Yahya Jammeh: Gambia’s Vice President, Isatou Njie Saidy resigns

19th January 2017

Gambia’s Vice President, Isatou Njie Saidy, has resigned.

Saidy abandoned President Yahya Jammeh, 24 hours to the deadline issued to him by African leaders to hand over to opposition leader, Adama Barrow.

The development is coming same day the Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science, Technology and Religious Affairs, Abubacar Senghore, abandoned Jammeh. He is the eighth cabinet member‎ to resign

Earlier, Nigerian soldiers and a Nigerian warship were sent to the Gambia to terminate the 22-year old leadership of President Jammeh who lost the December 1 election but has vowed not to hand over power today when his term runs out.

Jammeh, who was defeated by Adama Barrow, first conceded defeat but later changed his mind citing irregularities. He has since challenged the results in court but has suffered several setbacks.

Nigerian leader, Muhammadu Buhari was appointed chief mediator in the Gambia by ECOWAS but all attempts to convince Jammeh to leave power peacefully after 22 long years failed.

Gambia’s President-elect Adama Barrow has been killed

Gambia’s President-elect Adama Barrow has been killed

Banjul – Gambia’s president-elect Adama Barrow who vowed to take office on January 19 despite the refusal of outgoing President Yahya Jammeh to give up power has been killed by unknown assailants.

The assailants overpowered the security guards of Mr. Barrow, leaving two of the guards dead and other six injured from gunshots.
President Yahya Jammeh, the ‘prime suspect’ has denied any involvement in the incident.

The assassination of Mr. Barrow comes few days after he referred to the country’s constitution that a court action taken by Jammeh cannot prevent the winner of the poll from assuming office as mandated by the constitution.

He was responding to Jammeh, who said Saturday that a decision of the Economic Community of West African States to send troops to ensure a peaceful transition of power was a “declaration of war” and called for a fresh poll.

“It should be crystal clear that filing an election petition is the private matter of a loser in an election. It does not prevent mandatory constitutional processes from taking place,” Barrow said.
ECOWAS, the African Union and the United Nations could only intervene if “the two presidents fail to do, with impeccable thoroughness, what the constitution of the republic demands,” he said.

“Any president whose term of office expires who takes up arms against an incoming president whose term should begin according to law, would be regarded by the international community as a rebel leader,” Barrow warned.

The authorities meanwhile shut down two radio stations, the Gambia Press Union said.

Teranga FM is considered critical of the Jammeh government and has been closed down twice before.
Hilltop radio station was also ordered to close by the National Intelligence Agency, which gave no reason for the measure, the union said.

The Gambia Press Union expressed concern that this could signal the beginning of a crackdown on independent media amid the country’s escalating p

Woman Beheaded For Going Shopping Without Her Husband

A woman has reportedly been beheaded by a group of armed men in Afghanistan after she entered a city without her husband.

The horrific act took place in the remote village of Latti in Sar-e-Pul province, which is under Taliban control.

Under Taliban rule, women are prohibited from leaving their homes unless accompanied by a close male relative. They are also banned from working or education and are forced to wear the burqa.

Provincial Governor spokesman Zabiullah Amani told the Nation that the 30-year-old woman was targeted because she went out alone without her husband, who is in Iran. She had gone to the market to shop.

The Taliban have rejected any involvement in this latest incident.

Earlier this month five female Afghan guards working in the airport in southern Kandahar were killed by unknown gunmen as they were on their way to work, the latest in a string of attacks against women in Afghanistan.

From bomb attacks to targeted or honour killings or domestic abuses, Afghan women have borne the brunt of the 15 years of conflicts during the Taliban-led insurgency as security has deteriorated and violence has increased in most parts of the country.

Despite years of pressure by women’s groups and foreign donors, Afghanistan remains one of the most difficult places to be a woman.

We’re executing your son on November 18 — Singapore tells family of Nigerian drug trafficker

The family of Chijioke Obioha, a Nigerian national given the mandatory death sentence for possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking on December 30, 2008, have been informed that November 18 is his new execution date.Amnesty International in a statement Thursday recalled that on April 9, 2007, Obioha was found in possession of more than 2.6 kilograms of cannabis, surpassing the statutory amount of 500 grams that under Singapore law triggers the automatic presumption of trafficking.  

Also in his possession were keys to a room containing additional prohibited substances, leading the authorities to presuming him guilty of possession and knowledge of the drugs.

Obioha’s appeal against his conviction and sentence was rejected in August 2010, but maintaining his innocence of the crime, he initially refused to make use of his right to resentencing which amendments to Singapore’s mandatory’s death penalty laws made in 2013 allowed for.

“After the rejection of his clemency appeal in April 2015, his execution was set for May 15, 2015. It was stayed a day earlier to allow him apply for resentencing.

“His family were only informed on October 25, 2016 that he had resolved to withdraw his application for resentencing earlier in the year, following legal advice that he would not qualify as “courier” under the amended laws.

“Consequently, the Court of Appeal lifted the stay of execution with effect from October 24, resulting in the execution date to be set for November 18.

“Chijioke Stephen Obioha graduated in Industrial Chemistry from Benin University in Nigeria. He moved to Singapore in 2005, seeking to join a football club. His family members, who currently live in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, have been unable to travel to visit and had limited ability to assist him.

“Throughout the duration of the proceedings, they have received sporadic and often delayed updates, including when a legal representative was removed from the case,” Amnesty International stated.

#AntiTrumpProtest: Thousands of Americans flood the street.

Violence has broken out at anti-Trump rallies across America overnight as tens of thousands marched against the President-elect.                                                                                            The streets of downtown Oakland in California  were filled with about 6,000 protesters. In New York, home of the President-elect, at least 30 people were arrested when cops cracked down on twin demonstrations in Columbus Circle and at Trump Tower.                                                                                                                           As many as 7,500 demonstrators were believed to have been split between the two locations, chanting ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Donald Trump, go away, racist, S3@.x:’ist, anti-gay.’

Cher and Madonna were among the NYC protesters,Protests stopped traffic in Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Oregon; and San Francisco, California, among many others.
Outside the White House, a candlelit vigil was being held in protest against Mr Trump’s

California polling sites on lockdown after shooting

Two polling stations in California were placed on lockdown Tuesday following a nearby shooting that killed one person and wounded three, the authorities said.

The shooting took place in early afternoon in the city of Azusa, 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, Vanessa Lozano, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, told AFP.

Officers arriving at the scene found “multiple shooting victims” and came under fire, Azusa police tweeted.

Three people were transported to a hospital with gunshot wounds and one was dead on arrival, Lozano said.

Details about the incident, which happened in a residential neighborhood, were sketchy.

Two polling stations in the area were placed on lockdown along with nearby schools, according to local officials.

Azusa police advised residents to stay clear of the area and shelter in place as officers combed the neighborhood for at least one suspect believed to be heavily armed.

Local government official Dean Logan advised voters to find other polling sites to cast their ballots.

“Voters should avoid the area and, if necessary, cast a ballot at an alternate polling location,” he tweeted.

A woman inside one of the affected polling stations said she heard shots ring out before officials placed the area on lockdown. Some 30 people were inside when the incident unfolded, she said.

“At first, I thought it was construction but people came running into the room saying they see a guy with a bulletproof vest and a white shirt,” she told CNN. “As of right now, they just have us in the voting room and are trying to keep us calm.”