Daily Digest Online

BOBO DIOULASSO, Burkina Faso — In a dramatic military standoff that has sent shockwaves across West Africa, the Confederation of the Sahel States (AES) forced a Nigerian Air Force aircraft carrying 11 soldiers to land in Burkina Faso on Monday, condemning the flight as an "unfriendly act" and a violation of its airspace. The incident, which saw the powerful Alliance of Sahel States—comprising the military juntas of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—place its air defenses on "maximum alert" with orders to "neutralize any aircraft" violating its airspace, marks a dangerous new low in regional relations. It comes against a backdrop of deep political fractures and a shared, spiraling security crisis that neither side has been able to contain. The Incident and Its Aftermath According to an official communique from the AES, a Nigerian Air Force C-130 transport plane was "forced to land" on December 8, 2025, at the airport in Bobo-D...

The statistics read like a wartime bulletin, yet they describe daily life in Nigeria. In the third quarter of 2025 alone, 465 violent incidents claimed 1,201 lives and saw 791 people kidnapped. Behind this relentless tide of terror, banditry, and communal violence lies a singular, enabling force: the uncontrolled flood of illicit firearms into the hands of non-state actors. Nigeria is now the epicenter of West Africa's arms crisis, accounting for a staggering 70% of the region's estimated 11 million illegal small arms and light weapons (SALW).  A 2021 survey by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) revealed over six million illegal weapons in circulation within the country, with about 70% of them in the hands of criminals and terrorists. This proliferation has created a "quiet but deadly emergency" that threatens the very fabric of the state. How did Africa's most populous nation become so saturated w...

A BBC Africa Eye investigation has uncovered a clandestine network in Sierra Leone where practitioners claim to procure human body parts for so-called "juju" or black magic rituals, preying on widespread belief and systemic gaps in law enforcement. A recent BBC Africa Eye investigation has revealed the operations of an underground trade in human body parts linked to ritualistic killings in Sierra Leone. The report documents undercover interactions with individuals claiming to be "juju" practitioners who offer to obtain human remains for clients seeking power, prosperity, or political success. The investigation was prompted by the unresolved 2021 murder of 11-year-old Papayo Kalokoh in Makeni, whose mutilated body was found in a well. “They killed my child and now there is just silence,” his mother, Sallay Kalokoh, told the BBC, highlighting a pattern of ritual killings that often go uninvestigated in a country with only one pathologist for ne...

Pope Leo XIV has revealed his intention to visit Africa, with Algeria as the starting point for a planned 2026 trip to follow in the footsteps of Saint Augustine and foster Christian-Muslim dialogue. In his first international trip press conference, Pope Leo XIV announced his desire to visit Africa, specifically naming Algeria as a key destination for a potential voyage in 2026. The statement was made aboard the papal plane returning from a six-day tour of Turkey and Lebanon. “I hope to make a trip to Africa, which could be my next trip,” said the 70-year-old pontiff. “Personally, I hope to go to Algeria to visit the places from the life of Saint Augustine.” The Pope, who belongs to the Augustinian order, emphasized the importance of the North African saint as a unifying figure. He stated that such a visit would “continue the discourse of dialogue and bridge-building between the Christian and the Muslim worlds,” noting that Augustine is “highly respected as a so...