At least 965 soldiers and policemen have died in the line of duty as a result of escalation of violence in many parts of Nigeria, perpetrated by Boko Haram, bandits, activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other non-state actors in the last two years.

Daily Trust Saturday tracked the various violent incidents related to killings of police and military personnel between January 2021 and April 2023 in which findings revealed that Nigeria’s security officials bore a significant brunt of killings by non-state actors.

The data metrics, which were exclusively gathered from reported incidents in newspapers, showed that 581 policemen and 384 military personnel died in the line of duty within the period under review.

Daily Trust Saturday could not get official records from the Nigerian Army and police headquarters as efforts to reach the army spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, did not yield results after they both failed to respond to calls and text messages.

However, records revealed that the NPF has approximately 371,800 officers across the country, with a ratio of one police officer to 540 citizens. This is lower than the United Nation’s recommended rate of one police officer to 450 people.

For the military, World Bank database revealed that as at 2019, Nigeria had a military strength of 223,000 personnel. This figure, despite a significant loss of at least 384 personnel, was corroborated in February, 2023 by former Nigeria’s minister of defence, Bashir Magashi, during the 25th edition of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s scorecard series to showcase his administration’s achievements.

A breakdown of the data mined by this newspaper showed that out of the 384 military personnel killed, 192 were killed by Boko Haram and other terrorists, 68 by gunmen and the IPOB, 62 by bandits and 62 by other criminal groups and circumstances.

Newspaper reports showed that from the 581 police officers killed, 344 were killed by gunmen and the IPOB, 119 were killed by bandits and kidnappers, while 53 by armed robbers and other criminal groups. The data also showed that 32 police officer died in accidents while 18 were killed by colleagues and other security personnel and 15 by Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP).

Regions, states with high military, police killings

Data from media reports collated by this newspaper revealed that men of the Nigerian military recorded heavier casualties in the North, especially Northeast and Northwest, where activities of Boko Haram and bandits are more prevalent. The police, on the other hand, suffered heavier casualties in the southern part of the country, especially the Southeast and Southsouth, where activities of IPOB and gunmen, a term loosely used to refer to attacks by suspected members of the Eastern Security Network, the armed group of IPOB are more prevalent.

The data revealed that out of the 384 military officers killed in the last 28 months, 82.6 per cent of the killings came from the North while the remaining 17.4 per cent came from the South.

On a region-by-region analysis, the Northeast claimed 178 soldiers, Northwest, 90 and Northcentral, 49. The Southeast claimed 41 military deaths while the Southsouth had 24 and Southwest two.

The top five states with the highest military losses include Borno State, where 152 soldiers were killed in the last two years, followed by Kaduna State, where the military lost 35 soldiers, and Kebbi, where 23 soldiers were killed in the line of duty. In Niger State, 28 soldiers were killed, while 20 were killed in Anambra State. The five states combined make 67 per cent of military killings in the country.

The data from police killings revealed that out of 581 police lives lost in the last two years, 60 per cent came from the South while the North has 40 per cent. The data also showed that 305 of police killings were as a result of ambush by gunmen, with the Southeast and Southsouth recording 73.7 per cent.

On a region-by-region analysis, the NPF lost 200 officers in the Southeast, 110 in the Northwest, 106 in the Southsouth and 85 men in the Northcentral. The police also lost 43 officers in the Southwest and 37 in the Northeast.

The five states with the highest police killings are Anambra, where 63 police officers lost their lives, followed by Imo, where 52 officers were killed, as well as Niger State, where 42 police officers were killed.

Others are Delta State, where 37 were killed and Ebonyi, where 35 police officers lost their lives. The five states make 39.5 per cent of police killings in the country.

 

Daily Trust

Central Bank of Nigeria has sold the dollar at N645 at its latest auction, results showed on Friday, lower than N465 where the currency is trading on the official secondary market.

Nigeria operates multiple exchange rates, which the CBN has used to manage demand, mask pressure on the naira and conserve its dwindling reserves. The system has fueled a black market, trading sharply lower than the spot rate.

The bank held the latest bi-weekly auction on May 26. In April, it auctioned dollars at N630.

