Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, says Nnamdi Kanu was kidnapped by the Federal Government.
Kanu was on Sunday extradited to Nigeria to face trial after he jumped bail and fled the country in 2017.
Speaking with BBC Pidgin on Monday, the literary icon said there would be an uproar in the country if the truth of how Kanu was arrested becomes known.
“It’s not for me to tell the president to prepare itself because it’s going to be a huge squawk when the truth about how Kanu was arrested comes out. People are alleging this or that. That is one phase whether Nigeria has acted outside international law,” Soyinka said.
“The second issue, however, has to do with Kanu’s conduct outside the nation. There’s been a level of hate rhetoric which has been unfortunate, from Kanu. Hate rhetoric is an issue that can only be judged by the laws of any nation.
“Was it right ‘to have been kidnapped?’ You can say intercepted as much as you want but I think Kanu was kidnapped. That is wrong internationally and morally.
Commenting on the reactions that have trailed the swiftness with which the federal government arrested Kanu, the Nobel laureate said the federal government has not shown the same eagerness in going after bandits and insurgents.
“The Government can not wash itself clean on what seems to be a kind of comparative energy in pursuing the destabilised forces in the nation,” he said.
“If we take ourselves back, once when I threw a challenge to Buhari, what I expect from a true leader is to issue an order, give a deadline that any illegal occupant of any villages, farms is given 48hours to quit after which the mighty forces of the nation will be unleashed on them. It was ignored.
“Years later, he came to say ‘we will respond to these people in the language they understand’. This is what I expected him to have said years ago, at the beginning of the insurgency.
“Their leadership–the Miyetti Allah — should have been arrested years ago, long before IPOB was declared a terrorist organisation.”
He said rather, the Miyetti Allah group has continued to act unchecked while the federal government has refused to “mount the same energy against them”.
“So people are right to say there has been an unequal and irregular approach to security and enforcement in this nation,” he added.
He advised the federal government to stop the blame game and take action.
Heavy shooting at Balogun International market, Ojo, Lagos as policemen from Area E, Festac, invade market shooting indiscriminately.
The Chief Security Officer of the market who spoke with Vanguard while running away from the scene said they invaded the market to foist an illegal leadership over their association.
At least two people have been killed and many others have been reported missing on Saturday, after heavy rains hit Japan’s central city of Atami in Shizuoka, triggering landslides, according to the public broadcaster NHK.
Two people were “found in a state of cardio and respiratory arrest”, Shizuoka governor said, an expression often used in Japan before confirming death.
“Because of the heavy rain, the ground loosened and the mudslide occurred… it picked up speed and swept away houses together with people,” Governor Heita Kawakatsu told reporters.
Atami is located approximately 100km (62 miles) southwest of capital, Tokyo.
A video clip posted on social media showed the moment that raging water swept through Atami, destroying several homes along its path as several frightened onlookers ran for their lives.
In the video, a woman was also heard saying, “that’s scary” just seconds before the flash flood hit.
The report said that police and firefighters are searching for the missing, as officials from Shizuoka asked for help from the national government to help in the emergency situation.
Railway operation near the site of the disaster has been suspended as rescuers and other emergency staff scour the area for survivors.
According to NHK, record heavy rains have been reported in Shizuoka as well as Kanagawa Prefecture in the last 48 hours, prompting local authorities to raise their alert about possible flooding and “sediment-related disasters”.
At least one person was reported injured in Kanagawa after a landslide caused a vehicle to overturn.
According to the Japanese meteorological agency, rains are expected to continue in several areas of Japan in the next two days.
Around the same time last year, at least 50 people were reported killed after heavy floods and landslides devastated southwestern Japan.
Scores of people, alleged to have participated in the Saturday Oodua Nation rally in the Ojota area of Lagos State have been arrested by the police in the state.
The police also recovered a large collections of charms, arms and ammunition and vehicles from the arrested suspects.
The suspects were as at Saturday evening being held at the state command headquarters in Ikeja.
Kano's Hisbah Should Arrest the Aso Rock Mannequin
The Hisbah in Kano appears to be angling for a global prize in theocratic idiocy and thuggery. They've destroyed beer bottles belonging to non-Muslims, arrested a non-Muslim for wearing a "satanic" hairstyle, apprehended Kano Muslims for not fasting or praying, and such other insane Talibanic excesses.
Now, they've run out of humans to oppress and are fixing their crazed, lecherous gazes on mannequins (eww!), which they say are "un-Islamic" even though every Muslim country on earth countenances mannequins in shops!
Well, let's put the theocratic overzealousness of the Hisbah moral police to a more productive use: There's a dangerous, breathing mannequin in Aso Rock pretending to be Nigeria's president. Let them go and arrest him!
The Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Kubwa, Abuja has dismissed a motion filed by a government-sponsored activist, Kenechukwu Okeke to strike out the substantive suit filed by 50 celebrities and human rights activists to stop their trial and direct criminal complaint/suit filed against them.
The court also by this ruling upheld all injunctive orders restraining the Nigeria Police Force, Kenechukwu Okeke from taking any steps to prosecute the 50 Nigeria individuals over the 2020 EndSARS protest.
Okeke had filed a suit in his capacity at the FCT Magistrate's Court Wuse Zone 6 against all the 50 individuals for showing support for the October 2020 #EndSARS protest by tweeting about it or getting physically involved.
