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Outrage As South African Police Allegely Kill Unarmed Nigerian 

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Nigerian Citizens Association South Africa (NICASA), on Thursday, expressed shock over the killing of a Nigerian, Kingsley Ezeh, allegedly by the South African police.

The President General of NICASA, Benjamin Okoli, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Mr Ezeh”s death on Tuesday was circumstantial in the hands of members of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD).

According to him, members of the JMPD had invaded Mr Ezeh’s tyre shop in the late evening of January 4, where he was allegedly manhandled in the course of extracting information from him.

He alleged that the deceased was choked by police officers which eventually led to his death.

Mr Okoli said Mr Ezeh was going about his business when metro police officers with an unmarked black-BMW vehicle arrived with his brother that they arrested earlier at a different location.

The NICASA boss said, “What led to the death of Ezeh on January 4, remains a mystery which will be unravelled by police investigation.

“The shop is fitted with a CCTV camera, which we believe will be instrumental and helpful in unravelling the case.

“From indication and the brother’s account, they choked the deceased for several minutes, at the same time asking him to vomit what they assumed he had swallowed; the choking caused asphyxiation.

“Two other Nigerians in the area had allegedly accused same group of Metro Police officers of attacking them only few months ago using plastic bags to cover their heads and they almost died.

“Both Nigerians maintained that nothing was found on them at the time of the attack against them; the police stopped them while driving, after searching their cars and found nothing, insisted on extorting them certain amount.”

According to him, when they refused to pay the bribe, they were attacked and almost died with the plastic used to suffocate them by the said Metro officers.

They also alleged that the Metro officers stole their cell phones and cash.

“We are currently discussing with these two Nigerians, to see how we can add their case to this death as evidence of a pattern of attack by these group of Metro Police against Nigerians.

“The Metro Police had claimed that the late Ezeh ingested substance they suspected is narcotic when they came into his shop and they claimed he had suffocated by the substance he ingested.

“Paramedics were called to the shop where he was confirmed dead on the scene; the leadership of NICASA monitored the situation and ensured that protocols are followed to secure evidence,” he added.

He noted that Mr Ezeh’s death could be considered an unnecessary and systemic xenophobic way of killing Nigerian nationals by the members of the South African police.

He further said that if Mr Ezeh was a criminal but not conceding to it, the police could have arrested and prosecuted him, adding that such death was among many, whereby Nigerians were arbitrarily killed without justification.

He, however, appealed to the Nigerian community to remain calm, while the association awaited the result of the post mortem, in the bid to follow up the case to a logical conclusion.

Mr Ezeh, a native of Oduma, Aninri Local Government of Enugu State, is survived by his wife and children.

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400 Bodies Found In Mass Grave In Gaza Hospital

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The government in Gaza have concluded their search of mass graves at a hospital in the south of the strip and said they have uncovered a total of 392 bodies, including some still wearing surgical gowns.

Speaking at a Thursday news conference at Rafah, on April 25, an official from the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said workers have identified 165 bodies at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier this month.

According to Mohammed Al Mighayyer, they are still examining the remaining 227 bodies to determine their identities.

We found three mass graves, the first in front of the morgue, the second behind the morgue, and the third north of the dialysis building,” he added.

READ ALSO: Israel Bombs Gaza, Fights Hamas Around Hospitals

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said any suggestion that it had buried Palestinian bodies in mass graves was false, and that a grave at the Nasser complex was dug by Palestinians in Gaza some months ago.

The Gaza Civil Defense acknowledged that around 100 bodies were buried in graves at the Nasser hospital before the IDF operation there.

CNN reports that people had buried the bodies of family members who had been killed on the grounds of the hospital as a temporary measure in January but when they returned after the Israeli military withdrew on April 7, they discovered the bodies had been dug up and then placed in at least one collective grave, not all in the initial spots they were buried in.

The Palestinian Civil Defense also showed graphic images on a TV screen at the news conference showing several almost unrecognizable bodies at the complex and bodies of decomposed children.