The naira has weakened faster at the central bank's auctions than on the spot market, leading many analysts to believe that a devaluation could match the rate traded at the auctions.

On Thursday, the central bank denounced news of a devaluation of the currency after media reported a big fall in the value of the naira following speculation over the outcome of a meeting President Bola Tinubu had with the central bank governor this week, and as the naira is already sold weaker at auctions.

Tinubu on Friday told governors from his ruling All Progressives Congress party in Abuja that the country's multiple exchange rates will be streamlined. "We will not have multiple exchange rates anymore," he said.

The central bank has been adjusting the value of the naira gradually on the spot market to avoid a large-scale devaluation. Former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was in power for eight years, viewed a strong currency as a matter of national pride.

 

Reuters

Nigeria's main labour union said on Friday it plans to go on strike from Wednesday to protest against a tripling of fuel prices in what would be the first big test for new President Bola Tinubu after he scrapped a costly fuel subsidy.

The price increase has led to a sharp rise in transport fares and Estonian ride-hailing and food delivery startup Bolt said it had hiked its prices in Nigeria, citing increased operating costs due to higher fuel prices.

Nigeria's fuel subsidy cost the government billions of dollars annually but was popular as it helped keep prices low in Africa's biggest oil producer, which is still grappling with high poverty rates among residents.

The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics says 63% of people living in Nigeria are poor while the World Bank said in a report last year that as many as four in 10 Nigerians lived below the national poverty line.

The government said lifting the subsidy - which caused prices to rise to N557 per litre from N189 at the petrol pumps - will help alleviate a government funding crisis.

But Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) president Joe Ajaero, after an emergency meeting of the union's executive council in Abuja, said the state oil company NNPC should reverse the price hike.

"Nigeria Labour Congress decided that if by Wednesday next week that NNPC, a private limited liability company that illegally announced a price regime in the oil sector, refuses to revert itself for negotiations to continue, that the Nigeria Labour Congress and all its affiliates will withdraw their services and commence protests nationwide until this is complied with," Ajaero said.

In 2012, a wave of strikes ensued when Nigeria tried to introduce a similar measure, with authorities eventually reinstating some subsidies. Tinubu, then in the opposition, was among those who opposed ending the subsidies.

On Friday, the president said Nigeria needs to review its minimum wage of N30,000 ($65).

"We need to do some arithmetic and soul searching on the minimum wage," he told the ruling party state governors at his offices in Abuja, adding that revenue collection should be strengthened.

($1 = 460.9200 naira)

 

Reuters

The court has admitted some presidential election results presented by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to support its claim against the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Lead counsel to Obi on Friday informed the court sitting in Abuja that he had a schedule of more evidence which they desire to render before the court.

The counsel continued with evidence (election results) from Rivers and Kogi states, presenting certified true copies of INEC election results from six local government areas (LGAs) in Rivers as evidence.

Also admitted were results from Niger, Adamawa, Oyo, Bayelsa, and Edo states tendered by the LP.

The petitioner also presented additional certified true copies of election results from Bida LGA of Niger and 21 LGAs in Adamawa.

Again, counsel to the first, second and third respondents objected to the admissibility of the evidence.

However, the court admitted the documents as evidence, while awaiting the arguments of the respondents who were opposed to the admissibility of the documents.

Additional evidence tendered by the petitioner are from eight LGAs in Bayelsa, 31 LGAs in Oyo, and 18 LGAs in Edo.

LP also presented further evidence from 20 LGAs in Lagos, where they argued their votes were under-counted. The affected 20 LGAs include Apapa, Lagos Island, Lagos mainland, Ikorodu, Amuwo Odofin, Ibeju lekki, Ikeja, Ifako- Ijaye, Kosofe, and Oshodi-Isolo.

Having presented its evidence from states, Peter Afuba, who is one of the counsels to the petitioner, applied that all the certified true copies of election results tendered as evidence in the court be taken as read.

Again, counsels to the first, second, third and fourth respondents refused to give their consent, in view of their previous objections to the admissibility of the documents.

Obi and his party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, arrived in court around 9:20 am for continuation of the hearing at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.

At Thursday’s proceeding, the LP candidate tendered results from 115 local government areas (LGAs) as part of his evidence to back his claims, but the respondents opposed the evidence tendered by the LP candidate.

