Newscast - Africa

Kenya's President William Ruto has disbanded an elite police unit that has allegedly been linked to extrajudicial killings in the country in recent years.
The president says the move was part of efforts to overhaul the country's security sector.
Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper says an investigation report on the disappearance of two Indian nationals and their local taxi driver precipitated the disbandment of the unit.
The Newspaper earlier reported that at least 19 unclaimed bodies had been retrieved over the past two years from the Yala river in different stages of decomposition.
Human rights organizations however have documented many cases of killings directly attributed to police officers.

The Dangote Cement Plant located in Obajana, Kogi State, has been reopened after being closed by the Kogi State Government over issues bordering on the legality of the company’s acquisition of the defunct Obajana Cement Company.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, says that an agreement had been reached between the Dangote Group and the Kogi State Government on the need to reopen the factory while urging both parties to respect the agreement.
The reopening of the plant came after a 10-day disagreement by both parties over the legality of the acquisition of the cement plant.
The Commissioner of Information, Kingsley Fanwo, the Kogi State Government had maintained that the acquisition of the cement plant by Africa’s richest man did not follow due process.

Humanitarian rights lawyer Femi Falana has called for the sack of the Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor over the destruction of an illegal oil bunkering vessel.
A private pipeline surveillance team Tanita Security Services led by a former militant leader Government Ekpemupolo better known as Tompolo arrested a vessel used for crude oil theft off the creeks of the Niger Delta.
The vessel was later set ablaze by the Nigerian Navy with Irabor defending the move, saying there was no need for investigation.
Falana however says the burning of the vessel is illegal as he accused the military of cover-up.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities says it called off its eight-month strike due to a court order and appeals from Nigerians.
A court of appeal had ordered the striking lecturers to return to class after the National Industrial Court ruled against the union in a case brought to it by the Federal government. Days after the appeal court judgment, ASUU called off the strike and ordered members to resume lectures.
The union’s National President, Emmanuel Osodeke, however, says the decision was not because issues brought by the lecturers were fully addressed.

Elder statesman Edwin Clark has called on the Federal Government to act fast to avert disasters in the Niger Delta following flooding in the region.
Clark decried the flooding which has displaced thousands of people in the region and other parts of Nigeria.
He accused the Federal Government of being nonchalant over the issue, calling on the humanitarian ministry and other agencies to urgently deplore relief materials to the areas.
He noted that there is starvation on the land, no water for the people to drink, the State is cut off from all sources that supply food to her, and even the electricity supply, has been cut off.

Tigray's rebel forces in the northern Ethiopia region have called on the international community to enforce an immediate ceasefire between them and the Ethiopian government or help them defend themselves, the group said in a statement on Twitter.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front called on the international community to compel the Eritrean army to withdraw from Tigray and press the Ethiopian government to come to the negotiating table.
The TPLF say it was ready to respect an immediate cessation of hostilities if the Ethiopian government was compelled to negotiate for peace.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is to fast-track many billions of pounds worth of tax and spending measures from his debt plan, announcing them a fortnight earlier than expected.
The Treasury will outline details of the plans later on Monday.
It is the latest of a series of U-turns on policies announced in the mini-budget.
The move is designed to help reassure jittery markets before they open in London.
The announcement of the £18bn U-turn on corporation tax on Friday and the firing of Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor did not calm rising UK government borrowing costs.

MTN and Airtel stunned their subscribers with a silent upward review of the cost of their data services, a development industry stakeholders fear may not only trigger similar actions by other telecom firms but could also compel subscribers to port to other operators with affordable tariffs.
Subscribers are calling on the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission to prevail on MTN and Airtel to reverse their data tariff to the status quo, insisting that the hike will further add to the economic hardship currently being faced by Nigerians and telecom subscribers.

Central Bank of Nigeria has begun an inclusive campaign for grassroots adoption of its digital currency, eNaira.
The bank engaged some commercial drivers in the Federal Capital Territory to educate them on how to use digital currency with a focus on making them ambassadors to drive the adoption campaign to the grassroots.
The apex bank says it is targeting the instalment of a minimum of 10 agent points in Nigeria's 774 local government areas to help in facilitating the visibility and nationwide adoption of the Central bank digital currency.
CBN coordinator, technical working committee on eNaira Hajiya Rekiya Mohammed says the bank was at the park to promote eNaira awareness campaign by intimating commercial drivers of the idea, aim, benefits and use of the eNaira application for the everyday transaction.

The United Nations General Assembly has voted to condemn Russia’s attempted illegal annexation of four partially occupied regions in Ukraine and urged countries not to recognize the move.
Three-quarters of the 193-member General Assembly of 143 countries backed a resolution that also reaffirmed the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
Four countries joined Russia in voting against the resolution – Belarus, Nicaragua, North Korea, and Syria. Another 35 countries abstained from the vote, including China, India, Pakistan and South Africa while the rest did not vote.