Air Peace, Nigeria’s flag carrier, has announced an increase in capacity on its Lagos-London flights.
The airline made the announcement on its X page on Wednesday.
On March 30, Air Peace commenced its Lagos-London flight services.
During an interview on Arise TV on April 2, Allen Onyema, chief executive officer of Air Peace, said the airline sold out tickets for the Lagos-London flights until September.
However, due to the high demand to fly with the airline, Air Peace on Wednesday said more seats have been created to meet the passengers’ needs.
“Due to overwhelming demand and interest in our London route, we have decided to increase the capacity on the route,” Air Peace said.
“This means that more seats are now available.
“Air Peace would like to thank the Nigerian population, both in Nigeria and in the United Kingdom, for their support.
“We do not take it for granted, and we will be doing our best to continue to make the whole country proud.”
Meanwhile, on April 2, Onyema said the airlinefaced internal and external obstacles before it could commence Lagos-London flight operation, adding that it took the airline seven years to be able to commence operations.
He also said the country is being fleeced by all the airlines “going to London from this place”.
Onyema said people were paying five times more than they should have been paying for flights.
The Ondo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Kayode Ajulo, has disclosed that he does not plan on paying his 273 aides from the coffers of the state government.
He explained that the designations are mainly honorary, adding that this means the lawyers do not have any right to receive financial remuneration or employment advantages from the Ondo State government.
Ajulo stated this following the backlash he received after announcing the appointments.
He described the reaction that trailed the appointment as an “unfortunate misconception of issues.
Ajulo said that the aides will be classified as honorary and technical advisers, maintaining that they are comprised of professional and junior legal practitioners.
He noted that the aides would work closely with him to enhance what he described as ethical legal services to the state.
“Most of these designations are purely honorary, indicating that the lawyers do not have any right to receive financial remuneration or employment advantages from the Ondo State government.
“Most of the lawyers who have been appointed are renowned, trusted, and experienced lawyers and jurists who have willingly decided to contribute their services to Ondo State as a gesture of goodwill, and any compensation they receive will not be provided by the Ondo State Government,” he said.
A former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, has lambasted the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for describing him and a former Minister of Transportation, Abiye Sekibo, as “expired politicians” over their support for Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
Recall that last week, Secondus, Sekibo, who was director-general of the party’s presidential campaign council in Rivers State; Senator Lee Maeba, Celestine Omehia, and Austin Opara, an ex-lawmaker, openly declared their support for Fubara and urged President Bola Tinubu to caution Wike.
In response, Wike had during a live media chat in Abuja, condemned the leaders of the PDP in Rivers State as “expired politicians” and “political buccaneers”.
But, Secondus in a statement by his media aide, Ike Abonyi, described Wike as “a showman noted for his double-speak, twisting of facts to score some cheap political points, and someone who stands the truth on its head.”
He further described the FCT Minister’s utterances during his media chat with select journalists as “appalling and rather unfortunate, more so he characterised our revered political leaders of Rivers State, casting them in a bad light by referring to them as transitional politicians, political vampires, and political buccaneers.”
A former lawmaker, Shehu Sani has aired his opinion on the recent announcements made by the Federal Government on the increase of electricity tariffs.
DAILY POST reports that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to raise the electricity rates for customers in the Band A category.
During a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the Vice Chairman of NERC, Musliu Oseni, announced that there will be a rise in electricity tariffs.
This adjustment will result in customers paying N225 per kilowatt-hour, up from the current rate of N66.
Sani, a former lawmaker, who represented Kaduna central district in the 8th assembly, said the increase would further reduce the living standard of Nigerians and kill businesses.
“Increasing electricity tariffs by 300% will finally electrocute human lives and businesses in the country,” he wrote on X.
Pursuant to the avowed resolve of his administration to remain open, transparent and consistently accountable to the people, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State on Saturday, 25 March, held a well-attended townhall meeting with citizens and residents of the state. It was, once again, a time for the governor to render account of his stewardship, almost 10 months after the people gave him their mandate to preside over the affairs of the state.
