Headline

Afenifere Scraps Positions Of Acting Leader, Deputy

Published

2 years ago

January 24, 2024

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere on Wednesday, annulled the office of the acting leader of the group being occupied by Pa Ayo Adebanjo.

Afenifere, which appointed Adebanjo as the acting leader of the group in 2022, said the position had been abrogated, adding that another group named as Afenifere Elders Caucus has been formed.

However, Adebanjo is also a member of the new group.

This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the monthly meeting of the group held at the residence of the National Leader of the association, Pa Reuben Fasoranti on Wednesday. The communique was read by the Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr Jare Ajayi.

The communique partly read, “In the light of recent events and the pressing need to reposition and rejuvenate Afenifere, it has been decided that the position of acting leader and deputy leader have now been abrogated.

“The responsibilities and authority of advising the leader of Afenifere and Asiwaju Yoruba are now vested in the Afenifere Elders Caucus which is hereby constituted.”

According to the communique, Fasoranti is the chairman of the elders’ caucus while some of the members of the group include Adebanjo, Olu Falae, Senator Cornelius Adebayo, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Seinde Arogbofa, Senator Kofo Bucknor-Akerele, Prince Ladigbolu, Lt. Gen Alani, Akinrinade (Rtd.), Maj. Gen. Olu Bajowa (Rtd.), Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, and Prof. Banji Akintoye, amongst others.

At the meeting, the group also expressed its displeasure over the state of the nation with particular reference to the socio-economic and security challenges in the country, saying it was time to restructure the country.

“There is an urgent need to rework the security architecture of the country to ensure that Nigerians are able to live and move about without the fear of being kidnapped or harassed in any way. Such reworking should include giving states and local government councils that so desire to establish their own police services with all the requisite powers to function as such. Doing so would check if not totally stop, the incidences of kidnapping and sundry banditry now ravaging the land.

“The unfortunate blast in Ibadan clearly underscores the need to allow the federating units in the country to control mineral resources in their respective areas with particular reference to mining and exploration.

“The reasoning behind this was that had it been that states were in control of mining, for instance, the Oyo State Government was likely to know how explosives were being moved around. Such would have made last week’s horrendous blast that claimed many lives, traumatised hundreds of people, and destroyed properties running into billions of naira would have been prevented.”

While reiterating that it is time for a restructuring of the country, the Afenifere urged President Bola Tinubu to set the machinery in motion for the purpose.

“The organisation (Afenifere) took note of the fact that the President, a known democrat and federalist would not hesitate to do things that would quicken the country’s quest for true federalism in which people would have self-determination within the context of one nation that is genuinely democratic and federal,” the group noted

Headline

Gunmen On Motorbikes Kill 22 At Baptism Ceremony In Niger

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Editor

Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead 22 villagers in western Niger, most attending a baptism ceremony, local media and other sources said Tuesday.

The shootings happened on Monday in the Tillaberi region, near Burkina Faso and Mali, where jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS) are active.

A resident of the area told AFP that 15 people were killed first at a baptism ceremony in Takoubatt village.

“The attackers then went to the outskirts of Takoubatt where they killed seven other people,” said the resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

Local media outlet Elmaestro TV reported a “gruesome death toll of 22 innocent people cowardly killed without reason or justification”.

“Once again, the Tillaberi region has been struck by barbarism, plunging innocent families into mourning and despair,” Nigerien human rights campaigner Maikoul Zodi said on social media.

Niger’s military leaders, who came to power two years ago in a coup, have struggled to contain jihadist groups in Tillaberi, despite maintaining a large army presence there.

Around 20 soldiers were killed in the region last week.

Human Rights Watch has urged Niger authorities to “do more to protect” civilians against deadly attacks.

The rights monitoring group estimates that the Islamic State group has “summarily executed” more than 127 villagers and Muslim worshippers in Tillaberi in five attacks since March.

Meanwhile, the NGO ACLED, which tracks conflict victims worldwide, says around 1,800 people have been killed in attacks in Niger since October 2024 — three-quarters of them in Tillaberi.

Niger and its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, also ruled by military coup leaders who claim to pursue a sovereignist policy, have expelled the French and American armies that were fighting alongside them against jihadism.

AFP

Headline

Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

Published

1 day ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

Headline

Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

Published

1 day ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Kazakhstan has banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect Tuesday in the Central Asian country, where the practice persists despite new attention being paid to women’s rights.

Forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Kazakh police said in a statement.

“These changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents,” it added.

Bride kidnappings have also been outlawed.

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“Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated,” the police said.

There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.

A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.

The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistleblowers.

The issue of women’s rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.

“Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,” Tokayev said last year.

AFP