The LP and its candidate are challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25 election.

 

CTV

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given reasons for opposing the tendering of many certified electoral documents brought to court by Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi to prove their case against President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the last presidential election.

The pair, who filed separate petitions to challenge Tinubu’s victory, alleged that the 25 February presidential poll was marred by widespread fraud.

To substantiate their claims, Atiku and Obi have tendered tons of electoral documents comprising data from the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and results sheets from across states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

During the court’s pre-hearing sessions meant to streamline the procedures for hearing the substantive petitions, lawyers to parties in the suits agreed not to object to certified true copies of electoral documents obtained from INEC.

However, at the commencement of the trial on 30 May, INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, and Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, objected to the admissibility of the election documents that were obtained from the electoral umpire.

APC’s lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi, equally opposed the admissibility of the documents as exhibits.

Friday’s proceedings

At Friday’s proceedings, one of INEC’s lawyers, Kemi Pinheiro, explained that the petitioners – Atiku and Obi, did not challenge the conduct of the election in the areas relating to the documents that were presented before the court.

Pinheiro said, “Issues were not joined in the local government areas where the result sheets were sought to be tendered before the court.”

He argued that it was wrong of Atiku and Obi to go beyond the areas where the polls are being challenged.

Specifically, the INEC lawyer accused Obi and the Labour Party of mixing up issues by bringing result sheets from places where they did not dispute the election outcome.

Pinheiro contended that the local government areas allegedly smuggled into court proceedings are “strange to the petition and cannot stand in the face of the law.”

As a result, the respondents said they would articulate their objections in written addresses at the close of arguments in the petitions.

Reacting to the objection to the admissibility of the electoral papers, Obi’s lead lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu, expressed shock at INEC’s comment.

Court intervenes

The panel chair, Tsammani, faulted INEC’s lawyer’s explanation concerning its objection to the admissibility of the documents.

The justice recalled that all lawyers to parties in the petitions had agreed to give such explanations at the address stage of proceedings.

In response, Pinhero apologised to the court.

The lawyer clarified that he was compelled to speak up owing to the barrage of media criticisms that trailed their objection to the tendering of the documents.

More documents tendered

At the resumed hearing on Friday, one of Obi’s lawyers, Peter Afoba, tendered additional electoral documents from 21 Local Government Areas of Adamawa and eight Local Government Areas of Bayelsa States and parts of Rivers and Niger States.

The court admitted the documents as exhibits.

 

PT

A high court sitting in Makurdi, Benue state capital, has affirmed the suspension and removal of Iyorchia Ayu as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Maurice Ikpambese, the presiding judge, also nullified Ayu’s membership in the party.

BACKGROUND

In March, the executive members of Igyorov ward, Gboko LGA of Benue, passed a vote of no confidence on Ayu over alleged anti-party activities.

The LGA party executives also claimed that Ayu worked against the success of the PDP in his ward during the elections.

They alleged that he was not paying his membership fees and did not vote in the March 18 governorship and the house of assembly elections in the state.

Subsequently, one Terhide Utaan, through his lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala, filed an ex parte motion marked MHC/633/2023 at the same high court and asked the court to restrain Ayu from parading himself as the national chairman of the party, having been suspended.

But Ayu through J.J Usman, his counsel, filed a preliminary objection to the suit.

Ayu said the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear and determine and that the plaintiff did not have the right to file the suit because he did not exhaust the internal dispute resolution mechanism of the party.

THE JUDGEMENT

Delivering judgement on Friday, Ikpambese, who is Benue’s chief judge, dismissed Ayu’s objections to the suit.

Ikpambese said by virtue of article 8(9) of the PDP’s constitution, Ayu ceased to be a member of the PDP due to his failure to pay his membership fees.

The judge said article 46(1) of the PDP empowers the ward to discipline a member of the party’s national executive committee (NEC).

Ayu had also argued that the ward lacked the power to suspend a member of the NEC.

Ikpambese said Ayu failed to prove that he paid his statutory membership fee after asking him and did not also challenge his suspension before any organ of the party or before any court.

The judge said Ayu left the court with the impression that he has consented to his suspension by his ward executive committee.