Typically, Governor Sani was open, blunt and convivial as he interfaced with the people with utmost humility. It was open and participatory governance in full display and the attendees relished every moment of the very crucial meeting. It was therefore with shock that most persons who attended the townhall meeting, received snippets of false narratives that began making the rounds a few hours after, especially to the effect that Governor Sani castigated his predecessor in office, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, at the event. Nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone who was present at the townhall meeting will easily attest to the fact that Governor Sani did not even mention the name of Mallam El Rufai at the meeting. I dare also repudiate in totality, insinuations that at the townhall meeting, subliminal attempts were made by the governor to “expose” or disparage his predecessor. Nothing of such happened.
The general understanding was (and still is) that the townhall meeting was summoned by Governor Sani to personally and compassionately communicate some inevitable policy and programme’s adjustments that his administration had resolved to make in the face of rapidly changing and challenging events. The governor, being the custodian of the sacred mandate of the people, rightly called the meeting, in line with international best practice, to unveil the policy adjustments and to secure their buy-in and of course to take home immediate feedbacks that could further help guide the new direction of the administration.
For starters, it will not be far from the truth to assert that the townhall meeting was triggered by recent events in the state, particularly the unfortunate abduction of 137 school children from the Kuriga community in Chikun Local Government Area of the state. The sad occurrence momentarily placed Kaduna State on not just national but global spotlight. Thankfully, the children have since been safely rescued and returned to the comfort of their respective homes.
Undoubtedly, for Sani and most other right-thinking citizens and residents of Kaduna State, the impetuous and even audacious abduction of such a sizable number of innocent children from their schools by rampaging bandits, among other things, completely changed the dynamics of the administration, going forward. The very discerning and sensitive Sani did not need any special prompting to understand that, for now, the overwhelming consensus is that sustainable safety and security across Kaduna State be accorded huge priority by the government, even as the governor pursues other noble goals.
“The safety and security of our citizens is our topmost priority. The abduction of the Kuriga school children was hurtful and nightmarish. Their return has gladdened our hearts. All praises to Almighty God. The return of the Kuriga school children is a pointer to the fact that when we work collectively, success is guaranteed. The President, National Security Adviser and the Nigerian Army all stood up to be counted. I spent sleepless nights with the NSA finetuning strategies and directing operations. The good people of Kaduna State, and indeed Nigerians from all walks of life prayed ceaselessly for the safe return of the school children,” the governor recalled at the townhall meeting.
Governor Sani then proceeded to unveil a number of urgent measures his administration was putting in place to stave off future attacks, abductions and to generally downgrade the activities of criminal elements that have for so long terrorised the state. “Even as we continue to give the traumatised Kuriga school children all the medical, psychosocial and other support they need. We shall, without delay, commence the implementation of our Safe School Project. We shall merge schools in conflict prone areas with those in safe areas. We shall fence our schools, erect watch towers and draft security personnel to protect the schools and children,” he told the hundreds of attendees at the townhall meeting. The governor was resolute about the urgency of reworking several dilapidated and insecure schools across communities in all the local government areas of the state.
Governor Sani said his administration will be deploying formal and vocational education as potent weapons to curb poverty and insecurity in the state. Education, the governor noted, is a leveler and a tool for economic liberation. “We are determined to decisively address the skills deficits of our people with the construction of Vocational and Technology Skills City in Rigachikun, Samarun Kataf and Soba. We want to reposition our citizens to become competitive in a fast changing and complex world. We want our citizens to have the requisite skills to fill positions in the business concerns we have attracted to the state. We slashed the fees in our tertiary institutions to lessen the burden on parents and ensure that our children continue with their education uninterrupted,” he said.
