News

UK grapples with worst riots in 13 years

Published

3 months ago

August 4, 2024

By Francesca Hangeior

UK authorities faced growing pressure Sunday to put an end to England’s worst rioting in 13 years after disturbances linked to child murders and involving far-riot agitators flared across the country.

Unrest related to misinformation about a mass stabbing that killed three young girls last week spread to multiple towns and cities on Saturday as anti-immigration demonstrators clashed with police.

The violence is posing a major test for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was elected only a month ago after leading Labour to a landslide win over the Conservatives.

About 90 people were arrested after skirmishes broke out at far-right rallies in numerous places including Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Blackpool and Hull, as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland.

In some instances, rioters threw bricks, bottles and flares at police — injuring several officers — looted and burnt shops, while demonstrators shouted anti-Islamic slurs as they clashed with counter-protesters.

The violence is the worst England has seen since the summer of 2011, when widespread rioting took place following the police killing of a mixed-race man in north London.

“We’ve had riots and clashes of this nature, but they have been pocketed in particular areas of the country. We’re now seeing it flooding across major cities and towns,” said Tiffany Lynch of the Police Federation of England and Wales.

The government said the police have “all the resources they need” to deal with the disorder as officers warned of more demonstrations on Sunday, leading to fears the unrest could spread further again.

Forces have drafted in extra officers while justice minister Shabana Mahmood has insisted “the whole justice system is ready to deliver convictions as quickly as possible”.

The government’s policing minister, Diana Johnson, told BBC News Sunday that the rioting would “not be tolerated”, vowing “penalties and consequences” for the disorder.

Saturday’s skirmishes marked the fourth day of unrest in several towns and cities following Monday’s frenzied knife attack in Southport, near Liverpool on England’s northwest coast.

They were fuelled by false rumours on social media about the background of British-born 17-year-old suspect Axel Rudakubana, charged with several counts of murder and attempted murder over the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party.

Rudakubana is accused of killing Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, and injuring another 10 people.

Police have blamed the violence on supporters and associated organisations of the English Defence League, an anti-Islam organisation founded 15 years ago whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.

Agitators have targeted mosques in Southport and in the northeastern English city of Sunderland, leading to hundreds of Islamic centres to bolster security amid fears for its worshippers’ safety.

The rallies have been advertised on far-right social media channels under the banner “Enough is enough”.

They have seen protesters waving English and British flags while chanting slogans like “Stop the boats” — a reference to irregular migrants travelling to Britain from France.

Anti-fascist demonstrators held counter-rallies in many cities, including Leeds where they shouted, “Nazi scum off our streets”, as the far-right protesters chanted, “You’re not English any more”.

Not all of Saturday’s estimated 30 gatherings turned violent and some participants claimed to have legitimate grievances.

“People are fed up with being told you should be ashamed if you’re white and working class but I’m proud white working class,” 41-year-old Karina, who did not give her surname, told AFP in Nottingham.

Commentators have suggested that the demonstrators, spurred on by online influencers, may feel emboldened by the political ascendancy of anti-immigration elements in British politics.

At last month’s election, the Reform UK party captured 14 percent of the vote — one of the largest vote shares for a far-right British party.

Starmer has accused “thugs” of “hijacking” the nation’s grief to “sow hatred” and has announced new measures to allow the sharing of intelligence, wider deployment of facial-recognition technology and criminal behaviour orders to restrict troublemakers from travelling.

Policing Minister Johnson said the government will do “whatever it takes” to ensure people are brought to justice, including the possibility of courts sitting overnight as they did during the riots in 2011.

News

AFCONQ 2025: Nigeria’s Super Eagles fail to beat Benin Republic in Abidjan

Published

2 hours ago

November 15, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Thursday failed to beat Benin Republic in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, qualifier as two West African neighbours settled for a 1-1 draw in Abidjan

With the results, Nigeria officially qualified for the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON, securing a top-two finish in Group D,

Benin opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Mohamed Tijani capitalized on a corner delivery from Junior Olaïtan, heading the ball into the center of the net.