READ ALSO: Gunfire, Air Strikes As Israel Pushes South Against Gaza Militants

Al Mighayyer said the Civil Defense “witnessed the presence of children’s bodies in the mass graves at the Nasser Medical Complex, which proves crimes of genocide.” While the group says it is still examining the bodies, they suspect at least 20 civilians were buried alive in the complex, but it did not explain how it knows this, or offer proof.

Al Mighayyer also claimed there had been cases of executions of patients who had been receiving treatment at the hospital. He said several bodies were found with gunshot wounds to their heads and injuries to their bodies.

Al Mighayyer said at the news conference that the Palestinian Gaza Civil Defense in Gaza “discovered torture marks on [some] bodies.” CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

Israeli forces buried several bodies in plastic bags at a depth of three meters, which made them decompose quickly.”

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Gas Explosion Rocks Abeokuta

“The occupation deliberately concealed evidence of its crimes in the Nasser Complex by changing the plastic shrouds more than once,” he claimed. Video recorded by CNN shows bodies wrapped in three different coloured shrouds: white, black and blue.

Amnesty International has also called for an investigation into the mass graves at the two Gaza hospitals.

I’m response, the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF said:“During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance with the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined. The examination was conducted in a careful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages.”

The IDF continued: “At the end of February, IDF forces conducted a precise and targeted operation against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Nasser Hospital area. During the operation, about 200 terrorists who were in the hospital were apprehended, medicines intended for Israeli hostages were found undelivered and unused, and a great deal of ammunition was confiscated. The activity was done in a targeted manner and without harming the hospital, the patients and the medical staff.”

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Watch Of Richest Titanic Passenger Sells For £1.17m

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A gold watch found on the body of the richest passenger on the Titanic was auctioned in England for £1.17 million ($1.46 million) on Saturday.

It was a record sum for an object linked to the notorious 1912 shipping disaster, said auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son.

A US buyer won the bidding war, smashing the auctioneer’s pre-sale estimate of between £100,000 and £150,000.

The watch, engraved with the initials JJA, belonged to the US business magnate John Jacob Astor.

READ ALSO: Popular Iraqi TikToker Umm Fahad Gunned Down Outside Baghdad Home

Astor was 47 when he died as the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912. He was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world at the time.

He died after having helped his wife, Madeleine, on board one of the lifeboats. She survived the disaster.

Astor’s body was found a week after the disaster, with the watch among his personal belongings.

The watch itself was completely restored after being returned to Colonel Astor’s family and worn by his son,” said a statement from the auction house.

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Popular Iraqi TikToker Umm Fahad Gunned Down Outside Baghdad Home

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Popular Iraqi social media star Ghufran Sawadi, better known as Umm Fahad, was shot dead outside her home in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, on Friday night.

According to CNN, a Baghdad police source disclosed that the attack occurred in the Zayouna area east of Baghdad.

The source added that the tragic incident was captured on video by a surveillance camera and shared on social media.

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The video showed a gunman riding a motorcycle shooting and killing Sawadi on the spot. A Baghdad police source confirmed the authenticity of the video to CNN.

The country’s Interior Minister announced on Friday that it was “forming a specialized work team to find out the circumstances of the killing of a woman known on social media by unknown assailants.”

Sawadi was popular on TikTok, where she shared videos of herself dancing to pop music in form-fitting clothes. In the past, these videos were deemed inappropriate by Iraq’s judiciary.

READ ALSO: Tinubu Appoints Jim Ovia As Student Loan Fund Chairman

Sawadi was sentenced to six months in prison for “the crime of producing and publishing several films and videos containing obscene and indecent language, violating public decency and morals,” an Iraqi judiciary statement said.

Other Iraqi social media personalities have previously been targeted in deadly attacks.

Most recently, another popular Iraqi TikTok personality, Noor Alsaffar, known as Noor BM, was shot dead in Baghdad in September 2023, an Iraqi security source told CNN at the time.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Tinubu Arrives Riyadh For World Economic Forum⁣⁣

Alsaffar, who had over 370,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, posted short videos about fashion, hair, and makeup, also often dancing to music.

Following news of the shooting, many posted comments lamenting Alsaffar’s death, though others applauded it, celebrating the man who fired the shot.

Alsaffar’s killing came as Iraq cracked down on LGBTQ expression and moved to criminalize it in law.

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