Welcome to Temitope Winner's blog

As promised,  Nathaniel Bassey  drops his new single titled “ Olowogbogboro ” in light of the ongoing  #HallelujahChallenge . He features  Wale Adenuga  who also co-wrote the song and it was produced by  Rotimikeys . Listen and Download below: Audio Player 00:00 00:00 Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume. Download

Image copyright REUTERSImage captionAmnesty is often at odds with Nigerian government Letter from Africa In our series of letters from African journalists, novelist and writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani explores the constant war of words between the Nigerian military and the rights group Amnesty International.

Nine civilians are killed in suicide attacks in Nigeria's Maiduguri, while eight troops die in raid in next-door Chad. More than 20,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram launched its arm campaign [File: Reuters] Suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers have struck the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, killing at least nine civilians, as the same armed group was also blamed for the death of eight soldiers in fierce fighting in neighbouring Chad. The multiple attacks Maiduguri also left 13 wounded, police told the Reuters news agency on Monday, the latest in a spate of attacks in the region. No group has officially claimed responsibility for the blasts in Maiduguri, but the use of suicide bombers in the region is a hallmark of Boko Haram. Borno police said a male suicide bomber killed a security guard after entering the University of Maiduguri, near the city centre at 2120 GMT on Sunday. Four female suicide bombers then killed eight people around an hour later on the outski...

Image copyrightDURBAN CRIME N ALLImage captionThese pictures emerged on social media over the weekend Inmates at a South African prison known as Sun City were treated to "strippers" as part of an official event. Pictures circulating on social media show two scantily-clad women in thigh-high boots pressing themselves up against orange suited men at Johannesburg's Medium B prison. On Monday, the Department of Correctional Services confirmed the veracity of the photos. A full investigation was under way, James Smalberger told journalists. "We can never tolerate what we have seen on the social media since Saturday," Mr Smalberger, the acting national correctional services commissioner, said. Thirteen officers are being suspended and will face the "full might of our code of conduct", he added. The 21 June event had been arranged as part of Youth Month celebrations - part of a programme which is meant to help with the rehabilitation of prisoners. But the wom...

Official says 24 Libya-bound people rescued but dozens are believed to have died after being left without food or water. Migrants crossing the Sahara desert into Libya ride on the back of a pick-up truck outside Agadez [File: Joe Penney/Reuters] Dozens of people are feared dead after human traffickers abandoned them in Niger's northern desert without food or water, a senior local official said on Monday.

These are external links and will open in a new window Share this with Facebook   Share this with Twitter   Share this with Messenger   Share this with Email   Share Image copyright Image caption Homo naledi has a mixture of primitive and more modern features Scientists have discovered a new human-like species in a burial chamber deep in a cave system in South Africa. The discovery of 15 partial skeletons is the largest single discovery of its type in Africa. The researchers claim that the discovery will change ideas about our human ancestors. The studies which have been published in the journal  Elife  also indicate that these individuals were capable of ritual behaviour. Image copyright NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Image caption Homo naledi may have looked something like this The species, which has been named  naledi , has been classified in the grouping, or genus,  Homo,  to which modern humans belong. The researche...

At least 26,000 people live in squalid camps around a largely abandoned town after armed groups faced-off there in May. Bria, Central African Republic - In mid-May the armed group the Popular Front for the Renaissance of Central African Republic (FPRC) marched into the town of Bria in the Central African Republic ( CAR ). Tens of thousands of, mostly Christian, civilians were displaced as the group faced off with anti-balaka fighters in the town, located some 600km northeast of the capital, Bangui. Around 85 percent of the town's residents fled. At least 60 people were killed in Bria, as the FPRC rebels, a faction of the Seleka, a Muslim-led coalition that toppled then President Francois Bozize in a coup in 2013, targeted the mainly Christian anti-balaka fighters and anyone they considered to be associated with the group. Thousands of people - both Muslim and Christian - have been killed in the country and almost a million displaced since the coup. Christians and Muslims have been ...

Bria mayor says death toll will certainly rise after a day of heavy clashes between rival factions. More than 50 percent of CAR's population requires humanitarian assistance, according to the UN [EPA] As many as 100 people may have been killed in a day of clashes between rival factions in the Central African Republic town of Bria, shortly after a truce deal was signed, the town's mayor said. Bodies lay in the streets of Bria, around 580km northeast of the capital, Bangui, and dozens more people were treated for shotgun wounds after fighting erupted at dawn on Tuesday. "The death toll will certainly rise. For now it's an estimate and it could be up to 100 dead," Maurice Belikoussou told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday by telephone, raising an earlier death toll of "around 50". "There are still dead lying in the neighbourhoods, in the road and in the bush," he said. Witnesses said houses were looted and set on fire during the clashes. The c...

The country no longer has areas in famine but almost two million people on the brink of starvation, report says. More than three million people have fled their homes since the civil war begun in December 2013 [AP] South Sudan no longer has areas in famine, but almost two million people are on the brink of starvation, the country's government and the United Nations said in reports. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and South Sudan's National Bureau of Statistics said the situation remains critical, warning that an estimated six million people, half the population, will face extreme food shortages between June and July. "People are in a catastrophic situation," said Serge Tissot, of FAO. The country's government said its urgent response to the emergency situation averted a humanitarian catastrophe in the country. "The government of South Sudan has done tremendously well. And now South Sudan has moved away from near famine in some parts of th...

Ongoing violence in central Kasai region has killed more than 3,300 people since October, according to Catholic church. Congo's government says it will cooperate with the UN inquiry [Melanie Gouby/AP] The United Nations has opened an investigation into killings in central Democratic Republic of Congo , though some Western countries and campaign groups say they had hoped it would have a stronger mandate. Congo's government has been fighting armed groups in the Kasai region since August, prompting fears of a wider conflict in the central African country, riven by ethnic rivalry and competing claims over mineral resources. Congo's Catholic Church said this week the violence had killed more than 3,300 people since October, with both government forces and the militia responsible for hundreds of deaths. On Friday, the UN's Human Rights Council (UNHRC), composed of 47 member states, adopted by consensus the resolution calling for an investigation, brought by African countries...

LATEST Orphans of the Sahara: Return With the fall of Gaddafi, thousands of Tuaregs return to Mali and Niger and launch their fight for an independent state