released - The African Mirror

Sep

2021

Nigeria says 75 abducted children released amid army crackdown

SEVENTY-five children who were kidnapped from their school in Nigeria's northwestern Zamfara State have been released after their abductors came under pressure from a military crackdown, a state official has said. Gunmen took the students from the village of Kaya on September 1, the latest in a spate of mass kidnappings from schools across the region. More than 1,100 children have been seized since December last year. Authorities say they were abducted by heavily armed gangs of bandits seeking ransoms. A spokesman for the Zamfara State governor said no ransom had been paid for the 75 children, who had been…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Six Kidnapped Nigerian students freed

NEWS

GARBA MUHAMMAD SIX students and two officials who were kidnapped last month from a school in Nigeria's Kaduna state were released after relatives paid ransom money, a school official and parent have disclosed. Kidnappings by armed men, commonly referred to in Nigeria as "bandits", have become endemic in northern Nigeria, disrupting the education of hundreds of thousands of children. Gunmen attacked the main campus of the Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic in Kaduna on June 10 and took students and staff members, in the process killing one student. The college's spokesman Abdullahi Shehu, said the students and officials were released at an…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Ethiopian police release detained Reuters cameraman without charge

MEDIA FREEDOM

ETHIOPIAN police have released Reuters cameraman Kumerra Gemechu after detaining him without charge for 12 days. Police had told his lawyer Melkamu Ogo that their lines of inquiry included accusations of disseminating false information, communicating with groups fighting the government, and disturbing the public's peace and security. However, Ogo said he had seen no evidence. "We are delighted that Kumerra has been released and reunited with his family. His release today affirms he has done nothing wrong," Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler said in a statement. "Kumerra is a journalist who has consistently demonstrated his professionalism and commitment to accuracy,…