Ruling on the matter on Friday, Justice Bello Kawu held that the injunctive orders made by the court and the suit filed by the human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju in his representative capacity is proper and legal in law as the FCT High Court sitting in Kubwa-FCT is acting in its supervisory jurisdiction over the lower Magistrate's Court, against the criminal suit filed by Kenechukwu Okeke.
The lead counsel for Adeyanju, Samuel Ihensekhien, representing 49 others in the suit, commended the ruling, adding that it was a victory for the ordinary people of Nigeria, and a pointer to the fact that peaceful protest is not a crime in Nigeria.
He said the landmark ruling would enable the court to take and entertain their final application to quash and dismiss the frivolous, direct criminal complaint and charge filed by Okeke at the Magistrate's Court against the affected individuals.
Ihensekhien said, "By virtue of today's ruling, his motion of dismissal of this substantive case has been dismissed by the honourable FCT High Court. The consequence of it is that the court will hear the substantive application to formally dismiss the pending criminal complaint and charge before the Magistrate's court.
"We are so happy and justice can still be found in Nigeria in spite of the elaborate and extensive arguments over whether this case should be dismissed or not. Thank God the court held in our favour and we are so grateful."
The matter has been adjourned to September 7, 2021.
The lawyer alleged that during the protest, his belongings were destroyed and that the defendants who promoted the #EndSARS protests must be brought to justice.
Those listed as defendants include Sam Adeyemi, senior pastor of Daystar Christian Centre; Kanu Nwankwo, former Nigerian international footballer; Innocent Idibia, Nigerian singer and songwriter, popularly known as 2face; David Adeleke, Nigerian Afropop singer, better known as Davido.
Others listed in the suit include Aisha Yesufu, Kiki Mordi, Peter Okoye, Paul Okoye, Deji Adeyanju, Tiwa Savage, Folarin Falana (Falz), Feyikemi Abudu, and Debo Adebayo.
Ugandans will from July 1 start paying a 12 percent excise duty on their mobile data packages. The Government passed the Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in April this year, after falling short of a projected $80m in tax collections.
The new levy will replace the country’s Over-the-top (OTT) services daily tax that was introduced in 2018. Popularly known as ” social media tax” users were expected to pay based on their use of the internet but failed to raise enough revenue in the 2018/2019 financial year.
A report from Uganda’s communications commission shows that the country had 18.9 million mobile internet subscribers but only about 11.3 million subscribers paid the “social media” tax resulting in the revenue shortage.
Former presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine led a series of protests against the “social media tax” in 2018. This resulted in more people installing VPNs, making it impossible for the Government to track.
The 12 percent excise duty will be exempt for mobile data purchased for the provision of medical and education services. It is however not clear how the distinction will be made.
Uganda’s government will be charging 30% tax (18% VAT and 12% excise duty) on every data bundle purchased. Uganda will now lead the world with the highest Internet tax rate.
Uganda shut down the internet, including Facebook, WhatsApp, twitter & Instagram on the eve of the Jan 14, 2021 elections.
Whilst the internet was restored on Jan18; WhatsApp, Instagram & Twitter were restored in Feb 2021.
A US court overturned comedian Bill Cosby's conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman 15 years ago on Wednesday, allowing his release from prison.
"Cosby's convictions and judgment of sentence are vacated, and he is discharged," the Pennsylvania Supreme Court wrote in a 79-page ruling.
The 83-year-old, most famous for his role on hit TV series "The Cosby Show," has served more than two years of a three-to-ten-year sentence for aggravated indecent assault.
It was not immediately clear when he would be released.
"We will need to receive, authenticate and review the court documents before we move forward," a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections told AFP.
Cosby was convicted in 2018 of assaulting Andrea Constand at his Philadelphia mansion.
It was the first guilty verdict for sexual assault against a celebrity since the advent of the #MeToo movement.
An earlier prosecution ended in a mistrial in June 2017 after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Although more than 60 women charged that they had been victims of sexual assault by Cosby, he was tried criminally only for Constand's assault, since the statute of limitations had expired in the other cases.
He filed his second appeal against his conviction in August last year.
His lawyers argued that five women should not have been allowed to give evidence at his trial as witnesses.
They complained that their "decades-old" allegations, which were not part of the charges, had prejudiced the jury.
The attorneys also argue it was "fundamentally unfair" that deposition testimony Cosby gave in a civil case regarding his use of sedative drugs and his sexual behaviors in the 1970s was heard in court.
They argue that Cosby believed the testimony was immune from prosecution when he gave it.
Cosby had lost an earlier appeal when a court ruled that the prosecution's evidence had established Cosby's "unique sexual assault playbook."
The Communist Party of China turns 100 years old on July 1, 2021. See how this party grew from just 50 members to 95 million, becoming one of the largest political parties in the world. #CPC100Years
As Communist China prepares to mark its 100th anniversary on July 1, its propaganda campaign is in overdrive with movies, history tours and well-timed space missions, all lacquering the achievements of the party and President Xi Jinping
PRESIDENT BUHARI CONGRATULATES CHINA ON 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF COMMUNIST PARTY; CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL CHINA-NIGERIA RELATIONS
CONGRATULATIONS
“On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), I would like to extend warmest congratulations to Your Excellency on behalf of the government and people of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the CPC, with General Secretary Xi Jinping at the core, has led the Chinese people to realize remarkable economic and social progress. China has achieved the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society, and has already embarked on a new journey to fully build a modern socialist country, which is the second centenary goal.
