Nigeria arrests seven Polish nationals for raising Russian flags at protests


ABUJA, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Nigeria has arrested seven Polish nationals for raising Russian flags during anti-government protests this week in the northern state of Kano, Peter Afunanya, a spokesperson for the state security service, said on Wednesday.
Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have been protesting since Aug. 1 against President Bola Tinubu's painful economic reforms that have seen a partial end to petrol and electricity subsidies, currency devaluation and inflation touching three-decade highs.

The protests which turned deadly in at least six northern states have seen 22 people killed so far during demonstrations, Amnesty International said, with more protesters killed in Kano, the rights group said.
This week, some protesters waved Russian flags during protests in northern states, underscoring concerns about increased Russian activity in western Africa. Security services detained some of the tailors they said had made the banners.

Afunanya said the Poles were detained during efforts by the Department of State Services to enforce security. He gave no details as to who they were, but said the operations were not targeting Polish citizens.
Stanislaw Gulinski, a Polish consul to Nigeria, confirmed the arrests at a meeting between Nigeria's foreign minister and diplomats in the capital, Abuja.
"They were arrested two days ago in Kano and last I heard, they were on the plane to Abuja from Kano," he said.

Gulinski declined to comment further when approached by Reuters.
"The Abuja (diplomatic post) was informed about the arrest of a group of Polish students and a lecturer in Kano, northern Nigeria," the Polish foreign ministry wrote on social media platform X.
"The consular service is establishing the exact circumstances of the incident with the local authorities in order to support our citizens. The ministry of foreign affairs remains in contact with the families of those detained."

Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has called the brandishing of a foreign flag during anti-government protests as a "treasonable offence" after he held security talks with President Bola Tinubu on Monday.
In the northern states of Borno, Kaduna, Kano and Katsina, protesters were seen waving hundreds of Russian flags, with some calling for a military takeover.
The Russian embassy in Nigeria denied any involvement

By Ope Adedayo
Credit: Reuters

The Designer, Creator, Founder and Tailor of Russian Flag in Kano is Arrested by the Nigeria Police.

ANC LOOKS SET TO SHARE POWER AFTER HISTORIC ELECTION LOSS

(BBC) With most of the results now in from South Africa's election, the long-ruling African National Congress (ANC) will have to contend with sharing power after a historic loss of its parliamentary majority.

Counting in over 91% of voting districts is complete and the ANC's share of the vote currently stands at 40.25%.

Trailing behind are the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 21.7%, the MK party led by former President Jacob Zuma on 14.7% and the EFF with 9.39%.

The final results are expected over the weekend.

The ANC has always polled above 50% since the country's first democratic elections in 1994, which saw Nelson Mandela become president.

But support for the party has been dropping significantly due to anger over high levels of corruption, unemployment and crime.

One woman who has voted for the ANC in every election for 30 years switched to the DA this time, and said she wanted them out of power altogether because of the cost-of-living crisis and the frequent power-cuts.

Political analyst Sanusha Naidoo told the BBC that although there were a lot of votes still to be counted, there was no way the ANC could reach the 50% needed to form a government on its own. She said the best it could hope for was 45%

Credit: Zambian Bulletin

“If I look sad in the attached photo, it is for a reason. My heart is very heavy about Nigeria right now because, in my opinion, we just took a giant step backwards in our national journey.

“One of the most unnecessary acts of governance in Nigeria in recent times is the law returning the old National Anthem. First of all, there was nothing wrong with the existing anthem. Secondly, with all of the multifaceted issues we face, it seems like we have a lack of priorities, when we major on such a settled issue as an anthem.

“To me, it looks like a step backwards to discard the ‘Arise, O Compatriots’ National Anthem written by a collective of young Nigerians, including John A. Ilechukwu, Eme Etim Akpan, B. A. Ogunnaike, Sota Omoigui and P. O. Aderibigbe in 1978, for ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’, written by an English woman, Lillian Jean Williams.

“Does it not sound preposterous that a foreigner should write our National Anthem? Are we that shallow and uninspired that we cannot come up with our own indigenous anthem? You can imagine the land of such music icons, like Fela Kuti, Osita Osadebe, Dan Maraya Jos, and contemporary stars, like Sade Adu, Burna Boy, Davido and Wizkid, importing music of national significance from Britain. As my Yoruba brethren will say, ‘O wrong now!’

“Already, the name Nigeria was given to us by another English lady, Flora Shaw. And she named us in 1897 in much the same way you name a dog. She did it tongue in cheek, for an article she wrote for The Times of London.

“We ought to have even changed that name to something indigenous, such as the Republic of Wazobia, as Ghana did in 1957 when she changed from Gold Coast to Ghana at Independence in 1957.

“We should also have reverted to the original name for Lagos, Eko. Lagos is an imposed Portuguese name. The annoying thing is that the Portuguese who renamed Eko as Lagos were just opportunistic slave traders who did not set up any viable administrative structure.

“Instead of undertaking these name changes, we are rather doubling down on another colonial relic by discarding the anthem written by our own citizens for one written by a foreigner.

“I dare anyone reading this to name another country whose National Anthem was written by a foreigner. Even a Banana Republic would not do that!”. ~Reno Omokri

Credit: Naija

LIVINGSTONE 'DRUG LORD' NABBED

A notorious drug supplier of Livingstone, who is alleged to have been recruiting, training and deploying teenagers to sell drugs on his behalf in various parts of the tourist capital, has been apprehended by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC).

Steven Musasakwa, 37, popularly known as T-bag, was picked from his residence in Zambezi Sawmills, a location in Livingstone notorious for various illicit activities.

After searching Musasakwa’s premises, officers discovered a substantial quantity of loose cannabis concealed in various plastic bags behind wooden shelves. Inside the plastic bags were 18 pre-packs and 381 clear sachets weighing 1.1kg altogether.

Credit: Zambian Bulletin