Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | More than 100 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram were in Nigeria’s capital on Thursday, a day after their surprise release that fuelled rumours about how their freedom was won. A total of 104 of the 110 students seized from the school in Dapchi, in the …
Read More »Security fears shut boarding schools in NE Nigerian state
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Boarding schools have been shut indefinitely in the northeast Nigerian state most affected by Boko Haram violence, the government has said, in the latest blow to children’s education. “All boarding secondary schools in the state, with the exception of those in (the state capital) Maiduguri …
Read More »Abducted Nigeria schoolgirls ‘brought back’ by Boko Haram: parents
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Boko Haram Islamists who kidnapped more than 100 schoolgirls in Dapchi, northeast Nigeria, just over a month ago have returned the students to the town, two parents told AFP on Wednesday. A senior government source in Abuja and police in Yobe state also confirmed the …
Read More »Nigeria was warned before Boko Haram abduction: Amnesty
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s military was on Tuesday accused of ignoring repeated warnings about the movements of Boko Haram fighters before they kidnapped 110 schoolgirls in the country’s restive northeast. The students — the youngest of whom is aged just 10 — were seized from the town of …
Read More »Year of anti-Kabila protests in DR Congo leaves 47 dead: UN
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A government crackdown on demonstrations against President Joseph Kabila in Democratic Republic of Congo has led to the killing of 47 people in just over a year, a UN report seen by AFP said Monday. “Between 1 January 2017 and 31 January 2018, at …
Read More »S.Sudanese flee only to find unrest across the border
Obo, Central African Republic | AFP | Refugees seeking safety from the atrocities of South Sudan’s unending conflict cross the border only to find themselves in one of Africa’s most war-torn and poorest countries. Neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) has been ravaged by armed groups vying to control the vast …
Read More »Violence fears ahead of Sierra Leone run-off vote
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Sierra Leone’s electoral commission sounded the alarm on Saturday over a wave of violence between rival groups ahead of a run-off presidential vote later this month. Opposition leader Julius Maada Bio, from the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), took 43.3 percent of votes in …
Read More »Rohingya returnees won’t be kept in camps ‘forever’: Myanmar official
Maungdaw, Myanmar | AFP | A Myanmar official in Rakhine state said Saturday that Rohingya refugees who return will not be held in newly-built camps “forever,” as concerns mount over a vexed repatriation process. Ye Htut, the administrator of Maungdaw district, was speaking to reporters on a government-chaperoned trip to …
Read More »Canada to send peacekeepers to Mali: official
Ottawa, Canada | AFP | Canada will send peacekeepers backed by helicopters to the troubled west African nation of Mali before autumn, a government source said on Friday. Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan is to provide details of the number of troops on Monday, said the source, speaking on condition of …
Read More »Burundi frees political detainees after pardon
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi on Friday freed 740 prisoners, most of whom had been imprisoned after taking part in protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza in 2015, the government announced. The detainees were released from Bujumbura’s Mpimba prison — the country’s largest — after a ceremony presided over by …
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