We highly commend the resolute response and remarkable success made by China against the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its contribution to the world, and Africa in particular, by sharing experience, knowledge and medical relief materials. Under the strong leadership of the CPC, China has overcome the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, and achieved victory in the three major battles of fighting the pandemic, restoring the economy and reducing poverty.
This year also bears special significance to Nigeria-China relations, as it marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic ties.
The past 50 years have witnessed an increasingly enhanced political trust, closer mutually beneficial economic and trade relations and cumulatively dynamic people to people exchange between Nigeria and China.
Nigeria highly values the bilateral cooperation with China, under the initiatives of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which have brought tangible benefits to Nigeria and its people.
Nigeria is ready to work with China, to enhance bilateral relations, to deepen cooperation in all pragmatic sectors, as well as to promote exchanges between the two ruling parties, so as to lift the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership to higher level.”
Scores of deaths in Canada's Vancouver area are likely linked to a grueling heat wave, authorities said Tuesday, as the country recorded its highest ever temperature amid scorching conditions that extended to the US Pacific Northwest.
At least 134 people have died suddenly since Friday in the Vancouver area, according to figures released by the city police department and the Royal Canadian Mounted police.
The Vancouver Police Department alone said it had responded to more than 65 sudden deaths since Friday, with the vast majority "related to the heat."
The deaths came as Canada set a new all-time high temperature record for a third day in a row Tuesday, reaching 121 degrees Fahrenheit (49.5 degrees Celsius) in Lytton, British Columbia, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) east of Vancouver, the country's weather service, Environment Canada, reported.
"Vancouver has never experienced heat like this, and sadly dozens of people are dying because of it," police sergeant Steve Addison said.
Other local municipalities have said they too have responded to many sudden death calls, but have yet to release tolls.
Climate change is causing record-setting temperatures to become more frequent. Globally, the decade to 2019 was the hottest recorded, and the five hottest years have all occurred within the last five years.
The scorching heat stretching from the US state of Oregon to Canada's Arctic territories has been blamed on a high-pressure ridge trapping warm air in the region.
Temperatures in the US Pacific Northwest cities of Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington reached levels not seen since record-keeping began in the 1940s: 115 degrees Fahrenheit in Portland and 108 in Seattle Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
Vancouver on the Pacific coast has for several days recorded temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (or almost 20 degrees above seasonal norms). Inland along the Fraser River delta, due to high humidity, climatologists said it felt like 111 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday.
The chief coroner for the province of British Columbia, which includes Vancouver, said that it had "experienced a significant increase in deaths reported where it is suspected that extreme heat has been contributory."
The service said in a statement it recorded 233 deaths between Friday and Monday, compared to 130 on average.
- 'Hottest week ever' -
"We are in the midst of the hottest week British Columbians have ever experienced, and there are consequences to that, disastrous consequences for families and for communities," British Columbia Premier John Horgan told a news conference.
"How we get through this extraordinary time is by hanging together," he said.
He urged "checking up on those people we know might be at risk, making sure we have cold compresses in the fridge or we're staying in the coolest part of our homes, and making sure that we're taking steps to get through this heat wave."
Environment Canada has issued alerts for British Columbia, Alberta, and parts of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, saying the "prolonged, dangerous and historic heat wave will persist through this week."
The US National Weather Service issued a similar warning, urging people to "stay in air-conditioned buildings, avoid strenuous outdoor activities, drink plenty of water, and check on family members/neighbors."
The heat wave has forced schools and Covid-19 vaccination centers to close in the Vancouver area, while officials set up temporary water fountains and misting stations on street corners.
Stores quickly sold out of portable air conditioners and fans, so several people without cooling at home told AFP they hunkered down in their air conditioned cars or underground parking garages at night.
Cities across the western United States and Canada opened emergency cooling centers and outreach workers handed out bottles of water and hats.
In Eugene in Oregon, organizers were forced to adjust the final day of the US Olympic track and field trials, moving afternoon events to the evening.
The extreme heat, combined with intense drought, also created the perfect conditions for several fires to break out over the weekend, and one blaze on the California-Oregon border had already burned some 1,500 acres (600 hectares) by Monday morning.
"Dubai would be cooler than what we're seeing now," David Phillips, a senior climatologist for Environment Canada, told AFP on Monday.
Bashir El-Rufai, one of the sons of Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, has mocked Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), over his arrest.
He made these statements via Twitter.
There are those that will be upset this hooligan was arrested, but will be too cowardly to express it. Victory for the country. May we all continue to progress in unison.
Bashir Ahmad, the President Muhammadu Buhari’s aide on New Media hours after the rearrest of proscribed IPOB’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu says his boss “language” can now be understood by everyone.
The language is now so clear for everyone to understand.
The former president, whose tenure was tainted by financial scandals, was a comrade of Nelson Mandela and a dominant figure for decades in the governing African National Congress party.
South Africa’s highest court on Tuesday ordered the imprisonment of Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, for 15 months on contempt charges, after he defied an order to appear before a corruption inquiry examining the breathtaking financial scandals that tainted his tenure as the country’s leader from 2009 to 2018.
The move to detain Mr. Zuma, a comrade of Nelson Mandela and one of the dominant figures in the governing African National Congress party since apartheid ended in 1994, was a notable development in the legacy of corruption that shadowed his years in power. Mr. Zuma was not in court on Tuesday, and he was not immediately taken into custody.
The decision by the Constitutional Court to have Mr. Zuma arrested came five months after that same body ordered him to appear before the corruption inquiry, led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
But Mr. Zuma brazenly defied the court. Not only did he fail to show up to testify before the inquiry, but he also ignored the high court’s contempt proceedings, declining to so much as mount a defense.
The call to imprison Mr. Zuma for his defiance comes at a time when many fed-up South Africans seem to have coalesced behind the efforts of the current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to root out corruption in the government and the A.N.C. party.
The looting of public enterprises by government officials has taken a heavy toll on the lives of ordinary citizens, felt in problems like the shoddy delivery of services, frequent power outages and water shortages. Frustrated South Africans are protesting on a frequent basis.
Mr. Zuma, 79, has in many ways become the most potent representation of government leadership gone astray.
In a bid to regain public confidence, the current president, Mr. Ramaphosa, has in recent months gone after some of his own party’s leading figures — including the health minister, in the middle of a pandemic, and the A.N.C. secretary-general, the third most powerful member of the party — who have been accused of corruption, forcing them to step aside from their roles within the A.N.C. while they face charges.
It was a decisive move that many South Africans have said was long overdue. But it also has caused a split within the party. Although Mr. Ramaphosa appears to have the support of a majority of the A.N.C., there remains a strong core of Zuma loyalists.
Tuesday’s decision was announced in a sparsely populated courtroom in Johannesburg, with attendance limited because of rising coronavirus infections in the country. Justice Sisi Khampepe sat on a curved dais before a backdrop of the South African flag and a red brick wall, methodically reading the court’s decision. She spent several minutes reviewing the history of the case before announcing Mr. Zuma’s fate.
Mr. Zuma himself began the corruption inquiry he has since shunned. Started in 2018, it came after a report detailing the extent of corruption in state-owned companies and government departments during his administration. In its far-reaching mandate, the commission has interrogated more than 250 witnesses.
Mr. Zuma is the first to refuse to testify. He has argued that he is not legally obliged to do so, saying Justice Zondo harbors a personal vendetta against him. The judge has dismissed the argument as baseless.
Beyond the commission’s inquiry, Mr. Zuma faces additional serious legal troubles related to corruption allegations.
He is being prosecuted on charges of racketeering, corruption, fraud and money laundering after being accused of taking bribes from a French arms manufacturer when he was deputy president in 1999. That trial was set to start earlier this year, but the case has been delayed repeatedly. Most recently, Mr. Zuma’s legal team has sought to get the lead prosecutor removed, alleging that he was biased. The case has been postponed until July.
While Mr. Zuma is a polarizing figure in South Africa, he retains considerable support, raising the risk of protests by sympathizers and supporters.
Mr. Ramaphosa, formerly Mr. Zuma’s deputy, won the A.N.C. leadership in 2017 after a bruising internal battle. Soon afterward, he forced Mr. Zuma to step down as president, a humiliating defeat that Mr. Zuma has not forgiven.
Mr. Ramaphosa’s vow to root out corruption and patronage within the A.N.C. has faced strong resistance from a rival faction within the party. The A.N.C. has dominated South African politics since the end of the apartheid era.
Mr. Zuma’s critics worried that his refusal to testify would severely undercut the corruption inquiry and further alienate South Africans weary of what they see as the impunity and lack of accountability for high-ranking A.N.C. politicians.
The government estimates more than 500 billion rand ($35 billion) was stolen from the state during Zuma’s rule, and at least 40 witnesses who’ve appeared before Zondo linked the ex-president to the looting spree. Zuma, who the ruling party forced to quit in 2018 to stem a loss of electoral support, has denied wrongdoing and says the allegations against him are part of a smear campaign.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged an 83-member alliance against Islamic State to step up its focus on operations in Africa, while working to prevent a resurgence of the militant organization in Iraq and Syria.
Blinken, speaking in Rome on Monday at a ministerial meeting he co-hosted of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, said the group had been a critical element in achieving the “territorial defeat” of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
“Ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS also means effectively confronting ISIS' threats outside of Iraq and Syria, in places where ISIS has recently focused its efforts,” he said, mentioning “countries on the front-lines of the ISIS threat in Africa.”
“Let’s use today’s discussion to try and expand on Coalition plans for effective dealing with the threat in Africa,” Blinken told the foreign ministers and Senior Government officials at the meeting. He also called for stabilization assistance across Iraq and Syria “to ensure that ISIS does not have a resurgence in these countries.”
Nations including France have been fighting Islamist insurgents who have threatened state authority and investors’ interests in West Africa’s Sahel region, at the southern fringe of the Sahara desert.
Blinken also announced new sanctions against a senior leader of an affiliate known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. That group, operating along Niger’s border with Mali, has been targeting civilians, fueling concerns that local self-defense militias are engaging in the fight against the jihadists, the International Crisis Group said last month.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, co-hosting the gathering with Blinken, also called for a stronger focus on Africa.
