News

Haiti’s Future Uncertain After Brazen Slaying Of President

Published

4 years ago

July 8, 2021

An already struggling and chaotic Haiti stumbled into an uncertain future Thursday, reeling from the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse followed by a reported gunbattle in which authorities said police killed four suspects in the murder, detained two others and freed three officers being held hostage.

Officials pledged to find all those responsible for the predawn raid on Moïse’s house early Wednesday that left the president shot to death and his wife, Martine Moïse, critically wounded. She was flown to Miami for treatment.

“The pursuit of the mercenaries continues,” Léon Charles, director of Haiti’s National Police, said Wednesday night in announcing the arrests of suspects. “Their fate is fixed: They will fall in the fighting or will be arrested.”

Officials did not provide any details on the suspects, including their ages, names or nationalities, nor did they address a motive or what led police to the suspects. They said only that the attack condemned by Haiti’s main opposition parties and the international community was carried out by “a highly trained and heavily armed group” whose members spoke Spanish or English.

Prime Minister Claude Joseph assumed leadership of Haiti with help of police and the military and decreed a two-week state of siege following Moïse’s killing, which stunned a nation grappling with some of the Western Hemisphere’s highest poverty, violence and political instability.

Inflation and gang violence are spiraling upward as food and fuel becomes scarcer, while 60% of Haitian workers earn less than $2 a day. The increasingly dire situation comes as Haiti is still trying to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 following a history of dictatorship and political upheaval.

Those in Haiti and family and friends living abroad wondered what is next.

“There is this void now, and they are scared about what will happen to their loved ones,” said Marlene Bastien, executive director of Family Action Network Movement, a group that helps people in Miami’s Little Haiti community.

She said it was important for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to take a much more active role in supporting attempts at national dialogue in Haiti with the aim of holding free, fair and credible elections.

Bastien said she also wants to see participation of the extensive Haitian diaspora: “No more band-aids. The Haitian people have been crying and suffering for too long.”

Haiti had grown increasingly unstable under Moïse, who had been ruling by decree for more than a year and faced violent protests as critics accused him of trying to amass more power while the opposition demanded he step down.

According to Haiti’s constitution, Moïse should be replaced by the president of Haiti’s Supreme Court, but the chief justice died in recent days from COVID-19, leaving open the question of who might rightfully succeed to the office.

Joseph, meanwhile, was supposed to be replaced by Ariel Henry, who had been named prime minister by Moïse a day before the assassination.

Henry told The Associated Press in a brief interview that he is the prime minister, calling it an exceptional and confusing situation. In another interview with Radio Zenith, he said there was no fight between him and Joseph: “I only disagree with the fact that people have taken hasty decisions … when the moment demands a little more serenity and maturity.”

Moïse had faced large protests in recent months that turned violent as opposition leaders and their supporters rejected his plans to hold a constitutional referendum with proposals that would strengthen the presidency.

Hours after the assassination, public transportation and street vendors remained largely scarce, an unusual sight for the normally bustling streets of Port-au-Prince. Gunfire rang out intermittently across the city, a grim reminder of the growing power of gangs that displaced more than 14,700 people last month alone as they torched and ransacked homes in a fight over territory.

Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said gangs were a force to contend with and it isn’t certain Haiti’s security forces can enforce a state of siege.

“It’s a really explosive situation,” he said, adding that foreign intervention with a U.N.-type military presence is a possibility. “Whether Claude Joseph manages to stay in power is a huge question. It will be very difficult to do so if he doesn’t create a government of national unity.”

Joseph told The Associated Press that he supports an international investigation into the assassination and believes elections scheduled for later this year should be held as he promised to work with Moïse’s allies and opponents alike.

“Everything is under control,” he said.

(AP)

News

Delta-billionaire Lawuru To Grace Ijaw Media Conference As Guest Of Honour

Published

7 hours ago

November 27, 2025

Editor

The President of Egbema Brotherhood, Alaowei Promise Lawuru, is expected to grace the forthcoming Ijaw Media Conference 2025, as a guest of honour.

The event is scheduled to hold on December 3rd, 2025, in Warri, Delta State.

