Azeezat Olaoluwa
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, Getty Images

There is outrage in Nigeria after a leaked memo showed the Lagos State government had approved $77,000 (£60,000) for a mass burial of 103 people, who have been linked to the historic 2020 #EndSars protest against police brutality.

Some Nigerians have expressed shock and said the victims scheduled to be buried were demonstrators allegedly killed by the army at the Lekki toll gate shooting on 20 October during the protests.

The number of those who died has long been a source of controversy in Nigeria, with the military initially denying anyone had been killed. However, a Judicial Panel of Inquiry has reported that nine protesters were killed and four presumed dead.

The government denies the 103 bodies are from the Lekki incident, describing such interpretations as misleading.

The permanent secretary to the Lagos state’s Ministry of Health, Dr Olusegun Ogboye, explained that the bodies were picked up from at least 12 locations across the state "in the aftermath of #EndSARS violence and community clashes, including a jailbreak at Ikoyi Prison.

"Peddlers of the news are deliberately misinterpreting and sensationalizing a letter from the Lagos State Government Public Procurement Agency."

He said the government had approved the mass burial after no families claimed the 103 bodies.

Tens of thousands of Nigerians took to the streets in October 2020 against police brutality and also called for the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit to be disbanded.

Favour Nunoo
BBC News, Accra

Image source, MINISTRY OF SANITATION AND WATER RESOURCES/ FACEBOOK

Ghana's former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Dapaah has been arrested by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) after the reported theft of $1m (£780,000) cash from her house.

According to the OSP, the former minister was placed under house arrest on Sunday 22 July on “suspected corruption and corruption related offenses”.

Many Ghanaians and anti-corruption campaigners have questioned how a public servant could have so much money stashed in their home amid an economic crisis in Ghana.

“Ms Dapaah is being questioned by authorised Officers of the OSP,” the statement read.

Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo accepted her resignation on Saturday following a public outcry.

The money was uncovered after two of her domestic staff were accused of stealing $1m in cash, along with €300,000 and several million Ghana cedis, as well as some personal items.

"I can state emphatically that those figures do not represent correctly what my husband and I reported to the police, I am very much aware of the import of such stories around someone in my position," Ms Dapaah said.

"I intend to cooperate fully with all state agencies to enable them fully establish the facts," she added.

Mike Thomson
BBC World Service News

Image source, Getty Images

Algeria says 15 people have been killed in wildfires during a continuing severe heatwave.

The deaths happened in the mountainous Bejaia and Bouria regions, where more than 7,000 firefighters are battling blazes.

Meanwhile, 1,500 people have been evacuated. Algeria’s Meteorological Office has warned that temperatures of more than 48C (118F) are likely to continue until the end of the month in the north of the country.

The news follows weeks of high temperatures across North Africa - reaching 50C in some areas.

Since the heatwave began, electricity consumption in Algeria is reported to have reached the highest level in the country’s history.

Read more here

Image source, AFP

A Sudanese refugee has told the BBC’s Newsday radio programme that he, and other Sudanese refugees in Egypt, are “struggling” and “don’t have any income,” on the 100-day anniversary of the start of the civil war in Sudan.

“We cannot find work, we cannot find nothing, so it’s really horrible here,” Moez Ahmed added.

The fighting in Sudan between the military and the Rapid Support Forces militia has displaced millions of people, seen the death of around 3,000 people, and does not show any concrete sign of resolution.

In order to survive, Mr Ahmed has been receiving money from his friends in other countries, like Qatar and the UAE.

“I don’t think this war” will “end very soon” he lamented, adding that half of his family is “still stuck in Sudan” surrounded by military aircraft and the sounds of ammunition.

They have “no supplies, no food, no water”, he said.

Read more about the war in Sudan:

• Sudan's Darfur terror: The radio presenter who gave birth and kept walking

Thirty-three people are confirmed dead after a building collapsed onto another in the city of Douala.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Mali's armed forces and foreign fighters thought to be from Russia's Wagner Group of widespread abuses, including executing dozens of civilians and torturing detainees.

It said the atrocities were committed over the last seven months in response to the presence of Islamist armed groups in the central Mopti and Ségou regions.

Eyewitnesses said in March they saw helicopters flying low, shooting at villagers.

In February they found the bodies of eight men who had just been detained.

Mali's foreign minister said he was not aware of the abuses and denied that any foreign forces were involved in operations with the military.

HRW wants independent experts to investigate. It warns that the imminent departure of UN peacekeepers will severely affect civilian protection and the monitoring of abuses by all sides.

Nkechi Ogbonna
West Africa Business Journalist, BBC News

Image source, AFP

About eight people have been confirmed dead after a fuel tanker exploded in Nigeria’s south-west Ondo state.

Residents had been scooping up spilt fuel from the tanker which was involved in a road accident on Sunday night, state police said.

