Day: July 20, 2021

Muslims in Cameroon have marked the Eid al-Adha, Festival of the Sacrifice, by praying for an end to the country’s separatist conflict, which has killed more than 3,000 people since 2017. Muslim leaders also called on Cameroon’s vaccine skeptics to be inoculated against COVID-19, which has infected more than 80,000 people and killed at least 1,300.

Muslim cleric Bouba Goi Goi officiating Eid al-Adha prayers at the Islamic Complex in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé, said in his sermon that all Muslims should live lives of complete submission to God to enjoy eternal life, both physical on earth and spiritual in heaven with Allah.

Souley Mane is spokesman of Cameroon’s National Moon Crescent Commission that is responsible for announcing the day of Muslim feasts.

He said Bouba asked Cameroonians of all religious denominations to educate civilians on the need for stability in the central African state.

“It is an opportunity for every Muslim to have a spiritual project to pray for peace, security, unity, health and living together in our country. A good Muslim should be an ambassador of his religion, somebody who tries to work harder for his family, for his community and for his country,” he said.

Mane said that the 1,500 people at the prayer complex include Christians.

The Council of Imams and Muslim Dignitaries of Cameroon organized the prayer for peace.

The council’s coordinator, Moussa Oumarou, said Muslims who are separatist fighters should drop their weapons and encourage their peers of other religions to stop fighting.

Cameroon estimates that there are at least 2,000 separatist fighters in its English-speaking western regions. The government said the number of fighters who are Muslims is unknown since the rebels hide as civilians.

Souleyman Mefire Ngoucheme is imam of the Nkoazoa Mosque located 10 kilometers west of Yaounde. He said besides promoting peace, Muslim cleric in Cameroon also cautioned faithful on the dangers of COVID-19.

He said he is asking all Muslims in Cameroon to respect COVID-19 barrier measures like regular washing of hands with soap and water, putting on face masks in public and keeping a physical distance of at least a meter from other people. Ngoucheme said Muslims should not hesitate to take COVID-19 vaccine because the jab can save their lives and help to stop the coronavirus spread that has killed so many people.

Cameroon said fewer than 150,000 people have been vaccinated since April, when the government received 700,000 doses to inoculate civilians against COVID-19.

Last year during Eid al-Adha, Cameroon restricted prayers and festivities that brought together more than 10 people. Thousands of Muslims in the capital Yaoundé defied the restrictions, ordered as part of measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. This year, many came with face masks but did not respect the at least one meter distance from each person as instructed by the government.

Source: Voice of America

Nigerian media report Yoruba separatist leader Sunday Adeyemo, known as Sunday Igboho, has been arrested in neighboring Benin as he was about to board a flight to Germany. He is the second Nigerian separatist leader this month to be arrested outside the country.

The arrest comes three weeks after Nigerian security operatives barged into Sunday Igboho’s home, picked up relatives and accomplices, and declared him wanted for stockpiling weapons.

Igboho, who has been campaigning for an independent Yoruba state in southwest Nigeria, went into hiding after the raid. He made his way to Benin, where security operatives arrested him at the Porto-Novo airport at 2 am on Monday morning.

He is expected to be extradited to Nigeria on Tuesday, according to local media sources.

Igboho rose to prominence in January after he issued a seven-day ultimatum to herders and pastoralists in southwest Oyo state to vacate the state.

Speaking with Sahara Reporters, an online news outlet based in the U.S., Igboho’s legal counsel Pelumi Olajengbesi confirmed his arrest and said, “We are making efforts to ensure that he is fine.”

His arrest highlights authorities’ crackdown on growing separatist movements in the West African nation.

Late last month, authorities arrested Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB, and returned him to Nigeria. He now faces trials for offenses including treasonable felony.

The separatist movements have gained momentum in recent years, which observers attribute to the Nigerian government’s inability to deal with widespread insecurity.

Meanwhile, government critics are accusing authorities of being heavy-handed in cracking down on separatist movements but slow in addressing criminal activities like large-scale kidnappings for ransom.

