Gnmen Kidnap Staff and Baby from Northwest Nigerian Hospital

Gunmen kidnapped up to eight people, including the one-year-old child of a nurse, from a hospital’s staff residential quarters in northwest Nigeria, while assailants simultaneously attacked a nearby police station, police and hospital officials said.

Kaduna state has been hit by a wave of kidnappings for ransom by armed men. Zaria, where the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Centre hospital is located, has been particularly hard hit, and the attack was the third on the hospital.

The attack in the early morning hours of Sunday lasted for roughly an hour, hospital spokesperson Maryam Abdulrazaq told Reuters.

She said six people had been abducted: two nurses, one with her one-year-old child, a laboratory technician, a security guard and one other staff member. Police gave the number of hostages as eight.

“So far, [there was] no ransom demand,” Abdulrazaq said. “We have not heard from the bandits since they took them away.”

In a separate statement, Kaduna police spokesman Muhammed Jalige said that a “large number” of armed men from the same group attacked the divisional police headquarters at roughly the same time “in an attempt to overrun the officers on duty.”

Jalige said police repelled the attack after a heavy exchange of gunfire, injuring some of the attackers. Police recovered dozens of shell casings from rifles and machine guns.

He said officers from tactical, anti-kidnapping and other units were working to rescue those kidnapped from the hospital.

Kidnappings for ransom have become endemic in northern Nigeria. More than 800 students have been abducted since December, at least 150 of whom remain missing.

Source: Voice of America

Vcious Mass Rape of Women has become a weapon against the Tigray in Ethiopian war

It’s difficult to pick the most disturbing story that has come out of the ongoing civil war taking place in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. There is the story of a 40-year-old woman who was repeatedly gang-raped by a group of 15 Eritrean soldiers and left on the side of a road. There is also the story of a 34-year-old woman who was raped by four Amhara forces and had a hot metal rod inserted into her genitals to burn her uterus. And then there is the story of a 65-year-old woman who was forced to watch as her two daughters were gang-raped and beaten in front of her.

In a recent debate in front of the British parliament, Labour Party politician Helen Hayes estimated that at least 10,000 women in Tigray have been raped since the beginning of the war.

This past April, Pramila Patten, the U.N. special representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict said it might be months before officials fully know the full scale of the atrocities committed against women and girls in Tigray. She made those comments at the UN Security Council’s open debate on conflict-related sexual violence.

A vicious war erupts

War broke out in the Tigray region of Ethiopia on November 4, 2020. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a full-scale attack on Tigray after he accused the state leaders, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), of attacking a federal military base. Tensions between the TPLF and the federal government had been growing since Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018. The TPLF accused him of sidelining them in the federal political process while he in turn accused them of disrupting the long list of reforms he promised when he came to power.

Tensions boiled over when the TPLF decided to hold state elections in mid-2020 after the national elections were postponed due to the Coronavirus.

The war, however, did not surprise those who had been following politics in the East African nation. In the year leading up to the conflict, organizations like the Crisis Group were repeatedly calling for the de-escalation of tensions.

The federal government dubbed the military strike a “law enforcement operation” and declared the conflict over in three weeks after all big cities in Tigray were taken by federal groups. However, unofficially, the war is entering its eighth month.

Rape as a weapon of war

Among the many appalling human rights violations in the Tigray war, the stories of mass rape are by far the worst.

The Ethiopian government along with allies such as the neighboring Eritrean government and Amhara regional forces went to war against Tigray. Victims report that most of the violence and rape comes from the Eritrean troops and Amhara forces from the neighboring state of Amhara.

The Ethiopian government sealed off the Tigray region from any reporters for months. But once reporters and aid agencies were allowed to enter, horrific stories started pouring out.

A nun in the region, who chose to remain anonymous for security reasons, told The Guardian that rape is happening wherever Ethiopian and Eritrean troops go.

Rape is starting at the age of 8 and to the age of 72. It is so widespread, I go on seeing it everywhere, thousands. This rape is in public, in front of family, husbands, in front of everyone. Their legs and their hands are cut, all in the same way.

