Ex-Nigeria President Buhari's remains land back in the country
His successor, Bola Tinubu, was at the airport in the northern state of Katsina to receive the body.
It will then be transported to Buhari's home some 80km (50 miles) away in Daura where it will be buried in his family's compound.
Among the other dignitaries at the airport in Katsina were Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, Niger's former President Mahamadou Issoufou and Buhari's Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
Buhari's house is already filled with mourners as friends, family and well-wishers await the arrival of his corpse.
Nigeria's government had declared Tuesday a public holiday to honour Buhari - who was also a former army general, one of only two Nigerians to have led the country as both a military leader and a democratically elected president.
Buhari - the austere Nigerian military ruler who defeated a sitting president
Officials say the funeral, initially expected on Monday, was delayed for logistical reasons.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who accompanied the late leader's corpse back to Nigeria, stated that Buhari had died after a brief illness without revealing any further details.
Tributes poured in for the late leader who served for two four-year terms after initially being elected president in 2015, becoming the first opposition leader to defeat an incumbent.
The man he beat, President Goodluck Jonathan, described Buhari as someone who "was selfless in his commitment to his duty and served the country with character and a deep sense of patriotism".
Former military ruler, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, who overthrew Buhari in a 1985 coup, also showered praise on the octogenarian.
"He is a man who, even in retirement, remained a moral compass to many, and an example of modesty in public life,' Babangida noted.
Tinubu, who will attend the funeral prayer in Daura, declared a seven-day national mourning period in honour of his predecessor.
In an official condolence statement released on Sunday evening, Tinubu said the nation would pay its final respects to the former leader with dignity and honour, starting with the lowering of all national flags to half-mast across the country from Sunday.
Nigerian woman smuggled baby into UK using fake birth story
Big shake-up in Nigerian politics as heavyweights join forces
Rare photos capture Afrobeats' rise to take over the world
Nigeria's major tax overhaul explained
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Focus on Africa
This Is Africa
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
an hour ago
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expected to testify in $8 billion Facebook privacy lawsuit
A $8 billion-dollar class action investors' lawsuit against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and company leaders — current and former — begins Wednesday, with claims stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm. Investors allege in their lawsuit that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump's successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016. Shareholders say Facebook officials repeatedly and continually violated a 2012 consent order with the Federal Trade Commission under which Facebook agreed to stop collecting and sharing personal data on platform users and friends without their consent. The fallout led to Facebook agreeing to pay a $5.1 billion penalty to settle FTC charges. The social media giant also reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users. Now shareholders want Zuckerberg and others to reimburse Meta for the FTC fine and other legal costs, which the plaintiffs estimate total more than $8 billion. The case will feature testimony from Zuckerberg and former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. Others expected to appear on the stand include board member Marc Andreessen and former board member Peter Thiel.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
US deports criminals to African nation where political parties banned
The US government has sent five men who it describes as 'barbaric' criminals to the small African nation of Eswatini in an expansion of the largely secretive third-country deportation programme. The US has already deported eight men to another African country, South Sudan, after the Supreme Court lifted restrictions on sending people to countries where they have no ties. The South Sudanese government has declined to say where those men, also described as violent criminals, are after it took custody of them nearly two weeks ago. In a late-night post on X, homeland security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the men sent to Eswatini, who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos, had arrived on a plane but did not say when or where. She said they were all convicted criminals and 'individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back'. The men 'have been terrorising American communities' but were now 'off of American soil', McLaughlin claimed. She said they had been convicted of crimes including murder and child rape and one was a 'confirmed' gang member. Her social media posts included mug shots of the men and what she said were their criminal records. They were not named. Like in South Sudan, there was no immediate comment from Eswatini authorities over any deal to accept third-country deportees or what would happen to them in that country. Civic groups there raised concerns over the secrecy from a government long accused of clamping down on human rights. 'There has been a notable lack of official communication from the Eswatini government regarding any agreement or understanding with the US to accept these deportees,' Ingiphile Dlamini, a spokesperson for the pro-democracy group SWALIMO, said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. 'This opacity makes it difficult for civic society to understand the implications.' It was not clear if they were being held in a detention centre, what their legal status was or what Eswatini's plans were for the deported men, he said. Eswatini, previously called Swaziland, is a country of about 1.2 million people between South Africa and Mozambique. It is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies and the last in Africa. King Mswati III has ruled by decree since 1986. Political parties are effectively banned and pro-democracy groups have said for years that Mswati III has crushed political dissent, sometimes violently. Groups like SWALIMO have called for democratic reforms. Pro-democracy protests erupted in Eswatini in 2021, when dozens were killed, allegedly by security forces. Eswatini authorities have been accused of conducting political assassinations of pro-democracy activists and imprisoning others. Because Eswatini is a poor country with a relative lack of resources, it 'may face significant strain in accommodating and managing individuals with complex backgrounds, particularly those with serious criminal convictions', Mr Dlamini said. While the US administration has hailed deportations as a victory for the safety and security of the American people, Mr Dlamini said his organization wanted to know the plans for the five men sent to Eswatini and 'any potential risks to the local population'. The Trump administration has said it is seeking more deals with African nations to take deportees from the US. Leaders from some of the five West African nations who met President Donald Trump at the White House last week said the issue of migration and their countries possibly taking deportees from the US was discussed. Some nations have pushed back. Nigeria, which was not part of that White House summit, said it has rejected pressure from the US to take deportees who are citizens of other countries.
Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
US deports migrants from Jamaica, Cuba, and other countries to the small African kingdom of Eswatini
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The United States sent five migrants it describes as 'barbaric' criminals to the African nation of Eswatini in an expansion of the Trump administration's largely secretive third-country deportation program, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday. The U.S. has already deported eight men to another African country, South Sudan, after the Supreme Court lifted restrictions on sending people to countries where they have no ties. The South Sudanese government has declined to say where those men, also described as violent criminals, are after it took custody of them nearly two weeks ago. In a late-night post on X, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the five men sent to Eswatini, who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos, had arrived on a plane, but didn't say when or where. She said they were all convicted criminals and 'individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back.' The men 'have been terrorizing American communities' but were now 'off of American soil,' McLaughlin added. McLaughlin said they had been convicted of crimes including murder and child rape and one was a 'confirmed' gang member. Her social media posts included mug shots of the men and what she said were their criminal records and sentences. They were not named. It was not clear if the men had been deported from prison or if they were detained in immigration operations, and the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn't immediately respond to requests for clarification. Four of the five countries where the men are from have historically been resistant to taking back some citizens when they're deported from the U.S. That issue has been a reoccurring problem for Homeland Security even before the Trump administration. Some countries refuse to take back any of their citizens, while others won't accept people who have committed crimes in the U.S. Like in South Sudan, there was no immediate comment from Eswatini authorities over any deal to accept third-country deportees or what would happen to them in that country. Civic groups there raised concerns over the secrecy from a government long accused of clamping down on human rights. 'There has been a notable lack of official communication from the Eswatini government regarding any agreement or understanding with the U.S. to accept these deportees,' Ingiphile Dlamini, a spokesperson for the pro-democracy group SWALIMO, said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. It wasn't clear if they were being held in a detention center, what their legal status was or what Eswatini's plans were for the deported men, he said. An absolute monarchy Eswatini, previously called Swaziland, is a country of about 1.2 million people between South Africa and Mozambique. It is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies and the last in Africa. King Mswati III has ruled by decree since 1986. Political parties are effectively banned and pro-democracy groups have said for years that Mswati III has crushed political dissent , sometimes violently. Pro-democracy protests erupted in Eswatini in 2021 , when dozens were killed, allegedly by security forces. Eswatini authorities have been accused of conducting political assassinations of pro-democracy activists and imprisoning others. Because Eswatini is a poor country, it 'may face significant strain in accommodating and managing individuals with complex backgrounds, particularly those with serious criminal convictions,' Dlamini said. While the U.S. administration has hailed deportations as a victory for the safety and security of the American people, Dlamini said his organization wanted to know the plans for the five men sent to Eswatini and 'any potential risks to the local population.' US is seeking more deals The Trump administration has said it is seeking more deals with African nations to take deportees from the U.S. Leaders from some of the five West African nations who met last week with President Donald Trump at the White House said the issue of migration and their countries possibly taking deportees from the U.S. was discussed. Some nations have pushed back. Nigeria , which wasn't part of that White House summit, said it has rejected pressure from the U.S. to take deportees who are citizens of other countries. The U.S. also has sent hundreds of Venezuelans and others to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama, but has identified Africa as a continent where it might find more governments willing to strike deportation agreements. Rwanda's foreign minister told the AP last month that talks were underway with the U.S. about a potential agreement to host deported migrants. A British government plan announced in 2022 to deport rejected asylum-seekers to Rwanda was ruled illegal by the U.K. Supreme Court last year. 'Not a dumping ground' The eight men deported by the U.S. to war-torn South Sudan, where they arrived early this month, previously spent weeks at a U.S. military base in nearby Djibouti, located on the northeast border of Ethiopia, as the case over the legality of sending them there played out. The deportation flight to Eswatini is the first to a third country since the Supreme Court ruling cleared the way. The South Sudanese government has not released details of its agreement with the U.S. to take deportees, nor has it said what will happen to the men. A prominent civil society leader there said South Sudan was 'not a dumping ground for criminals.' Analysts say some African nations might be willing to take third-country deportees in return for more favorable terms from the U.S. in negotiations over tariffs, foreign aid and investment, and restrictions on travel visas. ___ Gumede reported from Johannesburg. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report. ___ More AP news on the Trump administration: . Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
