Ethiopia Declares State of Emergency Amidst Ethnic Protests

Ethiopia has declared a state of emergen­cy following months of anti-government protests by members of the country’s two largest ethnic groups.

The Oromo and the Am­hara make up about 60% of the population. They com­plain power is held by a tiny Tigrean elite.

Violence has intensified since last Sunday when at least 55 people were killed in clashes between police and protesters at an Oromo festival.

Hundreds have died in months of protests, human rights groups say.

Tens of thousands have also been detained, they say.

Declaring the state of emergency, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam De­salegn said in a televised ad­dress: “We put our citizens’ safety first. Besides, we want to put an end to the dam­age that is being carried out against infrastructure pro­jects, education institutions, health centres, administra­tion and justice buildings.”

The state of emergency will last for six months.

BBC World Service Afri­ca editor Mary Harper says the violent protests are the most serious threat to Ethi­opian stability in a quarter of a century.

The protesters have been attacking foreign companies, she says, threatening Ethio­pia’s reputation as a growing economy, ripe for interna­tional investment.

The details of the state of emergency remain unclear, but she adds that protesters have already shown they will not back down when faced with force.

Many roads into and out of the capital, Addis Ababa, are blocked by protesters.

The protests are for man­ifold reason, and include: Muslims unhappy at the imposition of government-approved leaders; Farm­ers displaced to make way for commercial agricul­ture; Amharic communi­ties opposed to their inclu­sion in Tigre rather than the Amhara region and discon­tent among groups in vari­ous parts of the vast Oromia region.

SOURCE: thebreakingtimes

Nigeria: Boko Haram - World Bank Donates $50 Million to States Affected By Insurgency

The World Bank has donated the sum of $50 million Dollars to assist six states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi, Taraba and Gombe affected by Insurgency under the FADAMA programme.

The leader of the World Bank delegation, Dr. Adetunji Oredipe, who stated this to Journalists in Yola, Adamawa State, said the reason for carrying out such project is to deal with the negative impact of insurgency that have affected the people of the North-eastern states.

Oredipe further explained that the project is a combined effort of the federal government and international community to revive livelihood in the North-east due to losses incurred as a result of the activities of insurgents.

According to him, the world Bank has targeted 600 communities and 24000 households in the North-east region of Nigeria.

"Our idea is to work with 600 communities in the six states and we have agreed to do more in the directly affected states: Borno, Yobe , Adamawa and do a little in Taraba, Bauchi and Gombe who are the receivers of the displaced people,"Oredipe stated.

"For us as World Bank, you know we are not into humanitarian programme, but we support activities based on needs," he added

He explained that the purpose of the project was not just to reach out to the six affected states but to bring all key stakeholders and team players on the same page on what the project intends to achieve and how to go about the implementation and approach exercise.

When asked why the project is being implemented under FADAMA 3, he replied that they saw FADAMA 3 as a good platform "that has established links in the rural areas to run the initiative that is why we use such platform to reach out to farmers affected by insurgency in rural communities."

On how they tend to reach out to the exact beneficiaries, he said there would be an open and transparent process where people would meet at the village square in the presence of all the traditional rulers and key actors of the community, who would be there to identify 40 households that are basically agricultural households and the assistance would be disbursed.

SOURCE: Thisdayng

Nigerian Army Commends Media Over Boko Haram Reportage

The Nigerian Army on Monday commended the Nigerian media for its objectivity in the coverage of the ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the North-East.

The commandant of the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information, Col. John Agim, made the commendation while speaking in Maiduguri. Agim said that the media had played great role in disseminating accurate information to Nigerians on the successes recorded by the military on the operations against Boko Haram.

“I think that the Nigerian media has lived up to expectation in keeping Nigerians abreast on the military operations in the North-East. “When we arrived Maiduguri we were surprised that there is peace everywhere, contrary to the belief in many areas. “I think that the media has a lot of job to do in letting Nigerians and the whole world know that peace has returned here, because outside there many people do not know,” he said. Ajim added that genuine investors would return to the state when they became aware of the restoration of peace to the troubled zone.

The commander, who led members of the Senior Course on Strategic Communication of the school on tour of the state, said the visit was aimed at getting first-hand information on the military operations in the state.

 “The Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information is the one that drives the information sector of the Nigerian Army. “For the course to achieve its aim we need to be on ground in one of the areas the army is carrying out operations to get first-hand information,” he said.

The team also paid courtesy visits to Gov.Kashim Shettima and the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Garbai.

SOURCE: Vangaurdngr