The Nigerian Army has debunked claims of a terrorist attack at the ammunition storage facility in Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri, Borno State capital city.
The Army said the explosion which rocked the facility was caused by extreme heat conditions in the area and not an attack as suggested by many.
In a statement issued hours after the explosion, the Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, Captain Reuben Kovangiya, said the incident was a reaction to high temperature affection the ammunition stored in the facility.
“The explosion was due to the current high temperatures in Maiduguri, which led to the explosion of some munitions,” Kovangiya said.
Noting that the situation has been brought under control, Kovangiya said there was a coordinated response by the state’s Fire Service Department and sister emergency agency at the facility.
He also stated that troops of Operation HADIN KAI were deployed to the scene to prevent hoodlums from taking advantage of the situation on the ground.
“The general public is therefore urged to please discountenance any speculation of an attack… and remain calm,” Kovangiya added. Politics Nigeria
Mutua, a former spokesperson for the Azimio la Umoja coalition, becomes the latest ally of opposition leader Raila Odinga to join the government following the March 2025 pact between Ruto and Odinga to form a broad-based government.
President William Ruto has appointed Prof Makau Mutua as the Senior Adviser on Constitutional Affairs in the Executive Office of the President.
In a statement posted on X, the President described Mutua as a seasoned legal expert with extensive experience in constitutional and human rights matters.
“I have appointed Prof Makau Mutua as the Senior Advisor of Constitutional Affairs in the Executive Office of the President. Prof Mutua brings a wealth of experience in legal, constitutional and human rights matters,” Ruto said.
Mutua, a former spokesperson for the Azimio la Umoja coalition, becomes the latest ally of opposition leader Raila Odinga to join the government following the March 2025 pact between Ruto and Odinga to form a broad-based government.
The appointment, however, has stirred discontent among some ODM members, who have opposed the pact and pledged to chart a separate course ahead of the 2027 elections.
Prof Mutua’s appointment comes a week after Ruto named Jaoko Oburu Odinga—son of Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga—as Special Advisor for Economic Empowerment and Sustainable Livelihoods.
A Kenyan-American scholar, Mutua is a former dean of the SUNY Buffalo School of Law and currently teaches international human rights, international business transactions, and international law.
He has long been a close ally of Odinga, having served as spokesperson for his 2022 presidential campaign. He is also a former Vice President of the American Society of International Law and chaired Kenya’s 2003 Task Force on the Establishment of a Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission. Capital News
Taipei, April 30 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has protested Somalia's move to no longer accept visitors or transit passengers with Taiwanese passports starting Wednesday.
Citing a 1971 United Nations resolution that in effect expelled the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) from the international body, the Somali Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) announced on April 22 that it would no longer accept passports issued by the Taiwan authorities starting April 30, according to MOFA.
Somalia's government said it was making the decision to honor the "one-China principle" upheld by Beijing that sees Taiwan as part of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
The SCAA said it has notified all airline operators to not accept passports issued by the Taiwan authorities and other travel documents, whether for arrival in or transit through Somalia.
MOFA responded in a statement late Tuesday that it was lodging a stern protest with Somalia for restricting the travel freedom and safety of Taiwanese nationals and that it believed the PRC was behind the Somalian government's latest decision.
MOFA also condemned the African country for misinterpreting U.N. Resolution 2758 by creating the illusion that Taiwan belonged to the PRC, its statement said.
Resolution 2758 was adopted by the 26th U.N. General Assembly in 1971 to address the issue of China's representation at the international body.
It resulted in the ROC losing its seat at the U.N. to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from participating in the international organization and its affiliates, as it is not recognized by the U.N. and a majority of its member states as a country.
MOFA did not say in its statement if it believed the latest decision had something to do with Taiwan's warming relations with Somaliland.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has functioned as a sovereign state ever since, but is not officially recognized by any other country.
Ties between Taiwan and Somaliland have warmed since the two sides set up representative offices in each other's capitals in 2020.
It was unclear if Somalia's move would have any effect on Taiwanese diplomats stationed in Somaliland.
Meanwhile, in its statement Tuesday, which MOFA said was issued a full week after Somalia's announcement because getting clarification took time due to the lack of bilateral communications, MOFA called on Taiwanese to avoid traveling to Somalia and Somaliland for the time being.
