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Over 100 die in Nigeria boat accident
More than 100 people drowned, and more are missing after a boat carrying them down River Niger in south-western Nigeria capsized on Monday.
The vessel was carrying around 300 passengers traveling from Kwara state to Niger state after a wedding.
The boat capsized after part of the vessel collapsed, causing water to flood the boat, police said.
“On leaving the shore, one part of the boat by the engine side collapsed where water penetrated the boat, which ultimately led to the boat capsizing,” a police spokesman in Kwara, Ajayi Okasanmi, said in a statement.
“All efforts to draw the attention of the villagers hosting the wedding ceremony for assistance by the persons in the boat proved abortive, leading to the deaths of about 106 people,” the statement added.
Abdul Gana Lukpada, a local chief in Patigi, told the press that the wedding guests were stranded after heavy rains flooded the roads and were forced to cross the River Niger by boat from Ghoti village to Patigi.
Hyperinflation spirits revisit Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean businesses and households fear a repeat of the hyperinflation experienced more than a decade ago as prices of essential items surge after a sharp deterioration in the local currency, despite government efforts to boost it.
The Zim Dollar has so far this month plunged more than 50% in value against the U.S. dollar after the government announced on May 29 measures to motivate the use of the local currency – as opposed to the dollar to tame inflation.
The currency has withered by more than 80% since the start of the year.
A loaf of bread now costs 10,000 Zimdollar ($1.67). A week ago, it cost no more than 2,000 Zimdollar.
Earlier this month, Zimbabwe’s primary stock market temporarily stopped trading to allow the market to “cool off”, after shares rallied on the back of a weakening Zimdollar.
There have been calls for Zimbabwe to dollarize the economy again fully, but central bank governor John Mangudya told Reuters Zimbabwe did not have enough dollars to do this again.
“This is not the end of the Zimdollar,” Mangudya said. “This country has no capacity to dollarize fully. It is not sustainable.”
Nigeria’s Tinubu suspends anti-corruption agency boss
Nigeria’s new President, Bola Tinubu, Thursday suspended the head of the country’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), indefinitely.
Abdulrasheed Bawa was asked to step aside for a “proper investigation into his conduct while in office”.
There have been several corruption allegations against the 43-year-old Bawa since he was appointed the EFCC chairman in 2021. He has denied all the allegations.
In an interview with BBC last month, a former governor of the northern Zamfara state accused Bawa of allegedly demanding a $2m bribe from him. Bawa denied the allegation.
Uganda responds to the US travel advisory over Uganda’s anti-gay law
The United States Monday issued a travel advisory on Uganda after adopting the anti-gay legislation last month.
“Reconsider travel to Uganda due to crime, terrorism, and anti-LGBTQI+ legislation,” the US said in the Monday advisory.
It said the anti-homosexuality law “raises the risk that LGBTQI+ persons, and those perceived to be LGBTQI+, could be prosecuted and subjected to life imprisonment or death based on provisions in the law”.
President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill into law late last month, sparking anger among human rights groups, the United Nations and LGBTQ activists, and Western powers.
However, Kampala responded, saying that it is unconcerned by the advisory. In a comeback Wednesday, Uganda’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Henry Okello Oryem, remarked that Uganda would not succumb to pressure from the West.
“The American government has a right to issue advisory notes as they so wish in the interest of its citizens, but whatever they do, we will not be intimidated, we will not be bullied, we will not be suppressed to do anything that is not in the interest of Uganda,” Oryem told the Monitor newspaper in Uganda.
However, the minister said that relations between Uganda and the US remained friendly.
“We have been talking to them. The President of Uganda met the American ambassador, and that is the highest form of engagement. This is not the first time Americans are issuing advisories. Friends disagree but overcome their disagreements, and they continue being friends,” he said.
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