West Africa

Gambia’s President Adama Barrow launched his National People’s Party (NPP) on Saturday evening to support his candidacy for the presidential election scheduled for December 4. In a televised broadcast of a meeting that saw a large crowd of delegates and supporters gathered at the Independence Stadium in Bakau, the 55-year-old …

Seven orphans who were kidnapped from an orphanage on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital, Abuja, two weeks ago have been released. The orphanage was stormed by gunmen in Abaji area on 23 January and they kidnapped children aged between 10 and 13. Some adults who were abducted from their …

Niger’s Constitutional Court confirmed in a ruling pronounced on Sunday that a second round of the presidential election is to be held on February 21. The court noted that no candidate had obtained an absolute majority of votes in the first round whose annulment, partial or total cancellation claimed by …

The Nigerian military says it does not have in its custody any of the schoolgirls abducted seven years ago in the northern town of Chibok, amid reports that some of the girls had escaped from their abductors. Those who managed to escape are believed to be in Maiduguri, the capital …

Hundreds of Nigerian living in Saudi Arabia without work or residency permits have been deported. It comes after a number of migrants posted a video to social media about their squalid conditions, asking for help. A total of 384 people including 300 men, 83 women and one infant were flown …

Authorities in the Gambia say they are going to reveal the identities of 40 people who have violated Covid-19 regulations. Gambian journalist Omar Wally told BBC Newsday that the 40 people walked out of coronavirus treatment centres and the government says they were endangering the lives of people. “They tested …

Ghana’s longest-serving leader, former President Jerry John Rawlings, will be buried on Wednesday. His body has been lying in state since Monday and hundreds of people have taken the opportunity to pay their last respects. The funeral rituals are taking place with strict enforcement of coronavirus restrictions. Rawlings died on …

The army in Mali says it has killed 100 jihadists in a joint offensive with French forces. In a statement, Mali’s military said another 20 Islamists were captured in the operation, which ran throughout January. Militants control large parts of the Sahel desert region. Since an Islamist insurgency erupted in …

Prosecutors in Finland say a man from Sierra Leone has been charged with crimes against humanity, over his role in Liberia’s civil war two decades ago. Gibril Ealoghima Massaquoi is accused of killing civilians and soldiers who had just been disarmed when he was a senior member of a rebel …

Former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings will lie in state from Monday in the capital, Accra, although strict Covid-19 protocols will be in place for people who want to pay their respects. John Jerry Rawlings, who was Ghana’s longest-serving leader, died in November, aged 73, after a short illness. Funeral events …