Another 200 children were released by armed groups in South Sudan this week, bringing the total of such releases to 806 this year. They came primarily from the SPLA-IO opposition group, with eight of them associated with the National Salvation Front (NSF). “Every a time a child is released and…
Authorities in Nigeria say they are working to secure the release of the last remaining student abducted from the Government Science and Technical College in February, who was not released with more than 100 of the Dapchi girls who returned early Wednesday morning. President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to meet…
In Nigeria, the released Dapchi girls left Damaturu in midafternoon Wednesday, continuing their 135-kilometer journey to Maiduguri as part of a heavily secured military convoy. Nigerian state radio said the girls abducted from the Government Science and Technical College in February were first seen at Dapchi General Hospital before being…
The release of Oromo opposition leader Bekele Gerba was met Tuesday with a hero’s welcome in Adama and celebrations across the Ethiopian diaspora as the ailing prisoner arrived at his home. Bekele Gerba and six other high-profile opposition leaders were released one day after the Ethiopian government said they were…
International NGO Amnesty International has welcomed the news that political prisoner Eskinder Nega is listed among 746 prisoners in Ethiopia set to be released as part of a government pardon, yet it joined other democracy and human rights advocates in pressing for an end to all such cases. “It is…
In Nigeria, the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign appears undeterred by the detention of its activists and plans a second day of protests in Abuja today. The planned protests at Unity Fountain followed police action Tuesday against BBOG, an organization launched in 2014 after the Boko Haram abduction of…
Ethiopia on Monday said it was dropping charges against 528 political prisoners, the first such group since a decision announced earlier this month to release political prisoners. Among them is Merera Gudina, the Oromo scholar and longtime opposition leader. State-owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), FANA Broadcasting and other news outlets…
Ethiopia’s decision to release all political prisoners and close the infamous Maekelawi detention center is welcome news, but it’s also been met with guarded optimism about what that will mean. “Ethiopia has promised to release all political prisoners, among whom the Oromo are the overwhelming majority, but we can’t take…
The former prime minister of Libya, released after a week-long abduction and disappearance, is safe and in good health, according to information released Wednesday by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). The mission said that Ghassan Salame, the new UN special envoy to Libya, has spoken with Ali…
Ethiopia lifted last week the state of emergency imposed since October 2016, but the decision has raised questions about what happens to those detained during mass arrests on politically motivated charges during that time. Among them is Merera Gudina, the academic and longtime opposition leader whose arrest was – according…
On Sunday, more than 80 young women kidnapped by Boko Haram from the village of Chibok three years ago were flown to Abuja, where representatives of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari waited to meet them. Buhari’s administration announced Saturday that in exchange for five Boko Haram suspects held by Nigerian authorities,…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times