Plateau woman recounts family attack in Channel 4 documentary
via Punch Nigeria2 min read
Lisa Stephens, a Nigerian woman from Plateau State, shared her experience of a family attack in a documentary by the British news outlet Channel 4. The documentary, titled “Investigating a Village of Widows in Nigeria Amid Fears of a ‘Christian Genocide’,” explores the impact of violence on communities. Stephens described how armed attackers allegedly broke into her home at night. She recounted that after hearing gunshots, assailants forced their way in, found her breastfeeding her ten-month-old baby, and then killed her baby and husband. This account follows a separate attack on March 29 in the Angwan Rukuba community in Jos North, where gunmen on motorcycles and in vehicles opened fire, resulting in 20 to 30 deaths. Eyewitnesses reported the assailants wore camouflage resembling security force uniforms, and the attack occurred in a predominantly Christian area near Jos.
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The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, received a donation of protective gear from the United States-based organization Signal 63 Ministries, facilitated by the Fundamental Baptist Ministry International. The consignment was presented at the Force Headquarters in Abuja. Mr. Bill Graham of Signal 63 Ministries and Rev. and Mrs. Philemon Sidi of the Fundamental Baptist Ministry International facilitated the donation. Disu commended their efforts, stating the donation is a critical intervention to enhance the safety and operational confidence of frontline personnel. He reaffirmed his administration's commitment to equipping officers for effective service delivery, emphasizing that the well-being of personnel is non-negotiable and a cornerstone of building a more resilient and professional police force.
Must ReadA new report by climate rights groups, including Greenpeace, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, and GroundWork, indicates that South Africa risks up to 32,000 premature deaths between 2026 and 2050 if the phase-out of coal plants is delayed. This delay is attributed to the government’s updated decommissioning dates, which allow some of the 14 coal-fired power plants to operate until 2050. Coal currently supplies 80 percent of South Africa’s power and employs over 90,000 people, making decommissioning a contentious issue. The report projects that Gauteng province, despite having no state-owned coal plants, could experience 15,000 deaths due to transboundary pollution. Cynthia Moyo, a climate campaigner at Greenpeace, highlighted that pollution travels and does not remain localized. The delay is also expected to impact children's health, potentially causing 41,000 pre-term births, 17,000 new cases of childhood asthma, and 370 deaths among children under five. Residents of Middelburg in Mpumalanga shared experiences of air pollution effects, including early-onset asthma and skin diseases. The report estimates the economic cost of the delay at 721 billion rand $38 billion, accounting for lost working days and increased strain on the public healthcare system. South Africa, the continent’s most industrialized nation, signed a Just Energy Transition Partnership JETP deal in 2021 to transition from coal, but this process has faced internal government disputes.
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