“Even if the Daesh threat in Iraq and Syria remains central to the Coalition’s task, we cannot avoid tackling its global ramifications especially in the African continent, and specifically in Sahel whose stability is crucial for Europe and the broader Mediterranean,” Di Maio said, using another term for Islamic State.
The Colombian government said Saturday it is offering a reward of nearly $800,000 for information leading to the capture of those behind an attack Friday on a helicopter carrying President Ivan Duque near the Venezuela border.
"A reward of up to 3 billion pesos is being offered" for information leading to "those responsible for this terrorist attack," Defense Minister Diego Molano said in a video posted to social media from the northern city of Cucuta.
The president's helicopter was approaching the Cucuta airport on a flight from Sardinata when several shots -- apparently from rifles -- were fired at it.
Duque was flying with Molano, Interior Minister Daniel Palacios and other officials at the time.
No one on board was injured, but photos released by the president's office showed the tail and main blade had been hit.
General Jorge Vargas, the national police chief, said a search team sent to a nearby Cucuta neighborhood had found two rifles: an AK-47, whose owner was not yet known, and a 7.62-caliber rifle "bearing the mark of the Venezuelan armed forces."
Duque has repeatedly accused Venezuela's socialist leader, Nicolas Maduro, of giving refuge to Colombian dissidents and armed rebel fighters. Bogota and Caracas broke off diplomatic relations shortly after Duque, a conservative, came to power in 2018.
- 'Our state is strong' -
Earlier Friday, Duque had attended an event in the Catatumbo region, one of the main coca-growing areas in a country that is the world's leading cocaine exporter.
Holdouts from the disbanded FARC rebel group, an active guerrilla group called the National Liberation Army (ELN), and other armed bands have been fighting over drug trafficking revenues along the long and porous border with Venezuela.
"We are not frightened by violence or acts of terrorism," Duque said after the attack on his chopper. "Our state is strong."
The attack Friday has been condemned by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries.
Colombia has been experiencing some of its worst violence in years, particularly in rural areas including the border zone.
There have been numerous mass killings, blamed by the government on armed narco-traffickers.
On June 16, a car bomb exploded inside a military installation in Cucuta, wounding 36 people, at a time when US soldiers were there advising their Colombian counterparts on the drugs fight.
The government blamed the ELN, with which it ended peace negotiations in 2019.
Those talks started after the government concluded a historic peace accord in 2016 with the much bigger FARC to end decades of civil war.
The resurgent violence comes on top of the country's struggle against the coronavirus pandemic, leaving Duque with sinking approval numbers.
The last attack against a president in Colombia was a bombing near the airport in the southwest city of Neiva that targeted then leader Alvaro Uribe in 2003.
The bomb exploded before his arrival, but killed 15 people and wounded 66.
A Somali man killed three people and left five others seriously injured in an "incredibly brutal" knife rampage in the southern German city of Wuerzburg.
The 24-year-old suspect staged the attack in the city centre at around 5 pm (1500 GMT), striking at a household goods store, before hitting a bank.
The man, who has lived in Wuerzburg since 2015, was overpowered after police shot him in the thigh, said Bavaria's interior minister Joachim Herrmann.
The rampage left "three dead, five seriously injured and others injured," said Herrmann, adding, "it is not certain if the most seriously injured will survive".
Investigators have found documentation showing the man "was treated in a psychiatric institution", said Herrmann, but added that he could not detail the length of the stay.
"The police investigation will determine if this was an Islamist act or if it was due to the psychiatric state" of the man, he said.
- 'Allah Akbar' -
A witness had reportedly said the suspect "shouted Allah Akbar" (God is greatest) during what rescuers described as a "really incredibly brutal" attack, said Herrmann.
"That must all be clarified in further interrogations but we have no further indications on the motivations," he added.
Police said however that the suspect was not a known Islamist.
The mass-circulation daily Bild published a photo of the suspect, showing a dark-skinned man wearing a beige, long-sleeved t-shirt with grey trousers and holding a long knife.
Video footage circulating online also showed passers-by trying to stop the suspect using folded chairs.
A crowd of people gave chase before a police car arrived on the scene, one video showed.
Another photo published by Bild showed a police officer handcuffing the suspect.
A huge police deployment was underway in the city of around 130,000 inhabitants located about 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of Frankfurt.
While the perpetrator's motive has not yet been established, Germany has been on high alert after several deadly Islamist extremist attacks.
- Dangerous suspects -
Wuerzburg was itself hit five years ago by an axe-wielding man who seriously wounded four people o a train.
The suspect, an Afghan, sought to attack a passerby as he fled before being shot dead by police.
The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
The deadliest Islamist attack in Germany happened in December 2016 when a jihadist rammed a truck into a Berlin Christmas market killing 12 people.
The Tunisian attacker, a failed asylum-seeker, was an IS supporter.
More recently, one man was killed and another seriously injured in a knife attack in the city of Dresden in October.
A 20-year-old Syrian jihadist in May received a life sentence for the homophobic attack.
Last August, six people were injured in a series of motorway accidents in Berlin in what prosecutors described as a suspected Islamist attack.
Since 2009, German authorities have foiled 17 suspected jihadist attacks -- the majority in 2016, according to the interior ministry.
