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27 African migrants d!e, 83 r£scued in Tunisia shipwrecks
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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Twenty-seven migrants, including women and children, died after two boats capsized off central Tunisia, with 83 people rescued, a civil defence official told AFP on Thursday
The rescued and dead passengers, who were found off the Kerkennah Islands, aimed to reach Europe and were all from sub-Saharan African countries, said Zied Sdiri, head of civil defence in the nearby city of Sfax.
Tunisia, as well as neighbouring Libya, is a key departure point for irregular migrants seeking to reach Europe for a better life. Italy’s island of Lampedusa is only 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Tunisia.
Totalling 110, the migrants were on board two makeshift boats that set sail off “the coast near Sfax on the night of December 31 to January 1,” a National Guard official said on condition of anonymity.
Searches were still underway for other possible missing passengers, said the official.
Sdiri said 15 out of the 83 rescued were taken to a hospital, without providing further details.
The National Guard, which oversees the coast guard, later confirmed the death toll in a statement, adding that a baby was among the dead.
It was the latest such tragedy off Tunisia over the past month.
On December 31, the National Guard said two Tunisian migrants, one of them a five-year-old, died after their boat broke down off Tunisia’s northern coast.
Days earlier on December 18, the National Guard said at least 20 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died in a shipwreck off Sfax, with five rescued.
And on December 12, the coast guard rescued 27 African migrants near Jebeniana, north of Sfax, but 15 were reported dead or missing.
Each year, the perilous Mediterranean crossing is attempted by tens of thousands of people.
Among them are also thousands of Tunisians seeking to leave their country which is grappling with economic woes marked by high inflation, unemployment, and sluggish growth.
Under a 2023 agreement, Brussels has given 105 million euros ($108 million) to debt-ridden Tunisia to help it curb irregular migration, in addition to 150 million euros in budgetary support.
The deal, strongly supported by Italy’s hard-right government, aimed to bolster Tunisia’s capacity to prevent boats leaving its shore, with some money also going to United Nations agencies assisting migrants.
It has contributed to an increase in irregular migration interceptions off the North African country’s shores and a marked drop in arrivals in Europe.
The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) had counted “between 600 and 700” migrants killed or missing in shipwrecks off Tunisia in 2024, compared with more than 1,300 in 2023.
Overall, the United Nations children’s fund, UNICEF, said in a statement on Wednesday that, “The death toll and number of missing persons in the Mediterranean in 2024 have now surpassed 2,200, with nearly 1,700 lives lost on the central Mediterranean route alone.”
It added that the tally included “hundreds of children, who make up one in five of all people migrating through the Mediterranean. The majority are fleeing violent conflict and poverty.”
Frontex, the EU’s border agency, has said that irregular border crossings were down 64 per cent last year through September for the central Mediterranean route.
AFP
News
Rivers traditional ruler narrowly escapes assassin’s bullets as hoodlums shoot at his palace
The Amadabo of Finima in Bonny local government area of Rivers State, HRH Aseme Alabo Dagogo Lambert Brown in the early hours of today, August 22, 2026 narroy escaped an assassination attempt on his life.
However, the Amadabo was not at home when the blood thirsty hoodlums fired sporadically at the building housing the living rooms of the monarch and other households.
Unfortunately, some members were seriously injured and rushed to hospitals for emergency medical attention.
Condemning the heinous crime, Aseme Alabo Dagogo Lambert Brown stated that they had received intelligence reports of importation of hoodlums into the community.
He blamed the Bonny Traditional Authorities of sponsoring a faction of Tobin House to cause mayhem.
He called on law enforcement agencies to urgently investigate the matter and bring perpetrators.
Transcript of the attached voice.
“It is very painful and regretful of what I see today in Finima.
We have envisaged this. We live in the community, we have the intelligence, information is coming here and there, and we communicated same intelligence to the security agencies that we are having mercenaries imported into Finima for the sake of a strange event that wants to happen.
