MALKOHI, Nigeria: Idriss Abdullahi was once a successful businessman and a husband to four wives, until the day he fled his home when Boko Haram insurgents advanced across northeastern Nigeria.
Five years on he lives beside dull farmland in a tented camp in Malkohi village, near the Adamawa state capital Yola, and tries to make a living selling firewood.
But the earnings are so meager he has had to divorce one of his wives.
“Even an animal lives better than me,” he told AFP in the camp he shares with 2,800 of his neighbors from the Borno state town of Gwoza, which the insurgents sacked in 2014.
More than 27,000 people have been killed since the Boko Haram conflict began in 2009 and some 1.8 million others are still displaced.
President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015 on a pledge to end the insurgency, which at its peak saw the extremists control an area the size of Belgium.
In Abdullahi’s hometown, the wild-eyed leader of the extremists, Abubakar Shekau, declared an Islamic caliphate.
An offensive involving Nigerian troops and foreign mercenaries pushed them back. But in recent months there have been signs of resurgence.
Despite that, residents of Malkohi say they’re ready to support Buhari at Saturday’s rescheduled vote — even if they can’t return to Gwoza to do so.
“It’s not that we actually love him,” Abdullahi said of the president. “It’s that he saved our lives from Boko Haram.”
Shortly after taking office, Buhari declared Boko Haram “technically defeated,” apparently fulfilling the promise that was seen as a key to his victory.
But in February last year, the group seized 110 schoolgirls from Dapchi, in an echo of the 2014 abduction of more than 200 from Chibok that brought world attention to the conflict.
Malkohi itself hasn’t been spared; the group in 2015 bombed a government-organized camp across the road from the informal settlement where the former Gwoza residents stay.
An Islamic State-allied faction has in recent months overrun military bases, seizing equipment and weapons, and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee for their lives.
Nigeria’s election commission has been forced to set up special measures for them to vote: in Borno, some 400,000 displaced people will vote at 10 centers.
Several others have been created in Adamawa.
The main opposition candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has seized on the insecurity and claimed Buhari has failed in his core duty of keeping Nigerians safe.
But from their homes in Adamawa — Abubakar’s home state — Malkohi residents say they feel more forgotten than under attack.
“Up to now, hospitals have not been provided. Before, [aid groups] gave us drugs, but now we don’t receive any,” said Fanta Ali, a housewife at the camp.
The Malkohi camp today is made up of rows of shacks separated by dirt paths, on which barefoot children and turkeys strut.
The makeshift homes are constructed from tarpaulin donated by aid agencies who also built a water tower for the settlement.
Many Malkohi residents were prosperous in Gwoza but without money to start businesses they now rely on manual labor to get by.
“Seriously, I’m suffering,” said Abdulrahman Hassen, once a merchant and chair of a professional association who now farms for a living.
Returning to Gwoza, where Boko Haram remains strong, is still a distant prospect. Helping people go home will be on the next president’s to-do list.
The displaced say they’re made to feel like outsiders in Adamawa, and local residents call them thieves for farming the land around the camp.
Gwoza was badly damaged when it was retaken in 2015, and cellphone reception is so weak residents climb trees to get a signal, said Yunussa Takda, a youth leader in Malkohi.
Meanwhile, the town’s outlying villages are still unsafe.
“Under Buhari, we’ve seen that a lot of our villages that have been taken by Boko Haram haven’t been recovered,” he said. “Maybe if he’s given a second chance, we can go home.”
Umaru Ibrahim Bakare lost track of his pregnant wife and then three-year-old daughter in the chaos of Boko Haram’s initial attack on the town, and has been looking for them ever since.
He made an unsuccessful trip to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, aiming to find his family.
He remains hopeful after the Red Cross connected a friend with three children he’d lost when fleeing Boko Haram.
“We must vote Muhammadu Buhari to finish what he’s started and defeat the insurgency,” he said.
Boko Haram displaced feel forgotten amid Nigeria election fever
Boko Haram displaced feel forgotten amid Nigeria election fever
- More than 27,000 people died and 1.8 million displaced since the start of Boko Haram conflict in 2009
- Malkohi residents say they will support President Muhammadu Buhari because he helped curtail the extremists’ power
Father and stepmother jailed for 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s murder after UK trial
- Sharif was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking after ‘serious and repeated violence’
- The family fled to Pakistan after Sharif was killed, before they were arrested last year in September
LONDON: The father and stepmother of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in her home in Britain, were on Tuesday jailed for 40 and 33 years respectively for her murder after a trial which heard harrowing details of Sara’s treatment.
