A makeshift bomb exploded inside a Catholic church in the city of Beni in the DR Congo’s conflict-plagued east on Sunday, injuring two just an hour before a children’s Confirmation ceremony was due to be held. The head of police in Beni’s town hall Narcisse Muteba Kashale told AFP that the explosion occurred at 06:00 and that experts from the UN’s mission to DR Congo had told “us it is a home-made bomb, a bomb that was set up for an ambush”. Beni’s vicar general Laurent Sondirya said two people were injured in the blast, which went off before crowds would have gathered to attend the Confirmation ceremony. “They were targeting a large crowd because the ceremony would bring together children, their parents and the faithful,” he told AFP, adding that “mass would not be postponed”. Traces of b...
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Wednesday, declared that starting from next year, the government would declare Hijrah holiday in line with the yearnings of the Muslim community in the state. Makinde, who made the declaration during the celebration of 2021 Mawlud Nabiyy, held at the Remembrance Arcade of the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, stressed the need for the Muslim faithful and non-Muslims as well to continue to peacefully coexist. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor equally declared that the state will always rise above the antics of perpetrators of evil, whom he said had tried all they could to plunge the state into chaos. According to Governor Makinde, only peaceful and harmonious coexistence would lead the...
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar, has declared Friday 31st July 2020, as the 10th day of Zulhijia 1441 and the day of Eid-el-Kabir. Abubakar, who is also the President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, also advised on how to observe prayers across the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This is contained in a statement issued signed by the Chairman, Sultanate Council Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs, Sambo Junaidu. “In view of the current situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Sultan hereby advises all the District Heads and Imams in Sokoto State to observe Eid prayers in their Jumu’at mosques in their respective towns and villages and not at Eid grounds. “Also, the council advises the muslim communities throughout the country to obser...