The number of Islamists considered dangerous in Germany rose sharply between 2015 and 2018, according to security services.
Friends! Something highly peculiar happened today. Twitter denied access to my account for almost an hour on the alleged ground that there was a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the USA and subsequently they allowed me to access the account.
Twitter’s actions were in gross violation of Rule 4( of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 where they failed to provide me any prior notice before denying me access to my own account.
It is apparent that my statements calling out the high handedness and arbitrary actions of Twitter, particularly sharing the clips of my interviews to TV channels and its powerful impact, have clearly ruffled its feathers.
Further, it is now apparent as to why Twitter is refusing to comply with the Intermediary Guidelines because if Twitter does comply, it would be unable to arbitrarily deny access to an individual’s account which does not suit their agenda.
Furthermore, in the past several years, no television channel or any anchor has made any complaints about copyright infringements with regard to these news clips of my interviews shared on social media.
Twitter’s actions indicate that they are not the harbinger of free speech that they claim to be but are only interested in running their own agenda, with the threat that if you do not tow the line they draw, they will arbitrarily remove you from their platform.
No matter what any platform does they will have to abide by the new IT Rules fully and there shall be no compromise on that.
The Department of State Security, DSS, has invited Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, for questioning over remarks he made in a TV interview that allegedly portrayed the Nigerian military in a bad light .
A report by the Voice of America, VOA, Hausa Service monitored on Friday, said Gumi was invited at the Kaduna office of the DSS, after the military authorities took exception to comments by Sheikh Gumi, alleging that their operatives were conniving with bandits .
However, Gumi’s spokesman, Malam Tukur Mamu in an interview with VOA Hausa, dismissed the allegation against Gumi, saying there was nowhere in the TV interview that Gumi categorically accused the entire military.
According to Mamu, what Gumi said was what people have been saying and “even the soldiers have been saying that there could be some bad eggs among them”.
He, therefore, urged the military and the TV company to apologise to Sheikh Gumi and retract their statements against him or else he will seek legal action.
Police in Lagos today paraded 21 year-old Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu, a part-time student of the Mass Communication Department, University of Lagos as the prime suspect in the murder of Michael Usifo Ataga, the CEO of Super TV.
The suspect, P.M.News learnt has not stepped into school since last year, after the lockdown was imposed.
As the images of Chidinma were shared across news and blogging platforms on Thursday, the photos of Ataga’s wife, Brenda also surfaced, triggering some puzzles on man-woman relationship and in this case, a fatal attraction.
Brenda is a beautiful woman, a professional in the oil and gas sector and the mother of Ataga’s two children.
Some Puzzle: What would have made Ataga cheat on his wife, to pursue a side chick, that is not as endowed as she is?.
Only Michael Usifo Ataga can rationalise the answer. We can only make guesses, since he is no longer in this world.
But were he around, he must have borne great shame for the public embarrassment and pain his infidelity has brought his wife and children.
According to her bio in circulation, Brenda, the wife of Michael Ataga, works as the National Project Coordinator of the LPG Gas Expansion Programme, in the office of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.
She had previously served as the Special Adviser on Downstream and Infrastructure between 2015 and 2019 to another Minister of State, Emmanuel Kachikwu.
She is a Mid/Downstream Commercial Strategist and a 2018 Nominee of the prestigious Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu Fellowship.
She has over 15 years of experience in the Oil and Gas industry.
Brenda founded the NGO – True Foundation – which focuses on community and human capacity training for Women and Youths.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from the University of Lagos, BA Business Management from Lincoln University and an LLM from the University of Salford.
Before joining public service, Brenda held key leadership positions in private sector, where she attained recognition as the first female and first under 30 to serve in the capacity of Supply Manager at OANDO PLC (West Africa).
US warplanes have flown their first combat missions off a foreign aircraft carrier since World War II, as Marine Corps fighter jets launched from the UK's HMS Queen Elizabeth for operations against ISIS.
Ten F-35Bs from the Marines' Fighter Attack Squadron 211 are aboard the Royal Navy's new flagship, joining eight RAF F35B jets from the Royal Air Force's 617 Squadron.
It is the most 35Bs ever deployed together on one ship, and air operations over the Middle East began on June 18.
US planes haven't flown combat missions from a foreign warship since 1943, when they took off from Britain's HMS Victorious in the South Pacific during World War II.
The combat missions against ISIS are part of the United States' Operation Inherent Resolve, as well as the UK's Operation Shader. Military officials did not specify the location or target of the combat strikes.
Britain's Capt. James Blackmore, who commands the air wing aboard the Queen Elizabeth, celebrated the partnership between the US and UK.
'The level of integration between Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and US Marine Corps is truly seamless, and testament to how close we've become,' Blackmore stated.
Marine Corps Colonel Simon Doran, the US representative to the UK Carrier Strike Group said: 'U.S. Marine Corps aircraft supporting Operation Inherent Resolve from a Royal Navy aircraft carrier demonstrates how effectively interoperable our combined naval forces are.'
The $5billion, 65,000-ton HMS Queen Elizabeth is Britain's newest aircraft carrier and is also carrying out her first combat mission. Britain has previously been without an aircraft carrier since the HMS Illustrious was decommissioned in 2014.
