Reflecting on former Nigerian President Buhari's legacy
Buhari died at the age of 82 following a long illness.
Buhari served as president between 2015 to 2023, making him the first opposition leader to ascend to power.
The former military leader was dubbed the converted democrat.
He was fiercely criticised for both failing to improve security and improve economic growth during his tenure.
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eNCA
a day ago
- eNCA
Reflecting on former Nigerian President Buhari's legacy
NAIROBI - The late former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari was laid to rest at his home town after his remains were repatriated from London. Buhari died at the age of 82 following a long illness. Buhari served as president between 2015 to 2023, making him the first opposition leader to ascend to power. The former military leader was dubbed the converted democrat. He was fiercely criticised for both failing to improve security and improve economic growth during his tenure.
The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
US sends child rapist and violent offenders to Eswatini: Should SA be worried?
US sends child rapist and violent offenders to Eswatini: Should SA be worried? The US this week deported five hardened criminals to Eswatini under a 'safe third-country deportation' policy, a decision that has sparked significant concern within international diplomatic circles. The five men, from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen, are incarcerated for serious crimes ranging from child rape to murder, battery of a police officer and grand theft auto. Tricia McLaughlin, US assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, posted on X, describing the men as 'so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back'. NEW: a safe third country deportation flight to Eswatini in Southern Africa has landed— This flight took individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back. These depraved monsters have been terrorizing American communities but thanks to @POTUS… — Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) July 16, 2025 Eswatini has confirmed that the men have arrived in the country and that they are being kept at correctional facilities. 'Government has, however, acknowledged the security concerns of emaSwati, further confirming that indeed, the five prisoners are in the country and are housed in correctional facilities within isolated units, 'where similar offenders are kept',' the Eswatini government posted on X. Government has assured emaSwati that the arrival of five third-country deportees from the United States of America poses no security threat to the Nation. — Eswatini Government (@EswatiniGovern1) July 16, 2025 Caxton Local Media approached Dr Sonja Theron, a lecturer in security studies at the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria, to provide context and assess the possible impact of the deportation on South Africa. What is a safe third-country deportation? Theron explains that a safe third-country deportation refers to the practice of a deporting country, in this case the US, sending a deportee to a 'third' country instead of their country of citizenship. 'This usually occurs either when the country of citizenship refuses to co-operate with the deportation of the citizen, or when the country of citizenship is not safe for the deportee to return to. 'The word 'safe' is meant to indicate that the 'third country' is safe for the deportee, usually meaning that the deportee will not be killed, face torture or encounter other grave human rights violations,' says Theron. Could Eswatini say no? Theron says that, in principle, Eswatini had a choice in accepting the men as no country can be forced to take in deportees. 'However, the power dynamics between a country like the US and Eswatini are important to consider. The US holds much more bargaining power and can compel a country to accept deportees using economic and political incentives or threats.' She says messaging from the Nigerian government has suggested that the US has been pressuring a variety of African countries to accept deportees, using this strategy. Why would Eswatini agree to the deportation? According to Theron, it is likely that a bargain was struck between Eswatini and the US. 'This could involve promises of reduced tariffs or threatening Eswatini with increased tariffs, promises to cut or increase aid, or any number of political and economic incentives. Unfortunately, in this case, the details of the deal have not been released.' Is this a security threat for South Africa? Several South African towns and communities, including Barberton, Mkhondo and Pongola, closely border Eswatini. This raises the question of whether South Africans should be worried about the deportation. Theron says relative to the many security threats faced by South Africa, this is not significant enough to warrant panic or widespread fear. However, if this becomes a pattern, with massive numbers of deportees being sent to Eswatini, it would require more attention. 'What is more concerning is that this is further evidence of the current US administration's trend towards intimidation rather than co-operation when dealing with the African continent. African states need to ensure they maintain their agency when working with the US.' Is safe third-country deportation a common practice? According to Theron, this kind of deportation is rare. 'Only a handful of countries have practised or tried to practise this, and it almost always comes hand in hand with controversy.' She says other notable examples include the UK's scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was cancelled, and Australia's practice of housing asylum seekers in offshore detention facilities. How is this kind of deportation viewed in the international relations and law realm? Theron explains that international law primarily deals with this in the context of asylum seekers (which is different from the Eswatini case). 'In this situation, 'refoulement', which entails returning a refugee to a country where they could be killed or persecuted, is prohibited. Therefore, as long as the 'third country' is considered safe, it is legal. Safety, however, is relative and legally open to interpretation.' She says the deportation of prisoners, as in the case in Eswatini, is mostly a bilateral agreement that is governed by the laws of the two countries involved. 'Both cases are generally frowned upon and generate criticism for a variety of reasons. In practice, safe third-country deportation of asylum seekers often results in refugees being held in poor, often inhumane, conditions for extended periods (as seen in the controversy around Australia's offshore immigration facilities).' She says in the case of the deportation of prisoners, both the possibility of human rights violations of the prisoners and the impact on the receiving country have raised concerns. Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. Read original story on At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Daily Maverick