Must all of us die because one faction of the Tobin house in Finima, being sponsored by the Bonny Traditional Authorities, wants to perform things that are strange in Finima?
God will never allow that to happen. God will never allow—we saw it. All this happening is to intimidate me and my people for saying this is not how we are living as a people. We live as one people. All the cultural institutions are in full participation by the chieftaincy houses in Finima. There’s no separation.
Why? Because we want to avoid any rivalry group or things that will cause disunity in Finima. That is how our upgrowing—that’s how we’ve grown up in Finima.
And these are one of the outcomes, very regretful. I want to appeal to the law enforcement agencies today that people behind this heinous act are culprits—people, culprits to this heinous act—are arrested and prosecuted.
News
Photos: 15 years after, Apo-Karshi Road for inauguration in December – Wike
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says the long-delayed Apo-Karshi road will finally be completed and handed over by November, putting an end to a 15-year wait for residents in the axis.
Wike gave the assurance in Abuja on Saturday, after inspecting the progress of the project as well as the 14-kilometre Bwari Kubwa Road.
He explained that the 13.5-kilometer road, originally awarded in 2011 under previous administrations, has been a major point of frustration for motorists experiencing daily traffic congestion between satellite communities and the Abuja city center.
He explained that the current administration was forced to revoke the original contract due to persistent delays and re-award it to construction firm SCC Nigeria Ltd.
“The Apo-Karshi road has been a topical issue. It was awarded in 2010, one of those projects President Bola Tinubu inherited.
“Because of its importance and the complaints by residents, we had to terminate the contract and award it to SCC, which we know has the capacity to complete the job.
“Residents who have been crying for years can now see that this government has come to their aid,” he said.
The minister praised the contractor for maintaining progress on-site regardless of funding cycles, reaffirming the government’s commitment to honoring its financial obligations.
The minister also inspected the ongoing construction of the 14-kilometre Bwari-Kubwa road, stressing that the contractor had promised to deliver the critical road in December.
He emphasised that the tangible delivery of infrastructure projects serves as the strongest argument for the administration’s governance model, downplaying traditional political campaigning in favor of visible results.
“When people ask me about campaigns, I say, ‘What is campaign? See the campaign. Campaign is about what you have done for the people and what the government has to show.
“It is not about promises; it is about taking action that positively impacts lives,” he said.
With multiple road networks approaching completion across the FCT, the minister expressed confidence that the administration would surpass its initial 10 projects target for inauguration between December and January 2027.
News
BREAKING: 38 year former world champion boxer, Zolani Tete shot dead in South Africa
Ex-world champion boxer Zolani Tete has been shot dead outside his home in South Africa at the age of 38.
This ugly development happened in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, as Zolani Tete arrived at his residence and waited for the gate to open.
According to the police, two armed men wearing balaclavas stepped out of a vehicle and opened fire on the boxer.
A 27-year-old woman who was travelling with Tete was also shot several times and taken to hospital for treatment.
South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, confirmed Tete’s death on Friday.
McKenzie expressed caution over speculation about the motive behind the attack, saying “I will not speculate about who did this or why.”
Police have launched an investigation, but no motive has been established and no details about possible suspects have been released.
Zolani Tete , who was nicknamed “Last Born”, became widely known in boxing for his remarkable 11-second knockout of fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in Belfast in November 2017.
The knockout remains one of the fastest stoppages in a world title fight.
Tete achieved it while defending his WBO bantamweight title, which he had won earlier that year and held until 2019.
The southpaw boxer had previously captured the IBF junior-bantamweight title in 2014 after defeating Japan’s Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe.
Earlier in his career, Tete had also held the minor WBF flyweight title.
Zolani Tete’s death came only weeks after he completed a four-year ban from boxing following a positive test for the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol after his 2022 bout against Jason Cunningham.
His suspension ended on July 29, and he had been preparing to make a return to professional boxing before his death.
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