BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

A court in Guinea will rule on Tuesday on whether a former prime minister and three ex-cabinet members charged with economic crimes will be released on bail.

Ibrahima Fofana and the other top officials of the ousted government of President Alpha Condé were detained on 6 April on charges of embezzling public funds.

Mr Fofana served as prime minister from 2018 until Mr Condé was overthrown by the military in September.

He and former Defence Minister Mohamed Diane, ex-Environment Minister Oye Guilavogui and former Hydrocarbons Minister Diakaria Koulibaly are being held at the central prison in the capital Conakry.

Guinean military junta leader Mamady Doumbouya vowed last week to intensify the fight against corruption, including by former officials.

Image source, AFP

The Nigerian authorities say they have arrested a suspected drug trafficker, described as a billionaire drug baron, while on board a plane at Lagos' main airport.

In a statement, external, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said investigations had identified Afam Ukatu as a major importer of large consignments of Tramadol, an opioid painkiller that the agency deemed illicit.

The arrest was made on 13 April but announced on Monday.

It's unclear whether Mr Ukatu has responded to the accusations or where he's being held.

It followed months of surveillance and evading arrest, the agency said.

Mr Ukatu is accused of owning pharmaceutical and plastic manufacturing companies that "he used as a cover to import illicit drugs into Nigeria".

"This is in addition to operating 103 bank accounts, most of which are used to launder money," the agency said.

Read more:

• Nigeria's Tramadol crisis: The drug fuelling death, despair and Boko Haram

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

The leader of Nigeria's banned Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) separatist movement has petitioned the country's federal high court to overturn a ruling earlier this month that all terrorism cases will be heard in secret.

Nnamdi Kanu said in court papers that the ruling contravened the constitution and several existing laws and should be nullified, the Punch newspaper reports.

On 8 April, high court judge John Terhemba Tsoho ordered the secret trial of terrorism suspects to ensure the security of all parties.

He blocked the media from covering the cases. Only the judge, essential court staff and security agents involved in the case are to be allowed access to court premises.

Mr Kanu has been in and out of court since his arrest in June on terrorism, sedition and other charges linked to Ipob's activities.

He denies any wrongdoing.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Recent clashes between rivals in northern South Sudan “continue to undermine a permanent ceasefire”, according to monitors in the country.

Fighting has been witnessed in the last four months in the oil-producing states of Unity and Upper Nile.

A deal between the government and opposition groups signed this month on the sharing of key positions in the army and security forces has so far failed to end the fighting, according to the mining minister.

“The situation has not yet improved, the parties continue to fight. Investigations are needed," Maj Gen Martin Gama Abucha told the monitors during a meeting in the capital, Juba.

"From 21 March to date, insecurity and human rights violations continue,” he added.

On Monday, the UN peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss) reported that at least 72 civilians were killed, including some who were burnt alive and decapitated in Leer County in Unity State.

The YouTube account of one of Africa's biggest pop stars is back after reportedly being taken over by hackers - which had prompted its suspension.

Diamond Platnumz’s page, which has about 6.5 million subscribers and more than a billion pageviews, was said to have been hacked on Sunday.

An official from Diamond Platnumz’ record label, Wasafi, said that they had received an email from YouTube notifying them that that the account had been suspended.

Majidi Ramadhani said it had been suspended after the hackers published content that violated the digital platform's guidelines.

He told Kenya's Daily Nation website that they had suffered a significant loss and were working to have the issue resolved.

On Monday, the Tanzanian music star wrote on his Instagram page indicating that the page was back.

"Thank you my Beloved....my YouTube channel is back," he wrote.

Read more:

• Diamond Platnumz and Africa's most popular YouTube stars

The medical charity, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), says three people have been killed inside a hospital in the Kreneik area of the Sudanese region of Darfur.

The hospital's pharmacy was also looted, it said in a statement.

The victims included two medical workers. MSF teams were not present at the facility at the time of the attack, the charity added.

The MSF said a second raid was staged at El Geneina Teaching Hospital, in West Darfur’s capital city, with shooting taking place inside the facility, including the emergency room.

One hospital staff was killed, and health workers, including those from MSF, were evacuated.

"We are shocked by these attacks and send our sincere condolences to the families of those who have been killed. We condemn these deadly intrusions in the strongest possible terms," the statement said, external.

The United Nations has called for an investigation into clashes in recent days between rival communities which reportedly left more than 160 people dead.

Our proverb of the day:

Image source, George Wafula/BBC

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Women and girls are exposed to sexual violence as private vendors control the water supply in Kenya.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team, but we'll be back on Tuesday morning.

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our podcast Africa Today.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send in your African proverbs.

And we leave you with a photo of an Egyptian girl walking to the Ascension Monastery in Mallawi, Egypt, on Sunday.

Egyptians of all religions celebrate the spring festival called Sham el-Nessim which dates back to ancient times.

Image source, Getty Images

Mohaned Hashim
BBC News

Violent clashes have spread to Geneina, the capital of Sudan's West Darfur state, after at least 168 people were reportedly killed on Sunday in Krinik, 80km (50 miles) away, as we reported earlier.

The Krinik violence was caused by an individual dispute sparked by the fighting between Arab nomads and members of the Massalit community, according to non-governmental organisations.

An aid worker in Geneina told the BBC they were in hiding and that gunfire could be heard across the city.

Many of those fleeing the southern neighbourhoods of Geneina have already been displaced in the past three years.

Many panicking families were trying to run to safety as they left their huts and tents in internally displaced people's (IDP) camps in the southern parts of the city, the aid worker said.

Krinik itself was attacked in December last year with dozens killed and injured.

A spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) told the BBC the area was restive of late, and the road to Geneina had become increasingly dangerous.