The state-of-the art F35B stealth aircraft - which have the ability to land vertically - are being used over Iraq to look for other aircraft or unmanned drones and support troops on the ground.
The jets are also being used in anti-ISIS operations to carry out surveillance with its sophisticated sensor and radar systems.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth and its support ships, which include the US destroyer USS The Sullivans, departed the UK in May for its first operational deployment in a move that was set to outrage Russia and China.
It was also accompanied by six Royal Navy ships including HMS Defender and HMS Diamond, a submarine, 14 Royal Navy helicopters and a company of Royal Marines.
The carrier will remain in the eastern Mediterranean for two to three weeks before moving through the Suez Canal to continue with a seven-and-a-half-month deployment to India, South Korea and Japan.
The Carrier Strike Group will visit India, Singapore and then to Japan via the South China Sea.
Operation Inherent Resolve was established in October 2014 to formalize military efforts against the rising threat of ISIS.
The mission is to 'defeat ISIS in designated areas of Iraq and Syria and set conditions for follow-on operations to increase regional stability.'
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also released a statement, saying, 'The ability to operate from the sea with the most advanced fighter jets ever created is a significant moment in our history, offering reassurance to our allies and demonstrating the UK's formidable air power to our adversaries.'
Royal Navy Commodore Steve Moorhouse said the UK is carrying out the majority of the missions to wipe out the remnants of ISIS in Iraq while US forces focus on withdrawing from Afghanistan after two decades.
Last month, President Joe Biden said all remaining troops will be pulled out before September 11 this year, the 20th anniversary of the Al Qaeda attacks on the US in 2001.
The 65,000-ton carrier has piqued the interest of Russian warplanes, who have been keeping tabs on its cutting-edge F-35 jet in a 'cat-and-mouse' game with British and US pilots.
Speaking aboard the ship on its first-ever deployment, Commodore Moorhouse said: 'At the moment, we're taking on the lion's share of that operation over Iraq, which is a fantastic, say, feather in our cap.
'But an achievement that 'A', we're trusted and 'B', that we're able to do that.'
Commodore Moorhouse said the carrier offers flexibility in how to conduct military operations abroad and 'keeps those that wish to cause us harm… on their toes.'
He said the eastern Mediterranean has become more 'congested and contested' over the last decade in light of the heavier Russian military presence in Syria, which has resulted in regular encounters with Russian ships and warplanes.
Commodore Moorhouse said that a Russian warship has come within 16 miles of the flagship but added that the encounters were not 'dangerous or aggressive.'
He continued: 'We're rubbing up against Russian activity, not in a you know, in a dangerous or aggressive manner, but you've just got other people out here playing in what is a fixed piece of water and airspace.'
He insisted that Russian, British and US pilots have a 'healthy respect for one another' and their conduct has been 'absolutely professional' since the aircraft carrier started anti-ISIS operations on June 18.
'But there is a reality when you buy yourself a fifth-generation aircraft carrier and you take it around the world … people are interested in it,' he added.
Blackmore explained: 'It's that cat-and-mouse posturing, it's what we expect in this region of world. And as you can imagine, it's the first time for F-35s into the eastern Mediterranean.
'So, of course Russia wants to look at what they're like, they want to look at what our carriers are like.'
In April, the U.S. Air Force grounded its entire fleet of B1-B bombers - involved in Operation Inherent Resolve missions - after finding a problem with the plane's fuel system.
The decision was made after a 'ground emergency' on April 8 at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota - one of two bases where the B1-B is currently housed. The other is Dyess Air Force Base, in Texas.
The B1-Bs were heavily used in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Flying missions against ISIS in the opening days of Operation Inherent Resolve, they were able to carry more munitions than that delivered by an entire carrier air wing.
In the sustained aggressive military offensive, the Nigerian troops under the auspices of Operation Hadin Kai have eliminated a top-ranking ISWAP terror commander, Amir Kennami also known as ‘One Eye General.’
PRNigeria gathered that the high-valued terror kingpin died of bullet wounds he sustained during a recent deadly encounter with the troops of 134 Special Forces Battalion led by one Lt Col. Ishaya Aliyu Manga – along Gubio-Magumeri, Axis of the Northern Lake-Chad.
Several other ISWAP fighters were eliminated while Kennami was aided to escape after he suffered lap and stomach gunshot injuries in the deadly battle before he later died and buried discreetly at Gudumbali by his close subjects.
Until his tragic end, Kennami was a top terror Commander who had three other dreaded Commanders, namely, Ba-Lawan, Modu Sulum and Amir Modu Borzogo, taking orders from him. An intelligence source told PRNigeria that Kennami terrorized Magumeri, Nganzai and Gubio axis and had led many operations to dislodge military bases and formations in the general area.
The source said: “The One-Eye deadly terror kingpin had his territories where he carried out terror activities covering communities in Gujba LGA – Lamisuri, Bijur and Dalari villages; Damboa LGA – Bugadam, Talala, Ajigin, Mungusum Gwagwari, Abulam, Ajigin and Doksa villages; Kaga LGA – Borgozo, Alagarno, Goniri Marguba and Konduga Local Government area which included Jewu Lamboa, Limlim villages.
"Over the years, he had grown in power and influence in the ISWAP territorial base on the banks and islands of Lake Chad, and was known for deployment of so-called spiritual warfare tactics during attacks.”
Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt and partner Kasi Bennett have announced the birth of their twins, Saint Leo Bolt and Thunder Bolt.
The Eight-time Olympic gold medalist and partner, Bennett welcomed their first child Olympia Lightning Bolt on May 17, 2020. Both have been together since 2014.
Olympia Lightning Bolt ⚡️ Saint Leo Bolt ⚡️ Thunder Bolt ⚡️
Happy Father’s Day to my forever love! @usainbolt You are the rock of this family and the greatest daddy to our little ones. We love you world without end! �
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) eliminated dozens of Islamic State West Africa Province terrorists in Lamboa in Kaga Local Government Area of Borno State on Sunday.
The multiple airstrikes conducted by Alpha-Jets, L-39 and MI-35 helicopters hit a notorious terrorist, Modu Sulum and several others.
Sulum, ISWAP Logistics Commander, took part in the elimination of Boko Haram factional leader, Abubakar Shekau in May.
Sulum was responsible for the destruction of power transmission towers at Malanari along Maiduguri-Damaturu Highway and attacks on travellers in Auno and Jakana.
The insurgents, in a convoy of eight gun trucks, had invaded Lamboa preparatory to attacks in the Mainok axis.
Ground and air troops scuttled their mission after the NAF reconnaissance platform hovered over the location to confirm the targets.
NAF Director of Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet said the operation was successful.
“Of the eight terrorist gun trucks sighted by our surveillance team, the aircraft took out six and an unconfirmed number of terrorists.
“Nigerian Army troops and our air elements are mopping up the area and assessing the situation”, the spokesman told PRNigeria.
Gabwet hailed the vigour and synergy by all segments of the Armed Forces in the North-East theatre.
Military offensives have heightened with the resumption of office of the New Theatre Commander Operation Hadi Kai, Major General Chris Musa.
Bureau De Change operators enforce rules across Nigeria
Central bank seeks to close forex arbitrage opportunities
Nigeria’s authorized currency traders’ association is asking its members to sell their stock of dollars in an attempt to narrow the spread between spot and illegal market prices.
The Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria has asked its members not to hoard foreign currency , Aminu Gwadabe, president of the association, said in a text message. A group of officials have been checking on compliance in cities across the country, he said.
Dealers hoarding dollars may be barred from the central bank’s foreign-exchange auctions, people with knowledge of the matter said. [/b]The naira, which plunged to a four-year low of 505 a dollar on Monday, gained 0.6% to 490 on Friday in the unauthorized market, according to abokifx.com, a website that collates the data. It opened at 411.58 a dollar on the nafex window also used as the official rate by the central bank.
[b]Panic Reaction
With inflation at almost 18%, many residents of Africa’s biggest economy have been accumulating foreign currencies to protect their wealth, often buying dollars from illegal traders. The demand in the parallel market distorts the exchange rate, according to the the Central Bank of Nigeria, and has prompted it to take steps to narrow the spread.
“We advise, and warn our members in particular, and the public to desist from any behavior of speculation and hoarding,” Gwadabe said. Such actions “will definitely lead to a very big collateral loss,” he said.
The central bank sells $10,000 each to over 5,000 dealers twice a week at 393 naira while they are asked to sell to customers at 395. That’s a 90 naira discount to the street rate, creating arbitrage opportunities.
A central spokesman said the lender is taking steps to block arbitrage opportunities resulting from the gap between the official and parallel markets.
Commercial banks executives also agreed to increase dollar supply for end users in a meeting that held with Governor Godwin Emefiele last week. With the arrangement, lenders can provide the greenback at the official rate of about 410 to 412 naira to reduce demand pressure on the streets.
Africa’s largest crude producer devalued its currency thrice since March last year as lower oil income, which accounts for about 90% of dollar earnings, put pressure on external reserves.
Four-time grandslam Champion, Japan's Naomi Osaka will not play at Wimbledon this year but is planning to return in time for the Tokyo Olympics.
The four-time Grand Slam champion will spend time with friends and family having also withdrawn from the French Open in May.
At the time, Osaka, 23, said she would be taking a break from tennis after experiencing depression and anxiety.
The world number two says she is "excited to play in front of her home fans" in Tokyo.
Osaka was fined $15,000 (£10,570) for not taking part in a news conference following her first round match at Roland Garros.
Grand Slam organisers said she could face expulsion from the tournament should she refuse to take part in media duties.
But the player withdrew from the tournament the following day, saying she needed to "protect her mental health".
"When the time is right I really want to work with the Tour to discuss ways we can make things better for the players, press and fans," she added at the time.
Wimbledon's chief executive Sally Bolton had earlier revealed the All England Club (AELTC) had been in contact with Osaka's team and was actively looking at ways to improve its media operations.
"We have started a consultation," she told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.
"Of course, that consultation needs to include not just the players, but the media and all of those engaged in that space."
Wimbledon tournament director Jamie Baker said on Wednesday that he had told Osaka's entourage that the phone lines were always open to discuss any issues that might arise.
Politics › Soyinka: FG Kidnapped Nnamdi Kanu — His Arrest Was Wrong by HonNL(op): 1:17pm On Jul 05, 2021
of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 where they failed to provide me any prior notice before denying me access to my own account.
