Latest news with #AfolabiSotunde
UPI
5 days ago
- Climate
- UPI
At least 151 killed in Nigerian flash flooding
People search for victims after Friday's flash flooding killed at least 151 in Mokwa, Nigeria, following torrential rains on Wednesday and Thursday. Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/EPA-EFE May 31 (UPI) -- Torrential rains over two days caused flash flooding that killed at least 151 people in Mokwa, Nigeria. The death toll is expected to climb in the city that has a population of more than 416,000 and is located 235 miles west of the Nigerian capital of Abuja, the BBC reported Saturday. The flash flooding was Friday. The Niger State Emergency Management Agency initially reported 115 deaths but revised the number to 151 and expects to find more deceased victimsas the flood waters recede. Floodwaters swept the bodies of many victims into the Niger River that flows below the city on Thursday and Friday. More than 500 homes and 3,000 people were impacted by the flash flooding that caught local officials by surprise. Many families lost multiple members. A total of 11 people were reported as rescued and taken to local hospitals for treatment. Localized flooding was expected before the storm, but the severity overwhelmed the city. "We had to knock on some doors, but before people could escape, the flood had already caught up," shop owner Umar Jamil told The New York Times. "We have seen many bodies floating in the river, but we couldn't help," he said. It had been 60 years since a flood of such magnitude struck the city, Mokwa leader Muhammad Shaba Aliyu told the BBC. The city is located along the northern bank of the Niger River, and the floodwaters caused a local bridge to collapse into the river. The bridge's collapse left many motorists stranded as the flash flooding worsened. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ordered all available emergency and security personnel to "intensify ongoing search and rescue operations" in Mokwa, the BBC reported. Torrential rains began falling Wednesday and continued through Thursday, leading to Friday's deadly flash flooding. The flooding occurred near the start of Nigeria's rainy season, which lasts from April through October.
Straits Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Separatists' sit-at-home protests lead to 700 deaths in Nigeria's southeast, report says
FILE PHOTO: Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu is seen at the Federal high court Abuja, Nigeria January 20, 2016 REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Police officers are seen conducting checks on vehicles at the Federal High court in Abuja, Nigeria October 21, 2021. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo LAGOS - A sit-at-home order by banned separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra in Nigeria's southeast has led to the death of over 700 people in the region over the past four years, an intelligence consultancy said in a new report. The IPOB, campaigning for the secession of the southeast that is predominantly inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group, has been labelled a terrorist organisation by Nigerian authorities. SBM Intelligence reported that the fatalities resulted from the killing of civilians who defied the weekly stay-at-home order every Monday and on other specific days, as well as from clashes between the IPOB and Nigerian security forces. "IPOB's enforcement tactics, including arson, looting and targeted assassinations, have created a climate of fear," the SBM report said. "While there was a high rate of compliance with sit-at-home orders in 2021 (82.61%), surveys reveal that actual support is much lower (29%) now, with many complying under duress." An IPOB spokesperson denied the group was responsible for the deaths. "Those causing the killings are the kidnappers and criminals recruited by government to blackmail and demonize IPOB," the spokesperson said. The government did not respond to a request for comment. The IPOB launched the sit-at-home protest in August 2021 across the five states of Nigeria's southeast, using it as leverage to demand the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is facing trial in the capital Abuja on terrorism charges. The group suspended the weekly protest days later, citing a "direct order" from Kanu, who has been in custody since 2021, and reinstated it only on days the IPOB leader would be appearing in court. However, other armed groups claiming allegiance to IPOB and factions within the group have persisted in enforcing the weekly protest, launching attacks on government facilities and perceived pro-government individuals. Despite IPOB's attempts to disassociate itself from the region's violence, the police have accused the group of involvement in several incidents, including a 2021 attack on a prison and the murder of over 30 travellers earlier this month. The IPOB denied responsibility for those two attacks. The SBM report added that beyond the deaths, the sit-at-home order, which suspends economic activities in the southeast every Monday and on days when Kanu appears in court, has resulted in economic losses surpassing 7.6 trillion naira ($4.79 billion). Civil war engulfed the restive Biafra region in the late 1960s, killing more than 1 million people. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Separatists' sit-at-home protests lead to 700 deaths in Nigeria's southeast, report says
