'Running to save my life' - Mozambique attack survivors tell of horror – Newstrends
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‘Running to save my life’ – Mozambique attack survivors tell of horror

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Luisa Jose, a 52-year-old mother of five, says she came face-to-face with Islamic State-linked insurgents when they attacked the gas hub town of Palma in northern Mozambique 10 days ago.

“I was running to save my life … they were coming from every street,” she told Reuters from a stadium in the port city of Pemba housing some of the thousands who fled the violence.

“I saw them with bazookas. They wore uniforms with red scarves … tied to their heads.”

Jose said the militants quickly overran her hometown of Palma, next to huge gas projects worth $60 billion.

Aid workers believe tens of thousands of people fled the assault, which began on March 24. However, just 9,900 of those displaced had been registered in Pemba and other parts of Cabo Delgado province, according to the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA.

Many could still be hiding in the surrounding forest, said the international aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, and those who emerged have recounted seeing bodies of others who died of hunger or dehydration along the way.

Some were also killed by crocodiles or perished in deep mud, according to a contractor whose employee witnessed both.

Displaced women sit on mats after fleeing an attack claimed by Islamic State-linked insurgents on the town of Palma, at a displacement centre in Pemba, Mozambique, April 2, 2021

LEFT BEHIND

Most communications to Palma were cut when the attack began, and Reuters has not been able to independently verify witnesses’ accounts.

A spokesman for Mozambique’s defence and security forces declined to comment on Saturday, while calls to the national police went unanswered.

The province of Cabo Delgado, where Palma is located, has been home since 2017 to a simmering Islamist insurgency now linked to Islamic State. Clashes between the militants and government forces around Palma continued as recently as Friday, security sources told Reuters.

South Africa said on Saturday that Mozambique’s neighbours would meet next week to discuss the insurgency.

Mozambique’s government has said dozens were killed in the attack on Palma but the full scale of the casualties and displacement remains unclear.

Fato Abdula Ali, 29, said she was separated from her husband and three children in the chaos. Nine-months pregnant, she couldn’t keep up with other residents as they made their escape and delivered her baby son alone in the bush. She cut the infant’s umbilical cord with a tree branch, she said.

Fato Abdula Ali, who gave birth while fleeing an attack claimed by Islamic State-linked insurgents on the town of Palma, sits with her child at a hotel in Pemba, Mozambique, April 3, 2021.

The next day, she said, she stripped herself of her blood-soaked clothes and found another group of people who took turns carrying her to safety.

“My whole body aches,” she said.

People wait for friends and relatives as a ship carrying more than 1,000 people fleeing an attack claimed by Islamic State-linked insurgents on the town of Palma, docks in Pemba, Mozambique, April 1, 2021.

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BREAKING : EFCC declares Yahaya Bello wanted, seeks information on his whereabout

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April 18, 2024

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BREAKING : EFCC declares Yahaya Bello wanted, seeks information on his whereabout

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday declared former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, wanted.

The anti-graft agency said Bello is wanted for alleged offences relating to economic and financial crimes to the tune of N80.2 billion.

The EFCC called on Nigerians with information as to his whereabout to report immediately to the Commission or the nearest Police Station.

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“The public is hereby notified that YAHAYA ADOZA BELLO (former Governor of Kogi State), whose photograph appears above is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with alleged case of Money Laundering to the tune of N80,246,470,089.88 (Eighty Billion, Two Hundred and Forty Six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand and Eighty Nine Naira, Eighty Eight Kobo).

Bello, 48-year old Ebiraman, is a native of Okenne Local Government of Kogi State. His last known address is: 9, Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.

Anybody with useful information as to his whereabouts should please contact the Commission in its lbadan, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt and Abuja offices or through these numbers 09-9044751-3, 08093322644, 08183322644, 07026350721-3, 0706350724-5; its e-mail address: info@efccnigeria.org or the nearest Police Station and other security agencies, ” a public notice issued by the EFCC read.