It said any travel to the region should wait until Taiwan and Somaliland jointly resolved the issue, given the fact that Somalia controls the airspace over Somaliland.
Taiwan and Somaliland are asking Somalia to immediate revoke the decision on not accepting Taiwan passport and will ask international organizations and like-minded countries to push for the revocation, it said.
The Somali announcement is not expected to have much of an impact on outbound travel from Taiwan. Taiwan government data shows that Taiwanese only made 16 visits to Somalia from 2016 to February 2025. By Joseph Yeh, CNA
President William Ruto during the National Drama and Film Festival state concert at Nakuru State House on April 16, 2025. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]
Kenyans enacted chapter eleven of the Constitution establishing devolution against the backdrop of a national government that allocated resources based on political considerations. Upon the establishment of the 47 county governments, the Constitution empowered the people with the authority to govern themselves and participate in decision-making processes on matters that affect them directly without acquiescing the Nairobi mandarins that thrive in controlling resources for political and self-aggrandisement reasons. In summary, devolution remains the biggest achievement under the current constitutional dispensation.
Decades down the line, it’s disheartening that devolution is implicitly sabotaged by the powers that be in Nairobi. Governors have lamented about insufficient disbursement of funds to county governments. The most compelling lamentation came from Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o who accused President William Ruto of taking the country “back to pre-devolution times of the Nyayo era.” The ODM Secretary General, Senator Edwin Sifuna, compounded these lamentations by accusing the President of being an “enemy of devolution.”
In my view, Dr Ruto’s political manoeuvres and governance philosophy illustrate a preference for a strong centralised system of government that controls public resources. This preference gives him substantial influence over administrative decisions, resource allocation, and policy implementation. Ruto’s inclination towards centralised governance can be attributed to his insatiable appetite to consolidate power, which he believes is essential for not only advancing his political interests but also for garnering loyalty among other political leaders, including governors and general populace.
Be that as it may, centralised government is detrimental to the people because it promotes bureaucratic inefficiency and wanton theft of public resources. When power is concentrated in a central authority, decision making is slow and cumbersome due to layers of bureaucracy, resulting in a disconnect between the government and local communities. Devolution has a better understanding of the unique challenges faced by their communities which are oblivious to the centralised authority.
Since time immemorial, national government has fostered corruption and mismanagement of resources as evidenced by a small group of individuals who hold power over significant resources, resulting in misappropriation and sheer theft. This risk is exacerbated by a political climate where loyalty is prioritised over merit as seen in Ruto’s strategy of attracting allegiance from various leaders through resource control. Such a dynamic not only hampers transparency but also diminishes public trust in government institutions.
In contrast, devolution promotes distribution of power and resources to devolved governments. Decentralisation of power and resources is a pathway to enhancing democratic governance, accountability, and responsiveness to the needs of citizens. The United States is a testament to what devolution can achieve. The US has historically leveraged its federal structure to promote local governance, which facilitate diverse economic strategies tailored to regional strengths and needs.
Furthermore, devolution enables local leaders to implement policies that directly address their communities’ specific challenges. For example, county governments can allocate resources efficiently to improve infrastructure, agriculture, and health care - key functions of the devolved government that have been systematically undermined by insufficient allocation of resources. With sufficient funds, local governments can adopt varied economic policies that attract businesses and investments, leading to job creation and improved standards of living. In contrast, Ruto’s preference for centralised governance imposes uniform policies that do not account for the distinct economic landscapes across counties, resulting in lost opportunities for growth. By Jacktone Ambuka, The Standard
KDF officers leave Nyayo National Stadium aboard their vehicles heading into the Nairobi Central Business District for Gen Z protests on June 27, 2024.[Stafford Ondego, Standard]
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) is under scrutiny for its failure to deliver timely justice following the deadly 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests.
Nearly a year after the protests erupted across the country, which culminated in the storming of Parliament on June 25 and resulted in the deaths of at least 65 demonstrators, only two cases are currently before the courts.
