S. A: FOUR PEOPLE HAVE DIED AFTER A CAR WAS SWEPT AWAY AT AN OVERFLOWING BRIDGE IN THE MAKOTOPONG RIVER NEAR SEBAYENG.(PHOTO).

Image
 Four people have died after a car was swept away at an overflowing bridge in the Makotopong River near Sebayeng. Police recovered the bodies after a blue Renault Kwid carrying five occupants was pulled into the river during heavy water flow on Sunday morning, 8 March 2026. One passenger escaped from the vehicle and alerted police and emergency services. Police say the car was travelling along the Madiga–Makotopong gravel road when it overturned at the flooded bridge and was dragged into the river. The Provincial Search and Rescue team recovered the first body on Sunday. The victim was identified as Lebapa Petrus Mochitele, 27, from Madiga Village. EMS personnel declared him dead at the scene. Search operations resumed on Monday with the SAPS Water Wing Unit, EMS Search and Rescue, the Fire and Rescue Department, and an EMS helicopter. Teams located the submerged vehicle and recovered three more bodies. The victims were identified as Seobi Dikgale, 33, Betty Makokoane, 22, and Shel...

NIGER WITHDRAWS FROM LAKE CHAD MILITARY FORCE. (PHOTO).


 Niger withdraws from Lake Chad military force 


Niger has quit an international force fighting armed Islamist groups in West Africa's Lake Chad region as it seeks to shore up security around oil assets at home, the government said in a bulletin on state television, Reuters reported.


The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which also includes soldiers from Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, has been working to stem the insurgency since 2015, but progress has been hobbled by division and poor coordination, allowing armed groups to flourish across the region's sparsely populated scrublands.


MNJTF has yet to comment on Niger's withdrawal, and it is unclear how the step will affect the mission's future.


The Lake Chad region has been repeatedly attacked by militant groups, including Islamic State in West Africa and Boko Haram, whose insurgency erupted in northeast Nigeria in 2009 and has killed tens of thousands of people.


Last year, Chad threatened to pull out of the MNJTF after about 40 soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base.


And Niger has become increasingly withdrawn since a military junta overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum in 2023. Along with Burkina Faso and Mali - neighbouring states where juntas also snatched power in recent years - it withdrew from regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2024.


Niger's junta, which last week announced a five-year transition to constitutional rule, has promised to restore security in the country, whose vast desert north is crossed by migrants and traffickers.


But the army has little control over large parts of the country. Islamist militants killed at least 44 civilians and severely injured 13 others during an attack on a mosque in the southwest this month. Its energy infrastructure, including an oil pipeline that links the Agadem oilfield to Benin's coast, has come under attack.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

INNOSON GIVES OUT BRAND NEW IVM G5 AND SALARY FOR LIFE TO THE MAN WHO PROPHESIED ABOUT HIS VEHICLE MANUFACTURING IN 1979.(PHOTO).

SHAKIRA COVERS WOMEN'S HEALTH MAGAZINE,APRIL ISSUE.

AMBODE,SOYINKA & OTHERS AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF LAGOS AT 50 YEARS ANNIVERSARY AGAINST 2017.{PHOTOS}.