Aside massively rehabilitating and constructing classrooms in primary and secondary schools across the state, the administration, Sani said, is raising the quality of the state’s teachers through sustained training and retraining. In partnership with Google, Kaduna State is training 5,000 women and girls in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Applied Digital Technology, the governor revealed.
To the delight of the attendees, the governor disclosed that the state is strengthening collaboration with security agencies and fashioning more effective strategies to checkmate and degrade the evil elements laying siege on communities in the state. He revealed that Kaduna is closely and intentionally engaging with neighbouring states to develop joint strategies and carry out joint operations against criminal elements that have been crisscrossing states in the North-west of the country, wreaking havoc and subjecting mostly rural communities to untold hardship. He announced that his administration is meticulously putting in place long-lasting and measurable kinetic and non-kinetic options that would deepen safety and security in all parts of Kaduna State.
The governor also told the audience that with full support of the state government, the nation’s Armed Forces have set up Forward Operation Bases in strategic locations across the state.
At the townhall meeting, Sani reiterated his often-held position that opening up the rural communities in the state and linking them to empowerment opportunities and urban economies would drastically downgrade and possibly decimate banditry in Kaduna State. “We have embarked on massive infrastructural development in the rural areas, while carrying out infrastructure upgrades in the urban areas. I have performed the groundbreaking for the construction of 22 roads across the local governments of Kaduna State. About 832 kilometres of roads are currently under construction,” he said.
Considering the cost implications of the enormous and urgent tasks his administration must necessarily undertake, especially in the bid to secure the state for actual development to commence, Governor Sani was very open about the current financial standing of the state. Kaduna State, the governor disclosed, was contending with huge debt burden, stemming largely from deductions from inherited loans. The financial situation, he said, has become so dire that the state is currently unable to pay salaries.
It could be recalled that in May 2023, while handing-over to Senator Uba Sani, the departing governor, El Rufai openly revealed that he was bequeathing a domestic debt of N80.60 billion and a foreign debt of $577.32 million to his successor. El-Rufai was however quick to add that he left N5 billion and $2.05 million in the state’s treasury.
At the March 25th townhall meeting, Governor Sani confirmed that the state is now deeply burdened by an inherited debt portfolio of $587 million, N85 billion and 115 contractual liabilities. The huge debt burden, the governor said, was eating deep into the state’s monthly Federal Allocation of fund, hence the difficulty in paying salaries to the state’s workers in the month of March. He lamented that due to the rise in the exchange rate, Kaduna State is now paying back almost triple of the debts that were inherited.
He explained that N7 billion out of the N10 billion Federal Allocation due to the state in the month of March was deducted to service the debt. The state was left with N3 billion, an amount which is not enough to pay salaries, as the state’s monthly salary bill stands at N5.2 billion. Even Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is not spared as a popular bank in Nigeria deducts N1 billion every month from the state’s IGR.
In an emotion-laden voice, Sani told the townhall meeting attendees that in his bid to navigate round the debilitating effect of the debt on the smooth running of Kaduna State, he approached President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to help facilitate a reprieve of sorts. He said that a very sympathetic President Tinubu reminded him that Kaduna’s debt was a foreign loan and that there was little or nothing the Federal Government could do. Usually, the Federal Government only functions as guarantor of foreign loans procured by state governments.
Sani however said that despite the humongous debt burden on the state government, he was yet to borrow a single kobo in the last nine months of his administration. He said that in almost 10 months, he has continued to meet all monetary obligations of the administrations with funds he inherited. Evidently, with the huge deductions and exchange rate differentials, it has been very difficult retaining funds in the coffers of the state government.
The governor assured the people that the debt burden not withstanding, his administration remained resolute in steering Kaduna State towards progress and sustainable development. “Despite the huge debt burden inherited from the previous administration, we remain resolute in steering Kaduna State towards progress and sustainable development. We have conducted a thorough assessment of our situation and are sharpening our focus accordingly. I am actually glad to inform you that, despite the huge inherited debts, till date, we have not borrowed a single kobo,” he said.
