Terrorist rampage in Nice leaves 75 dead

A truck has crashed into a crowd of revelers celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, killing at least 60 and injuring over 100.

Horrific images depicting men and women lying on the side of a road close to the Promenade des Anglais appeared on social media. Videos and photographs also showed thousands fleeing in panic following reports of loud explosions.

The scene in Nice after a truck, plowed into crowds gathered for a firework display along the seafront.

Fireworks were filling the night sky as the drama unfolded, as the crowds enjoyed July 14, which is always a bank holiday in France.

The country is still under a State of Emergency following last year's attacks on Paris, when almost 150 people were murdered by Islamic State and Al-Qaeda operatives.

Both groups are well-known for driving vehicles into innocent people, prompting fears that last night's incident could be linked to their activities.

Police and forensic officers gather around the truck, whose windscreen was was riddled by bullets from police.

"There was a massive panic there must have been somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 people on the Promenade des Anglais. There was an awful panic, people were running everywhere. We provided a refuge for some people, mothers, children. There were people lying on the ground who were injured or worse.

Investigation: Red alert, as crime grows per minute in Lagos,

Unless drastic measures are implemented by the authorities to tackle increased banditry, burglary, traffic robbery, kidnapping, rape, carjacking and Okada (motorcycle)-assisted crime in Lagos and some Nigerian states, the signs are that crime will hit an unprecedented level in the near future.  

  Following the rapid increase in crime recorded in successive weeks in the country, particularly in Lagos, political economists are theorising that the recent mass sacking of labour, which further compounds the problem of unemployment in the country, is partly to blame for the recent increase in crime. NAIJ.com’s investigation found that in Lagos, for instance, after a hard day’s work motorists plying the Mile 2 route now have to cope with the perpetual fear of daily traffic robbery coupled with the anxiety of driving through the Mile 2 traffic for longer hours. Many motorists who are aware of the robberies have switched to alternative routes, while others not aware of the threat have found out too late, after they became victims of traffic robbery. 

Investigation also shows that home invasions remain a serious threat in the country, with armed robbers entering even guarded compounds by scaling perimeter walls, by following in residents or visitors, or by subduing guards. Armed robbers in Lagos have invaded waterfront compounds by boat to rob banks and residents in Lagos, with no arrests made. Last Thursday, five armed robbery incidents were recorded in Festac/rainbow axis, towards the Oshodi-Expressway end of the road, with a journalist being one of the victims. Similarly, two other colleagues were robbed of their phones and other reporters’ gadgets on the same day and in the same area. Before these robberies, another colleague had her new car broken into where it was parked at her residence in Lekki Phase, Lagos, and items belonging to her stolen. It is a daily experience now to hear Nigerians complaining on radio or television, or on social media, about how they lost valuables to the various robbery tactics currently being employed by criminals, without any police response.

 There are numerous eyewitness accounts of unsuspecting motorists in traffic being robbed right inside their cars as hoodlums forced the doors, got inside the car and stole items including money from their victims. The threat is said to be worst when a motorist is driving alone. Such motorists are the prime target of these bandits. Once they are able to gain access to the car through professional burgling, within a few minutes they are done collecting whatever they wanted and disappear into the evening.

Nigeria's Elechi Amadi, author of The Concubine, dies

Renowned Nigerian author Elechi Amadi has died of an undisclosed illness at the age of 82.

He was most famous for The Concubine, which pictured the culture of marriage and forbidden traditions and was originally published in 1966.

The Concubine remains a recommended text in schools across Africa.

His other books include Sunset in Biafra, Peppersoup, The Slave and The Road to Ibadan. He died in hospital in the oil city of Port Harcourt.

A physics and mathematics graduate of the University of Ibadan, he also joined the Nigerian army and continued serving in it during the civil war, despite coming from the Niger Delta, which was part of the breakaway state of Biafra.