Nigeria Is Facing an Information War in Its Own Language
[T]he Niger Republic, supported by Russia and its AES allies, has been engaged in information efforts to attack ECOWAS countries, particularly Nigeria and Benin Republic. … Online influencers and sympathetic media outlets, including some based within Nigeria itself, have circulated claims accusing Nigerian politicians of backing insurgent networks and conspiring with foreign powers to destabilise the AES states. … On Christmas Day of 2024, General Tchiani … delivered what a casual viewer might have mistaken for a holiday address. Although French had been Niger’s official language, he spoke in Hausa – a lingua franca in both Niger and most of northern Nigeria, spoken by millions across West Africa. His choice of language was deliberate. The message was not addressed to Niamey alone. It was addressed to Kano and other Hausa-speaking states, particularly in Northern Nigeria, where there is an already visible pro-Russian and anti-West sentiment, as reflected in 2024 when Russian flags were raised during a nationwide protest against insecurity and economic hardship. … [The junta leaders of Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali] launched a joint television channel to promote a unified narrative across their territories] into the Hausa-speaking communities of northern Nigeria, who share language, faith, and enough legitimate frustration to make the narratives land without the need for fabrication in every detail. … “What Niger and Russia are doing is not complicated,” [a security analyst who works on influence operations in West Africa] said. “They are creating the conditions under which Nigerian citizens begin to see their own government as the enemy.” HumAngle
Oyo Abduction: Tinubu Deploys Special Rescue Team, Approves 1,000 Forest Guards
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the recruitment of 1,000 forest guards in Oyo State and directed the deployment of a specialised security team to intensify rescue efforts following the abduction of pupils and teachers in Ogbomoso area of the state. The development came as a high-powered Federal Government delegation on Sunday visited Esiele and Yawota communities in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, where pupils and teachers of Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and L.A. Primary School were abducted on May 15, 2026. … The delegation also informed community leaders and lawmakers that their request for the establishment of a military base in the area would be conveyed to the President for consideration and approval. In addition, President Tinubu directed a specialised security unit with advanced rescue capabilities to intensify ongoing efforts aimed at securing the release of the abducted pupils and teachers. PR Nigeria
Women Say They Were Raped and Ransomed by Fighters in Sudan’s Ongoing War
The United Nations calls sexual violence one of the “most defining features” of Sudan’s war, now in its fourth year. … The U.N. says many women have been subject to sexual slavery and forced to pay ransoms for their release, sometimes up to $10,000. The AP met three women who said they were abducted, held as sex slaves and forced to buy their freedom. … All three blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that are battling Sudan’s military. The U.N. and rights groups have accused all parties of sexual assault, including allied armed groups, but they say the majority of the violence has been committed by the RSF, particularly in the Khartoum area, Darfur and Gezira state. The U.N. says South Kordofan has also become a hot spot as the war expands there. … [Women who are unable to pay] remain captive and eventually disappear, said Hala Alkarib, regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, a grassroots feminist network. … Incidents of ransom, including for a small number involving sexual assault, have jumped by nearly 195% from the beginning of the war until May, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit. It said the majority of perpetrators are RSF fighters. AP
Sudan: Sky Ends Controversial News Joint Venture in United Arab Emirates
Sky is exiting its TV news joint venture with the United Arab Emirates, Sky News Arabia, which has been criticised for its coverage of the war in Sudan, with accusations of genocide denial. … The Abu Dhabi-based free-to-air channel was created in 2010 as a rival to Arabic-language TV news channels including Al Jazeera and the BBC World Service’s News Arabic. … Internally, Sky executives have become increasingly concerned about the editorial position Sky News Arabia has taken on news in the region. Coverage of the atrocities carried out in Sudan by the UAE-backed paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has been accused of whitewashing genocide. In November, the government of Sudan banned Sky News Arabia from operating inside its territory after the satellite channel sent a crew to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which produced a report claiming the security and humanitarian situation had stabilised. The reporter sent by Sky News Arabia is married to a senior official in the RSF’s parallel government. The channel has subsequently filed news reports and online articles suggesting there was no evidence on the ground supporting satellite imagery and testimony from survivors of the atrocities. In February, a UN-mandated fact-finding mission concluded that the siege, capture and 18-month occupation of the city by the RSF and allied militias deliberately targeted the destruction of ethnic minority communities with the “hallmarks of genocide”. The Guardian
