Nigeria: Suicide bombings kill at least 32 people in the northeastern town of Gwoza

Welcome to Eye ON Africa. I'm Georgia Calvin Smith And tonight the death toll from 4 suicide bombings in northeastern Nigeria rises to at least 32. A funeral, hospital and wedding are amongst the sites targeted by attackers. Also, opposition parties take more than 1/3 of ministries in South Africa's painfully haggled out new cabinet. The ANC keeps 20 of 32 posts, with its largest coalition partner, the DA, heading up six ministries and staying with South Africa. Scientists there do what they can to put poachers off from hunting rhinos, including introducing radioactive material into the animal's horns. But first, Nigeria's reeling in the wake of a string of suicide bombings that killed at least 32 in the northeastern town of Gwoza. Saturday's blasts targeted a wedding, a hospital and a funeral amongst the four sites. All of these places and gatherings where people expect compassion and solidarity. Instead, they were met with violence. We can't even see how these people got to Gwoza. We don't know how many of them. We don't know why they did all this. You know, with the issue of the insurgency around, you know, we're trying to settle people, taking them back to their places. But unfortunately, this incident happened. You see, there's going to be so much fear in people and movements in Gaza, not only in Gaza, even the surroundings. I have no words, my son is unconscious. I prayed that God would grant him a speedy recovery. And to the perpetrators of this heinous act, May God guide them on the right path. Imagine the pain of losing 5 people at a time. So this is something I can actually not forget because this has taken me back to memory lane of 2014 when Gaza was raided by this terrorist group. Well, no one's yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, some of which involved some female bombers. But there are fears that they mark the return of a grim tactic used by Boko Haram extremists in Borno State in the past. Sam Olokoiya tells us more. It has been several years that Nigeria saw these kinds of highly coordinated suicide bombings. The attacks evoke the frightening feeling that suicide bombers who have been on break for several years may be back again. For many Nigerians, the attacks in Gaza brought back familiar memories, corpses and various human body parts blown to beats. Nigerians were treated to these chilling images before the suicide bombers took a break years back. Major cities like the capital, Abuja, Kaduna, Kano and Maiduguri still bear the scars of suicide bombings. The reign of terror had no limits and no rules. the United Nations building in Abuja, crowded markets, bus stops, mosques, churches and media houses were among the places targeted. The question Nigerians are asking is whether the evil days of suicide bombings are back again after living under a sense of false security for many years. If so, Nigerians will be living in fear and wondering when next the when the next suicide bomber will strike. It is the first suicide bombing since President Bola Tenubu came to power a little over a year ago. If this marks a resumption of suicide bombings, it will pose a major challenge for a government that has many problems to deal with. Sam Olokoi there now. South Africa's started its first week with the new cabinet that's been painfully thrashed out after the ENC lost its parliamentary majority in May's elections. The coalition that it was forced to form with nine other parties has made haggling over government portfolios tougher than ever and ventel with more. South Africa finally has a new government. A big surprise, and a move that has received a lot of criticism, is that the cabinet has grown from a previous 30 ministers and the deputies to 32 ministers and 43 deputy ministers. This is a move backward for the president, who during his earlier tenure had made it clear he wanted to shrink parliament to shrink expenses. Announcing a cabinet heavy with ANC members, with the former opposition DA holding 6 ministerial posts and six deputy ministers, President Sol Ramaphosa said the only way they could make the parliament inclusive for the GNU and its members was to add posts. Many are still unhappy at the inclusion of the DA, seen as a White Party which favours business included in the GNU. But analysts point out that some of the deputy ministers appear to contain a watchdog component as most ministers are ANC. But we have ADA minister like Minister of Communications and Digital Technology Soli Malazzi. His deputy is the ANC's Monoli Gongo Bailey, while the day's Leon Schreiber is minister of Home Affairs, his deputy, the ANC's Njobulo Nzuza, to mention a few of these pairings. Eyebrows have also shot up over the appointment of the PA's founder Gaytan Mackenzie as minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, with many citizens and analysts alike asking how the former gangster is going to handle such a tricky portfolio. And Mauritanian President Muhammad ULD Ghazwani has been re elected for a second term. Election officials say that he won with a little over 56% of Saturday's vote, way ahead of his main rival, anti slavery activist Biram da Abid. Now he rejected Sunday's partial results, alleging fraud and bias on the part of the Electoral Commission. The Constitutional Court will now review the numbers and announce final results, although it's unclear when. Kazuano, in the meantime, has been positioning the country as a strategic ally of the West in a region that's been swept by coups and unrest. And in Kenya, rights watchdogs say that at least 39 people have been killed in anti government protests from mid June to the end of the month. Anti tax marches descended into deadly violence and sparked clashes between police and crowds. Last week, President William Ruto subsequently promised to withdraw the Finance Bill that's at the heart of the crisis. But discontent remains. Our Olivia Biesel tells us more Just when you thought that