Source: Voice of America

The corruption trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma has been postponed until next month.

A judge at the Pietermaritzburg High Court in the former president’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday adjourned Zuma’s trial until August 10. Zuma’s lawyers had requested a delay to allow him to appear in person and properly consult with them.

Zuma is charged with multiple counts of corruption, fraud and racketeering in connection with a massive 1999 arms deal involving French defense giant Thales when he served as deputy president. The company has also been charged with corruption and money laundering.

The 79-year-old Zuma appeared Monday via a video link from the correctional facility where he is serving a 15-month prison sentence handed down by the Constitutional Court in late June for failing to appear before a separate inquiry into allegations of corruption during his nine-year presidency, which ended in 2018.

His surrender nearly two weeks ago on the contempt charge triggered protests in KwaZulu-Natal that soon evolved into rioting, looting and arson that spread into Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city and economic hub. More than 200 people were killed in the violence before security forces were deployed to restore order. More than 1,000 people have been arrested for theft and vandalism.

Source: Voice of America

Malian interim president Colonel Assimi Goita survived an assassination attempt at a mosque in Bamako on Tuesday, in the latest blow to stability in a country reeling from two military coups in less than a year.

Two assailants — one of whom was wielding a knife — attacked Goita after prayers at the capital’s Grand Mosque for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, an AFP journalist saw.

Goita, a special forces colonel who was named transitional president in May, was quickly whisked away by security.

The journalist saw blood at the scene, although it was unclear who was wounded.

Goita later appeared on the state broadcaster ORTM, where he said he was doing “very well” after the attack.

“That’s part of being a leader, there are always malcontents,” he said, wearing a blue hat and shiny blue gown.

“There are people who at any time may want to try things to cause instability.”

His office released a statement saying that Goita was “safe and sound” after what was labelled an assassination attempt.

Security had subdued one attacker, and “investigations are ongoing,” the presidency added.

The assailants went for the president as an imam was directing worshippers outside the Great Mosque for a ritual animal sacrifice.

Religious Affairs Minister Mamadou Kone, who was at the mosque, told AFP that a man had “tried to kill the president with a knife” but was apprehended.

The mosque’s director, Latus Toure, said an attacker had lunged at the president but wounded someone else.

Later, a security official who requested anonymity said that two people had been arrested and were now in detention.

Goita referred to only one attacker during his televised address, however. As did his prime minister, Choguel Kokalla Maiga, who made a similar statement.

The atmosphere in Bamako was calm on Tuesday after the assault, according to AFP journalists, including in the area surrounding the mosque.

Political turmoil

The shocking attack follows months of political turmoil in Mali, which is also battling a jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes.

Goita was sworn into office in June after leading the country’s second coup in less than a year.

He headed a putsch last August that ousted elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita after weeks of mass protests over corruption and the long-running jihadist conflict.

The junta then handed power to a civilian-led transitional government which promised to restore civilian rule in February 2022.

But in late May, Goita, who was vice president under the transitional government, ousted the president, Bah Ndaw, and premier Moctar Ouane, saying they had sought to “sabotage” the handover.

In June, with Goita as interim president, a new government was unveiled, with military figures in key roles.

Facing the wrath of the African Union and the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, Goita vowed the government would “uphold all its commitments” and pledged to stage “credible, fair and transparent elections.”

Fragile country

The assassination bid is the latest episode in the country’s long history of turbulence.

Mali, a deeply poor state of around 20 million people, has known little stability or democracy since it gained independence from France in 1960.

Its West African neighbors have been viewing the deepening crisis with disquiet, fearing the impact on efforts to stem a jihadist insurgency in the Sahel.

The bloody campaign erupted in the north of Mali in 2012, and has since spread to Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.

France, the mainstay of the anti-jihadist operation, has been especially critical of the military takeover in Mali.

It suspended military cooperation after the second coup and then announced a major drawdown of its 5,100-man Barkhane mission.

Source: Voice of America