concerned about the situation of civilians who fled the violence and those who remain in Palma....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/09/un-concerned-about-reports-of-alleged-beheadings-in-mozambique/

The United Nations (UN) says it’s following with deep concern new reports of violations against civilians, including alleged beheadings and unverified reports of the use of child soldiers during attacks by non-state armed groups and clashes in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado’s Palma District. The g...

09/04/2021

A mass grave containing the decapitated bodies of at least 12 people has been discovered near a hotel used by foreigners that was overrun by Islamic State militants in Mozambique. Palma, a coastal town in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province, was attacked by militants wielding machetes, assault rifles and heavy weapons on March 24. The 12 bodies were found under a large mango tree near the entrance of the Amarula Hotel, an establishment favoured by foreign contractors working on a nearby natural gas project run by the French oil giant Total....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/09/twelve-headless-bodies-discovered-in-pit-near-mozambique-foreigners-hotel/

A mass grave containing the decapitated bodies of at least 12 people has been discovered near a hotel used by foreigners that was overrun by Islamic State militants in Mozambique. Palma, a coastal town in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province, was attacked by militants wielding machetes, ass...

09/04/2021

The attacks on police stations in Imo State continued on Thursday morning as gunmen stormed the Mbieri Divisional Police Headquarters situated in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state. It was gathered that the gunmen struck around 1 am and immediately released the suspects in custody in the police facility. The gunmen also carted away phones belonging to suspects and the police operatives at the Division but didn’t set the station ablaze....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/09/again-gunmen-attack-imo-police-station-free-inmates/

The attacks on police stations in Imo State continued on Thursday morning as gunmen stormed the Mbieri Divisional Police Headquarters situated in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state. It was gathered that the gunmen struck around 1 am and immediately released the suspects in custody in th...

09/04/2021

Nearly 20 million people face a food crisis in West Africa and the Sahel region as the vast area is torn by conflicts and the coronavirus pandemic, experts warned Thursday. The situation could worsen between June and August, with as many as 27 million people needing immediate food aid, or nearly one in 10 people in 14 countries, the experts said....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/09/west-africa-faces-worsening-food-crisis-experts/

Nearly 20 million people face a food crisis in West Africa and the Sahel region as the vast area is torn by conflicts and the coronavirus pandemic, experts warned Thursday. The situation could worsen between June and August, with as many as 27 million people needing immediate food aid, or nearly one...

08/04/2021

Morocco has, on multiple occasions, reiterated its adherence to the ceasefire agreement but made it clear that it will respond firmly to any attacks by the separatists. Morocco’s armed Forces thwarted on Wednesday an attempted infiltration by the Polisario militias and killed the separatist commander in charge, Moroccan, Algerian and Polisario media have reported. Morocco has, on multiple occasions, reiterated its adherence to the ceasefire agreement but made it clear that it will respond firmly to any attacks by the separatists....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/08/moroccos-armed-forces-kill-polisarios-police-commander/

Morocco has, on multiple occasions, reiterated its adherence to the ceasefire agreement but made it clear that it will respond firmly to any attacks by the separatists. Morocco’s armed Forces thwarted on Wednesday an attempted infiltration by the Polisario militias and killed the separatist comman...

08/04/2021

The Nigerian military has eliminated top leaders of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and scores of fighters in Borno in a major offensive. Two commanders of the terror group, Amir Abu-Rabi and Mohamed Likita as well as dozens of their bodyguards and fighters, were killed. While Abu-Rabi coordinated tax collection on behalf of the ISWAP in the Lake Chad axis, Likita was among controllers coordinating attacks on military formations....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/08/breaking-nigerian-military-eliminate-iswap-leaders-amir-abu-rabi-mohamer-likita/

The Nigerian military has eliminated top leaders of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and scores of fighters in Borno in a major offensive. Two commanders of the terror group, Amir Abu-Rabi and Mohamed Likita as well as dozens of their bodyguards and fighters, were killed. While Abu-...

08/04/2021

President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday he is currently taking “a short rest” in London, United Kingdom. The President, according to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a letter he sent to the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Abdullah ll Bin Al-Hussein, following the resolution of a recent rift in the royal family....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/08/im-in-uk-for-short-rest-buhari-tells-jordanian-monarch/

President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday he is currently taking “a short rest” in London, United Kingdom. The President, according to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a letter he sent to the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of J...

