Latest West Africa News
Cambridge college to return looted bronze statue to Nigeria
LONDON (AP) — A Cambridge University college said Friday that it would return a looted bronze cockerel to Nigeria later this month, making it the first U.K. institution to hand back one of the artifacts known as the Benin Bronzes. Jesus College announced in 2019 that it...
Liberian teen becomes hero for finding and returning $50,000
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — A teenager in Liberia who has become a national hero after finding $50,000 and returning it to its rightful owner said he will meet the country's president next week. Emmanuel Tuloe told The Associated Press Friday that he has been invited to...
In Nigeria’s troubled northwest, phone blockades hurt locals
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Mobile phones have been lifelines for residents of northwestern Nigeria who have relied on warning calls to escape escalating bandit attacks. But recent blockades on mobile telecommunications by authorities have left many rural people cut off and...
US wins seat on UN rights council in uncontested election
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States won a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council that former president Donald Trump denounced and quit, joining 17 other nations elected in uncontested votes Thursday that were criticized for guaranteeing spots to countries with abysmal rights records. ...
Nigerian military says leader of IS-linked group is dead
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's military claimed Thursday that Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the leader of an Islamic State-linked extremist group blamed for killing hundreds in the northeast, is dead. There was no immediate confirmation from the militants. Gen. Lucky Irabor,...
Liberian teen hailed hero after finding, returning $50,000
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — A teenager in Liberia has become a national hero after finding $50,000 on the road and returning it to its rightful owner in the northeastern Nimba County. Eighteen-year-old Emmanuel Tuloe told The Associated Press Thursday that he was driving...
Africa detecting just 1 in 7 COVID-19 cases, says WHO study
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Only one in seven COVID-19 infections in Africa are being detected, meaning the continent's estimated infection level may be 59 million people, according to a new study by the World Health Organization. “With limited testing, we’re...
Mali's Timbuktu fears jihadis as France reduces troops
TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) — It’s been nine years since Islamic extremists in northern Mali arrested Zahra Abdou on charges of showing her hair and wearing an outfit they said was too tight. The al-Qaida-linked militants who had seized control of this fabled desert center...
Women left behind: Gender gap emerges in Africa's vaccines
SARE GIBEL, Gambia (AP) — The health outreach workers who drove past Lama Mballow's village with a megaphone handed out T-shirts emblazoned with the words: “I GOT MY COVID-19 VACCINE!” By then, the women in Sare Gibel already had heard the rumors on social media:...
Gambian women's voices on COVID-19 vaccines: "We are afraid"
SERREKUNDA, Gambia (AP) — Oyster harvesting in Gambia is considered women’s work. It's a grueling task — they paddle rickety boats, then get into water up to their necks to lay nets. Many of the women are the sole family breadwinners, and that burden has only intensified with the...