FILE PHOTO: Police officers are seen conducting checks on vehicles at the Federal High court in Abuja, Nigeria October 21, 2021. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo LAGOS (Reuters) -A sit-at-home order by banned separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra in Nigeria's southeast has led to the death of over 700 people in the region over the past four years, an intelligence consultancy said in a new report. The IPOB, campaigning for the secession of the southeast that is predominantly inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group, has been labelled a terrorist organisation by Nigerian authorities. SBM Intelligence reported that the fatalities resulted from the killing of civilians who defied the weekly stay-at-home order every Monday and on other specific days, as well as from clashes between the IPOB and Nigerian security forces. "IPOB's enforcement tactics, including arson, looting and targeted assassinations, have created a climate of fear," the SBM report said. "While there was a high rate of compliance with sit-at-home orders in 2021 (82.61%), surveys reveal that actual support is much lower (29%) now, with many complying under duress." An IPOB spokesperson denied the group was responsible for the deaths. "Those causing the killings are the kidnappers and criminals recruited by government to blackmail and demonize IPOB," the spokesperson said. The government did not respond to a request for comment. The IPOB launched the sit-at-home protest in August 2021 across the five states of Nigeria's southeast, using it as leverage to demand the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is facing trial in the capital Abuja on terrorism charges. The group suspended the weekly protest days later, citing a "direct order" from Kanu, who has been in custody since 2021, and reinstated it only on days the IPOB leader would be appearing in court. However, other armed groups claiming allegiance to IPOB and factions within the group have persisted in enforcing the weekly protest, launching attacks on government facilities and perceived pro-government individuals. Despite IPOB's attempts to disassociate itself from the region's violence, the police have accused the group of involvement in several incidents, including a 2021 attack on a prison and the murder of over 30 travellers earlier this month. The IPOB denied responsibility for those two attacks. The SBM report added that beyond the deaths, the sit-at-home order, which suspends economic activities in the southeast every Monday and on days when Kanu appears in court, has resulted in economic losses surpassing 7.6 trillion naira ($4.79 billion). Civil war engulfed the restive Biafra region in the late 1960s, killing more than 1 million people. ($1 = 1,598.5100 naira) (Reporting by Ben Ezeamalu; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Japan Today
29-04-2025
- Health
- Japan Today
Gates, others launch $500 million maternal, newborn health fund, bucking aid cuts trend
FILE PHOTO: A mother carries her sleeping baby during a safety training workshop for displaced Boko Haram victims on the identification of dangerous objects, at the Gubio camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria May 6, 2022. Picture taken May 6, 2022. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo By Jennifer Rigby A group of philanthropies including the Gates Foundation has set up a fund backed with nearly $500 million to help save the lives of newborn babies and mothers in sub-Saharan Africa, standing out against a bleak global health funding landscape. The Beginnings Fund was launched on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the home of another key backer - the United Arab Emirates' recently established Mohamed Bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity. The project has been in the works for at least a year. But its role has become more important as governments worldwide follow the U.S. in pulling back from international aid, its chief executive Alice Kang'ethe told Reuters in an interview. 'It is an opportune moment,' she said earlier this month, stressing that the fund aimed to work alongside African governments, experts and organizations rather than parachuting in experts or technologies, an approach she said differed from many traditional donor programs. "Two generations ago... women in the UAE used to die during childbirth. More than half of children did not survive past childhood," said Tala Al Ramahi at the Mohamed Bin Fayed Foundation, saying the lessons learned in what worked to change those outcomes would help inform the effort. The Beginnings Fund aims to save the lives of 300,000 mothers and newborn babies by 2030, and expand quality care for 34 million mothers and babies. The partners also pledged $100 million in direct investments in maternal and child health, separate to the fund. It plans to operate in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, focusing on low-cost interventions and personnel in high-burden hospitals. The work will track and target the key reasons babies and mothers die, including infection, severe bleeding for mothers, and respiratory distress for infants. The world has made major progress in reducing newborn and maternal deaths, halving the neonatal mortality rate between 1990 and 2022. But that progress has stagnated or even reversed in nearly all regions in the last few years, according to the World Health Organization, which has warned that aid cuts could make this worse. 