Angola: 100 Over Anti-Government Protesters Arrested by Police
Angola: 100 Over Anti-Government Protesters Arrested by Police
At least 100 people were held following violent weekend anti-government protests in the Angolan capital Luanda, a senior government official announced Sunday, the VoA reported.
Anti-riot police fired tear gas and beat protesters to break up the demonstrations that attracted around 2,000 people.
Protesters set up barricades along the roads using skips, boulders, tree trunks and burning tires.
Others set a national flag ablaze, an AFP photographer saw.
Dozens of protesters, including journalists covering the demonstrations, were arrested.
Salvador Rodrigues, an official with the interior ministry, said on state television that 103 people, including politicians from the largest opposition UNITA party, were in detention.
They were due to appear in court on Monday.
Rodrigues said six police officers were injured during the protests.
He also said a police motorcycle, a car, an ambulance and fire engine were damaged or burnt during the protests that occurred in a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of the oceanside capital Luanda.
The demonstrations were staged to demand a new date for local government elections that were supposed to happen this year but have been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Protesters also demanded jobs and better living conditions.
In a statement on Sunday, the main opposition UNITA accused police of using excessive force to quell the protests and demanded the “unconditional release” of all the arrested people.
UNITA “denounces and condemns the arrest and beating of demonstrators by the national police, which caused chaos on the street.”
Saturday’s protests were the latest show of disenchantment towards the government by Angolans in recent months
Authorities call-off official engagements as protests continue to be violent
Nigeria: Authorities call-off engagements as violent protests persist
Official engagements involving senior Government personnel had to be called off on Wednesday following spiralling violent protests across Nigeria.
On Tuesday night, reports say military personnel opened fire on unarmed protesters in Lagos.
A high-profile government functionary who spoke to Discover Africa News on Wednesday said: “The country is not in a good mood. A number of government facilities are being razed down in Lagos. Prominent individuals attacked. How can we continue as though nothing is happening”, he said.
Nigeria’s anti-police protesters have stayed on the streets in Lagos, breaking a government curfew after a night of chaotic violence and reports of demonstrators being shot dead.
Shots were fired as youngsters set up barricades by the Lekki toll plaza in Lagos, where protesters were fired upon on Tuesday night, causing injuries and an unknown number of deaths.
There were reports of gunfire across Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city of 14 million, including on the highway to the airport, at a major bus station and outside the offices of a television station.
Smoke could be seen billowing from several points in central Lagos.
Demonstrations and gunfire were also reported in several other Nigerian cities, including the capital city, Abuja.
Nigerians are reeling from video on Tuesday night at the Lekki toll plaza in which protesters could be heard singing the national anthem in the darkness.
Shots can be heard followed by sounds of people running away.
It is not clear who was firing the shots heard in the video but Nigeria’s security forces have been blamed for at least 10 deaths during the protests by Amnesty International, which has accused the police and military of using excessive force against the demonstrators.
There have also been widespread reports of youthful protesters being attacked by armed gangs, who the demonstrators say were sent by the police to break up the protests.
Lagos governor’s confirmed more than 20 injuries from the Lekki shootings but said no-one had been killed.
He said he went to hospitals and mortuaries throughout the city.
Speaking in a televised address, Obajide Sanwo-Olu said he has ordered an investigation into the actions of the military at Lekki plaza, an indication that the army may be responsible.
“For clarity, it is imperative to explain that no sitting governor controls the rules of engagement of the military,” he said.
“I have nonetheless instructed an investigation into the orders and the adopted rules of engagement employed by the officers and men of the Nigerian army that were deployed to the Lekki tollgate last night.
“This is with a view to taking this up with a higher command of the military and to seek the intervention of Mr President in his capacity as a commander in chief to unravel the sequence of events that happened yesterday night.”
He tweeted on Wednesday: “This is the toughest night of our lives as forces beyond our direct control have moved to make dark notes in our history, but we will face it and come out stronger.
“I’ve just concluded visits to hospitals with victims of this unfortunate shooting incident at Lekki.”
