Author: Elidee Mays

The Nigerian police have successfully rescued six pregnant women after raiding a suspected “baby factory” in Rivers state, according to local media reports. The authorities apprehended a 39-year-old woman, who is believed to be the owner of the alleged child trafficking facility. Following her arrest, the suspect admitted her involvement in the heinous crime and disclosed her long-standing engagement in the trafficking business. State Commissioner of Police, Polycarp Emeka, stated on Wednesday that the primary suspect and her accomplice are currently in custody. Moreover, a thorough investigation is underway to identify and apprehend any additional individuals connected to the criminal…

A “perfect storm” of overlapping crises forced tens of millions to flee within their own country last year, sending the number of internally displaced people to a record high, monitors said on Thursday. An unprecedented 71.1 million internally displaced people (IDPs) were registered in 2022 — up 20 percent from a year earlier — amid mass displacement for Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as by the monsoon floods that drenched Pakistan. In Sub-Saharan Africa, it was around 16.5 million displacements — more than half of them due to conflict, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Ethiopia.…

Armed men suspected to be militia herdsmen in the early hours of yesterday, ambushed and killed three members of community volunteer guards and three hunters in Guma local government area of Benue State. Sources in the area said the guards and hunters were killed in an ambush around Tse Akaakuma village, a kilometre away from Daudu town. In an interview with newsmen, executive secretary of Benue State Emergency Management Agency, (SEMA), Dr Emmanuel Shior, gave the names of the deceased guards as Aondowase Asema, Timothy Mbawa and Igber Sunday. According to him, other persons killed were Akombo Igyever, Sunday Semaka…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained a former Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, over an alleged diversion of N22 billion, PREMIUM TIMES can report. Sources at the EFCC, who are familiar with the case but not permitted to speak publicly, told this newspaper that Mr Mamman was detained Wednesday morning after turning himself in at the commission’s office in Abuja. Mr Mamman served as the Minister of Power from August 2019 to September 2021, when he was unceremoniously removed from office by President Muhammadu Buhari. Providing insights into the case against Mr Mamman, sources said he allegedly conspired with…

Around 1.23 billion people were employed in the world’s agrifood systems in 2019, and more than three times that figure, or almost half the world’s population, live in households linked to agrifood systems, according to new research by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Of these 1.23 billion people, 857 million worked in primary agricultural production, while 375 million worked in the off-farm segments of agrifood systems. The new figures, the first systematic and documented global estimate of its kind, derive from a range of sources and incorporate the widespread use of part-time or seasonal employment in the…

Israeli officials and Jewish South African activists inaugurated a memorial park in Tel Mond, a city north of Tel Aviv, in November 2022. Gan Siyabonga (We Thank You Garden) commemorates several dozen Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists who had personal connections to Israel. The main sponsors of Gan Siyabonga are the Jewish National Fund South Africa and South African Zionist Federation. The park’s creation is a milestone in the South African Jewish community’s decades-long introspection into its complex relations with the apartheid regime. This memorial site is unique in Israel, where an estimated 20,000 South Africans live. Gan Siyabonga is the first site in Israel to highlight…

The flavour of chilled Svalbarði-brand water, melted from an iceberg just 1,000 kilometres from the North Pole, is described by the company as “like catching snowflakes on the tongue”. Bottled in Longyearbyen, a tiny metropolis in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, Svalbarði water is airlifted to luxury locales in London, Sydney, Florida and Macau. “Taste the Arctic to Save the Arctic,” its website croons, promoting the supposed carbon neutrality of the water, which sells online for €99.95 (US$107) for a 750-millilitre bottle. That price is far out of reach for most of the world’s people, including the one in four who lack…

Little known to the public, the oil group OPEC has devoted almost half of its funding to the continent and has decided to prioritise food security and climate. Last December, the OPEC Fund approved $280m in loans to the continent – from Côte d’Ivoire ($75m) to Benin ($14m). In early February, a $50m contribution to the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the institution dedicated to supporting infrastructure on the continent, was announced. A first and previous loan of the same amount was approved in early 2021. $10bn in Africa Created in 1976, the Fund is owned by 12 oil-producing countries, all…

West African okra stew gave rise to Louisiana gumbo along the trans-Atlantic slave route. One Louisianian travelled to Benin to discover its origins. Fried cheese was the last thing I thought I’d see going into a traditional West African dish, but especially into an okra stew. It was just one of several ingredients that surprised me as a Louisiana-born Cajun who cut his teeth on gumbo, a pillar of southern Louisiana cuisine that’s made up of seafood or meat cooked in a roux – but never with cheese. The origins of Louisiana gumbo can be traced to West Africa, during…

The upcoming Continental Synod Meeting slated for next 1 to 6 March in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is set to engage delegates in reflection from the local context of Africa on the working Document for the Continental Stage (DCS) which was availed by the Synod Committee from Vatican last year. Praying and reflecting together “There are quite a number of issues that have been raised by the local churches. Now we are to reflect together as a continent the product of what came from all dioceses in the world which was compiled together to produce the Document for Continental Stage,” Secretary General for…