Day: September 19, 2021

Bandits have released 10 more students kidnapped two months ago from a Baptist school in northwest Nigeria, the school administrator told Reuters on Saturday.

The Rev. John Hayab, administrator of the Bethel Baptist High school, said 21 students from the school remained in captivity. He said an undisclosed ransom was paid to release eight students while another two were set free due to ill health.

Last month bandits released 15 students from the school after a group of 28 was set free in July following the release of a first group of 28 two days after the raid.

Around 150 students were missing after armed men in July raided the school in Nigeria's Kaduna state, the 10th mass school kidnapping since December, which authorities attributed to criminal gangs seeking ransom.

"They are looking for more money, that's why they are releasing them in batches," Hayab said.

He has previously said the abductors were seeking $2,433 per student.

Schools have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom in northern Nigeria by armed groups. Such kidnappings in Nigeria were first carried out by jihadist group Boko Haram, and later its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province, but the tactic has now been adopted by other criminal gangs.

The United Nations children's agency UNICEF said on Wednesday that 1 million Nigerian children could miss school this year as the new term begins amid a rise in mass school kidnappings and insecurity.

Source: Voice of America

France's Armed Forces minister arrived in Mali on Sunday to pressure the military junta to end talks to bring Russian mercenaries into the country and push it to keep a promise to return the country to constitutional order in February.

Diplomatic and security sources have told Reuters that Mali's year-old military junta is close to recruiting the Russian Wagner Group, and France has launched a diplomatic drive to thwart it, saying such an arrangement is incompatible with a continued French presence.

West Africa's main political bloc, ECOWAS, as well as other allies combating militants in the Sahel region, have also expressed concerns over the potential deal.

But Mali's junta, which seized power in August 2020, has dug in, noting that France has begun scaling down its decade-old operation against insurgents linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State across the region.

On Sunday, Mali's foreign ministry called objections from neighbor Niger to the prospect of a deal with Wagner "unacceptable, unfriendly and condescending."

The visit by Florence Parly to Mali is the highest-level trip by French officials since the talks with Wagner emerged.

An official from the French Armed Forces Ministry told reporters ahead of the visit that Parly would stress "the heavy consequences if this decision were to be taken by the Malian authorities."

She would also underscore the importance of keeping to the calendar for the transition to democracy leading to elections in February 2022, the official said.

French officials describe the relationship with the junta as "complicated," although it still relies on Paris for counterterrorism operations.

Paris said on Thursday it had killed the leader of Islamic State in Western Sahara in northern Mali.

Parly earlier on Sunday was in Niger to lay out plans to reshape its operations in the region.

The French army started redeploying troops from its bases in Kidal, Tessalit and Timbuktu in northern Mali at the start of the month, French army sources have said.

France wants to complete the redeployment by January. It is reducing its contingent to 2,500-3,000 from about 5,000, moving more assets to Niger, and encouraging other European special forces to work alongside local forces.

The European force in the Sahel so far totals about 600 troops from nine countries.

Source: Voice of America

The mayor of Johannesburg was killed in a car accident as he returned from campaigning with South Africa's president on Saturday, just over a month after being elected, his office said in a statement.

Jolidee Matongo, 46, was returning from a voter registration drive in Soweto township ahead of local elections when the accident happened.

"It is hard to comprehend this tragedy, given the vitality and passion with which Mayor Matongo interacted with me and residents of Soweto so shortly before his death," President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a tweet.

"Nothing could prepare any of us for this sudden loss, which has deprived our nation's economic center of its second Executive Mayor in two months."

Matongo's predecessor died from Covid-19 complications in July, and Matongo was elected on August 10.

Gauteng province premier David Makhura, who was also at the Soweto voter registration drive, said the news had left him "shocked and shattered."

"[Matongo] executed his duties with a cool and calm demeanor and remained committed to selflessly serving the citizens of Johannesburg," he added.

Photos posted on social media by Ramaphosa and Matongo himself from earlier in the afternoon showed the two men walking around Soweto talking to residents, Matongo dressed in a bright yellow tracksuit with the African National Congress party's logo on it.

Matongo was born in Soweto, according to the City of Johannesburg's website, and became a member of the ANC Youth League after taking up student politics at the age of 13.

Matongo's office said more details on the accident would be released "in due time."

Source: Voice of America