The palace of Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, is currently under heavy security presence, with operatives from the Nigeria Police and Department of State Service (DSS) taking over the premises.

*Rumors of the Oba’s Passing*

The 87-year-old monarch, who has been on the throne for 42 years, was admitted to Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital in Ile-Ife, Osun State, until Wednesday. Sources close to the palace have confirmed that the Oba passed away on Wednesday.

*Family and Palace in Mourning*

A family source revealed, “We are crying and mourning presently. We are not even picking calls from outsiders.” Another security source added, “We have shut the gates and are moving personal belongings of the king out of the palace” .

Along-range missile fired from Yemen landed in an open area in central Israel early on Sunday, the Israeli military said, in the latest reverberation from the nearly yearlong war in Gaza.

The early morning attack triggered air raid sirens, including at Israel’s international airport, where Israeli media aired footage of people racing to shelters. There were no reports of casualties or damage, and the airport authority said operations resumed as normal shortly thereafter.

A fire could be seen in a rural area of central Israel, and local media showed images of what appeared to be a fragment from a missile or interceptor that landed on an escalator in a train station in the central town of Modiin. The military said the sound of explosions in the area came from interceptors.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel since the start of the nearly yearlong war between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, but nearly all of them have been intercepted over the Red Sea.

In a post on X the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen news agency reported that Yemen carried out the attack. It also said Yemen would state later on Sunday what the target was.

In July, an Iranian-made drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding 10 others. Israel responded with a wave of airstrikes on Houthi-held areas of Yemen.

The Houthis have also repeatedly attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea, in what the rebels portray as a blockade on Israel in support of the Palestinians. Most of the targeted ships have no connection to Israel.

The war in Gaza, which began with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel, has rippled across the region, with Iran and allied militant groups attacking Israeli and U.S. targets and drawing retaliatory strikes from Israel and its Western allies. On several occasions, the strikes and counter-strikes have threatened to trigger a wider conflict.

Iran supports militant groups across the region, including Hamas, the Houthis and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, its most powerful ally, which has traded fired with Israel on a near-daily basis since the war in Gaza began. Iran and its allies say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The military said around 40 projectiles were fired from Lebanon early on Sunday, with most intercepted or falling in open areas.

The strikes along the Israel-Lebanon border have displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides. Israel has repeatedly threatened to launch a wider military operation against Hezbollah to ensure its citizens can return to their homes.

By Ahmed Kingimi

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – People in Nigeria’s flood-hit northeastern Borno state are struggling to get medical care as overwhelmed aid agencies warn of an outbreak of waterborne disease following the worst floods to hit the region in three decades.

Residents walk as they leave the flooded areas in Maiduguri, northern Borno state, Nigeria September 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Kingimi
© Thomson Reuters

More than 30 people have been killed by the floods, which authorities say affected about one million people, most of whom are housed in camps without food and clean water.

The deluge threatens not only the health and safety of the displaced but puts a strain on aid agencies and government resources, exacerbating an already critical humanitarian crisis.

The floods in Borno, the birthplace of Boko Haram militants in the Lake Chad basin, started when a dam burst its walls following heavy rainfall that has also caused floods in Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Niger, all part of Africa’s Sahel region that usually receives little rain.

Residents leave the flooded areas with their belongings in Maiduguri, northern Borno state, Nigeria September 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Kingimi © Thomson Reuters

In the last two weeks of August, more than 1.5 million people were displaced across 12 countries in West and Central Africa due to floods, and about 465 have been killed, according to the United Nations humanitarian affairs office.

Residents leave the flooded areas with their belongings in Maiduguri, northern Borno state, Nigeria September 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Kingimi
© Thomson Reuters

Over the weekend, an additional 50,000 people were displaced in northeastern Nigeria as the floods intensified, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said on Monday.

“The situation in the Sahel and Lake Chad region is increasingly dire, as the compounding effects of conflict, displacement and climate change take a severe toll on vulnerable populations,” said Hassane Hamadou, NRC’s Central and West Africa regional director.

The floods in West Africa come at a time of flooding in Europe after days of torrential rain that caused rivers to burst their banks in several parts of the region.

In a camp in Maiduguri, Borno’s state capital, Bintu Amadu was among hundreds of frustrated people waiting for hours to see a doctor because her son had diarrhoea.

“We have not received any aid, and our attempts to see a doctor have been unsuccessful. We have been waiting for medical attention since yesterday, but to no avail,” she said.

Ramatu Yajubu was happy she had obtained an appointment card after waiting for days, but quickly added: “I am uncertain about receiving attention due to the overwhelming number of people seeking care.”

A view of the prison where nearly three hundred prisoners escaped after floods in Maiduguri, northern Borno state, Nigeria September 15, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Kingimi
© Thomson Reuters

Mathias Goemaere, a field coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontieres, said that even before the floods, residents in Borno were struggling with malnutrition, following years of an Islamist insurgency that has driven people from their farms.

“They are exposed to their environment, so what do we see? A lot of waterborne diseases, diarrhoea, diarrhoeal diseases … Malaria is around with a lot of mosquitoes,” Goemaere told Reuters.

“So a lot of people, because of malnutrition, are immuno-suppressed, which makes them more susceptible to diseases.”

Nigeria’s government has separately warned of rising water levels in the country’s largest rivers, the Benue and Niger, which could cause floods in the oil-producing Niger Delta region in the south.

(Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Bate Felix, Editing by William Maclean)