Evelyn Regner, chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) called for the perpetrators to be held accountable for using sexual violence as a weapon of war in the Tigray war.

Sexual violence against women and girls has been used as a weapon of war for centuries. Unfortunately, it is still the case in many conflicts throughout the world and the civil war in northern Ethiopia is yet another example of it.

“Unimaginable nightmare”

Tigrayans in the diaspora have been campaigning to stop the war in Tigray since the beginning of the war. Most of them have immediate or extended family living in the region.

Global Voices talked to numerous Tigrayans living in the diaspora, including, Meron, a 42-year-old resident of Chicago, who has a sister and cousins living in the town of Adigrat in Tigray.

What’s happening to our families and our people is such a nightmare, an unimaginable nightmare. I thank God that my sister and immediate family are safe so far, but we have extended family that has been raped or killed. But what keeps all of us awake every night is that the war is still going on, so nobody is really safe.

A number of protests have taken place across the world against what Tigrayans say is a genocidal war on their families. They say over a hundred thousand civilians have been killed since the start of the war.

Aside from mass executions of civilians and rape, Tigray is now facing a famine, which could cost thousands of more lives.

USAID estimates that 900,000 people in Tigray are living in famine conditions. Samantha Powers, head of USAID, has been very vocal in accusing the Ethiopian government of blocking aid to civilians in need.

“Every Tigrayan I know is advocating day and night for the war to end,” says Meron. “If this doesn’t end, I’m afraid it will be my sister that’s raped next or my family that’s executed.” Meron’s fear is in reference to the many men that Ethiopian troops have executed while they film themselves on their phones. These crimes were reported on and verified by news outlets such as CNN and The Telegraph after video footage surfaced of Ethiopian soldiers shooting unarmed men. These are among many potential war crimes that have yet to be investigated

The situation in Tigray remains volatile as Tigray leaders vow to fight until they push Eritrean and Amhara forces out.

Source: Global Voices

140 Students Abducted in Northwestern Nigeria 

Armed kidnappers have taken 140 students from their boarding school in northwestern Nigeria, local officials announced Monday.

Attackers opened fire on the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state early Monday, abducting most of the 165 pupils boarding there overnight.

Teachers at the school told reporters they don’t know where the students were taken.

Police in Kaduna state said they have rescued 26 people, including one teacher.

Monday’s abduction is one of many recent kidnappings, usually for ransom, that have hit schools in northern Nigeria.

Late last month, gunmen attacked a school in the northwest state of Kebbi, abducting at least 80 students and teachers.

Amnesty International reports about 600 schools in northern Nigeria have closed as a result of persistent attacks since late last year.

Earlier this year, the government promised more security deployment to schools. But teachers and activists in the country say their schools remain poorly protected.

Nigerian authorities have faced increased criticism over the kidnappings, one of the country’s many security challenges including the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, and a growing separatist movement in the southeast.

Source: Voice of America

Suth Africa: Former president Zuma buys time as Constitutional court accepts to examine appeal on July 12

PRETORIA — Sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court, former South African president Jacob Zuma is not expected to be arrested until at least 12 July. The Constitutional Court will now examine his appeal.

Jacob Zuma had argued that at 79 years old and in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, a stay in prison would be equivalent to a death sentence.

He made a brief appearance outside his home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday to meet his supporters in a festive atmosphere.

“South African justice system is not fair. We need to show sympathy to comrade Jacob Zuma. We’re here to support him and enforce that he doesn’t go to prison. We’ll defend him.” Ngryngrai Ngwenya, Jacob Zuma supporter said.

Nduna Mpanza , Zulu warrior. “We are here to protect Mr Msholozi (Jacob Zuma) because we trust Msholozi is always protecting our nation, the Zulu nation. We’re here to present as a Zulu Nation called Ibotho iKa Zulu. So Msholozi is a Zulu man, always protecting the Zulu nation”.

The situation is expected to remain calm for now as Jacob Zuma will not be arrested in the coming days.