Kenya's President William Ruto couldn't get more unpopular, well, that's exactly what happened. On Sunday, he made a surprise appearance at a church and gave a speech about the importance of peace and unity. Many have criticised him for that appearance, saying that he's only trying to distract the population about the lethal use of violence by the government. During protests last week against the Finance Bill, people and protesters gathered outside of the church and booed him as he tried to exit. And then later in the day, later on Sunday, he was on national television for an interview. And many have also criticised him for that appearance, saying that he seems completely disconnected from reality. One episode in particular has been very criticised on social media. At one point, one of the journalists asked Ruto what he would say to the mother of a 12 year old boy who was shot 8 times. And the president's initial reaction was, well, he's alive, right? And that has sparked an uproar on social media with people saying that he doesn't understand the true extent of the violence that was used by the government during the protest because that boy had actually been killed. Now, President William Ruto had been trying to reassure the public on Sunday, but in fact, he did quite the opposite. Another protest is expected to take place this Tuesday, with many calling on Ruto to resign. Liv Bizo there getting us up to speed now. British man was amongst those testifying in a coup trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday. He said that he was unwittingly caught up in the attack on May 19th. Emmett Livingston in Kinshasa tells us more trial in Andolo military prison in Congo's capital Kinshasa on Monday. Yousufa Zangi said that he'd been recruited in order to set up an NGO and that he didn't know about plans to overthrow the president. On May 19th, about 50 people led by Congolese political exile launched a failed coup in which at least six people were killed. Ezangi is a Congolese born British national who had been working as a plumber in London. The prosecution has painted him as the main recruiter behind the coup attempt, accusing him of travelling across western Congo to hire militants. Ezangi told the military tribunal that he'd first met Malanga in 2016 in London and had worked with him to set up an NGO in Congo. He denied being informed of any details before the attack on government institutions on May 19th. Lawyers also argued that Zangi was forced to take part in the attack by force. The account provoked a fierce response from the military prosecutor, who said that Zangi had said under interrogation that Malanga had indeed been planning a coup. Hearings will continue on July 5th, which are due to feature the questioning of three U.S. citizens who are also charged in connection with the coup attempt. All 51 defendants in the case are facing the death penalty. Well, here in France, Eritrean Binyamin Gourmet has entered the history books by becoming the first black African rider to win a stage at the Tour de France. The 24 year old won stage 3 of this year's Mass Sprint in Turin. Gourmet, riding for the Intermachie Wanti team and a Ready, winner of a stage in the 2022 Giro d'Italia, dedicated his win to the whole of the African continent. And South African scientists are doing what they can to put poachers off from hunting rhinos, including introducing radioactive materials into the animal's horns. An extreme gamble, but the stakes are high. Glenn Balor with more injecting radioactive isotopes into live rhino horns in a bid to combat poaching. The initiative, known as Project Risotope, was spearheaded by James Larkin, director of Wits University's Radiation and Health Physics unit. So the idea is to devalue the rhino horde in the Ozio user to make it a make it a lot easier to track going through borders. International Crossings South Africa is home to the majority of the world's rhinoceros population, with an estimated number of 16,000, making it a hotspot for poachers. Vinyl horns are highly priced in Asia, where they are used in traditional medicine for their supposed therapeutic effects. In February, the South African government announced that almost 500 of these giant mammals were killed in 2023 for presenting an 11% increase compared to the previous year. We try to poison the horns. That didn't work. Deer honing doesn't work, Nothing works. But this is something you can't destroy, you can't throw it away and it petrifies people, you know, oh, it's radioactive. So we got to run. So far, 20 rhinos have received the isotopes. The material will live on for five years inside the horns and are at low enough doses they will not impact the rhino's health nor their environment. Researchers hope the process can be replicated to save other wild species threatened by poaching, such as elephants and the religious. Music and sounds of nowa were born in Morocco but have captivated fans everywhere. A festival featuring musicians from around the world just wrapped up in Essawera in Morocco and was a chance for intergenerational and international celebration of a fusion of traditional nowa and contemporary contemporary sounds. Take a look. The African soul is in our blood. We know each other like family. Playing together in a residency is not like playing what you already know. It's an opportunity to meet people, to give and take at the same time. It's a sharing. I play Ghanawa and also his pieces like and Balak and other Senegalese rhythms. Here we learn to know and interact with each other. This is the cross fertilization of cultures. I think now music is a great representation of Moroccan culture and history, and I think it's amazing that Sour is a is a hard Center for that, especially as it intersects with other cultures around the world. Morocco is a quite diverse country and it's really nice to be able to represent that. Oh, that looks amazing. That is all we have time for for Iron Africa. Thanks for joining us. Do so again. Till then, take care.