He also informed the people that on his part, he has been very prudent with the state’s funds. Sani reminded the attendees that he announced that he was taking 50 per cent salary cut the very day he assumed office and that similarly all his commissioners and political aides have all taken huge salary cuts. He noted that most of his commissioners and aides are now much poorer than they were before they took up their respective appointments.
No commissioner in my administration attends any government-funded foreign trip. The few that have had to travel out of compulsion, travelled on Economy Class tickets. As governor, I have not used government funds to buy First Class tickets when I travel. I travel on Business Class or on Economy Class on a number of times that I have had to travel out on official assignments. I have not procured new official cars for commissioners or any of my political aides since I assumed office,” Governor Sani told the audience.
While answering questions from the attendees, Governor Sani bemoaned the actions of contractors engaged by the previous administration to undertake a number of urban renewal projects in the state. “It is a shame that many of the contractors who have been reasonably mobilized have abandoned the jobs they ought to be completing by now. Some of them are even coming to me to be paid more money. I don’t have problem with paying people but I will only pay those who have worked. They must return to site and complete the jobs that they were paid to do,” he said.
Interestingly, the governor had lots of good news to share at the town hall meeting. Chief among these is the fact that his administration has been attracting Direct Foreign Investments and has also been firming up collaborations with reputable organisations and agencies. For one, the very remarkable Qatar Sanabil Project has in such a short period began helping to change the face of Kaduna for good.
According to the governor, under the Qatar Sanabil Project, a Mass Housing Project for the Less Privileged is being undertaken. Apart from houses, there will also be clinics, shops, poultry farms, and farmlands for rainy season and irrigation farming. The flagship project under the Qatar Sanabil Project however is the Kaduna Economic City. When completed, the Economic City will provide world class infrastructure and make Kaduna a reference point in modern accommodation, adequate security and conducive atmosphere for business activities. Through a Public – Private Partnership, Nurus Siraj and Kaduna State Government are developing a 3319 hectares layout at Ungwan Dosa New Extension, Kaduna to provide houses for the people.
He further informed that the Qatar Charity recently carried out an extensive, state – wide free eye surgery for Kaduna citizens; that Zipline has been delivering on-demand medical commodities via drones where needed in due time, saving lives, reducing cost of inventory and serving health facilities across Kaduna State; that the 300 – bed Kaduna ultra – modern Specialist Hospital, a Kaduna State – Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) joint project is nearing completion and that Pfizer is committing $1 million into the Kaduna health sector to help in the distribution of health commodities, especially vaccines and blood.
“We have attracted and still attracting investors and partners. Kaduna State Government has a long standing partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). This relationship has over the years yielded positive outcomes in the state particularly in addressing the issues of maternal and child mortality, malnutrition, water and sanitation, amongst others. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supported the Kaduna State Government in the development of the Kaduna Agricultural Sector Strategy for Achieving Food Systems and Improving Nutrition. We are currently pursuing a collaborative partnership with GAVI to eliminate Zero-vaccination dose children in the State,” Governor Uba Sani disclosed.
Still on education, Governor Sani said aside the establishment of several skills and vocational cities to address skill deficits in the state, his government in collaboration with Kuwait was working to reduce out-of-school children in Kaduna State by 200,000, adding that the four-year programme, which will start in may or June 2024, is a $62 million project that will build 102 new schools in the state and renovate 170 existing ones within a span of four years.
At the town hall meeting, prominent citizens of the state including former Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai (rtd), and the Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmad Nuhu Bamali, among other persons, expressed optimism and confidence in the administration of Governor Sani in spite of the challenging times. Agwai, in particular applauded the decision of the governor to make sustained safety and security of every part of the state a top priority.
