release - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

Nigerian kidnappers demand $620,000 for release of school hostages

GUNMEN who kidnapped 286 students and staff from a school in northern Nigeria last week have demanded a total of 1 billion naira ($620,432) for their release, a spokesman for the families of the hostages and a local councillor told Reuters. The school children, some older students and members of the school staff were abducted on March 7 in the town of Kuriga, in Nigeria's northwestern Kaduna State, in the first mass kidnapping in the country since 2021. Jubril Aminu, a community leader who acts as a spokesman for the families of the hostages, said he had received a call on his…

Mar

2023

By PHILBERT GIRINEMA and AARON ROSS

Why Rwanda freed “Hotel Rwanda” hero

NEWS

THE release of Paul Rusesabagina from a Rwandan prison was the result of months of negotiations between Washington and Kigali, with both eager to draw a line under what they described as an "irritant" to their relationship. Two U.S. officials - one from President Joe Biden's administration and a Congressional aide - said no concrete concessions were made to secure the release of Rusesabagina, a U.S. permanent resident made famous by the 2004 film 'Hotel Rwanda,' about his role in saving Tutsis during the 1994 genocide. He was detained in 2019 and subsequently convicted on eight terrorism charges stemming from his leadership…

May

2022

By The African Mirror

Ethiopian rights body seeks release of 16 detained journalists

MEDIA FREEDOM

ETHIOPIA'S state-appointed human rights body called for the release of 16 journalists and media personnel after new arrests in recent days in the capital Addis Ababa and the restive region of Amhara. Press watchdogs and rights groups say Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government is increasingly intimidating the media and harassing opponents as it seeks to quell unrest in regions. Ethiopian authorities have been particularly cracking down in Amhara and Oromiya regions recently. They justify arrests of media personnel by accusing them of siding with rebels. In the latest round-up, Temesgen Desalegn of Feteh Magazine and Yayesew Shimelis of Ethio Forum…