Commenting on the attack on Krinik, Mathilde Vu of the NRC said she had no final tally of the three-day attack.

She confirmed that groups of displaced people in Geneina were seeking safety by moving to safer settlements in the city.

Manuel Toledo
Venice, Italy

Image source, Manuel Toledo

Ugandan art was given special recognition at the Venice Biennale, as the prestigious exhibition opened this weekend in Italy.

Uganda was represented at Venice for the first time. Its pavilion shows the works of Acaye Kerunen, who collaborates with craftswomen from different parts of the country to create her pieces, and Collin Sekajugo, whose paintings manipulate stock images.

Ms Kerunen was delighted to receive the recognition and told the BBC it came as a huge surprise.

"I’m still recovering,” she said.

"It’s a very historic moment…Uganda is again in the limelight for the right reasons.”

The jury said that the special mention to Uganda was “in acknowledgement of their vision, ambition and commitment to art and working in their country.”

“Acaye Kerunen in her choice of sculptural materials like bark-clothed rafia illustrates sustainability as a practice and not just a policy or concept,” they added.

The biennial takes place in the Italian city until 27 November.

Image source, Manuel Toledo

A tribunal hears PC Khafilat Kareem spent 77 days on the show before being evicted in September 2019.

A member of the Russian private-security firm Wagner was captured earlier this month in central Mali, al-Qaeda's Sahel branch Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) says.

The group did not provide any video evidence of its claim and the BBC cannot independently verify it. There has been no comment from Russia.

In a statement released on 24 April via the group's channel on the decentralised platform RocketChat, JNIM said that the man was seized during the first week of April in a mountainous area of the Segou region.

The al-Qaeda group released the statement in Arabic, French and English.

The group began its statement by apologising for the lack of updates on its operation, blaming the delay on "the battle conditions".

Since it was formed in 2017, JNIM has been dogged by difficulties in releasing propaganda in a timely fashion. The last time it released a statement was in February.

The US and France say Mali has hired hundreds of mercenaries from the Wagner group to help in its fight against jihadist groups.

Mali says Russia has sent military instructors, along with equipment including combat helicopters.

Uganda must work hard to make an impact at the Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cup Sevens after winning the African title, says coach Tolbert Onyango.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

At least 72 civilians were killed, including some who were burnt alive and decapitated, in the northern Leer county, the UN’s peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss) has said.

Unimiss condemned what it called "the widespread sexual violence, killings including beheadings, burning alive of civilians, and attacks on humanitarians in Leer County".

"These are amongst the human rights violations documented during a surge in violence carried out by armed youth from Koch and Mayendit counties,” Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan and Head of Unmiss, said in a press release on Monday.

Some 40,000 people were reportedly forced to flee their homes.

Two survivors of the attacks were repeatedly raped after they came out of hiding to find food for their children, Mr Haysom said.

Another woman who had recently given birth recounted that she was raped and severely beaten for three days.

Last week President Salva Kiir formed a committee to investigate the causes of the violence which occurred between 17 February and 7 April.

Many French people were left disappointed by the options in the presidential run-off.

Victor Ezeama
BBC News Pidgin

A 23-year old barber, Chiamaka Dilo, has told the BBC that she faces discrimination as a woman who caters to autistic children, and that people question why a "pretty" woman like her would want to take on the job she has.

"They scare me with their comments. They say I may end up having an autistic child," but "I'm not deterred", the microbiology student from the south-eastern Anambra State told BBC News Pidgin.

Autistic people in Nigeria are usually in dire need of help.

Ms Dilo goes to rural areas in search of people with special needs in need of haircuts and clean shaves.

"Since I discovered I could barb I decided to do it for free for those that cannot afford it. But I found that autistic people are either abandoned or left to suffer " she said.

What hurts her most is when she sees some of the children have been hurt. "They injure themselves... they use their hands to tear their body because they don't know what they're doing," she said.

You can watch her full interview with BBC Pidgin here.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

A trial has begun in Germany of a Gambian man accused of being part of a death squad that assassinated opponents of the West African country's former president, Yahya Jammeh.

The defendant, Bai Lowe, is accused of crimes against humanity and murder, including the killing 18 years ago of a journalist, Deyda Hydara.

Mr Lowe, 46, has previously confessed to being a driver with the hit squad known as the Junglers, which reported directly to Mr Jammeh. He has not yet entered a plea.

Outside the courtroom in the German town of Celle, activists called for the ousted Gambian leader and his accomplices to be brought to justice.

The trial is taking place on the basis of universal jurisdiction; it allows a foreign country to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, regardless of where they were committed.

Image source, Getty Images

A South African business owner has told the BBC that some of his staff sent him messages saying they needed money for food during the height of the country’s battle against Covid-19 and restrictions.

“It was really sad for me,” Sakhumzi Maqubela, a restaurant owner in Soweto, told Alan Kasujja from the BBC’s Africa Daily podcast. “It was really terrible to be of no help to my staff,” he continued.

“They would send me photos of their furniture being thrown out of their places where they’re renting, that they need to pay the landlord,” he said.

Another businessman, who runs an events management company, said his lowest moment during the pandemic was in 2020 during the country’s highest alert level.

“I’m informed by some of my colleagues in government that there’s a looming lockdown,” Thato Mothopeng recalls.

“About 750,000 rand ($48,000; £38,000) worth of deals got lost and I was supposed to host the Soweto Camp Festival that Easter. So I’ve invested money, I can’t get refunds,” he said.

South Africa had the highest number of recorded Covid cases in the continent, with strict lockdown measures put in place to curb the disease’s spread.

In April 2022, external, it lifted the state of disaster, but some safety measures still remain in place.

You can listen to the BBC Africa Daily’s full podcast here:

Former South Africa captain and director of cricket Graeme Smith is cleared of racism allegations by two independent arbitrators.