West Africa

Police in Nigeria have arrested Peter Nwachukwu, husband of gospel singer Osinachi Nwachukwu, following her sudden death on Friday, local media report. The singer died on Friday in a hospital in the capital, Abuja. A police spokesperson in the city has confirmed the arrest of Mr Nwachukwu to the Daily …

A military tribunal in Burkina Faso has sentenced former President Blaise Compaore to life imprisonment for complicity in the 1987 murder of his predecessor Thomas Sankara. Mr Compaore who is in exile, was tried in absentia. His former head of security, Hyacinthe Kafando, was also sentenced to life imprisonment. Mr …

A Nigerian atheist and outspoken critic of religion was sentenced to 24 years in jail on Tuesday after pleading guilty to blasphemy charges in the largely Muslim northern state of Kano, Reuters reported. Charges against Mubarak Bala are linked to comments he posted on Facebook in April 2020 that were …

At least six people have been burnt to death in an explosion at a petrol station in the northern Nigerian state of Jigawa, local media reported. Reports say some of the victims were sleeping in a small mosque within the gas station in the town of Marke when the fire …

Unidentified gunmen abducted an American nun in northern Burkina Faso on Monday, the bishop of the local diocese of Kaya said on Tuesday. The West African country faced a spiral of violence since 2015, attributed to jihadist movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. More than 2,000 people …

Nigeria has repeated its demand for telecom companies to bar calls from unregistered phone lines, part of the government’s policy to boost security amid an Islamist insurgency and a spate of kidnappings. The country’s telecoms regulator had in December 2020 ordered mobile phone providers to add identification numbers (NINs) – …

A junior tennis player has been filmed slapping his opponent across the face after losing their match in Ghana’s capital, Accra. France’s Michael Kouamé, 15, struck Ghana’s Raphael Nii Ankrah, 16, when the pair shook hands at the net, to the shock of onlookers: Number 1 seeded player Michael Kouame …

In an interview with the BBC, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo justified the e-levy bill passed by parliament by saying it was aimed at taxing the industry and not the poor. Parliament in Ghana on March 29, 2022, approved the e-levy bill, after the minority staged a walkout. President Akufo-Addo said …

National Security minister in Ghana, Albert Kan Dapaah declared that Ghana is on high alert against a possible terrorist attack. Speaking on the floor of Parliament, he said the nation is very much prepared for any potential attack. “[We] remain on high alert to avert terrorist infiltration with proactive measures, …

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) said 168 people are missing following an attack on a train last week in which eight people were killed and several wounded, Reuters agency reports. Suspected bandits blew up the track on the Abuja-Kaduna route in the northwest of the country and then opened fire …