He had earlier warned on Twitter that the protests against police brutality had “degenerated into a monster that is threatening the well-being of our society”.
President Muhammadu Buhari has remained silent on the protests and violence sweeping across the country.
Before the shootings at Lekki, Nigeria’s police statement warned security forces would now “exercise the full powers of the law to prevent any further attempt on lives and property of citizens”.
The curfew in Lagos began on Tuesday afternoon and most businesses and shops are closed across the city.
The curfew was announced after a police station was burned down in the city and two people were shot dead by police.
Lagos has been at the centre of the protests, with demonstrators at times blocking access to the airport and barricading roads leading to the country’s main ports.
A curfew also went into effect in Benin City after a pair of attacks on correctional facilities that left 1,993 inmates missing.
Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Manga said large, armed crowds had attacked the two prisons, subduing the guards on duty.
It is unclear what the prisons’ exact populations had been before the attack.
The protests began two weeks ago after a video circulated showing a man being beaten, apparently by police officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, known as SARS.
Protests in Nigeria: Curfew in Edo after arson, prisonbreak
Protests in Nigeria: Curfew in Edo after arson, prisonbreak
Police brutality protests in Nigeria is taking a new turn as protesters continue to be violent on public facilities. On Monday, the Police in Nigeria say that its facilities in the southern city of Benin in Edo state have been attacked by “people posing as #EndSars protesters”.
There have been cyber campaigns which have affected a number of Government and Private Agencies including the Central Bank of Nigeria and the DStv.
In Edo, reports say the “protesters” took arms and ammunition from the armoury and freed suspects being held, police said in a statement posted on Twitter.
It added that some that some of the facilities had been set on fire:
The statement also said that everything was being done to bring the situation under control.
The authorities in the southern Edo state have imposed a 24-hour curfew saying that “hoodlums” had taken advantage of the #EndSars protests.
Secretary to the state government, Osarodion Ogie, who announced the curfew said it is to take effect from 16:00 Monday until further notice.
“This decision has become necessary because of the very disturbing incidents of vandalism and attacks on private individuals and institutions by hoodlums in the guise of the #ENDSARS protests.
“While the government of Edo State respects the rights of its citizens to undertake legitimate protests, it cannot sit idly when hoodlums have taken laws into their hands to cause mayhem on innocent citizens and the state,” Ogie said.
Earlier on Monday, there were multiple reports of prisoners escaping a correctional facility in the Oko part of the state.
In videos posted on social media, some men can be seen scaling a high barbed-wire fence said to be the prison walls along the Sapele road in Edo state.
In this video posted by Nigerian broadcaster TVC, protesters can be seen throwing objects at the prison gate and encouraging inmates to scale the fence:
Widespread demonstrations continued across several Nigerian cities on Monday as protesters called for an end to police brutality and reforms in the sector.
The protests have continued despite authorities agreeing to disband the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars).
On Sunday, protesters occupied the country’s central bank in the capital Abuja, but reports say they were targeted by armed thugs in the early hours of Monday.
There is also an increased presence of armed army personnel in the capital days after the military offered to step in warning that “subversive elements and trouble makers” were exploiting the situation.
Sudanese men shout slogans during a protest against Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip in the capital Khartoum on July 18, 2014. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of bolstering his ground assault on Gaza in what commentators said was part of a strategy to pressure Hamas into a truce. AFP PHOTO/EBRAHIM HAMID
Protests return in Sudan after AU deadline, Police tear-gas protesters
Today, June 30th is the deadline given to Sudan by the African Union to return to civilian rule. But that did not happen. This prompted return of protests in Khartoum, the Sudan’s capital.
Reports say Sudanese police fired tear gas to disperse protesters demanding an end to military rule in the capital Khartoum, eyewitnesses say.
Tens of thousands of people protested in cities and towns across Sudan to demand the transfer of power to a civilian-led administration.
In Khartoum, police fired tear gas at crowds in the northern district of Bari and in Mamura and Arkweit in the east, AFP quoted witnesses as saying.
