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Boko Haram death toll escalates to 35 000

Boko Haram bomb mosque in suicide attacked

Boko Haram bomb mosque in suicide attacked, file photo

from AHMED OBAFEMI in Maiduguri, Nigeria
MAIDUGURI, (CAJ News) – THE Boko Haram terror group has killed around 35 000 people since it began its insurgency in Nigeria ten years ago.

Officials from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) disclosed the figures at the commemorations of World Humanitarian Day. The event is marked annually on August 19.

“These are 35 000 deaths too many,” stated Peter Ekayu, head of UNOCHA, in Nigeria.

He disclosed that 37 aid workers had been killed since the beginning of the conflict.

While the killings are largely attributed to the Boko Haram, six aid workers were among 115 people killed when a Nigerian Air Force jet mistakenly bombed a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) near the Cameroonian border in 2017.

The armed forces mistook it for a Boko Haram encampment.

Boko Haram’s terror attacks are largely in the northeastern state of Borno but sporadic attacks have been recorded in the Adamawa and Yobe, also in the region.

It was earlier estimated 20 000 civilians had been killed.

More than 2 million people have been displaced in what is one of world’s most severe humanitarian crises.

– CAJ News

Mpumalanga farm grows in leaps and bounds

Enterprising Mpumalanga black farmer David Lesesa's farm employees pose for a photo. Picture by Anna Ntabane, CAJ News Agency

Enterprising Mpumalanga black farmer David Lesesa’s farm employees pose for a photo. Picture by Anna Ntabane, CAJ News Agency

from ANNA NTABANE in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga
NELSPRUIT, (CAJ News) – WHAT started as a mere community gardening project has grown considerably into one of the province’s major sources of grain, livestock and employment as well as a philanthropic enterprise.

LTSL Trading, owned by 55-year-old David Lesesa, started operating at Arnot Colliery in Middelburg in 2004.

It expanded to Piet Retief and eventually to Leeuwpan.

Today, it boasts seasonal revenues of R1,8 million (US$128, 572).

From focusing solely on horticulture, LTSL Trading has grown into a major producer of maize and soybeans.

The farm also provides bales for cattle, chickens and pigs to nearby farms.

Six people – four men and two women- are permanently employed.

“We also employ seasonal workers. With them numbers vary from year to year depending on the amount of work,” Lesesa said in an exclusive interview with CAJ News Africa.

Some 25 seasonal workers were employed last year during planting and harvesting period. Overall, 46 people were employed.

LTSL is also involved in charity initiatives such as funding a Down’s syndrome Association in Mpumalanga province.

It also hosts the annual sport day for inmates at the Witbank Correctional Services in Emalahleni.

“We have also helped build 50 huts for the Mnguni family, who are our neighbors and we are also offer our neighboring subsistence farmers bales and grazing for their cattle,” Lesesa said.

He mentioned it had not been plain sailing and it has taken determination to grow the project.

“I had problem with finances, fencing and equipment,” Lesesa recalled.

The farm house had been vandalised prior to them taking occupancy.

There was no water or electricity at the farm making production difficult.

“There are trenches that were dug by the previous lessee at the expiry of his lease contract. He left it open, thus endangering the safety of our livestock. And in digging these trenches, some of the fences were destroyed,” Lesesa concluded.

– CAJ News

History made as DRC rebel group embraces peace

DRC flag

DRC flag

from JEAN KASSONGO in Kinshasa, DRC
KINSHASA, (CAJ News) – IN an unprecedented development, a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has allowed humanitarian organisations access to regions in which the militia operates.

The commitment by the Alliance of Patriots for a Free and Sovereign Congo (APCLS), which operates in the northeast, follows dialogue with local communities and a Switzerland non-governmental organisation (NGO).

APCLS is traditionally active in Masisi territory and is considered one of the largest ethnic militia groups operating in the North Kivu province.

Geneva Call, the NGO, initiated sustained dialogue that saw the rebel group commit to enabling humanitarian organisations access for a year.

“The group commits to facilitating access to humanitarian organisations wanting to work within their remit,” said a spokesperson of the NGO.

Dialogue followed a drastic deterioration of access conditions for humanitarian workers in the province, where abductions, hold-ups, thefts and attacks have been rife.

This has been one of the major hindrances in curbing the deadly Ebola outbreak currently plaguing the DRC.

In addition to the breakthrough, Geneva Call has also obtained a commitment from some local communities to facilitate access for NGOs and accompany them in their work.

Some communities have since the outbreak last year resisted the entry of humanitarian organisations that are working to eradicate Ebola.

About 2 000 people have died from Ebola epidemic.

– CAJ News

SADC urged to halt albino, journo attacks

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with newly elected SADC Chairman for Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zinmbabwe. File photo

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (left) with newly elected SADC Chairman for Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zinmbabwe. File photo

from ALLOYCE KIMBUNGA in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
DAR-ES-SALAAM, (CAJ News) – HUMAN and media rights groups have appealed to Southern African leaders to protect people with albinism and prioritise the safety of journalists.

The call came at the 39th Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state and government summit in Tanzania

Held in Dar es Salaam until Sunday (today), the gathering coincided with rising attacks against people with albinism.

About 150 people with the condition have been killed over the past five years, most of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Tanzania has reported the highest number of killings (76) during period.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s director for Southern Africa, lamented that people with albinism lived in fear of being killed or abducted for their body parts.

Attacks are fueled by false myths that albinos’ body parts bring luck.

“SADC leaders must tackle the root causes of these targeted attacks to end the plight of persons with albinism who continue to be terrorised by criminal gangs across the region,” Muchena said.

During its 45th session in Mozambique in July, SADC’s Parliamentary Forum adopted a motion condemning attacks, abductions, killings and discrimination against people with albinism.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) meanwhile urged governments in the region to uphold media freedoms.

Violations have been reported in almost all 16 SADC member states.

“Member states must ensure a free press so that journalists can work freely and safely, and citizens can access reliable information and make informed decisions,” Robert Mahoney CPJ Deputy Director, stated.

– CAJ News

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