Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

A leading independent journalist and book author from Vietnam has been sentenced to 30 months in jail over Facebook posts critical of the government. Following a trial that lasted only for a few hours, a court in the capital Hanoi convicted 63-year-old Huy Duc of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state” through posting 13 articles on Facebook. “These articles have a large number of interactions, comments and shares, causing negative impacts on social order and safety,” the indictment quoted by Vietnam News Agency read. Huy Duc worked for influential state-run newspapers before authoring one of…

Armed bandits have killed 16 people in two separate attacks in southwestern Niger, state radio has revealed. The reports stated that though the assailants have not been identified, the attacks were similar to jihadist raids that have plagued the central Sahel region in recent months. State radio said Wednesday that the bandits gathered people from a village in Dioundiou on the night of February 22-23 and “opened fire, killing 14 people.” The report stated that two nights later, attackers killed two people in a neighbouring town. The area around Dioundiou, which borders Nigeria and Benin, is a haven for jihadist…

The Johannesburg high court has convicted seven Chinese nationals and their company on numerous charges related to crimes, including human trafficking that were committed at Village Deep in Johannesburg several years ago. “The accused faced 158 charges, including offences such as human trafficking, labour law violations and breaches of occupational health and safety regulations,” said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane. The accused are Shu-Uei Tsao, 42, Biao Ma, Hui Chen, 50, Quin Li, 56, Zhou Jiaquing, 46, Junying Dai, 58, Zhilian Zhang, 51, and their company Beautiful City (Pty) Ltd. “The police received a tip-off about an illegal…

Four female undergraduates at the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, formally known as Uni Agric, Makurdi have been kidnapped by unknown assailants. The reports indicated that the young women were abducted by unknown gunmen on the university premises on Wednesday. The victims’ names were given as: Emmanuella Msenuter, Orakaa Susan, Iember Apebo, and M. Folashade. According to sources, the Chairman of Makurdi Local Government, Hon. Keffi has visited the school with a strong security presence to emphatise with the school management and ensure the safety of other students while search and rescue operations are underway. Efforts to speak with the Dean…

…Including children who ate a bat An unknown illness has killed over 50 people in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to doctors in the central African nation and the World Health Organization. The interval between the onset of symptoms and death has been just 48 hours in the majority of cases, and “that’s what’s really worrying,” Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring center, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The latest disease outbreak in Congo began on January 21, and 419 cases had been recorded as of Monday, including 53 deaths. According…

The United States government has officially released its 2025 Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) list, with Nigeria and other African nations completely excluded amid President Donald Trump’s mass deportation. While 40 countries, including European, Asian, and select Middle Eastern nations secured visa-free entry into the US, no African nation made the cut as the country introduced policy updates on permit privilege eligibility and others. Major US allies like the United Kingdom were also left out, although British citizens remain eligible under specific conditions. According to the US Bureau of Consular Affairs website, the Visa Waiver Programme allows most citizens or nationals…

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has raised the alarm over threats to her life and the safety of agency staff, calling on authorities to protect them as they navigate hazardous conditions in their duties. The NAFDAC boss also advocated for the death penalty for those involved in the production and sale of fake and counterfeit drugs in Nigeria. Prof. Adeyeye, while briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday, disclosed that NAFDAC had recently seized illicit drugs worth over N1 trillion in an ongoing crackdown against…

Thousands of people lined the streets of Israel on Wednesday to pay their respects to Shiri Bibas and her two young sons as their funeral procession made its way to a cemetery in the south of the country. Bibas was 32 and her sons, Ariel and Kfir, were 4 years old and just shy of 9 months old when they were taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 2023, terrorist attacks. Clutching her children as fighters barked orders, she looked terrified in a video taken near their home in kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel. Bibas family The boys’…

Former manager and elder brother of Paul and Peter Okoye of the defunct music group, P-Square, has been arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of laundering ₦1.38 billion, $ 1 million and £34,537.59. Jude was arraigned alongside his company, Northside Music Ltd, before Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on a seven-count charge. One of the counts read: “That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Ltd sometime in 2022, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did directly acquire a landed property known as No 5, Tony Eromosele Street…

President Donald Trump has suggested the introduction of a “gold card” visa — a potential opportunity for foreign investors to buy their way to American citizenship. The U.S. currently offers a similar opportunity through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Programme, which was established in 1990 and is administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). According to USCIS’s website, the visa is open to investors who “make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the United States,” as well as “plan to create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers.” But Trump’s recent suggestion would replace…