The annual media conference organised by the Ijaw Publishers Forum with the theme ‘Safeguarding Niger Delta’s Natural Resources for Future Generations,’ is second edition of the series.

Lawuru, youthful politician and businessman’s willingness to appear as guest of honour was made known
when a delegation of the Central Working Committee led by Pastor Arex Akemotubo paid him a visit to inform him of the forthcoming event and his expected role.

In his presentation, Akemotubo explained that this year’s theme was chosen out of concern for the growing strain on the region’s land and waters.

The Publisher of WaffiTV stressed that the forum wants to strengthen public understanding, support honest reportage, and encourage leaders to protect what the Niger Delta holds for the next generation.

He addex that Lawuru’s history of service and steady involvement in community work made him a natural choice for the role.

Chief Lawuru welcomed the invitation and spoke warmly about the need for shared responsibility among stakeholders and groups such as the IPF.

He commended the forum for using the media to defend the region’s interests and promised full support for the conference.

Lawuru further urged other stakeholders across the Ijaw nation to lend their weight to efforts that safeguard the environment.

News

Senate Recommends Death Penalty For Kidnappers

Published

8 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

The Senate has passed a resolution classifying kidnapping as an act of terrorism, stipulating that an amendment to the Terrorism Act be made to impose the maximum penalty of death.

The resolution was made during plenary on Wednesday.

Under the new law, according to the upper legislative arm, once a kidnapping conviction is established, the death penalty must be applied.

Nigeria suffers from a persistent security crisis fuelled by attacks and violence by “bandit” gangs that raid villages, kill people, and kidnap for ransom.

In response to recent kidnappings and attacks by terrorists, President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday ordered a total security cordon over the forests in Kwara State.

Series Of Abductions

Bandits had struck the Isapa community of the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, abducting 11 residents.

The attack came about two weeks after and 38 worshippers were abducted from a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in the Eruku community of the state.

Terrorists also attacked St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri, in Niger State, abducting more that 300 school children and staff in a resurgence of the mass kidnappings that have long harrowed Africa’s most populous country.

In the same week, 24 schoolgirls were taken from the Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School, Maga, Danko Wasagu Local Government Area in Kebbi State, but regained freedom on Tuesday.

At least 50 taken from St Mary’s Catholic school also managed to escape, but more than 265 children and teachers are still being held.

Nigeria’s high-profile mass kidnapping was that of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, when Boko Haram forced 276 girls from their dormitories in the North-East region.

More than a decade later, man of the Chibok girls are still missing.

News

FG Threatens To Seize Dana Air Assets

Published

9 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that the Federal Government may recover and sell the assets of Dana Air to refund passengers and travel agents whose funds remain trapped following the suspension of the airline’s operations.

The Minister disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Ministry’s fourth quarter stakeholders’ engagement to enhance governance for effective service delivery in aviation with the theme: “leveraging public feedback to drive excellence in aviation services”.

According to him, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will be directed to probe why funds trapped by the airline are yet to be refunded.

He revealed that the Authority suspended the operations of the airline as a matter of choice between safety and disaster.

“For Dana, the problem is that it was a choice between safety and disaster. So we didn’t take the commercial thing as priority. The priority was safety, and we all looked at the damning reports that we had met on the table.

“It was a decision of the NCAA to suspend them, but I pushed them to say, look, these are the reports we are seeing on the table about safety record, about lack of standards that put the lives of Nigerians at risk. If they continue flying, I don’t know whether most of us will be here. Many of us would have been victims of one of those flights. God forbid.”

According to him, “I have asked Najomo to dig deep to find out how those passengers and agents will be refunded. He has to dig deep on that.

“One solution will also be that if that same individual or those entities are trying to come back to aviation under any guise, whether to go and register a new AOC or use any business within the aviation sector, they have to go and settle their debts first.

“We should look at their assets. There are assets that are still available. Let them sell their assets. Let’s cannibalize their revenue and pay people. Let’s find a way to go after their assets and get money to pay Nigerians who are owed.

“NCAA should do that because they can’t get away with it.”