Chinese nationals arrested with gold bars, $800,000 cash in DR Congo

Three Chinese nationals have been apprehended with gold bars and $800,000 in cash in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the BBC, the trio were nabbed with 12 gold bars and the stash of cash hidden under the seat of a vehicle they were travelling in.

Jacques Purusi, the governor of South Kivu province, confirmed the arrest of the suspects, saying that the operation was kept secret after the recent release of another group of Chinese nationals accused of running an illegal gold mine in the area.

Mr Purusi explained that some of the dealers in the ‘previous metals’ had been enjoying good relations with the influential people in the capital, Kinshasa, adding that it was the reason why the latest arrests had to be kept quiet.

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Although he did not give exactly how much gold had been seized so far, Mr Purusi said they had been acting on a tip-off.

According to him, the gold bars and money were only found after a meticulous search of the vehicle in the Walungu area near Rwanda’s border.

Last year, Mr Purusi told journalists that he was shocked to hear that 17 Chinese nationals, who had been arrested on allegations they had been running an illegal gold mine, were freed and allowed to return to China.

He said the development undermined the efforts to clean up DR Congo’s notoriously murky mineral sector.

“They owed $10 million in taxes and fines to the government,” Mr Purusi was quoted to have said by Reuters.

Chinese nationals arrested with gold bars, $800,000 cash in DR Congo

Three men arrested over killing of 17-year-old girl in South Africa

Three men aged between 20 and 22 have been arrested in connection with the grisly m8rder of a 17-year-old girl, Koketso Ramahlo in South Africa.

Koketso’s partially burnt body was discovered in a street near her home in Hammanskraal, Gauteng province on New Year’s Day.

The suspects will appear in court on Tuesday, January 7, to face murder charges, according to SAPS district spokesperson Warrant Officer Marinda Austin.

Koketso’s family is still reeling from the shock, saying they were unsure if she had gone out with her boyfriend on the night of her murder.

Her mother, Nkhenthani Ramahlo, was too distraught to speak to the media but a close family friend Julia Mkhari, spoke on her behalf.

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“The pain she is enduring is palpable, and I am deeply affected by it as well,” Mkhari said.

She said Koketso left with her friends on December 31 to celebrate the new year, but she later returned home to change her clothes and went out again.

She never returned home, prompting her family to launch a search on January 2.

The next day, January 3, the teenage girl’s grandmother made the horrific discovery of a lifeless, partially burnt body lying in the street near their home.

The body was later confirmed to be the missing girl, with relatives noting that she was found naked.

“The family is still reeling from the shock, we are deeply saddened and never thought something like this could happen to us,” Mkhari said.

In response to the tragedy, the community held a meeting on Friday, resolving to organise a manhunt for the alleged killer.

Community leader Bulo Dinokeng urged residents to remain calm and not take the law into their own hands, despite widespread anger and outrage over the murder.

“At this stage, we don’t know who the perpetrator is and speculation about the killer’s identity is premature,” he said.

Three men arrested over killing of 17-year-old girl in South Africa

Fulani herdsmen from Nigeria kill five Cameroonian soldiers, says MP

Gunmen from Nigeria have killed at least five Cameroonian soldiers and wounded several others in the village of Bakinjaw on Cameroon’s border with Nigeria, a member of parliament for the district and a traditional leader said.

It is the latest in a series of attempts to seize territory in the area.

Aka Martin Tyoga, MP for the district of Akwaya in southwestern Cameroon, where the incident took place, told Reuters the attack happened early on Friday, when hundreds of armed Fulani herdsmen crossed the border from Taraba State in Nigeria to attack a military post.

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He said it was a retaliation after Cameroonian soldiers killed several herdsmen the day before.

Agwa Linus, traditional ruler of Bakinjaw, said the attackers also burnt down his home.

“This is not the first time they are attacking – it’s very unfortunate,” he said.

Fulani herdsmen from Nigeria kill five Cameroonian soldiers, says MP