“The tanker exploded on its own killing eight people, and injured many others who are currently being treated in the hospital,” the police spokeswoman told the BBC.

Nigerians have been struggling to pay for fuel recently, after prices jumped in the wake of the removal of a petrol subsidy.

You always walked away from him liking the human race more - writes his friend and colleague.

Ibrahim Aden
BBC News, Mogadishu

A Somali military source has told the BBC that 25 soldiers were killed when a man rigged himself with explosives and detonated himself among soldiers who were queuing up at the Jale Siad College camp.

The military has not made any official comment on the incident.

Forty-eight others were said to have been injured and taken to hospitals in Mogadishu.

The man who blew himself up was wearing a military uniform and entered the camp with a false identity, the military source, who did not want to be named, told the BBC.

Islamist militant group al-Shabab said one of its fighters had carried out the bombing, saying 73 soldiers had been killed and 124 injured.

Mohamed was born by the roadside as his mother Arafa crossed into Chad, fleeing the fighting in Sudan.

Dingindaba Jonah Buyoya
Lusaka

Image source, Bank of Zambia

The Bank of Zambia has confirmed a cyber security breach that compromised its official Facebook page, external, which saw hackers replace the bank’s profile and cover pictures with an image of an unknown man and woman in a romantic embrace, leading to memes and jokes flooding the internet.

The bank says the incident is under investigation.

"The Bank of Zambia regrets to inform members of the public about the cyber security incident affecting the Bank's Facebook page. We are conducting a thorough review of the incident and working closely with relevant law enforcement to ensure that it is addressed," a statement read.

The Bank of Zambia said it was working to restore the Facebook page to full functionality as soon as possible.

It urged its customers and the public to remain cautious and vigilant about potential phishing attempts or suspicious activities.

Officials also assured the public that the incident does not affect the safety and security of customer financial information, as the central bank's core systems remain secure.

The death toll from a building collapse in Cameroon has increased to 16.

Others are also injured, after four-storey building fell onto another residential building in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Distressed neighbours described hearing screams. It is not currently known what caused the collapse.

Read more about it here.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The Sudanese army says nine people have been killed in a plane crash at the airport in Port Sudan.

It said the civilian Antonov aircraft had suffered a technical failure as it was taking off.

Four military personnel were among the dead. A young girl is reported to have survived the accident.

More than three million people have been displaced since fighting between the army and the RSF militia erupted in mid-April, with the conflict showing no signs of resolution.

Trailblazing forward Ghizlane Chebbak on the enduring influence of her late father, Larbi - a star of Morocco's only Africa Cup of Nations win.

Trailblazing forward Ghizlane Chebbak on the enduring influence of her late father, Larbi - a star of Morocco's only Africa Cup of Nations win.

Image source, AFP

President Putin says Russia is capable of replacing exports of grain to Africa from Ukraine after he withdrew from a deal allowing their safe shipment across the Black Sea.

A Kremlin statement, external said Moscow could provide the grain on a commercial and free-of charge basis.

In the year up to June 2022, Russia was on of the largest suppliers of wheat to Africa - exporting 10.8 million tonnes, external. In the same period, Ukraine exported 6.3 million tonnes to the continent.

Mr Putin said Russia expected a record harvest this year. The country will host the second Russia- Africa summit later this week.

The ending of the Ukraine grain deal was met with a statement of regret from the African Union whose member states have been particularly hard-hit by rising food prices.

Reports have suggested Moscow is pushing to supply grain via a scheme involving Qatar and Turkey, although it's unclear if they'll accept.

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Image source, AFP

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Nigeria's Onome Ebi still loves her football as she embarks on a sixth appearance at the Women's World Cup.

Tunisia’s democracy is being dismantled by a president who claims he’s saving it from anarchy. Parliament has been dissolved, scores of judges sacked and opponents jailed. Once Tunisia - the north African country of just 12 million people squeezed between it’s much bigger neighbours Libya and Algeria - was a beacon of democracy. It was the first Arab country to overthrow it’s dictator Ben Ali in 2011 during what became known as the Arab Spring. Now a new authoritarian leader, Kais Saied, dominates the country. Tunisia faces numerous problems, from soaring prices and shortages of some basic foods - to thousands of migrants – many Tunisians - trying to flee across the Mediterranean to Europe.

Mike Thomson meets the sister of an activist who was imprisoned, an aspiring kickboxer who wants to settle abroad, a sub-Saharan migrant who’s lost his job and his home and a rapper, whose music helped inspire that 2011 revolution. What future faces Tunisia – democracy or dictatorship?

Presenter: Mike Thomson Producer: Bob Howard Mixed by Rod Farquhar Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross Series Editor: Penny Murphy

(Image: Tunisians with Tunisian flags protesting against the constitutional referendum. Credit: Mohamed Messara/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)