Army denies keeping Nnamdi Kanu in custody

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army takeover was "not a coup" but just an adjustment to the democratic transition. The US and UN are calling for the return of the government.

Top UN rights official Michelle Bachelet has slammed the military's violent repression following the October 25 coup. Sudan's prime minister is under house arrest.

A Nigerian judge on Wednesday adjourned the treason trial of separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu until January after his lead lawyer walked out of court because security agents refused other defence lawyers into the courtroom. Bruce Fein, the American lawyer of Nnamdi Kanu, also threatened to drag Nigeria before the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged gross violation of his client’s rights. At his last court appearance last month, Kanu, a British citizen, pleaded not guilty to seven charges, which included terrorism, calling for secession and knowingly falsehoods about President Muhammadu Buhari, and membership of an outlawed group. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Kanu's lead lawyer had planned to ask the court to dismiss the charges, saying they were incompetent.

The Nigerian Army fired live rounds at peaceful protesters at a toll gate in Lagos in October 2020, according to a leaked report into the incident seen by Reuters and verified by three sources close to the panel that drafted it. The report described the incident as a "massacre", said most of the army officers deployed to the Lekki Toll Gate were "not fit and proper to serve" and recommended prosecuting certain policemen for their actions.

Fighting continues in Ethiopia, where rebel groups are advancing on the capital Addis Ababa. While much has been said about the northern front, where the army is at war with the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF), another armed group – allied to Tigrayans – is fighting from the south and west of the country. The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) now controls a large swathe of territory. Together, the TDF and OLA plan to topple the government and take over the capital. The government accuses these rebel groups of committing crimes against civilians, including several massacres. Our regional correspondent reports.

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A video that shows park rangers in a helicopter in Central African Republic has been used to incorrectly point the finger at the French army for supporting terrorists in Mali. We take a closer look in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Heavy gunfire could be heard coming from several military camps in Burkina Faso early on Sunday (January 23), the government said, but it denied the military had seized power. Heavy arms fire at the capital Ouagadougou's Sangoule Lamizana camp, which houses the army's general staff and a prison whose inmates include soldiers involved in a failed 2015 coup attempt, began at least as early as 5:00 a.m. (0500 GMT), a Reuters reporter said. The reporter later saw soldiers firing into the air in the camp. A witness also reported gunfire at a military camp in Kaya, around 100 kms (62 miles) north of Ouagadougou.

After being driven out of Uganda, the Lord's Resistance Army ran riot in the Central African Republic, where it behaved more like a criminal gang than a terrorist militia. Now the LRA's days seem to be numbered.

This week on The Observers, we investigated an incident in Nia Ouro, Mali on January 4. Residents claimed that men dressed in Malian military uniforms killed four civilians and reduced buildings in the village to ashes. We spoke to an eyewitness, analysed videos taken after the event and cross-referenced satellite imagery to put together the days events.

France says nearly 60 fighters from Islamist militias were killed in the days leading up to the coup. The jihadists were killed by forces involved with Operation Barkhane led by France.