Africa

Sudan: 435 children killed, 2,000 injured in 100 days – UNICEF

Published

2 years ago

July 25, 2023

Sudan: 435 children killed, 2,000 injured in 100 days – UNICEF

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Monday reported that no fewer than 435 children had been killed and more than 2,000 others injured in 100 days of fighting in Sudan.

UNICEF stated that the figure is based on credible reports, noting that the true figure was likely to be far higher.

The UN agency added that there had been more than 2,500 severe violations of children’s rights – an average of more than one per hour – in a country where 14 million youngsters need aid relief.

“As we reach more than 100 days since the conflict in Sudan escalated, we know that it is taking an absolutely horrific toll on children and on families,” Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq quoted UNICEF as saying.

Haq told journalists at UN headquarters in New York that the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has also reported that nearly 300 displaced children had died from measures and malnutrition in White Nile State.

According to UNHCR, conditions are “harrowing” for those reaching shelter in neighbouring countries, where displacement camps are overcrowded and the rainy season has made relocation and aid deliveries harder.

To date, more than 3.3 million people have been displaced within Sudan and across its borders, including to Egypt, where UNHCR said that most children continue to arrive without their parents.

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Despite intense diplomatic efforts to end the fighting – notably by the African Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional body, the League of Arab States and the UN – clashes involving the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) milita have continued across multiple fronts.

To date, the UN response inside Sudan is only 23 per cent funded.

Both UNHCR and UNICEF have urgently appealed for more donor support to assist vulnerable populations who have endured three months of fighting, concentrated around the capital Khartoum, but spreading far into restive Darfur and other regions.

Healthcare inside Sudan has reached “gravely serious levels” of collapse, with more than 67 per cent of the country’s hospitals out of service and with increasing reports of attacks on facilities and personnel, according to the UN World Health Organisation.

There are now 51 recorded attacks on healthcare verified by WHO, resulting in 10 deaths and 24 injuries.

“It is a tragedy and an outrage that in the middle of this deepening crisis fighters continue to attack health facilities and workers, denying life-saving services to innocent civilians when they are at their most vulnerable”, said the statement.

WHO warned that diseases such as malaria, measles, dengue and acute diarrhea, which hitherto were well under control, were increasing due to the disruption of basic public health services.

The disrupted services include disease surveillance, functioning public health laboratories and rapid response teams.

“As the rainy season begins in Sudan, outbreaks are likely to claim more lives unless urgent action is taken to curtail their spread.” (NAN)

Africa

Fuel hits N8,000/litre in Niger, country seeks help from Nigeria

Published

5 days ago

March 16, 2025

Trends Admin

Fuel hits N8,000/litre in Niger, country seeks help from Nigeria

With the fuel crisis bedevilling the Republic of Niger, some of its military officials have visited Abuja to seek support from Nigeria to tackle the shortage of Premium Motor Spirit in the country.

It was gathered that the delegation successfully got the approval for 300 trucks of fuel from the Nigerian government.

Trouble started for Niger -which has been reliant on a Chinese refinery – after the refinery was shut down due to some misunderstanding with the supplier.

This led to Niger turning to Nigeria for help to ameliorate the fuel shortage experienced by the country.

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Officials from the Nigerian government noted that the deal was approved with the hope of using it as a bargaining tool with Niger.

“We do not want to blow our trumpet. Rather, we want to use it as a bargaining chip for negotiation, as we continue to engage with them to bring them back to ECOWAS.

“Let them get more from us. I am confident that gradually they will come back to ECOWAS because they do not have enough resources to import food to sustain their citizens,” the official said while pleading anonymity.

Sources stated that fuel prices in Niger were hitting N8,000 per litre

However, some transborder businessmen have attributed the fuel scarcity in Niger to the lingering relationship between the country and Nigeria.

They noted that in some cross-border towns to Niger, fuel is being sold for between 1,200 CFA and N3,500 (N2,500 and N8,500).

Fuel hits N8,000/litre in Niger, country seeks help from Nigeria

Africa

ECOWAS activates standby force against insurgency

Published

1 week ago

March 12, 2025

Trends Admin

ECOWAS activates standby force against insurgency

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has activated its Standby Force to curb terrorism and other transborder crimes in the subregion.

The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, who disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Forty-third ordinary meeting of ECOWAS Committee Chiefs of Defence Staff said the economic growth of the region is dependent on stable peace.

The minister added that there is a need for members of ECOWAS to close ranks against all forms of threats against the region.

On January 29, 2025, ECOWAS recognised the exit of three of its former members Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic upon the expiration of a one-year notice period.

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However, in “the spirit of regional solidarity”, ECOWAS asked its member countries to still recognise the national passports of the three exiting countries bearing the ECOWAS logo until further notice.

Their departure from the bloc has fractured the region and is leaving the ECOWAS grouping with an uncertain future.

The three junta-led countries formally notified ECOWAS of their plan for an “immediate” withdrawal in January 2024, citing the organisation’s excessive dependence on France in particular.

Paris has become the common enemy of the three juntas, which now favour partnerships with countries such as Russia, Turkey and Iran.

However, ECOWAS required one year’s notice for the departure to be effective — that deadline falls on January 29, 2025.

The three Sahelian countries have teamed up to form a separate confederation called the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

ECOWAS activates standby force against insurgency

Africa

Policewoman arrested for murder of husband, female friend

Published

1 week ago

March 11, 2025

Trends Admin

Nyiko Nyathi

Policewoman arrested for murder of husband, female friend

A 42-year-old police sergeant, Nyiko Nyathi was arrested in connection with the kidnapping and brutal murder of her husband and his ‘female friend’ in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

The officer handed herself over to authorities at Bushbuckridge police station, according to Mpumalanga provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Donald Mdhluli.

She appeared before the Bushbuckridge Magistrate’s Court on Monday, March 10, 2025, facing charges for the m8rder of her husband and another woman.

“According to information, in February 2024, Lawrence Alba Mashego, 44, was reportedly attacked by a group of armed men at his house in Boikhutsong Trust in Bushbuckridge. The armed men robbed him of his Toyota Quantum and Ford Escort, then he got kidnapped,” said Mdhluli.

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“The two vehicles were reportedly used by the armed suspects as a mode of transport to reach a certain house in Zoeknog. At the house, they found Victoria Lebyane, 44, Mashego’s female friend, in possession of Mashego’s bank cards.”

Lebyane was then robbed of about R4,000 cash as well as some bank cards belonging to Mashego. After that, Mashego and Lebyane were m8rdered by the assailants.

“The matter was probed by the men and women in blue, where a thorough investigation was carried out, leading to the arrest of four suspects in connection with the incident. One of the suspects then pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 77 years imprisonment,” said Mdhluli.

As the police intensified their investigations, the police sergeant was implicated in the m8rder of her husband Mashego, and Lebyane.

Following the court appearance on Monday, the case was postponed to Wednesday, for a formal bail application.

Meanwhile, acting provincial commissioner of police in Mpumalanga, Major General Zeph Mkhwanazi, has welcomed Nyathi’s arrest.

He emphasised that the law will take its course on anyone suspected to have committed crime, regardless of their social status or position.

“The SAPS remains resolute to be intolerant to any criminality within our ranks,” said Mkhwanazi.