It is a huge shame that some persons attempted to diminish the essence and beauty of the town hall meeting by resorting to the politicisation of some comments or revelations made by Governor Sani at the event, in the very best interest of Kaduna State. There was really no basis for this cheap political shenanigan. Contrary to the false tale that some persons are trying to put out (but failing woefully at it) Governor Sani never said he was not aware of the loans Kaduna State government obtained. He could not have. In fact, as a senator, he played a leading role in facilitating the loan from the World Bank. He did that in the best interest of the people of the state and he has never ever regretted doing this. However, for the sake of probity and accountability, especially in an era of open governance, the governor needed to give the people an update on the status of the loan and other debts he inherited. Fortunately, Sani is well aware that Kaduna State is way bigger than himself and his predecessor. The people have the right to know and to be well-informed. No wonder the leadership of labour unions in the state, after listening very carefully to the governor at the town hall meeting, resolved not to pressurise the administration any more to pay out wage award to workers.
Even more noteworthy is the fact that the town hall meeting served as a veritable platform for the governor and all concerned citizens of Kaduna State to rob minds on ways to actualise and even accelerate the security, economic and over-all development agenda of Sani’s administration.
Turkish club Trabzonspor have been ordered to play six home matches behind closed doors after violent scenes marred a league game with rivals Fenerbahce last month, the country’s football federation (TFF) said Wednesday.
Two Fenerbahce players, Dutch defender Jayden Oosterwolde and goalkeeper Irfan Can Egribayat, were also fined and handed one-match bans by the TFF’s discipinary board.
Oosterwolde was punished for kicking a Trabzonspor fan who had run onto the pitch with his face covered.
A group of Trabzonspor fans invaded the pitch after the final whistle of the 3-2 home defeat on March 17.
The attacks took place as the Fenerbahce players and coaching staff celebrated their victory, goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic being punched in the face.
The Black Sea team must also pay two fines totalling 3.1 million Turkish lira ($97,000).
Nigerian international Bright Osayi-Samuel escaped punishment after punching a fan on the pitch.
His actions “did not meet the threshold for a violation of disciplinary rules,” the board said.
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino called the scenes “totally unacceptable”.
It is not the first time violence has affected the Turkish Super Lig this season.
The championship was suspended for a week in December after a referee was attacked during a match between Ankaragucu and Rizespor.
Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca, alongside other men, attacked referee Halil Umut Meler on the pitch after the match, injuring the official.
A number of Fenerbahce trips to Trabzon in recent times have also been marred by violence.
A 2016 game against Trabzonspor was abandoned in the closing minutes after an assistant referee was attacked by a home supporter.
The year before that the Fenerbahce team bus came under attack from a gunman en route to the airport on the way back from the neighbouring Black Sea city of Rize, leaving the driver seriously injured.
In 2014 a match between Trabzonspor and Fenerbahce was called off at half-time after the Istanbul club’s players were pelted with objects thrown onto the pitch by home fans.
Trabzonspor, who won the Turkish title two years ago, also found themselves in the spotlight in 2015 when the club president locked the referee and his assistants inside the stadium overnight in protest at the decision not to award his team a penalty.
They were eventually released in the early hours of the following morning after a phone call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024, into law.
This development follows individual reviews by both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the report from the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund.
What is the student loan bill in Nigeria?
The Bill sponsored by Senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District of Ekiti State, Bamidele Opeyemi aims to improve the execution of the Higher Education Student Loan Scheme in Nigeria by tackling issues related to the management structure of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, applicant eligibility criteria, loan purposes, funding sources, and procedures for disbursement and repayment.
How does the student loan works in Nigeria?
Under this Bill, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) would be established as a legal entity with the authority to litigate and be litigated in its own name, and it would possess the power to acquire, hold, and dispose of both movable and immovable property to fulfill its functions.
In essence, the Bill enables the Fund to offer loans to eligible Nigerians for their tuition, fees, charges, and living expenses while studying in approved tertiary institutions and vocational training centers in Nigeria.
