Headlines
Protesters Boo ‘Buhari’ in London
Over a dozen people gathered at the Abuja House in London to boo a Nigerian official they believed to be President Muhammadu Buhari.
The protesters gathered in front of the building to boo the official who was driven in a black painted car with a Nigerian diplomatic plate number (FGN1).
The videos of the protest were published Thursday night by a Twitter user, Revolutionary Tunde, using the Twitter handle @IsaacOgunmoyele.
Many of the protesters carried placards calling for freedom for the detained publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore. Others condemned the treatment of the leader of the Shiite movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
“Buhari, Stop Poisoning Sheikh Zakzaky,” one of the placards read.
“Omoyele Sowore is not a criminal,” another placard read.
Mr Buhari is currently in London for what the presidency described as a private visit.
He has spent over a week in the UK during which he has continued to perform the functions of the Nigerian president including signing a bill into law.
It is not clear if the president was in the vehicle or inside the building while the protest and the boos went on. The Nigerian embassy in the UK is yet to issue a statement on the matter.
The protesters shouted ‘ole, ole, ole…’ meaning ‘thief, thief, thief….’ while mentioning the name of the Nigerian president.
They also condemned the disrespect for the courts by the Nigerian government.
The two prominent names whose release the protesters called for are being detained by the State Security Service in Abuja.
Mr Sowore is being held despite meeting his bail conditions set by a judge. He was arrested for calling for a revolution against bad governance. The state charged him with treasonable felony and money laundering, charges he denied.
Mr El-Zakzaky has been detained since December 2015 when soldiers massacred over 300 Shiite members. The soldiers accused them of blocking a road being used by the chief of army staff, Tukur Buratai.
Mr El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenah, were first held for over a year without trial and despite a court order that they should be released and compensated.
He was later charged for the death of a soldier during the December 2015 incident.
Premium Times
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