08/04/2021

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has shifted the date and venue of the Southwest congress. The exercise will now hold on April 12 as against March 10 the exercise was initially billed for. The PDP, in a statement on Thursday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the shift in date and venue was part of the resolutions taken by the party leadership to resolve the festering crisis in Southwest PDP....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/08/pdp-shifts-date-venue-of-south-west-congress/

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has shifted the date and venue of the Southwest congress. The exercise will now hold on April 12 as against March 10 the exercise was initially billed for. The PDP, in a statement on Thursday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the shift in....

08/04/2021

The death toll from tribal clashes in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state in Sudan, has risen to 132, an official said on Thursday. Speaking to reporters, Mohamed Abdallah Al-Douma, the state governor, said that 208 people have also been injured in the clashes. Earlier, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors put the death toll at 125. The bloodshed, which began Saturday, is the latest in a resurgence of violence in the Darfur region....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/08/death-toll-in-sudans-west-darfur-region-rises-to-132-over-200-people-injured/

The death toll from tribal clashes in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state in Sudan, has risen to 132, an official said on Thursday. Speaking to reporters, Mohamed Abdallah Al-Douma, the state governor, said that 208 people have also been injured in the clashes. Earlier, the Central Committee o...

08/04/2021

Egypt and Uganda have signed a memorandum of understanding on military intelligence sharing, Ugandan officials said Thursday, amid growing tensions over a mega-dam built by Ethiopia on the Nile River. The text, signed Wednesday evening by the head of Ugandan military intelligence Abel Kandiho and the number two of Egyptian military intelligence, General Sameh Saber El-Degwi, provides that the two agencies exchange information including "to combat terrorism," a spokesman for Uganda's Ministry of Defense told AFP....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/08/egypt-and-uganda-sign-military-intelligence-sharing-agreement/

02/04/2021

The body of a Swiss woman who was held hostage for more than five years by an extremist Islamic group in Mali has been found and identified, the Malian foreign ministry said Wednesday. Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross delivered unidentified remains to Malian authorities Saturday. DNA taken from the remains revealed the body is that of Swiss national Beatrice Stoeckli, who was kidnapped in Timbuktu five years ago, the foreign ministry said in a statement....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/02/body-of-swiss-hostage-kidnapped-by-al-qaeda-affiliate-recovered-in-mali/

The body of a Swiss woman who was held hostage for more than five years by an extremist Islamic group in Mali has been found and identified, the Malian foreign ministry said Wednesday. Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross delivered unidentified remains to Malian authorities Saturd...

02/04/2021

The U.N. Security Council called on Somalia’s leaders Wednesday to meet “at the earliest opportunity” to break the impasse delaying the holding of elections that had been scheduled for Feb. 8. The council said in a press statement after a closed briefing by U.N. special envoy James Swan that inclusive elections should take place “as soon as possible” in the interest of all Somalis....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/02/un-urges-somali-leaders-to-break-impasse-delaying-elections/

The U.N. Security Council called on Somalia’s leaders Wednesday to meet “at the earliest opportunity” to break the impasse delaying the holding of elections that had been scheduled for Feb. 8. The council said in a press statement after a closed briefing by U.N. special envoy James Swan that i...

02/04/2021

Nigerians from all walks of life have continued to express mixed feelings over the current trip to London for medical check-up by President Muhammadu Buhari, especially with the growing insecurity in the country and the nationwide strike embarked upon by members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD). DAILY POST reports that President Buhari left the shores of the country on Tuesday, October 30, for the United Kingdom for what his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina called ‘routine medical check-up’....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/02/anger-frustration-mount-over-buharis-medical-trip-amid-doctors-strike-insecurity/

Nigerians from all walks of life have continued to express mixed feelings over the current trip to London for medical check-up by President Muhammadu Buhari, especially with the growing insecurity in the country and the nationwide strike embarked upon by members of the National Association of Reside...

02/04/2021

The Federal Government said it had directed two PayTv platforms – GoTv and StarTimes – to migrate their signals from self-carrying to any of the two licensed FreeTv signal distributors. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja, said the directive was in line with the Digital Switch Over (DSO) process. DSO is the process of transiting from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting and the country has set April 29 for the resumption of the roll out of the second phase in the remaining 31 states....

https://newsalertafrica.com/2021/04/02/fed-govt-directs-gotv-startimes-to-migrate-to-freetv-platform/

The Federal Government said it had directed two PayTv platforms – GoTv and StarTimes – to migrate their signals from self-carrying to any of the two licensed FreeTv signal distributors. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja, said th...