UN Convenes Workshop for Sudanese Stakeholders in Addis Ababa
The spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday said the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy to Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, will travel to Sudan later this week to continue consultations with the Sudanese authorities and other stakeholders in the country. Stéphane Dujarric added that the Quintet, which comprises the African Union, the European Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the League of Arab States, and the United Nations, will convene Sudanese civilian stakeholders for a workshop today, Wednesday, in Addis Ababa, as part of the process aimed at discussing the parameters and priorities of a future inter-Sudanese civilian dialogue. “Mr. Haavisto will be there for part of the workshop, ahead of his travel to Sudan,” he said. “This workshop will build on the extensive consultations the Quintet has undertaken in recent months with a broad spectrum of Sudanese stakeholders, including political blocs, political parties, civil society actors, women’s groups, youth groups, and representatives of displaced communities, on the contours of the dialogue process.” Radio Tamazuj
Tanzania President Visits Russia As Western Ties Fray
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan begins a three-day state visit to Russia on Wednesday, meeting counterpart Vladimir Putin at a time when her country’s reputation in the West has been badly damaged. Western diplomats and rights groups have accused her government of massacring hundreds of people during election unrest in October and of conducting a spate of abductions and murders of critics in the run-up to the vote. The United States has said it is reviewing relations with Tanzania in the wake of the violence, and last week sanctioned a senior police officer over the torture of two well-known activists. … Hassan has been unapologetic about the political crackdown in her country, describing activists and protesters as “disrespectful children” who should be “beaten with canes”. She brings a business delegation to Moscow hoping to cement deals in trade, tourism and minerals during the first state visit to Russia by a Tanzanian president since the country’s founding father, Julius Nyerere, travelled there in October 1969. AFP
Zimbabwe Justice Minister Introduces Bill to Extend 83-year-old President’s Term
Zimbabwe’s justice minister on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill in Parliament that would extend the tenure of the country’s 83-year-old president and shift presidential elections from a direct popular vote to selection by lawmakers. The proposal would defer elections due in 2028 by two years and extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term to 2030. It would also lengthen the terms of the president, MPs, councilors and mayors from five to seven years. The move has heightened political tensions in a country where critics of the government have often been detained or harassed. Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi last week said he aims to complete the legislative process and have the measure passed by Parliament by the end of June, after which Mnangagwa can sign it into law. Mnangagwa has been in power since 2017 following the popular military-backed ouster of his mentor and longtime ruler, Robert Mugabe, who died in 2019. … Critics argue that extending presidential terms requires a referendum. … Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court has yet to rule on several legal challenges to the proposal. AP
How Health Workers in DR Congo Are Treating Ebola and Staying Safe
Health workers in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo are racing against the clock to help Ebola patients manage their symptoms, as well as keep themselves safe and prevent the risk of spreading the virus. … All patients – suspected and confirmed – are isolated and all those who come into contact with them are supposed to wear full personal protective equipment (PPE), and use other equipment to minimise transmission. One such device is the Cube, a transparent “self-contained treatment unit for highly infectious diseases” that allows a patient to receive medical treatment without direct contact from medical staff. Created in the aftermath of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the Alliance for International Medical Action (Alima) designed them to allow medical staff to treat patients from outside, with the use of attached tunnel-like gloves. But while these are useful, there are not enough in DR Congo compared to the number of suspected cases of Ebola. … Supplies of PPE are also limited. Sixteen health workers are confirmed to have contracted Ebola during this outbreak. BBC
