Headlines
UN Warns of ‘Catastrophe’ As Sudan War Rages On
Fierce fighting between rival generals raged on in Sudan Tuesday despite the latest truce, as warnings multiplied of the potential for a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Many more cannot afford the arduous journey to Sudan’s borders, and have been forced to hole up inside the city of five million people with dwindling supplies of food, water and electricity.
“We are hearing some sporadic gunfire, the roaring of a warplane and the anti-aircraft fire at it,” said one resident of south Khartoum.
In a Monday briefing, the top United Nations aid official in Sudan, Abdou Dieng, warned that the situation was turning into “a full-blown catastrophe”.
Kenyan President William Ruto said the conflict had reached “catastrophic levels” with the warring generals declining “to heed the calls by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union and the international community to cease fire.”
In a virtual meeting with senior UN officials, Ruto said it was imperative to find ways to provide humanitarian relief “with or without a ceasefire”.
Burhan and Daglo, who fell out after carrying out a 2021 military coup which derailed Sudan’s transition to elective civilian rule, have flouted multiple ceasefires, the latest a 72-hour extension agreed late on Sunday.
Foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens. Over the past 10 days, thousands of foreigners have been brought to safety by air or sea in operations that are now winding down.
Russia’s armed forces said on Tuesday they were evacuating more than 200 people from Sudan on four military transport planes.
Nearly 500 people arrived in the Saudi port of Jeddah on Monday aboard two vessels, one a US Navy ship, the other Saudi.
– Relief trickles in –
Top UN humanitarian official Martin Griffiths arrived in Nairobi on Monday on a mission to find ways to bring relief to the millions of civilians trapped inside Sudan.
“The situation unfolding there (in Sudan) since April 15 is catastrophic,” he said on Twitter.
Sudan’s turmoil has seen hospitals shelled, humanitarian facilities looted and foreign aid groups forced to suspend most of their operations.
At least 528 have been killed and some 4,600 wounded in the violence, according to the health ministry.
The United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, said it was bracing for “the possibility that over 800,000 people may flee the fighting in Sudan for neighbouring countries”.
The World Health Organization warned that the fighting was pushing Sudan’s already ailing health sector toward “disaster” with only 16 percent of health facilities in Khartoum still functioning.
The WHO said that it had delivered six containers of medical equipment to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, including supplies for treating trauma injuries and severe acute malnutrition. It had also distributed scarce fuel to hospitals which rely on generators for power.
– Darfur chaos –
Beyond Khartoum, lawlessness has engulfed the West Darfur state capital, El Geneina, where at least 96 people have been reported killed since the start of the fighting, according to UN figures.
More than 330,000 people have been displaced, over 70 percent of them in West and South Darfur states, according to the International Organization for Migration.
“The health system has completely collapsed in Geneina,” the doctors’ union said, adding that looting of clinics and camps for the displaced had forced several agencies to carry out “emergency evacuations” for their teams.
On Friday, Doctors Without Borders said the fighting had forced it to halt “almost all activities in West Darfur”.
The Darfur region is still scarred by a war that erupted in 2003 when then hardline president Omar al-Bashir unleashed the Janjaweed militia, mainly recruited from Arab pastoralist tribes, against ethnic-minority rebels.
The scorched-earth campaign left at least 300,000 people dead and close to 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures.
The Janjaweed — which rights groups have accused of atrocities in Darfur — later evolved into the RSF, which was formally created in 2013.
AFP
The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, says he has concluded plans to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) in no distant time.
He has reportedly mandated his commissioners and other appointees to either join him in the APC or resign if they are not comfortable with his decision.
A Government House source, who confirmed the development, said the governor broke the news during the State Executive Council meeting on Thursday.
The source, who pleaded anonymity, said Governor Eno warned his appointees that he had nothing to negotiate with them other than for them to follow him or leave.
The governor was quoted as saying, “Anybody who claims he is not aware of my intention to leave the PDP is still living in the 18th century.
“Apart from elected officials like House of Assembly members and Local Government Chairmen, I have nothing to negotiate with you.
“Let me tell you, anybody who believes that when I leave the PDP he will use the party structure to fight me is lying, because I will still control the PDP structure.”
Eno disclosed that he is in love with the leadership style of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and, as such, would like to align with him.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman in the state, Aniekan Akpan, could not confirm the development at the time of filing this report, as his lines were busy. However, the Director of the APC Media Network, Mr. Iniobong John, confirmed the news to journalists.
John said, “It is no longer a rumour. I think there are some confirmations that the governor is defecting to the APC. Though unofficial, I can confirm that the governor is joining our party sooner or later. No official date has been confirmed yet, but all plans have been perfected for his defection to our party.”
He described the proposed defection as great news for the APC in the state and for Akwa Ibom in general, adding that the state would now be better connected to the national power center.
Daily Post
The All Progressives Congress has endorsed President Bola Tinubu as its flag bearer in the 2027 presidential elections.
The Party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, announced this on Thursday, on behalf of its National Working Committee, at its National Summit held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.
The endorsement came hours after APC governors and lawmakers cast a vote of confidence on the president and endorsed him for a second term.
The Federal Government has filed a criminal suit against the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, over comments she made on national television that were allegedly deemed defamatory.
The case, marked CR/297/25, was filed on May 16, 2025, before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, with Akpoti-Uduaghan listed as the sole defendant.
According to court documents, the government is charging the senator under Section 391 of the Penal Code (Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990) for allegedly “making imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person.”
The said comments were allegedly made during a live broadcast of Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on April 3, 2025, where Akpoti-Uduaghan was said to have criticised unnamed individuals in a manner the government claimed was defamatory.
Count two of the charges accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of “making an imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person, contrary to Section 391 of the Penal Code Law, Cap. 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, and punishable under Section 392 of the same Law.
“That you, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on or about the 3rd day of April 2025, during the same Politics Today programme on Channels Television in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, made the following imputation concerning Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State.
“It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night to eliminate me. When he met with him, he then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi.
“You knew or had reason to believe that such imputations would harm the reputation of Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State”, the charge added.
Among the witnesses lined up to testify include Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello, who are identified in court filings as the nominal complainants.
Other witnesses listed include Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, Sandra Duru, and police investigators Maya Iliya and Abdulhafiz Garba, who were involved in probing the matter.
The former Kogi governor had in April, petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), accusing Akpoti-Uduaghan, of making defamatory statements against him.
The former Kogi governor alleged that during a homecoming event on April 1, 2025, in Okehi Local Government Area, the female lawmaker ‘maliciously’ defamed him and accused him of being involved in an assassination plot.
The case comes amid ongoing political tensions surrounding Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended from the Senate earlier this year. Her suspension sparked widespread criticism and allegations of political persecution.
Akpoti-Uduaghan had accused Akpabio of targeting her after she rejected his alleged sexual advances, claiming that her suspension was orchestrated to silence her.
She made the allegations following the altercation over sitting arrangement in the Senate Chamber that led to Akpabio ordering the sergeant-at-arms to eject her from the chamber when she rejected the seat offered to her.
She is challenging her suspension at the Federal High Court, where the hearing has been scheduled for June 27.
Source: ICIR