On Tuesday June 29, the constitutional court found him guilty of contempt for defying its order to appear before a corruption inquiry.

A deadline for his arrest had been set for midnight on Sunday July 4.

However, the constitutional court later agreed to hear his challenge to the 15-month jail term he was given.

The Constitutional Court will now consider his appeal on 12 July.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Arica should produce vaccines on the continent, African Development Bank Group head says on eve of the group’s 2021 Annual Meetings

African Development Bank Group president Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina has again urged regional leaders to focus on vaccine production and access for the African continent as the Covid-19 epidemic continues to take lives and hurt economies and livelihoods.

Adesina addressed leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at a special summit held on Saturday, just days before the Bank Group’s 2021 Annual meetings, scheduled for 23-25 June.

“Africa needs solutions to help it navigate through the very challenging times posed by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Adesina said. “But the rebound will depend on access to vaccines.”

The African Development Bank will support the continent as part of the vaccines plan of the African Union. It is planning to commit $3 billion to develop the pharmaceutical industry in Africa, Adesina said. “Africa should not be begging for vaccines,” Adesina said. “Africa should be producing vaccines,” he stressed.

In recent months, the African Development Bank president has publicly emphasized the need to rapidly build a health care defense system for the continent, to tackle Covid-19 and future pandemics.

The Bank has already channeled $2 million in emergency assistance to the World Health Organization to bolster the WHO’s capacity for infection prevention, testing, and case management. It has also provided $28 million in funding to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) for a Covid-19 response project. This will strengthen capacity to coordinate the Covid-19 response and future epidemics across Africa.

This year, the Bank is organizing its annual meetings around the theme, “Building Resilient Economies in Post Covid-19 Africa.” The meetings will provide a platform for its governors to share their countries’ experience in addressing the pandemic and the policy measures they are employing to rebuild economies and livelihoods.

In their communiqué, the ECOWAS heads welcomed the recent decision by G7 nations to provide additional vaccines to developing countries. They encouraged the West Africa Health Organization to intensify its efforts to mobilize partnerships to produce Covid-19 vaccines in Africa.

Adesina said the recent decision by the International Monetary Fund to issue special drawing rights (SDRs) provides a real opportunity to rebuild back better and greener and to tackle Africa’s debt challenges, more decisively. “The G-7 Leaders’ summit last week gave the green light for allocating $100 billion of SDRs to Africa. This will open the way for much-needed relief for Africa,” he noted.

African leaders, at a summit in Paris in May, called for the African Development Bank to receive SDRs on behalf of African countries, and to use them to on-lend to African public development banks. Adesina said it would be important to allocate some of this to buy down Africa’s “very expensive debt” owed to private creditors that will engaged with the international community.

The Bank president, who has proposed an African Financial Stability Mechanism to protect the continent against external shocks, said such a mechanism was critical. “It will require that we mutualize our resources, avoid regional spillover effects, regionalize fiscal policy rules, develop homegrown reforms and debt-resolution approaches, and provide a regional safety net that will complement the global safety net of the International Monetary Fund,” he said.

Adesina also touched on insecurity on the continent, highlighting that terrorist actions affect countries all across the continent, including the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin as well as the Horn of Africa regions which must re-direct huge resources from their development programs.

He said: “These insecurity situations now pose the biggest risks to Africa’s development. We must now link security to investment, growth and development.”

The African Development Bank is calling for the development of security-indexed investment bonds. Taking advantage of low long-term interest rates, these bonds will allow Africa to leverage resources on the global capital markets to reinforce its security in support of growth and development, and to protect investments.

The bonds can be delivered through special purpose vehicles, established on behalf of a pool of African countries. The African Development Bank and other development partners can credit-enhance them. Administering the bond proceeds would be managed under the auspices of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council and regional economic communities.

The ECOWAS leaders’ communiqué commended the African Development Bank Group for launching a facility to support African countries — including ECOWAS member states — to address the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. It also welcomed the Bank’s support to the G5 Sahel countries as they seek to strengthen national health systems, and for its support to the West Africa Health Organization.

Source: African Development Bank