Whatever caused the death of gaoled Northern military politician Shehu Musa Yar'Adua'on 9 December, it has sent a powerful message that Northerners can expect no special favours fr...

Who killed the former Deputy Speaker of Liberia's Transitional Assembly, Samuel Dokie, and his three travelling companions? The investigation into their murder and apparent torture...

The personality cult around General Sani Abacha is growing rapidly, ahead of his expected candidacy in next August's presidential elections. A new biography entitled – Sani A...

Mali's democratic credentials are being questioned by Amnesty International in its report Mali: basic liberties at risk. It lists allegations of police torture of arrested oppositi...

The much-trumpeted Conakry peace accord of 23 October is already falling apart at the seams. Under the accord, Major Johnny Paul Koroma's Armed Forces Revolutionary Council underto...

Africa's strongmen are finding that disapproval from Western donors does not hurt them much. Denis Sassou-Nguesso is once more the ruler of Congo-Brazzaville by force of arms. In C...

No one who has visited the Presidential complex at Aso Rock in recent weeks doubts that General Sani Abacha, encouraged by his wife Maryam and his 'kitchen cabinet', intends to sta...

Nobody knows whether General Sani Abacha will take off his uniform and try to win an election as his own civilian successor in August 1998. Moreover, he may be suffering (depending...

Major Johnny Paul Koroma's junta is increasingly personalising what it calls its 'dispute' with General Sani Abacha. In this way, it hopes to divide West African opinion over Niger...

Liberia's Police Director, Joe Tate, is on the warpath against those who threaten what he calls 'good order'. In an anti-crime drive, his policemen have shot dead several alleged a...