'Mothers and newborns should not be dying from causes we know how to prevent,' said Dr. Mekdes Daba, minister of health for Ethiopia, stressing that the majority of deaths are avoidable. Kang'ethe said the Beginnings Fund, like other philanthropies, was getting calls to fill gaps in global aid funding, but remained focused on its long-term aim of changing the trajectory of mother and newborn survival. The fund is also backed by the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, Delta Philanthropies and the ELMA Foundation, among others. It will be led from Nairobi, Kenya. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Straits Times
29-04-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
Gates, others launch $500 million maternal, newborn health fund, bucking aid cuts trend
FILE PHOTO: Bill Gates from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation speaks at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Global Science Summit in Helsingoer, Denmark, May 6, 2024. Ritzau Scanpix/Keld Navntoft via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. DENMARK OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN DENMARK./File Photo FILE PHOTO: A mother carries her baby in a strap carrier bag outside the Wuse general Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo FILE PHOTO: A mother carries her sleeping baby during a safety training workshop for displaced Boko Haram victims on the identification of dangerous objects, at the Gubio camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria May 6, 2022. Picture taken May 6, 2022. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo LONDON - A group of philanthropies including the Gates Foundation has set up a fund backed with nearly $500 million to help save the lives of newborn babies and mothers in sub-Saharan Africa, standing out against a bleak global health funding landscape. The Beginnings Fund was launched on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the home of another key backer - the United Arab Emirates' recently established Mohamed Bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity. The project has been in the works for at least a year. But its role has become more important as governments worldwide follow the U.S. in pulling back from international aid, its chief executive Alice Kang'ethe told Reuters in an interview. 'It is an opportune moment,' she said earlier this month, stressing that the fund aimed to work alongside African governments, experts and organizations rather than parachuting in experts or technologies, an approach she said differed from many traditional donor programmes. "Two generations ago... women in the UAE used to die during childbirth. More than half of children did not survive past childhood," said Tala Al Ramahi at the Mohamed Bin Fayed Foundation, saying the lessons learned in what worked to change those outcomes would help inform the effort. The Beginnings Fund aims to save the lives of 300,000 mothers and newborn babies by 2030, and expand quality care for 34 million mothers and babies. The partners also pledged $100 million in direct investments in maternal and child health, separate to the fund. It plans to operate in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, focusing on low-cost interventions and personnel in high-burden hospitals. The work will track and target the key reasons babies and mothers die, including infection, severe bleeding for mothers, and respiratory distress for infants. The world has made major progress in reducing newborn and maternal deaths, halving the neonatal mortality rate between 1990 and 2022. But that progress has stagnated or even reversed in nearly all regions in the last few years, according to the World Health Organization, which has warned that aid cuts could make this worse. 'Mothers and newborns should not be dying from causes we know how to prevent,' said Dr. Mekdes Daba, minister of health for Ethiopia, stressing that the majority of deaths are avoidable. Kang'ethe said the Beginnings Fund, like other philanthropies, was getting calls to fill gaps in global aid funding, but remained focused on its long-term aim of changing the trajectory of mother and newborn survival. The fund is also backed by the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, Delta Philanthropies and the ELMA Foundation, among others. It will be led from Nairobi, Kenya. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
