Foreign

At least three more people are reported to have died amid protests against Peru’s President Dina Boluarte.

Report says, dozens of lives have been lost during weeks of demonstrations after former leader Pedro Castillo was ousted.

According to report, Police used tear gas to disperse crowds in the capital Lima, where thousands of protesters from rural areas have spent days converging, while a woman died in the southern town of Macusani, where a police station is reported to have been set on fire.

The 35-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital without any vital signs, according to emergency services.

Separately, Peru’s human rights watchdog reported two further deaths as a result of blockades in the northern La Libertad region.

In a tweet, it said a 51-year-old woman had died, and that “a teenager lost her baby”.

The deaths come ahead of a large-scale protest planned for Thursday afternoon in the capital.

Journalist Neil Giardino told the BBC that “anger indignation made its way to Lima” as thousands of indigenous people from the highlands descended on the capital.

A driver from the city of Cusco, in south-eastern Peru, who traveled to Lima to join the protests, said that “every day more people from the south are arriving to force the state to respect our rights.”

“There’s so much pain – young people have died, fathers with two and three children have died, women have been made widows,” the man said.

“Our military and police, rather than defending us, are killing us. It hurts so much. How can they kill us for rising up to defend our country? We’ve never robbed our country. We only want to improve our lives to build a better country.”

Demonstrators want Ms. Boluarte to step aside and call fresh elections, and for Mr. Castillo, her left-wing predecessor, to be released from custody.

The governors of the southern Puno, Cusco and Apurimac regions have also called for the president’s resignation.

The country has been in political turmoil over years, which came to a head when Mr. Castillo was arrested last month for trying to dissolve Congress.

He is being investigated on charges of rebellion and conspiracy. He denies all the accusations, insisting that he is still the country’s legitimate president.

Ms. Boluarte has resisted calls to step down and issued a call earlier this week to Peruvians to ensure their protests were peaceful.

BBC/Taiwo Akinola

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Foreign

The Liberia Maritime Authority, LiMA, has pledged to investigate the incident in which the captain and other crew members of the Panama-flagged ship MV Ophelia reportedly killed two Nigerian stowaways.

It was reported last week that some Asian crew cruising Panama’s vessel killed two Nigerians identified as Frank and Osas Velurobo after they were discovered on the ship.

About a dozen others were thrown into the ocean but escaped and were rescued by fishermen at Gbanken Beach, Grand Kru town, Liberia.

The Nigerians boarded the ship illegally from Lagos, Nigeria which was believed to be sailing to Japan, but two met their demise as others were fortunate to be alive.

Reacting to the incident, Maritime Commissioner, Mr Lenn Eugene Nagbe revealed that LiMA has instituted a panel to investigate the matter and will ensure that all criminals are brought to book.

Mr Nagbe said Liberia Immigration Service is also working with LiMA to hasten the investigation.

He also said the agency has taken some measures of both national and international maritime standards on the incident.

The report listed the measures as: “transmitted a formal communication to the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization informing him of the incident. The communication is also soliciting the cooperation and support of IMO in the investigative process.”

It has also “informed the Panamanian government through available diplomatic channels including a transmittal from Liberia IMO Permanent Representative, Moses Owen Browne to his Panamanian counterpart.”

It said Panama has the responsibility to ensure the enforcement of relevant international instruments being the flag state of the vessel.

While it has communicated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, it extended it to other regional bodies including the Nigerian government in Abuja to assist in apprehending the vessel.

“It also communicated with the ship owner and the agent to make representation and participate in discussions regarding arranging and financing the maintenance and repatriation of the stowaways,” the report added.

Vanguard/Maxwell Oyekunle

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