Sharif was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London, after what prosecutors said was a campaign of “serious and repeated violence.”
The family fled to Pakistan immediately after Sara Sharif was killed, before they were arrested in September 2023 at London’s Gatwick airport after flying from Dubai.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors at the start of the trial that Sara had suffered injuries including burns, multiple broken bones and bite marks.
Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 43, and his wife Beinash Batool, 30, stood trial at London’s Old Bailey court charged with her murder, which they denied.
Last week, the jury convicted Urfan Sharif and Batool of Sara’s murder. Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of causing or allowing Sara’s death.
Sharif and Batool appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey, where they heard a statement read on behalf of Sara’s mother Olga Domin who called them “executioners.”
“You are sadists, although even this word is not enough for you,” her statement read. “I would say you are executioners.”
Judge John Cavanagh sentenced Sharif to a minimum of 40 years in prison and Batool to a minimum of 33 years. Malik was sentenced to 16 years.
“The courts at the Old Bailey have been witness to many accounts of awful crimes, but few can have been more terrible than the account of the despicable treatment of this poor child that the jury in this case have had to endure,” Cavanagh said.
“It is no exaggeration to describe the campaign of abuse against Sara as torture.”
Father and stepmother jailed in UK for 10-year-old Sara Sharif's murder
- Sara Sharif was killed after campaign of 'serious and repeated violence'
- Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool jailed for 40 and 33 years respectively
LONDON: The father and stepmother of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in her home in Britain, were on Tuesday jailed for 40 and 33 years respectively for her murder after a trial which heard harrowing details of Sara’s treatment.
Sharif was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London, after what prosecutors said was a campaign of “serious and repeated violence.”
The family fled to Pakistan immediately after Sara Sharif was killed, before they were arrested in September 2023 at London’s Gatwick airport after flying from Dubai.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors at the start of the trial that Sara had suffered injuries including burns, multiple broken bones and bite marks.
Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 43, and his wife Beinash Batool, 30, stood trial at London’s Old Bailey court charged with her murder, which they denied.
Last week, the jury convicted Urfan Sharif and Batool of Sara’s murder. Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of causing or allowing Sara’s death.
Sharif and Batool appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey, where they heard a statement read on behalf of Sara’s mother Olga Domin who called them “executioners.”
“You are sadists, although even this word is not enough for you,” her statement read. “I would say you are executioners.”
Judge John Cavanagh sentenced Sharif to a minimum of 40 years in prison and Batool to a minimum of 33 years. Malik was sentenced to 16 years.
“The courts at the Old Bailey have been witness to many accounts of awful crimes, but few can have been more terrible than the account of the despicable treatment of this poor child that the jury in this case have had to endure,” Cavanagh said.
“It is no exaggeration to describe the campaign of abuse against Sara as torture.”
Serving the forgotten: Delhi woman performs last rites for city’s abandoned dead
- Pooja Sharma has performed funeral rites for more than 5,000 people since 2022
- She is featured on the BBC’s list of 100 inspirational women around the world
NEW DELHI: Pooja Sharma’s life was turned upside down when her older brother was killed, leaving her with a tragic responsibility that soon became a mission of serving those no one thought to serve — New Delhi’s unclaimed dead.
The 27-year-old spends most of her time collecting bodies released from mortuaries by the police and taking them to a crematorium for their final dignified farewell.
“My elder brother was shot dead in front of my eyes because of a small tiff with some goons. No one came to help me out. When I took him to the hospital, he was declared dead and my father went into a coma. When my brother’s dead body came home from the hospital there was no male member to perform the last rites,” Sharma told Arab News.
“I did the last rites of my brother, tying a turban on my head. When I went to the cremation ground to collect his ashes, I started crying inconsolably. That day I took a vow that, from now on, no dead body will go unattended to the cremation ground.”
Quitting her job as an HIV counsellor at a government hospital, she established Bright the Soul Foundation, which has since helped perform funerary rites for more than 5,000 people.
“I perform the last rites not only for Hindus, but also Christians and Muslims and other religions too,” Sharma said.
