Headline

Plan International Donates Health Materials To Bauchi Schools

Published

1 year ago

June 9, 2024

Plan International, an humanitarian organisation has donated some health club materials to 85 schools in Bauchi state to enhance the health status of students.

Mr Mohammed Musa, Senior Project Coordinator, Plan International, Bauch, stated this in Bauchi on Friday during the donation of the items.

He said that the event demonstrated the commitment of this Ministry of Education in harnessing all available resources for the attainment of high education standards for the children in the state through strategic partnership and carefully articulated interventions.

According to him, the gesture was the product of evidenced-based partnership that culminated from the first day the commissioner of education assumed office.

He highlighted some of the items donated to the selected schools to include; 4,225 packs of Menstrual Pads, 169 pieces of first aid boxes, 85 pieces of first Aid kits with supplies in them and 423 pieces of hand sanitizers.

Others he said included; 85 pieces of branded hijabs,165 pieces of football, 344 pieces of skipping rope, 84 packs of whiteboard marker, 169 pieces of white board stand and 85 pieces of small medical scissors.

“On behalf of Plan International, I extend our profound gratitude to the Ministry of Education for allowing us to support in this area and to pledge our continued support to the Ministry in their journey towards providing quality education to our teeming children in a healthy environment,” he said.

In her acceptance speech, the state Commissioner for Education, Dr Jamila Dahiru, said that the items would go a long way in assisting the students.

“I would like to thank them for not only believing in us to revive the health clubs, but also coming up with a manual that can be used in the various clubs.

“This gesture would allow us to have healthy students in our schools learning and becoming our proud future leaders,” she said.

Also speaking, the Executive Chairman Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alh Adamu Duguri, urged the management of the selected schools to ensure that the items were judiciously used for the purposes they were meant for.

He also advised them not to take the items to the market and sell them off.

Headline

Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

6 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

A Zambian court on Monday sentenced two men to two years in prison with hard labour on charges of attempting to use witchcraft to kill the country’s president.

Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Zambian village chief Leonard Phiri were arrested in December in possession of charms, including a live chameleon.

Police said they planned to use the charms to harm President Hakainde Hichilema, and they were charged with professing knowledge of witchcraft and possession of charms.

“The motive of the crime was to kill the head of state,” magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled in the capital Lusaka on Monday.

“The convicts were not only enemies of the head of state but all Zambians. I therefore sentence them to 24 months imprisonment with hard labour from the date of their arrest,” he said.

The prosecution said the men had been hired by the brother of opposition MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda, who is facing trial for robbery, attempted murder and escaping custody.

Headline

Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial

Published

6 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Criminal Court ‘D’ in Monrovia is set to deliver judgment this week in Liberia’s first piracy trial, involving two Nigerian nationals accused of hijacking a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to court records, the defendants were arrested earlier this year after a Liberia-flagged ship was seized by armed men while transporting goods through international waters. The crew sent a distress signal, prompting international maritime forces to intervene.

The suspects were subsequently transferred to Liberian authorities under global maritime cooperation protocols.

According to Liberia’s news platform, Front Page Africa, the case has attracted attention because Liberia maintains one of the world’s largest open ship registries, yet prosecutions for piracy within its domestic courts have not previously occurred. Under international law, Liberia holds jurisdiction over crimes involving ships registered under its flag.

On Monday, proceedings took a new turn when defense lawyer, Cllr. Bestman Juah, informed the court that the defendants had admitted responsibility for the hijacking and were requesting a plea-bargain arrangement. State prosecutors did not oppose the request, leaving open the possibility of reduced sentences in exchange for full cooperation.

Resident Judge Mameita Jabateh-Sirleaf, who presides over Criminal Court ‘D’, will rule on whether to accept the plea deal and determine the sentencing framework. The ruling could also address deportation measures following imprisonment.

Criminal Court ‘D’ handles cases involving armed robbery, terrorism, hijacking, and other serious crimes, and the piracy trial represents a growing trend of transnational offenses being prosecuted within Liberia’s judicial system.
As of press time, the court has not announced the date for sentencing.

Headline

Spain Cancels $825m Israel Arms Deal Over Gaza

Published

6 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

The Spanish government has cancelled a contract worth nearly 700 million euros ($825 million) for Israeli-designed rocket launchers.

The move comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week that his government would “consolidate in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The contract, awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies, involved the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance.

First reported by local media and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation was formalised on Spain’s official public contracts platform on September 9.

The following day, Sanchez unveiled measures aimed at stopping what his leftist government called “the genocide in Gaza”.

It includes the approval of a decree imposing a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel due to its military offensive in Gaza, launched after the Hamas attacks in October 2023.

Spain applied the ban as Israel stepped up its military onslaught.

Spain has also formalized the cancellation of another contract for 168 anti-tank missile launchers, which were to be manufactured under license from an Israeli company.

That contract, valued at 287 million euros, had been first reported by the press in June.

According to Spanish daily La Vanguardia, the government is undertaking a broader review to phase out Israeli weapons and technology from its armed forces.

Sanchez has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza policy.

Relations between the two countries have been tense for months.

Israel has not had an ambassador in Spain since Madrid recognized the state of Palestine in 2024.

Last week, Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel after heated exchanges over Sánchez’s new measures.

The Barcelona-based Delas Centre, a security research institute, estimated in April that since the start of the Gaza war, Spain had awarded 46 contracts worth $1.044 billion to Israeli companies, based on public tender data.