Headline
Religious Intolerance: CAN Chides US Govt, Says Boko Haram, ISWAP, Bandits Killing Christians

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has requested the United States Government to provide the data used to delist Nigeria from ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ regarding freedom of religion.
CAN asked if the US was unaware that Boko Haram, Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), bandits and violent herdsmen still attack Christians.
The President, Rev Samson Ayokunle, in a statement on Saturday, regretted that America did not contact the body before taking its decision.
The leader noted that CAN would have compared their statistics then and now with its own.
READ ALSO:U.S Charges South Africa-based Nigerian Cultists With Fraud, Money Laundering
He said whatever the parameters “the prayer is Nigeria would be a country where no religious group is persecuted and our government ensures religiously-biased policies are discontinued”.
The President said terrorists’ agenda was to “wipe away Christianity and plant Islam as the only religion from the North down to the Atlantic Ocean in the South”.
Ayokunle informed the US that the bandits have joined other militant Islamic groups, “ferociously attacking churches, killing worshippers and kidnapping for ransom”.
“The herdsmen are equally doing their havoc. We have lost many people and places of worship to their assault.
“The madness has grown now and those who are not Christians are being attacked, killed and kidnapped.
“This is because these criminal acts have become a lucrative business and it is whoever you can kidnap for money!”
Ayokunle maintains all right-thinking people would continue to ask the US to let the world know what has changed.
Citing examples, the cleric accused many Northern states of failing to reverse the policy which denies Christians the Certificate of Occupancy to build churches.
He complained that the states do not allow Christian students to study Christian Religious Studies in public schools.
Ayokunle said Christian students are denied admission to government universities to study courses like Law and Medicine, among others.
The statement reminded America that Leah Sharibu and students kidnapped from Bethel Baptist High School were left with the kidnappers “without any purposeful rescue mission”.
“The relatives and churches of the kidnapped people are being forced to pay ransoms worth millions of Naira to secure their people or children!
“The Federal Government refused to see banditry as terrorism and has therefore refused to label them as terrorists. For whose good is this?
“Is it because the bandits are close to those in government or because of religious consideration?”, Ayokunle quipped.
He expressed dismay that terrorists who surrendered or were captured are not prosecuted but cared for under the Buhari administration’s rehabilitation programme.
“These people sent many people to early graves! Is this action of government fair to the people they killed and the rest of us traumatized and put in sadness.”.
Ayokunle disclosed that religious persecution and discrimination will be discussed at the next Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC).
READ ALSO: US Removes Nigeria From List Of ‘Religious Freedom’ Violators
This, according to him, would douse tension and foster a harmonious relationship between religious adherents in the country.
(DAILY POST)
Headline
12 Feared Dead In Kenya Light Aircraft Crash

A small plane travelling from Kenya’s coast crashed on Tuesday, according to the country’s aviation authority, with the 12 people on board feared dead.
The small plane was en route to Kichwa Tembo — a private airstrip located in the Maasai Mara National Park — from the tourist hotspot of Diani when it came down at around 5:30am local time (0230 GMT).
“The aircraft had 12 persons on board,” a statement from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said.
It gave no further details, but said that government agencies were already on site to establish the cause of the accident.
READ ALSO:Putin Admits Russia Caused Azerbaijani Plane Crash
The Guardian reports that plane crashes are fairly common in Kenya in the last 18 months. On March 5, 2024, a mid-air collision between a Safarilink Aviation commercial flight and a 99 Flying School training aircraft occurred over the Nairobi National Park, resulting in two fatalities.
The incident took place shortly after both aircraft had departed Wilson Airport. The collision involved Safarilink Aviation Flight 053, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8 carrying 39 passengers and five crew members, and a 99 Flying School Cessna 172M.
AMREF Aircraft Crash
In August, a light aircraft belonging to the AMREF Flying Doctors crashed into a residential area in Mwihoko, Ruiru, Kiambu County, killing six people and injuring at least two others.
The aircraft, a Cessna Citation XLS (registration 5Y-FDM), had taken off from Wilson Airport and was en route to Hargeisa, Somalia, when it went down under unclear circumstances.
READ ALSO:Fire On Board Forces Lagos-Atlanta-bound Aircraft Diversion To Ghana
AMREF Flying Doctors CEO Stephen Gitau issued a statement confirming the incident. Mr Gitau noted that the aircraft departed Wilson Airport at 2.17 PM before crashing in Mwihoko. He stated that the organisation is “cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation.”
Foreign Couple Killed in Kenyan Plane Crash, Earlier in January, a light aircraft crash killed a foreign couple aboard. The accident involved a Cessna 185 aircraft that departed from Nairobi and was en route to Mbaruk in Nakuru County. It went down in the lakeside town of Naivasha at approximately 5:14 p.m. local time (1414 GMT).
At the time, Naivasha Police Deputy Chief Charles Mwai suggested that poor visibility due to fog in the area might have been a contributing factor. Aviation experts have been called to the scene to conduct an investigation.
Headline
UK Police Arrest Asylum Seeker Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed

The UK police on Sunday arrested an Ethiopian asylum seeker and convicted sex offender, whose crimes had sparked anti-immigration protests, after he was accidentally released from prison in an embarrassing blunder by British authorities.
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers arrested Hadush Kebatu in the north of the capital on Sunday morning, nearly 48 hours after he was mistakenly freed around 30 miles (48 kilometres) away.
Kebatu, 38, had served the first month of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, but was reportedly due to be deported when the Prison Service error occurred on Friday.
His high-profile case earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, sparked demonstrations in various English towns and cities where asylum seekers were believed to be housed, as well as counter-protests.
READ ALSO:UK Police Hunt Asylum Seeker Mistakenly Freed For Sex Offence
Commander James Conway, who oversaw the manhunt for him, said “information from the public” led officers to the Finsbury Park neighbourhood of London, where he was found.
“He was detained by police but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service,” he added.
Kebatu is now expected to be deported.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday he was “appalled” by the “totally unacceptable” mistake that saw him freed rather than sent to an immigration detention centre.
The Telegraph newspaper said he was wrongly categorised for release on licence and handed a £76 ($101) discharge grant.
READ ALSO:Alleged Misappropriation: MFM Accuses UK Agency Of Discrimination
Police had appealed Saturday for Kebatu to turn himself in, after reports emerged that he had appeared confused and reluctant to leave the prison in Chelmsford, eastern England.
A delivery driver described seeing Kebatu return several times in a “very confused” state, only to be turned away by staff and directed to the railway station.
The driver told Sky News he saw Kebatu outside the jail, asking, “Where am I going? What am I doing?”
“He was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed,” the driver said.
READ ALSO:UK Is A Home, Not Hotel, Kemi Badenoch Tells Immigrants, Starmer’s Govt
The father of Kebatu’s anonymous teenage victim told the broadcaster that “the justice system has let us down.”
Police arrested the asylum seeker in July after he repeatedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl and touch her legs, and made sexually explicit comments to her.
He also sexually assaulted an adult woman, placing a hand on her thigh, when she intervened to stop his interactions with the girl.
He was staying at the time at Epping’s Bell Hotel, where scores of other asylum seekers have been accommodated, and which became the target of repeated protests.
AFP
Headline
Madagascar Revokes Ousted President’s Nationality

Madagascar’s new government has stripped ousted president Andry Rajoelina of his Malagasy nationality in a decree published Friday, 10 days after he was removed in a military takeover.
According to AFP, the decree means that Rajoelina, who was impeached on October 14 after fleeing the island nation in the wake of weeks of protests, would not be able to contest future election.
The decree published in the official gazette said Rajoelina’s Malagasy nationality was revoked because he had acquired French nationality in 2014, local media reported, as photographs of the document were shared online.
READ ALSO:Madagascar’s President Denounces ‘Coup Attempt’ As Gen Z Protests Escalate
French broadcaster RFI said it had confirmed the decree with the entourage of the new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who signed the order.
The decree cited laws stipulating that a Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality loses their Malagasy nationality.
Rajoelina’s French nationality caused a scandal when it was revealed ahead of the November 2023 elections, nearly 10 years after it was granted.
READ ALSO:Madagascar Passes Bill To Castrate Child R*pists
It triggered calls for him to be disqualified but he went on to win the contested polls, which were boycotted by opposition parties.
The 51-year-old politician fled Madagascar after army Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on October 11 his CAPSAT unit would refuse orders to put down the youth-led protest movement, which security forces had attempted to suppress with violence.
Rajoelina said later he was in hiding for his safety, but did not say where.
Randrianirina was sworn in as president on October 14, pledging elections within two years.
Metro4 days agoLagos: Festac DPO, Matilda Ngbaronye Is Dead
News5 days agoCSOs, Academia, Impacted Communities Launch Climate Justice Campaign In Edo
News2 days agoSix Countries With Highest Number Of Billionaires In 2025
News4 days agoObasanjo Holds Memorial Service For Late Wife, Stella, Says She Lived Serving Others
News1 day agoEdo Gives Ex-deputy Gov One Week To Return State Assets
Politics4 days agoWhy I Refused To Endorse El-Rufai As My Successor — Obasanjo
News4 days agoWhy Sowore Was Taken To Prison After Bail – Police
Politics4 days agoPDP Unveils 13-member Screening Panel For National Convention
Metro4 days agoPolice Arrest Lovers, Others For Murder, Robbery In Sokoto
News1 day agoAnambra, Lagos, Others Top 2025 Fiscal Performance Rankings, As C’Rivers Dropped from 5th to 30th
