“The plaintiff has proven his case. All the questions for determination have been resolved in favour of the plaintiff. He is entitled to all the reliefs sought. I so order,” the judge ruled.

 

The Cable

PRESS RELEASE

President Bola Tinubu Friday in Abuja announced the appointment of Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila as Chief of Staff, and Ibrahim Hadejia, a former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State, as Deputy Chief of Staff.

In a meeting with Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), the President also named former Governor of Benue State and immediate past Minister of Special Duties, George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

Signed:

Abiodun Oladunjoye

Director, Information, State House.

June 02, 2023

Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria has threatened to embark on an industrial action on Monday over the poor welfare of its members in the shipping sector.

The development has forced some operators in the maritime sector to kick, saying the proposed shutdown would affect their business operations.

However, President General of MWUN, Adewale Adeyanju, while briefing journalists at its head office in Apapa on Thursday, explained that the group would embark on the strike action over the failure of the management of shipping companies to discuss and negotiate the welfare and condition of service of its members in the shipping sector.

According to Adeyanju, shipping companies have failed to cooperate with the workers’ unions despite several interventions and meetings to have an amicable resolution of the unresolved welfare issues of their members in the shipping sector.

He said that the several meetings culminated in the issuance of a 7-day ultimatum after the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the shipping companies.

“But the attitude of the Shipping Association of Nigeria is nothing to write home about and that is why we have said there’s a need to inform you. Yesterday, we were at the meeting but it didn’t augur well with the union and we felt it was an embarrassment to the union and even to the Minister of Transport who initiated the idea of having a minimum standard in shipping workers’ remuneration. It’s like the Shipping Association of Nigeria is now running away from their responsibility. So we called this briefing to let you know that the shipping branch of MWUN will be forced to withdraw the services of her members on Monday 5th of June; because we only suspended the ultimatum. However, we need to renew the ultimatum so we might be forced to withdraw the service of all the shipping workers in the shipping branch.”

The MWUN leader said owing to the unwillingness of the shipping employers to negotiate minimum standards and conditions of service for its members in the shipping sector, the union was left with no option but to resuscitate the earlier 7-day ultimatum issued to the shipping employers in the sector.

He said the former Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo, in a bid to ensure a peaceful industrial climate in the shipping sector had directed the management of Nigerian Shippers Council to superintend a collective bargaining agreement meeting between MWUN and all shipping companies in Nigeria.

Adeyanju noted that despite several meetings called at the instance of NSC in their premises, representatives of shipping companies deliberately forestalled the negotiation process.

He said they cited a lack of mandate from their respective principal, insisting on maintaining the status-quo.

He said, “If someone gives you projects he intends to execute in the next two years; Nigerian companies, having listened to the opportunities, should go back and continue to build their capacities in readiness to actively participate.”

He also challenged relevant agencies to address the worrisome security challenges, particularly oil theft in the Niger Delta, as this would enable the production of hydrocarbons at reasonable costs and profitability.

Reacting to this, Founder of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, Lucky Amiwero, said, the shutdown would lead to huge demurrage.

He said, “If the shutdown of the ports on Monday happens amid the current fuel crisis, there will be a very serious problem. If they are going to shut down the port you will find out that there would be demurrage on goods, delays in cargo delivery, and a lot of things will go wrong. They are talking about poor welfare, I think that is the reason we need a holistic reform. These ports have been operating for years without reforms. Everyone is operating at cross purposes and it is affecting the economy, once you close down those things, it will boomerang, it is going to be a problem.”

Also speaking, a freight forwarder, Abayomi Duyile, advised against the shutdown, saying it would affect port operations.

“The problem is that unions will always shut down the port. Shutting down the port for a day or two has terrible consequences. What they are fighting for doesn’t affect agents.

“If you are having issues with the shipping line, you are not supposed to shut down the port. There are others using the ports.”

 

Punch

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Zelensky says NATO membership 'impossible' before end of Russia war

President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged on Friday that Ukraine would not be able to join NATO before the end of the Russian invasion. 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year has galvanised the Western military alliance, set up almost 75 years ago, to face off against the Soviet Union. 

But members of the military bloc are split over Ukraine, with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg saying all members agree to stick by a 2008 pledge that Ukraine will become a member at some undefined point. 

