Headlines
Siasia Pleads for Help over Kidnapped Mum 10 Weeks On
Former Nigeria coach and player, Samson Siasia says he is still in the dark as to the whereabouts of his abducted mother, reports BBC. Mrs. Ogere Siasia, 76, and two others have been held captive since they were seized in Bayelsa, southern Nigeria ten weeks ago. But Siasia says the police are no closer to finding her.
“The police said it’s been difficult to track these kidnappers, but my great concern is that my mother is very sick,” Siasia told BBC Sport.“For someone who is unwell to be held against her will is not only callous, but heartbreaking and sad.
“So I can only keep appealing to these guys to please let my mother go. I would like for the government or whoever is capable to help me bring my mother back.”Siasia also recently filed an appeal against a life ban for match-fixing, imposed by world football’s governing body Fifa.
It’s the second time in four years that Mrs Siasia has been kidnapped after she was held by gunmen for 12 days, before her release back in November 2015. Siasia, who played over 50 times for his country while scoring 16 goals, has had little contact with his mother, but believe she is unwell.
Although the Bayelsa State police said they are currently trying to rescue her unharmed, the former Nantes and Lokeren striker says he is a broken man who needs the support of a nation he served.“What more can I do but plead for assistance from the government, police and my country that I served as a player and coach,” he said.
“My mother is seriously sick and this bothers me a lot. I don’t know where or who to turn to at this point.“I’ve not had a job for three years, battling with a Fifa ban appeal and to have my sick mother in the hands of kidnappers, I just feel extremely tired.”
A former international, Siasia won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria and played in their maiden World Cup appearance later that same year.
As a coach he led his country’s under-20 and under-23 sides to continental success in 2005 and 2015 respectively.He also guided the U20s to a runners-up finish at the 2005 World Youth Championships (as it was known at the time) in the Netherlands.Siasia is the most decorated African football coach at the Olympics, winning silver at the Beijing Games in 2008 and bronze at the 2016 Games in Rio.
The Guardian
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.”