The delay, widely seen as a miscarriage of justice, has been brought back into sharp focus by the BBC Africa Eye ‘Blood Parliament’ documentary, Amnesty International's latest report, and a sharply-worded letter from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
The ODPP, in a letter addressed to IPOA, on Monday, demanded that the authority urgently initiate investigations into the violent suppression of protestors and specifically the storming of Parliament during the Gen Z-led demonstrations.
“Given the clarity of some of the footage and testimonies in the documentary, the Director of Public Prosecutions directs that IPOA urgently initiates investigations to identify and bring to account the alleged perpetrators, and investigate any misconduct or excessive use of force by law enforcement officers,” wrote Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jacinta Nyamosi.
IPOA's response has been criticised as sluggish and insufficient, with only a fraction of the reported deaths and injuries fully investigated.
According to the IPOA update issued following the airing of the documentary, of the 60 death cases registered with IPOA from the protests, only 22 have been completed.
Additionally, the authority chairperson, Issack Hassan, noted that 191 out of 233 reported injury cases remain under investigation.
The progress, as reported by IPOA, has failed to satisfy growing public outrage and institutional demands for accountability.
The Gen Z-led demonstrations, sparked by the 2024 Finance Bill and the introduction of new taxes, morphed into a national movement against perceived economic mismanagement, state overreach, and extrajudicial violence.
Amnesty International, in its 2024/25 State of the World’s Human Rights report released on Tuesday, painted a grim picture of the Kenyan government’s human rights record. The report noted the sustained crackdown on civil liberties and a climate of fear created by state authorities.
Irungu Houghton, Amnesty International Kenya section Director, specifically called out the failure of IPOA to bring justice to victims of police violence.
He stated that despite promises by the highest levels of government, state institutions mandated to uphold transparency, accountability and the rule of law have not led to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible. This, Houghton said, is for nearly one year since protesters were killed within the Parliament premises.
“The Kenyan public deserves demonstrable evidence that those who have committed serious crimes will be held accountable,” said Houghton.
Amnesty International was particularly concerned by the inaction despite unnecessary and excessive lethal and less-lethal force being widely documented, including in the BBC documentary.
“We are deeply concerned that we have not seen prosecutions or convictions of parties, individual state agents, that are suspected to have killed, to have forcibly abducted and intimidated and hurt Kenyans over this period,” said Houghton.
He added: “The lack of accountability at this time is very worrying, because what it does is it sends a signal to other state agencies and state offices that they can break the law, commit serious crimes, and have no fear of the law being applied to them.”
Amnesty International noted that it was shocking that the BBC has done more to tell the country what happened than the legal enforcement agencies.
Houghton also dismissed attempts by police to halt the public screening of the documentary as highly regrettable and legally indefensible.
“To stop 50 people from watching a documentary that has already been watched globally by over a million people does not seem to have led to any outcome that anybody would define as success,” said Houghton.
The documentary, which included eyewitness footage and testimonies from protestors, identified two security officers alleged to have shot and killed protestors Erickson Mutisya, David Chege, and Eric Shieni.
Amnesty has demanded a public statement from both the National Police Service and the Kenya Defence Forces on what action is being taken against those officers.
“We also call on the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to submit a comprehensive report to Parliament detailing their deployment, engagement protocols and overall interventions during the 2024 protests,” said Houghton.
In its status update, IPOA acknowledged that it had encountered instances of non-cooperation from police and witnesses, which has hampered the progress of some investigations.
Of the cases, some were closed internally, while others remain under internal review or are being prepared for submission. A joint opposition statement accused IPOA of being complicit in a broader state culture of impunity and delay.
The statement signed by Martha Karua, Kalonzo Musyoka, Rigathi Gachagua, Justine Muturi, Eugene Wamalwa, Mithika Linturi and Torome Saitoti pointed to the failure of IPOA to act decisively. By Emmanuel Kipchumba, The Standard
Informer East Africa is a UK based diaspora Newspaper. It is a unique platform connecting East Africans at home and abroad through news dissemination. It is a forum to learn together, grow together and get entertained at the same time.
To advertise events or products, get in touch by info [at] informereastafrica [dot] com or call +447957636854. If you have an issue or a story, get in touch with the editor through editor[at] informereastafrica [dot] com or call +447886544135.
We also accept donations from our supporters. Please click on "donate". Your donations will go along way in supporting the newspaper.