"We are reasonable people and we understand that we are not going to drag a single NATO country into a war," Zelensky said during a briefing along Estonian President Alar Karis. 

"Therefore, we understand that we will not be members of NATO while this war is going on. Not because we don't want to, but because it's impossible," Zelensky added.

Ukraine is a candidate to join both NATO and the European Union but some European capitals are wary of setting a formal timeline for membership as Russia's invasion continues.

Joining NATO would mean Ukraine would be covered by the alliance's Article 5 collective defence clause that obliges all members to help defend it if attacked. 

Friday's comments were a rare admission by the Ukrainian president, who has stepped up pressure on NATO and the European Union to open their doors to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's invasion in February, 2022.

On Thursday, Zelensky told a summit in Moldova that any doubts European leaders show before admitting Kyiv into the NATO alliance will embolden Russia to attack more countries. 

An option being weighed is major powers offering Ukraine bilateral security assurances in the years before it becomes a full NATO member. 

** Ukraine repels new Russian air barrage as Moscow contends with cross-border attacks

Ukraine fended off 36 Russian air attacks in and around the capital overnight while pro-Kyiv Russian fighters said they were battling Russian forces for a second day inside Russia, trading blame with Moscow for the deaths of two civilians.

Russia has launched about 20 waves of attacks on Kyiv since the beginning of May, in a surge that Ukraine says appears aimed at derailing its preparations for a major counter-offensive to try to end Russia's invasion.

A child was one of two people injured by falling debris in a region outside the Ukrainian capital as air defences shot down what the air force said on Friday were 15 Russian cruise missiles and 21 drones.

"The occupiers are not stopping their attempts to terrorise the Ukrainian capital with strike drones and missiles," the Ukrainian government said.

Russian officials reported cross-border shelling from several areas of northern Ukraine on Friday in the latest sign that Kyiv is starting to push back beyond its borders after more than 15 months of all-out Russian assault.

The governor of Russia's Belgorod region said two people had been killed and four wounded when Ukrainian forces shelled a road in the town of Maslova Pristan near the Ukrainian border. Shell fragments had struck passing cars.

"Two women were travelling in one of them. They died from their injuries on the spot," governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.

Gladkov said two people had been wounded and an industrial facility had caught fire after shelling in the town of Shebekino.

Shebekino suffered heavy bombardment on Thursday as well as a cross-border incursion, Russian officials said.

Russia said on Thursday it had repelled a second attempted incursion into the Belgorod border region in just over a week by what it casts as pro-Ukrainian militants. Ukraine denies involvement.

The Freedom of Russia Legion blamed Russia for the shelling of cars on Telegram, while posting images of what it said was one of its tanks in the nearby Russian village of Novaya Tavolzhanka and soldiers taking cover behind a wall during a gunfight.

"Near Tavolzhanka, the enemy destroyed a Renault car with civilians, mistaking it for a car with our sabotage group. At least two civilians were killed, and this is a direct consequence of the lack of professionalism of Putin's army," the Legion said on the Telegram messaging app.

The group describes itself as Russians fighting President Vladimir Putin's government to create a Russia that would be part of the "free world". Along with the Russian Volunteer Corps founded by a far-right Russian nationalist, it says they are Russian volunteers attacking under their own steam, and not on the orders of Ukraine.

 

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine’s backers running out of available weapons – UK

Western nations’ military stockpiles are being depleted, forcing them to seek armaments elsewhere to prop up Ukraine, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has warned. He also downplayed Kiev’s hopes of joining NATO in the foreseeable future.

In an interview with The Washington Post published on Friday, Wallace commended the West for continuing to send defense aid to Ukraine amid its military standoff with Russia. However, the minister acknowledged that “we have seen reality, which is that we are all running out” of weapons and equipment that can be donated.

The UK and other nations are increasingly being forced to purchase arms on the international market for Ukraine, as opposed to tapping into their existing stockpiles, the official explained.

When asked about the prospects of Ukraine joining NATO, Wallace warned against overpromising to aspirants such as Kiev.

“We have to be realistic and say, ‘It’s not going to happen at Vilnius; It’s not going to happen anytime soon,’” the secretary insisted, referring to a NATO summit slated for this July in Lithuania’s capital.