“God has made us human, and we deserve respect both while living and while dead. I want to serve the dead.”
Delhi police data shows that thousands of unidentified bodies are found in the city every year. After an investigation and attempts to locate relatives, officers either bury them in mass graves or cremate them. Or they call Sharma.
She performs funeral rites for about eight people every day and tries to raise awareness on her Instagram page and the foundation’s website, hoping she will be able to expand the reach of her service.
“I want to spread the wings of my organization across the country so that the orphaned dead bodies can get their respect and decent cremation. There are some states which are really poor, and poor people when they die, they don’t get their due respect. They are buried or cremated in a very rude manner,” Sharma said.
“I feel it’s important that the dead bodies also get their rights, and they should be buried with full religious and ritual rites.”
Earlier this month, Sharma’s work was recognized when the BBC included her on its 2024 “100 Women” list of inspiring and influential women from around the world.
She hopes the recognition will help more women enter the service of final rites and destigmatize their presence. Sharma herself has faced resistance from priests and the wider community as the role is traditionally held by men in Hinduism.
She has also sacrificed her personal life in pursuit of her mission.
Living with her father and grandmother, who also financially support her work, Sharma does not feel accepted by society at large.
“People don’t talk to me normally. They are scared of me, and they don’t mingle with me. Even my childhood friends have also stopped talking to me. They say that their parents have stopped them from talking to me, and they say that if they talk to me, they will turn impure,” she said.
“This is a lonely journey for me, but I have accepted my fate ... My life is dedicated to the service of humanity.”
Ireland ‘won’t be silenced’ over Israel’s conduct in Gaza
- Taoiseach Simon Harris: ‘Scale of civilian deaths’ is ‘reprehensible’
- Says he is proud of his country’s support for Palestinians
LONDON: Ireland’s leader has said his country will “not be silenced” in its criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza after Tel Aviv closed its Dublin embassy.
Taoiseach Simon Harris accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “the diplomacy of distraction,” and said Ireland had unequivocally supported Israel’s right to defend itself.
But Harris leveled strong criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, and said he is proud of Ireland’s support for the Palestinians.
“You know what I think is reprehensible? Killing children, I think that’s reprehensible,” he told reporters. “You know what I think is reprehensible? Seeing the scale of civilian deaths that we’ve seen in Gaza.
“You know what I think is reprehensible? People being left to starve and humanitarian aid not flowing.”
The embassy closure followed Ireland’s decision last week to support an International Court of Justice petition accusing Israel of genocide.
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said the decision had “not been motivated by anything other than respect for international humanitarian law.”
He added: “The utilisation of the international courts by Ireland … where there can be international accountability for war crimes in any part of the world, including in Gaza, should not be seen as a hostile act.”
US building support in UN for Houthi ship inspections: Envoy
- Existing UN mission has limited powers to inspect ships for weapons deliveries
- Tim Lenderking: Washington also considering re-designating Yemeni militia as terrorist group
London: The US is building international support for a UN campaign to disrupt supplies heading for the Houthi militia in Yemen, Washington’s special envoy to the country has said.
Tim Lenderking added that the US is also considering re-designating the militia as a terrorist group.
Last week, he visited the UN Verification and Inspection Mission for Yemen, based in Djibouti on the opposite side of the Red Sea.
The mission’s focus is to inspect ships arriving in Houthi-controlled ports, to intercept weapons deliveries.
Though the UN Security Council has imposed an arms embargo, UNVIM, established in 2016, has limited means to interdict ships.
Lenderking said he is researching ways to make the mission more effective at preventing Houthi access to foreign weaponry.
The Houthis have said their Red Sea campaign is a stand of solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The campaign will come to an end if a ceasefire is reached between Israel and Hamas, Houthi leaders have said.
“UNVIM is not equipped or given the mandate to do interdictions. We are working with partners to look at a change to the mandate,” Lenderking said.
“We all have to plug the holes, and that requires a different mindset and different sort of focus than simply escorting ships.”
The number of commercial ships transiting the Red Sea has halved in the past year due to the Houthi campaign. The US and UK militaries have staged a series of attacks on the militia’s positions in Yemen.
As a result, Houthi leaders are “much more careful how they are moving around,” said Lenderking. “They have altered their communications in light of the walkie talkie attacks on Hezbollah.”