BREAKING : EFCC declares Yahaya Bello wanted, seeks information on his whereabout

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BREAKING: Submit yourself for probe, FG tells Ex-Kogi gov, Yahaya Bello

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7 hours ago

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April 18, 2024

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Yahaya Bello

BREAKING: Submit yourself for probe, FG tells Ex-Kogi gov, Yahaya Bello

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has called on the immediate-past governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to submit himself for probe.

Bello is being wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged corrupt practices while in office as governor of Kogi State.

In a statement he signed on Thursday, the AGF said the EFCC is empowered by law to invite any Nigerian for interrogation.

He also described the action of the incumbent governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, who used his immunity to prevent Bello’s arrest on Wednesday as ‘disquieting.’

According to him, he stands for the rule of law and will ensure no right of any Nigerian is trampled upon.

The AGF said: “The bizarre drama confronting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the course of its efforts to perform its statutory duty has come to my notice (Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice) as a matter of very grave concern.

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“It is now beyond doubt that the EFCC is given power by the law to invite any person of interest to interact with them in the course of their investigation into any matter regardless of status. Therefore, the least that we can all do when invited is not to put any obstruction in the way of EFCC but to honourably answer their invitation.

“A situation where public officials who are themselves subject of protection by law enforcement agents will set up a stratagem of obstruction to the civil and commendable efforts of the EFCC to perform its duty is to say the least, insufferably disquieting. A flight
from the law does not resolve issues at stake but only exacerbates it.

“I state unequivocally that I stand for the rule of law and will promptly call EFCC and indeed any other agency to order when there is indication of any transgression of the fundamental rights of any Nigerian by any of the agencies, but I also tenaciously hold the view that institutions of State should be allowed to function effectively and efficiently. Nigeria has a vibrant judicial system that is capable of protecting everyone who follows the rule of law in seeking protection.

“I, therefore, encourage anyone who has been invited by the EFCC or any other agency to immediately toe the path of decency and civility by honouring such invitation instead of embarking on a temporising self-help and escapism that can only put our country in bad light before the rest of the world.”

BREAKING: Submit yourself for probe, FG tells Ex-Kogi gov, Yahaya Bello

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APC: Reprieve for Ganduje, Federal High Court stops his suspension

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7 hours ago

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April 18, 2024

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National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje

APC: Reprieve for Ganduje, Federal High Court stops his suspension

The former governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, has secured a court order from a Federal High Court in Kano halting his purported suspension as the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The order is sequel to an ex parte motion filed by Ganduje seeking to enforce his fundamental right to fair hearing.

According to the certified true copy of the order released on Thursday to journalists, the respondents in the application are the Police, Department of State Services DSS, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC and nine other individuals.

Recall the APC executives in Ganduje ward of Dawakin Tofa local government area of Kano State had on April 16, announced the suspension of Ganduje over alleged corruption.

The decision was however quashed by both the State Working Committee of the APC in Kano and the National Working Committee NWC.

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A judge of the Kano State High Court, Usman Na’abba, had however affirmed the suspension and warned Ganduje against parading himself as head of the NWC and National Chairman of the APC.

However, in the ex parte order delivered on Wednesday by the Federal High Court and made available to journalists on Thursday, A.M Liman, a judge of the Federal High Court in Kano said the suspension should not be implemented until the case is heard and determined.

“That all the Respondents, their servants, agents or privies are hereby restrained from Implementing and/or giving effect to the purported decision reached during the purported emergency meeting of the alleged Executive members of APC Ganduje Ward, held at Ganduje Ward of Dawakin Tofa Local.

“That all the parties are hereby mandated to maintain status quo before the purported emergency meeting of the alleged executive members of APC Ganduje Ward, and to stay action in respect of this matter pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application,” Liman said.

April 30 has been fixed to hear Ganduje’s appeal.

APC: Reprieve for Ganduje, Federal High Court stops his suspension

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