Wallace revealed that several nations were prepared to sign bilateral or multilateral “mutual defense pacts” with Ukraine as an alternative to membership in the US-led military bloc.

However, the British cabinet minister expressed optimism over the much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, predicting that Kiev could retake Crimea by the end of this year.

Media reports emerged in late January that a senior US general had privately told Defense Secretary Wallace that the British Armed Forces were no longer considered a top-level military.

Anonymous sources cited in the articles warned that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak risked failing in his role as a “wartime prime minister” unless he beefed up London’s defense budget and took several other measures.

In early April, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius acknowledged that his own country’s army was facing similar problems, and would not be able to bridge gaps in funding and supplies by 2030. He also rejected the idea of sending more arms to Ukraine from Berlin’s stockpiles.

In March, Germany’s Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Hoegl concluded that the “Bundeswehr has too little of everything, and it has even less since February 24, 2022.”

She pointed out that donations of howitzers, multiple rocket launchers and Leopard tanks to Ukraine had left “big holes” in Germany’s own military stockpiles.

 

AFP/Reuters/RT

Sudanese forces clash in Khartoum after talks break down

Sudan's warring parties fought in the capital on Friday after the collapse of talks to maintain a ceasefire and ease a humanitarian crisis.

Residents of Khartoum and Omdurman across the Nile said the army had resumed air strikes and was using more artillery. But said there was no sign the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was retreating from streets and homes it had occupied, they said.

"We are suffering so much from this war. Since this morning there have been sounds of violence. We're living in terror. It is a real nightmare," said Shehab al-Din Abdalrahman, 31, in a southern district of Khartoum.

Seven weeks of warfare between the army and RSF have smashed up parts of central Khartoum, threatened to destabilise the wider region, displaced 1.2 million people inside Sudan and sent 400,000 others into neighbouring states.

The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned attacks on civilians and called on the factions to cease hostilities and ensure humanitarian access throughout the country, according to a statement.

The United States and Saudi Arabia on Thursday suspended truce talks after a ceasefire they had mediated fell apart, accusing both sides of occupying homes, businesses and hospitals, carrying out air strikes, other attacks and making prohibited military movements.

Washington imposed sanctions on businesses belonging to the army and RSF and threatened more action "if the parties continue to destroy their country", a senior U.S. official said.

The army said on Friday it was "surprised" by the U.S. and Saudi decision to suspend the negotiations after it had made proposals for implementing the agreement, blaming the RSF for breaching the truce. The RSF on Friday blamed the army for the talks' collapse, accusing it of repeated violations.

Sudan's ambassador to Washington, Mohamed Abdallah Idris, said the government and army remained committed to the truce and any penalties should be "imposed on the party that did not abide by what it signed" - a reference to the RSF.

REFUGEES FLEE TO CHAD

Since the overthrow of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019 Sudan's government has been headed by a sovereign council under army chief General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan with the RSF head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as his deputy.

After they went to war on April 15 Burhan said he had dismissed Hemedti from the council, and government departments have remained aligned with the army.

Outside Khartoum, the worst fighting has been in the Darfur region, where a civil war in which about 300,000 people have been killed has simmered since 2003.

More than 100,000 people have fled militia attacks in Darfur in the west to neighbouring Chad since the latest fighting began, and the numbers could double in the next three months, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Thursday.

A truce was aimed at enabling aid to be delivered to civilians caught in the war that has disabled power and water networks, ruined hospitals and hampered food distribution.

Aid workers in Sudan say fierce fighting, rampant looting and reams of red tape are hampering aid. The United Nations called on all parties to respect humanitarian work.

Egypt and Qatar will work together on humanitarian support for refugees, Egypt said on Friday.

The WFP said it had recorded losses of more than $60 million since the fighting began. The UNHCR said two of its offices in Khartoum were pillaged and its warehouse in El Obeid was targeted on Thursday.

Khartoum residents are bracing for more problems.

"Since yesterday one telecom network has been down. Today another one is down. The power is out but the water has come back. It's like they're alternating forms of torture," said Omer Ibrahim, who lives in Omdurman.

 

Reuters