Shops were shut in areas where protests were taking place.
A heavy contingent of security forces, including the much-feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), was deployed ahead of the protest.
Media captionMeet Sudan’s young protesters prepared to die to keep the country’s revolution alive.
Protest leader Ahmed al-Rabie told AFP that the RSF had broken up a media briefing called by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) in Khartoum on Saturday.
“Before we could start the press conference, three vehicles from RSF, full of armed men, came to our building and told us not to hold the press conference,” he said.
Everyone in the building was ordered to leave, Mr al-Rabie said.
He told Reuters news agency that the raid was “a violation of liberties that is even worse than the regime of the former president”
The military said it would hold the opposition responsible for any violence or loss of life in the protests.
Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemeti, warned of “vandals” and a “concealed agenda” that might take advantage of the demonstrations.
Talks between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the opposition collapsed after 3 June and have not resumed despite mediation by the African Union (AU) and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
On Friday, the SPA said two leading members of the opposition had been detained and urged “the international community to demand their immediate release”. (With BBC reports)
Security forces, seen here on Monday, moved against protesters after a long stand-off. Credit/AFP
Sudan crisis: Official admits 46, not 100 died Tuesday in civil protests
Doctors have said on Wednesday that at least 100 people had been killed in the Sudan capital, Khartoum, amid pro-democracy protests.
But a Sudanese official has denied that at least 100 people were killed by a paramilitary unit saying that the number was at most 46.
They said 40 bodies were pulled from the River Nile in Khartoum on Tuesday.
Authorities had initially stayed quiet, but a health ministry official put the number at 46 early on Thursday.
Sudanese opposition activists have rejected an offer of talks from the country’s military council, saying it cannot be trusted amid a violent crackdown on protesters.
Residents told the BBC they were living in fear in the capital.
The deputy head of the military council defended the violent suppression, claiming that the protesters had been infiltrated by rogue elements and drug dealers.
“We will not allow chaos and we will not go back on our convictions. There is no way back. We must impose the respect of the country by law,” said Mohammed Hamadan – also known as Hemeti – on Wednesday.
Numerous reports from Khartoum said the paramilitary unit, the feared Rapid Support Forces (RSF), was roaming the city’s nearly deserted streets, targeting civilians.
Formerly known as the Janjaweed militia, the RSF gained notoriety for brutal atrocities in the Darfur conflict in western Sudan in 2003.
Reports continue to come in of these militia going into neighbourhoods and killing people. Their leader claims it is impostors behind the violence.
The BBC reports that healthcare givers ae afraid of going to work and that people are still coming to terms with the violence of the last few days.
“At the former sit-in area – there are torn and charred posters as well as burnt-out tents.
The fear is that more of the dead could still be there.
Security forces seem to outnumber civilians on the streets of the capital.
Reports continue to come in of their brutal crackdown.
At Ibrahim Maleek Teaching Hospital – the doctors and nurses have not come to work because they’re afraid of being targeted. Instead, it’s the medical students who are treating patients.
Like 33-year-old Mohanned Mirghani – he says he was shot at close range by the Rapid Support Forces. “They shot me from close range; the RSF were the distance that you are from me now. Two of my friends were also shot but I don’t know what happened to them.”
It’s hard to get a proper sense of what’s happened. One big hindrance is the fact that the military rulers have cut off the internet”
Electoral officials have postponed voting in three cities until March, citing insecurity and Ebola concerns.
But with the new president due to be sworn in next month, it appears the votes of more than a million people will be discounted.
In Goma, the main city in eastern DR Congo and also an opposition stronghold, crowds blocked a road in the Majengo neighbourhood and around the university, the BBC’s Gaius Kowene reports from the scene.
Anti-riot police are positioned at some street corners in Majengo, and protesters retreated after tear gas was fired, he adds.
Protests were also reported in Yumbi, Butembo while in Beni, soldiers fired tear gas to disperse protesters, Reuters news agency reports.
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