In contrast to the previous 2023 Act, which placed the Fund’s administration under a Special Committee chaired by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, this Bill proposes changes in the management structure.
What are the terms and conditions for student loan in Nigeria?
Furthermore, the Bill eliminates the income-based eligibility criterion set by the existing law, which required an annual income of less than N500,000 for applicants or their families.
The Bill also broadens the scope of eligibility, allowing students from federally or state-established tertiary institutions and government-approved vocational institutions to apply, with specific criteria to be determined by the Fund.
Additionally, unlike the 2023 Act, which limited loan applications solely to tuition fees, the new Bill permits applicants to request loans to cover various institutional charges and maintenance allowances.
Nigerian crude maintained its premium status as investors and sold higher than the FG budget benchmark on oil as oil traders eyed concerns around crude and fuel supplies, following Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and the potential for a widening of the Israel-Hamas war to more directly including Iran.
Nigeria Brass River and Qua Iboe traded close to $92 a barrel while Brent Crude at the time of writing traded at $89 per barrel. Nigeria Bonny Light also traded at $91.37 a barrel late Tuesday.
Nigeria recorded extra revenue of $13.71 per barrel at the current price of $91.67 per barrel, while the country’s 2024 budget was based on $77.96 per barrel and 1.78 million barrels per day.
Although efforts to combat oil theft have intensified, Africa’s largest economy needs to be able to fulfil its budgetary targets of 1.78 million barrels per day.
Additionally, with numerous refineries set to come online this year, worries regarding the supply of feedstock for the refineries have grown over the past month.
What you should know
After a drone strike by Ukraine on a second Russian refinery raised the possibility of shutting down even more of the nation’s processing capacity and reducing the production of gasoline and diesel fuel, prices shot up. Russia is one of the biggest and one of the top three producers of oil in the world.
Investors are also worried that, having sworn payback, Iran’s retaliation against Israel for an attack on Monday that claimed the lives of high-ranking military officers may cause supply interruptions in the vital Middle East-producing region.
Iran is the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), supporting the Hamas militia in Gaza against Israel.
Concerns over supplies were increased by the fact that according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, Mexico’s state energy corporation Pemex asked its trading section to halt up to 436,000 barrels of crude exports per day this month as it prepared to process domestic oil at the new Dos Bocas refinery.
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The United States is the largest oil consumer in the world, and early signs point to a decline in oil stockpiles there as well.
On Tuesday, traders reported that data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that last week’s crude inventories had dropped by 2.3 million barrels.
Nigerian oil, however, confronts fierce competition from American suppliers even though it sells at a premium who have pushed their way into the market previously controlled by Nigeria and other Organization of the Pezzxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxtroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
In addition, US oil production is rising while OPEC and Russia have declined.
This change is most noticeable in India, a significant consumer of Nigerian crude oil, where Indian refiners are refusing to accept cargoes from tankers owned by the sanctioned Russian company Sovcomflot PJSC, leading to a move away from sanctioned Russian oil and toward US crude.
Rwanda on Sunday begins sombre commemorations for the 30th anniversary of the 1994 genocide, a mass slaughter orchestrated by Hutu extremists against the Tutsi minority over 100 bloody days.
More than 800,000 men, women and children, mainly ethnic Tutsis but also moderate Hutus, were killed in the murderous onslaught that saw families and friends turn against each other in one of the darkest episodes of the late 20th century.
Three decades on, the tiny landlocked nation has rebuilt under the iron-fisted rule of President Paul Kagame, but the traumatic legacy of the genocide lingers, reverberating across the region.
In keeping with tradition, April 7 – the day Hutu extremists and militias unleashed their horrific killing spree in 1994 – will be marked by Kagame lighting a remembrance flame at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where more than 250,000 victims are believed to be buried.
Kagame, whose Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebel army helped to stop the massacres, will deliver a speech and place wreaths on the mass graves, with some foreign dignitaries in attendance for what has been dubbed “Kwibuka (Remembrance) 30”.