DRC Adds Lithium to Higher-Tax Strategic Minerals List
DR Congo added lithium to a list of strategic minerals that are subject to increased royalties, the country’s latest bid to boost revenues from its natural resources. Niobium, tantalum, tungsten, and uranium were also added to the list of minerals in the higher 10% tax bracket, according to a video posted on the mines ministry’s X account. The country’s southeastern region is home to one of the world’s largest hard-rock deposits of lithium, key for making batteries used in the renewable energy sector. DR Congo, like other African nations, is trying to capture more value from their raw materials. It imposed restrictions on cobalt exports late last year, forcing the metal’s largest producers to adopt new strategies. Ghana’s gold regulators, for example, introduced a new sliding‑scale royalty rate in March that rises in line with bullion prices. And Mali’s revised mining code sparked a dispute with Canadian miner Barrick last year, while Zimbabwe suspended its lithium exports earlier this year. Semafor
Hundreds Flee As South Africa Anti-Migrant Mobs Go Door-to-Door
Hundreds of foreigners fearing for their lives have taken shelter in community halls on South Africa’s south coast, saying mobs of locals were going door-to-door telling them to leave the country. Mostly nationals of Malawi and Mozambique, many told AFP they had fled their homes at the weekend and spent nights in the mountains and bush, before making their way to the small-town community centres. … Weeks of mostly small protests across South Africa against undocumented foreign nationals exploded into violence at the weekend in the town of Mossel Bay, 250 kilometres up the coast, where 55 shacks were torched. … The Mozambique government said five of its citizens were killed as a “direct consequence of the xenophobic attacks”. Around 300 fled back across the border on Saturday and hundreds more will follow, it said. The deaths would be the first linked to a new wave of anti-migrant protests by fringe groups that accuse undocumented foreign nationals of crime and taking scarce jobs and resources away from locals. … “They were dragging people out of their houses… whether you are legal or illegal, they say they don’t want any foreign nationals in the township,” local councillor Msa Nomatiti told AFP. … More than 500 people had fled their homes Monday, he said. By late Tuesday, small groups could still be seen walking out of informal settlements in the area, hauling their belongings in the dark night and soft rain as they made their way to places of safety. AFP
Ghana: Mahama Renews Advocacy for UN Reform to Grant Africa Permanent Representation on Security Council
President John Mahama has renewed Ghana’s advocacy for the United Nations reform to grant Africa permanent representation on the UN Security Council. He reiterated that it was a matter of global justice to rectify the continent’s historical exclusion from the Council’s decision-making process. The President made the call in his presentation delivered at the Chatham House in London, during which he shared Ghana’s perspective on “Navigating a Changing Global Order: Ghana’s Strategic Priorities”. He said Ghana believed that the institutions of global governance must evolve to reflect comprehensive political realities rather than the power structures of 1945. The President said the international system could not sustainably preserve its legitimacy, while significant portions of humanity remained structurally underrepresented in global decision-making. He said Africa, with 54 member states at the United Nations and a population projected to constitute nearly one quarter of humanity by 2050, continues to be excluded from permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council. Joy Online
UK Defeats Rwanda Claim for £100mn Compensation over Asylum Plan
The UK will not have to pay Rwanda up to £106mn in compensation for cancelling the previous Conservative government’s plan to send asylum seekers to the African country, an international tribunal has ruled. Rwanda’s government in January asked the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to force the UK to hand over compensation for alleged breaches of the deal to pay Rwanda to house and consider the claims of people who had sought asylum in Britain. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer cancelled the deal, which Labour says has cost more than £700mn, shortly after winning the general election in July 2024. The plan, which was struck under Starmer’s Tory predecessor Rishi Sunak and aimed at deterring small boat crossings in the English Channel, had previously been ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court. On Monday, the Permanent Court of Arbitration announced that a panel of three judges had unanimously rejected four of Rwanda’s five claims against the UK and rejected a fifth by a majority, with one judge dissenting. … Financial Times