Dozens kidnapped in northwest Nigeria after bandits invite them to talks

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By Reuters and Posted by TOE Armed bandits in northwest Nigeria abducted dozens of villagers whom they invited to a meeting ‌about potential peace negotiations, authorities and residents said on ‌Monday, highlighting the region’s worsening security. Police said 39 people were seized on Sunday ​when they went to a meeting in the forest near Magamin Diddi village in the Maradun municipality of northwest Zamfara State. Some local residents and officials said the number could be as ‌high as 50. According to ⁠a Zamfara State Police Command statement, the victims were meeting relatives of a bandit leader in ⁠an attempt to broker peace and ease restrictions on movement imposed on the community. Zamfara is at the centre of a long-running security ​crisis in ​which armed groups, locally referred ​to as bandits, carry ‌out mass kidnappings, killings and village raids. The violence has disrupted farming and displaced thousands. Security forces have deployed personnel and...
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Burkina Faso’s junta dissolves all of country’s political parties, saying they cause divisions

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 Burkina Faso’s military junta has dissolved all the political parties in the country and scrapped the laws governing them, according to a decree approved by the government on Thursday.

The dissolution of political parties and similar groups follows similar measures that activists say have targeted civic freedom and the opposition since military authorities took power in a 2022 coup.

Activities by political parties have long been suspended in the country under the junta. The new decree requires the assets of the parties to be transferred to the state, the government-run news agency said.

Minister of Territorial Administration Emile Zerbo said the dissolution comes after authorities found that the parties have deviated from the guidelines establishing them.

“The government believes that the proliferation of political parties has led to excesses, fostering division among citizens and weakening the social fabric,” he said after Thursday’s Council of Ministers meeting where the measure was approved.

Draft laws that will guide the establishment of future political parties and groups will be submitted to the legislature “as soon as possible,” the minister said.

Burkina Faso is among a growing number of countries in West and Central Africa that have been hit by a surge in coups and delays to the return of democratic rule.

Since taking power in a 2022 coup, its military leaders have launched sweeping reforms, including postponing elections that were expected to restore civilian rule and dissolving the country’s independent electoral commission.

SOURCE: AP



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/XW24PKp

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