The Super Eagles found themselves trailing despite creating opportunities, with Victor Osimhen and Moses Simon both testing Benin’s defence.

In the second half, Nigeria intensified their attack and were rewarded in the 81st minute when Osimhen met Simon’s cross with a precise header to level the score.

Benin fought hard to reclaim the lead, but Nigeria’s defence held firm, preserving the draw.

Nigeria’s qualification for TotalEnergies CAF AFCON marks a relief for fans and sets the stage for their preparations for the tournament. Benin, meanwhile, remains in contention but will need positive results in their final game to have any chance of progressing.

News

Wike suspends FCDA secretary indefinitely

Published

2 hours ago

November 15, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has suspended, with immediate effect, the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Agency, Shehu Hadi Ahmad, indefinitely.

This was made known in a statement by the Senior Special Adviser to the Minister of Public Communication and Social Media, Olalere Olayinka, on Thursday.

Circumstances leading to or surrounding the suspension of the secretary were, however, undisclosed as of the time of filing this report.

According to the statement, the suspended Executive Secretary has been consequently directed to hand over to the Director of Engineering Services in the FCDA.

News

UBA to raise N239bn via rights issue

Published

2 hours ago

November 15, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

United Bank for Africa Plc has issued 6,839,884,274 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N35 per share in a rights issue to raise N239.4bn in a bid to meet the fresh capital requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The rights issue which opened on Friday (today) allows existing shareholders to purchase one new ordinary share for every five existing ordinary shares held by shareholders as of November 05, 2024.

In late March, the CBN announced an upward review of the minimum capital requirement for banks in the country.

In a letter to the shareholders informing them of the rights issue, the Group Chairman of United Bank for Africa, Tony Elumelu, noted that following the resolution of the Group’s shareholders at the Annual General Meeting held in May 2024, authorising the establishment of the N400bn Equity Shelf Programme, UBA will embark on a Rights Issue, as the first step in its broader capital raising programme.

“UBA’s Rights Issue aims to raise N239.4bn, through the issuance of new ordinary shares to our shareholders. The primary objective of this rights Issue is to further strengthen our capacity to take advantage of growth opportunities and sustain our leadership in the banking industry,” Elumelu said in the letter.

On the use of proceeds, Elumelu noted that, beyond regulatory compliance, the funds will expand the Group’s lending capacity, invest in digital infrastructure, support sustainable business practices, and expand the group’s African operations.

Elumelu also highlighted how UBA is driving economic growth across Africa, saying “Our historic partnership with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, where UBA pledged up to $6bn in financing over the next three years to support eligible SMEs across Africa underscores our commitment to fostering economic development.”

It was revealed that application for the provisional allotment of the Rights to the new ordinary Shares will be made exclusively through the NGX e-offer portal, during the offer period, while existing shareholders may also apply for additional shares above their provisional allotment as described in the Provisional Allotment Letter. Shareholders who are customers of the Bank are also encouraged to access their Rights through UBA’s internet banking and mobile banking channels.

At the end of the third quarter, the gross earnings of UBA appreciated by 83.2 per cent year-on-year to N2.39tn from N1.31tn in the same period of 2023. Its profit before tax went up by 20.2 per cent to N603.48bn from N502.09bn in Q3 2023, while profit after tax also rose by 16.9 per cent to N525.31bn from N449.26bn recorded a year earlier.

The lender’s total assets rose to N31.80tn, representing a 54.0 per cent increase over the N20.65tn recorded at the end of December 2023.

In the 2023/2024 report year, UBA won ‘Bank of the Year’ awards in eight of its subsidiaries – Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Republic of Congo; Sierra Leone; Tanzania, as well as the Regional Award for Africa and in 2024 has won World Best Frontier Markets Bank and Best SME Bank Africa.

UBA Plc offers banking services to more than 45 million customers, across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries.