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Hamas Attacks Aid Workers In Gaza, Kills Five

Published

2 months ago

June 12, 2025

Editor

A US- and Israeli-backed charity operating in Gaza accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of attacking aid workers en route to a distribution centre on Wednesday, saying at least five people were killed.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said a bus carrying its staff to a distribution site near Khan Yunis in the south was “brutally attacked by Hamas” around 10:00 pm (1900 GMT).

“We are still gathering facts, but what we know is devastating: there are at least five fatalities, multiple injuries, and fear that some of our team members may have been taken hostage,” GHF said in a statement.

In an email to AFP, the group added that all five of the people killed were Palestinian aid workers for GHF.

“These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives every day to help others,” the group said in its statement condemning the attack.

The distribution of food and basic supplies in the besieged Gaza Strip has become increasingly fraught and perilous, exacerbating the territory’s deep hunger crisis.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach distribution points since late May, according to Gaza’s civil defence.

It said Israeli forces killed 31 people waiting for aid on Wednesday.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment about the incident.

– ‘Died while waiting’ –

The GHF, an officially private effort with opaque funding, began operating on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking international outcry and warnings of imminent famine.

During its first week of operations, the GHF said it distributed more than seven million meals’ worth of food, but its operations were heavily criticised even before the string of deadly incidents near its sites.

The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.

The amount of aid being allowed back into the territory, meanwhile, has been described as only a trickle.

Gaza’s medics have said hospitals were being inundated with people attacked while trying to obtain food.

Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat Camp said early Thursday that four people were killed and 100 wounded in an overnight Israeli drone attack on a gathering at an aid distribution site close to a key checkpoint along the road to northern Gaza.

At Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the emergency room said it had started receiving dozens of victims who had been waiting for aid, including 200 in a single day.

“Many Gazans went to the Nabulsi and Netzarim areas to receive aid and were shot at and shelled with tanks,” said Mutaz Harara, head of Al-Shifa’s emergency department.

But with few medical supplies and no operating rooms, “many patients died while waiting for their turn”, he said.

– Convoys through Egypt? –

To combat the widespread shortages, two activist convoys are attempting to transport supplies to the Gaza border themselves.

The Soumoud convoy — meaning steadfastness in Arabic — left Tunis in buses and cars on Monday, hoping to pass through divided Libya and Egypt.

The Global March to Gaza, which is coordinating with Soumoud, said it is organising a separate mobilisation starting in Cairo on Friday.

The plan entails participants marching through the heavily securitised Sinai Peninsula on foot and camping on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing.

Israel’s defence minister objected to the mobilisation and said he expects Egyptian authorities to prevent the arrival of jihadist protesters at the Egypt-Israel border.

Such actions “would endanger the safety of (Israeli) soldiers and will not be allowed,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday.

Egypt said that while it backs efforts to put “pressure on Israel” to lift its blockade on Gaza, any foreign delegations seeking to visit the border area must receive prior approval.

With international and domestic pressure on the Israeli government mounting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu survived the latest challenge to his right-wing coalition early Thursday.

A bill to dissolve parliament — which could have led to snap polls — was narrowly defeated, with 61 members of the Knesset voting against it, and 53 in favour.

The opposition had hoped to leverage dissatisfaction with Netanyahu over proposals to enlist ultra-Orthodox men typically exempt from the military draft. But ultimately, the ultra-Orthodox parties did not back the effort.

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the retaliatory Israeli military offensive has killed at least 55,104 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.

Out of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 are still held in Gaza, including 32, the Israeli military says, are dead.
AFP

News

Church Of Nigeria Formally Cuts Ties With Wales Over Lesbian Archbishop

Published

4 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has officially cut all ties with the Church in Wales following the appointment of Bishop Cherry Vann, an openly lesbian cleric, as the 15th Archbishop of Wales.

The decision was announced by the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, the Most Reverend Henry Ndukuba, who described the development as ‘an abomination’ and a serious departure from biblical truth.

The announcement came during the opening session of the 14th Church of Nigeria Conference of Chancellors, Registrars and Legal Officers, held on Tuesday at the Church’s national secretariat in Abuja.

With the theme ‘Called as a Watchman’, the event brought together legal minds from across the Church to discuss matters of doctrinal integrity, justice, and governance.

Primate Ndukuba delivered the keynote address titled ‘The Decade of the Reign of God: Progress, Challenges, and Prospects.’

Reacting to the Church in Wales’ elevation of a lesbian bishop, the Primate said, “We reject the election of the Right Reverend Cherry Vann as the Archbishop of Wales.”

He compared it to the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson in the Episcopal Church (USA), which had also led to Nigeria severing ties with that province.

“Just as the Church of Nigeria took steps after the election of Gene Robinson in the United States, we are severing every tie and relationship with the Church of Wales,” he said.

Primate Ndukuba also criticised what he described as the growing influence of revisionist teachings within sections of the Western Church.

“These individuals have not relented from their evil agenda; rather, they have intensified it. What they call their wisdom and culture is an abomination to God,” he declared.

Despite cutting formal ties with the Church in Wales, the Church of Nigeria reaffirmed its support for orthodox Anglicans in the region through platforms such as the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).

“We pray that the Church of God in Wales will rise up, and that the faithful among them will stand strong. We, the Church of Nigeria, alongside GAFCON, will stand with them,” Ndukuba assured.

Looking ahead, the Primate said the Church of Nigeria plans to expand its global mission, with new registrations underway in countries like Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland.

“We feel that the Lord is calling us back to Europe for mission,” he said.

The Primate also used the opportunity to highlight the Church’s ongoing contributions to the GAFCON movement.

He revealed that the Church of Nigeria had recently contributed $2.5 million to the GAFCON Endowment Fund and was planning a local Nigerian GAFCON Endowment worth $2.3 million to support orthodox Anglican work and mission.

On constitutional and legal matters, Ndukuba urged legal officers to strengthen the Church’s internal reforms and national engagement.

“You are to understand yourselves to be watchmen for the Church. You defend the Church against all forms of aggression. As modern-day watchmen, we must first listen to God, then speak His truth in love, knowing our duty lies in obedience,” he said, calling on legal professionals to support the Church’s constitutional review and advocate for a new Nigerian constitution.

News

EFCC Arraigns Six Katsina Revenue, Bank Workers Over N1.2bn Fraud

Published

5 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Tuesday arraigned five officials of the Katsina State Board of Internal Revenue and a staff of First Bank over an alleged N1.2 billion fraud.

The accused were brought before Justice Musa Danladi of the Katsina State High Court by the Commission’s Kano Zonal Directorate on a seven-count charge bordering on conspiracy and diversion of public funds.

According to the anti-graft agency in a statement on Wednesday, the total sum allegedly diverted is N1,235,330,000, said to be tax remittances from the World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the Alliance for International Medical Action, which were due to the Katsina State Government.

The defendants, Nura Lawal, Sanusi Mohammed Yaro, Ibrahim Mamman, Abubakar Saidu, Rabiu Adamu Abdullahi, and Adam Alhassan Albashir, a Public Sector Relationship Manager with First Bank, were all docked and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

One of the charges reads:
“That you Nura Lawal, Sanusi Mohammed Yaro, Ibrahim Mamman, Abubakar Saidu, Rabiu Adamu Abdullahi and Adam Alhassan Albashir between January, 2022 to August, 2024 at Katsina within the jurisdiction of the Katsina State High Court, being staff of Board of Internal Revenue Services (BOIRS), Katsina and Public Sector Relationship Manager of First Bank, in such capacity conspired among yourselves to commit an unlawful act to wit: unlawfully converted to your personal uses the tax payments meant for the Katsina State Government and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58 of the Penal Code Law of Katsina State and punishable under Section 298 of the Same Law.”

After their plea, prosecution counsel Musa Isah urged the court to fix a trial date to enable the Commission prove its case.

However, the defence counsels filed separate bail applications for the six defendants, requesting their release pending trial. Isah opposed the applications.

Justice Danladi, after listening to both sides, granted bail to each defendant in the sum of N5m with one reliable surety resident within the court’s jurisdiction.

The Judge said surety must possess verifiable landed property, with the title documents to be verified by the court registrar.

The case was adjourned to October 27, 2025, for the commencement of trial.

According to EFCC investigations, Rabiu Abdullahi, a former Director of Collections and current Permanent Secretary of the Board, allegedly authorised the opening of an account named “BOIRS” with Sterling Bank. Sanusi Mohammed Yaro and Ibrahim Mamman were appointed as the sole signatories.

The commission said the account became the main channel for funnelling the diverted funds to NADIKKO General Suppliers, a company allegedly owned and controlled by Nura Lawal, an Assistant Director in the Career Skills/Staff Welfare unit of the Board.

EFCC findings also showed that NADIKKO and Lawal served as key conduits in laundering the proceeds, which were traced to multiple bank accounts linked to the suspects.

News

FG Urges Nigerians Abroad To Register With Embassies For Emergency Support

Published

5 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government has called on Nigerians travelling abroad to register with Nigerian embassies and consulates in their host countries to enable timely intervention during emergencies.

The appeal was made by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dunoma Ahmed, during a meeting with the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Nigeria, led by its Chairman, Idehai Frederick, at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to DICAN, Amb. Ahmed stressed the importance of informing Nigerian missions upon arrival in foreign countries, rather than waiting until problems arise.

“I advise Nigerians to make it a point of duty to make their presence known to the Nigerian mission in the country they’re visiting.

“This simple step can help prevent misunderstandings and ensure that Nigerians receive the support they need in times of crisis.

“There was a recent case of Nigerians trapped in the Central African Republic, where some Nigerians tried to give the Ministry a bad name,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary highlighted the role of timely and accurate information in managing crises and emphasised the need for closer collaboration with media organisations like DICAN to combat misinformation.

“Most of the time, giving the necessary information before they even ask for information is crucial in managing crises effectively.

“We are saddled with the role of laundering the image of the country. Hence, the inevitability of a strengthened partnership between DICAN and the Ministry,” Perm. Sec. noted.

He underscored the significance of disseminating accurate narratives about Nigeria’s foreign policy, particularly in the face of growing disinformation.

Ambassador Ahmed also commended DICAN for hosting the maiden Diplomatic and Security International Conference, which brought together about 70 diplomats, security experts, academics, and representatives of civil society to discuss strategies for global safety and peace.

In appreciation of the Ministry’s cooperation, DICAN Chairman said, “The Permanent Secretary has shown commitment to working with DICAN, and we appreciate his efforts in promoting a positive image of Nigeria.”