February 2021
Criminal groups abducted hundreds in north west, while ethnic and regional tensions ran high in south amid farmer-herder conflict; meanwhile, tensions rose in south east between govt and Biafra secessionists. Criminal groups in Feb reportedly killed at least 112 and kidnapped over 450 people, mostly in Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto and Zamfara states (north west), but also in Niger state (Middle Belt). Notably, armed group 17 Feb abducted 42 students and school personnel in Niger state, released them 27 Feb; 26 Feb kidnapped 279 girls in Zamfara state. Meanwhile, Auwalun Daudawa, who masterminded Dec 2020 abduction of 344 students in Katsina state, 8 Feb laid down arms along with five of his troops. Amid rise in herder-farmer and intercommunal violence in south since Jan, clashes between ethnic Hausa and Fulani on one hand, and ethnic Yoruba on the other, early Feb killed two dozen people in Oyo state capital Ibadan (south west). Nobel laureate in literature Wole Soyinka 6 F
The death reference (lower court documents) of blogger-writer Avijit Roy murder case, in which five militants were sentenced to death, has reached the High Court. Officials concerned of the trial court brought the documents to the HC on February 25, Supreme Court spokesman Mohammad Saifur Rahman told The Daily Star today. He said the death reference section of the HC will now
How should a country treat its detainees/prisoners, especially in the middle of a global pandemic? Bangladesh seems to have taken a surprisingly modern approach, with the Department of Prisons announcing its plan this week to vaccinate around 15,000 convicts in Bangladeshi jails in the first phase. When the pandemic first hit the country, almost 3,000 prisoners convicted of