‘Never again’ Sunday’s events mark the start of a week of national mourning, with Rwanda effectively coming to a standstill and national flags flown at half-mast.
During those days, music will not be allowed in public places or on the radio, while sports events and movies are banned from TV broadcasts unless connected to the commemorations.
The United Nations and the African Union among others will also hold remembrance ceremonies.
“This year, we remind ourselves of genocide’s rancid root: hate,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message marking the anniversary.
“To those who would seek to divide us, we must deliver a clear, unequivocal and urgent message: never again.”
The international community was heavily criticised for failing to protect civilians, with the UN sharply reducing its peacekeeping force shortly after the outbreak of the violence.
Shot, beaten or hacked to death The assassination of Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana on the night of April 6 when his plane was shot down over Kigali triggered the rampage by Hutu extremists and the “Interahamwe” militia.
Their victims were shot, beaten or hacked to death in killings fuelled by vicious anti-Tutsi propaganda broadcast on TV and radio. An estimated 100,000 to 250,000 women were raped, according to UN figures.
Hundreds of thousands of people, mainly ethnic Hutu fearing reprisal attacks, fled in the aftermath of the genocide to neighbouring countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Mass graves are still being found in Rwanda to this day.
In 2002, Rwanda set up community tribunals where victims could hear “confessions” from those who had persecuted them.
A staggering 1.2 million cases were heard over 10 years, although rights watchdogs said the system also resulted in miscarriages of justice, with some complainants using it to settle scores.
Today, Rwandan ID cards make no mention of whether a person is Hutu or Tutsi.
Secondary school students learn about the genocide as part of a tightly controlled curriculum.
‘Scars of the past’ Around two-thirds of Rwanda’s population was born after the genocide. Many are eager to help rewrite their nation’s painful history and craft a new narrative.
“Ever since I was little, Rwanda’s story has been one of rebuilding,” project manager Roxanne Mudenge, 27, told AFP.
“The scars of the past are still there, but there’s a different energy now, a sense of possibility.”
According to the Rwandan authorities, hundreds of genocide suspects remain at large, including in neighbouring nations such as the DRC and Uganda.
So far, only 28 have been extradited to Rwanda globally.
France, one of the top destinations for Rwandans fleeing justice at home, has tried and convicted half a dozen people over their involvement in the killings.
At the time, the French government had been a long-standing backer of Habyarimana’s regime, leading to decades of tensions between the two countries.
In 2021 President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged France’s role in the genocide and its refusal to heed warnings of looming massacres, prompting Kagame to applaud the French leader for taking “a big step”.
Although Macron stopped short of an apology and denied complicity in the bloodshed, Kagame said the rapprochement could pave the way for “a better” relationship between the two nations.
Ties between Kigali and Kinshasa have been characterised by even deeper acrimony, with the RPF accused of killing tens of thousands of civilians during its pursuit of genocide perpetrators in the Congo.
Kagame’s government has been accused of arming Tutsi-led M23 rebels in eastern DRC. Kigali has denied the allegations but says Tutsis in its larger neighbour are victims of persecution.
At least five persons were killed and others injured during a gun duel between security operatives and gunmen on Tuesday in Anambra.
The incident took place when the Anambra Joint Security Force, JSF, invaded two camps of the gunmen in Aguluezechukwu, Aguata council area and Ogboji, Orumba South council area respectively.
It was gathered that during the raid by the security operatives, some items like locally fabricated rocket launchers, charms, police uniforms among others were recovered.
Though Anambra police spokesman Ikenga Tochukwu did not disclose the casualty figures, it learnt that four gunmen and a police operative died during the shootout.
A statement by the Police Command in Awka on Wednesday explained the hunt for the gunmen had been extended to Obofia Forest, Aguluezechukwu and Ogboji areas.