4 days ago
- Daily Maverick
Piracy decline sparks wave of kidnappings in the Bight of Biafra
A decline in piracy has pushed criminals towards hostage-taking, creating a growing ransom economy in the ocean region from Nigeria to Gabon. Nigerian pirates kidnapped two government officials in Idabato, a Cameroonian border town in the Bakassi Peninsula, on 1 October 2024. One hostage, Ewane Roland Ekeh, was released on 17 March – after six months in captivity in Nigeria. The second, Etongo Ismael, remains in captivity. Since 2021, counterpiracy measures have been in place in the Bight of Biafra (or Bight of Bonny), an ocean region stretching from the Niger River mouth in Nigeria to Cape Lopez in Gabon. This has seen an overall decline in maritime piracy crime, compelling pirates to find alternative criminal activities to support themselves. They have focused primarily on hostage-taking for ransom, the crime to which Ekeh and Etongo fell victim. A rise in hostage-taking incidents in the Bight of Biafra since October 2023 can be associated with its proximity to the Niger Delta, the epicentre of maritime crime in the region, where waters are largely ungoverned. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has reported the presence of Nigerian pirate camps in border areas near Cameroon. This was confirmed by Cameroon's Delta Rapid Intervention Battalion (RIB) commander Colonel Ndikum Azieh, who said there were nine active Nigerian pirate groups operating in the Bakassi Peninsula. Former captives and Cameroonian soldiers told the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) anonymously that the factions operating in the peninsula had established bases near Apka Irok – a Nigerian fishing village across from Kombo a Bedimo, Cameroon. Niger Delta and Bakassi Peninsula These groups have well-developed hierarchical organisational structures. One group, comprising nearly 270 fighters and led by a 'Border King', is organised into nine operational units of about 30 men each, each overseen by a 'general'. These Nigerian groups are known to operate well beyond their home bases, extending their reach to far-off waters, including those of Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Gabon. When not actively engaged in pirating activities, they abduct locals in mangrove regions and on land. Azieh said pirates adapted their tactics based on their targets. For lower-value targets – described as village women and children – kidnappings can happen at any time, often timed after army patrols have passed through an area. For high-value targets, such as government officials, pirates gather intelligence and strike at night with swift boats and teams of about 10 armed with AK-47s or PKM 7.62 machine guns. The operations are usually completed within five minutes. A Bakassi Peninsula municipal official told ISS anonymously that hostages were taken to remote mangroves in Nigeria or fisheries in the peninsula, making escape difficult. This illicit industry generates substantial profits for criminal groups. Reports indicate that in Nigeria alone about $400,000 was paid in ransom to kidnappers between July 2022 and June 2023. The money is divided among various role players, including kingpins, sponsors, group leaders, negotiators, specialised team members, assault teams, camp guards and those providing onshore support. Kidnapping is traumatic for the victims and their families. Moreover, due to the persistent threat, many administrative officials, service personnel and civil servants only stay intermittently on the Bakassi Peninsula, while their families live elsewhere for safety. Thus, they are frequently absent from their official duties, affecting essential services. The kidnappings threaten both local and regional security. The area is a critical shipping zone and plays a vital role in the region's transportation of goods, fishing activities and extraction of hydrocarbon resources. As with local officials, security forces are reluctant to confront the pirates. In Nigeria, security forces sometimes lack essential resources, like fuel, hampering their ability to address piracy effectively. In Cameroon, particularly in towns like Idabato, the police and gendarmerie units are severely understaffed. Cameroon's South-West governor, Bernard Okalia Bilai, declared a total lockdown in the Bakassi Peninsula last October, but this angered local residents, who then couldn't earn a living, and elevated tensions between Nigerian and Cameroonian residents in the area. There is also an absence of effective cross-border cooperation at the tactical level. This is despite a robust political and strategic partnership established under the 2013 Yaoundé maritime security architecture, which created multinational centres for cooperation, and information and intelligence sharing. These security cooperation agreements have not cascaded to lower administrative and security units. RIB soldiers say they are unable to carry out operations against pirates who are often just across the border in Nigeria. While Nigeria has honed its negotiating skills with kidnappers and criminal networks, other countries in the region don't yet have the capacity to negotiate the release of hostages. For example, family sources say Ekeh's release took a while, despite attempts by the local negotiator and Cameroonian security forces. In 2022, Nigeria enacted a law against paying ransoms, while Cameroon insists it 'does not negotiate with terrorists'. However, the reality that ransoms have been paid for the release of Western hostages creates a perception of double standards and fosters feelings of abandonment and hopelessness among local hostages' families. Ekeh's family and local journalists told ISS that his family managed to raise $100,000 from local residents, relatives, colleagues and local elites to pay his ransom. Insecurity in the Bight of Biafra was recently heightened following an announcement by the Biafra Nations League (BNL) – a Nigerian secessionist armed group operating in northeastern Nigeria and the Bakassi Peninsula – that it was launching significant operations in the area. Faced with the continuation and possibly an increase in kidnapping for ransom by pirates and threats from the BNL, states along the Bight of Biafra must actively enforce existing bilateral and multilateral security arrangements. Ensuring these agreements are implemented at the level of local security and administrative units to allow for real-time cross-border security collaboration is imperative. Both policies and operations should aim to address a range of maritime crimes, such as piracy, sea robbery and kidnapping for ransom, akin to Nigeria's Deep Blue Project. Here a regional legal framework allowing for the right of pursuit or creating a combined maritime task force would help foster cooperation across different operational maritime and coastal zones. DM
