Africa highlights: Nigeria building collapse 'kills 30', Uber to 'expand' in Africa

Nigeria's police are often accused of human rights abuses and corruption. Well, one officer, Aliyu Giwa, is determined to change public perceptions of the force through his Instagram page @Aleeygiwa using  #POLICEISYOURFRIEND. 

The Lagos-based officer, who has more than 10,000 followers has been sharing quotes and photos of the force:

A man and a woman have been arrested at London's Heathrow airport on suspicion of helping a non-UK person carry out female genital mutilation overseas, police say. 

The 49-year-old woman was arrested after disembarking a flight from Kenya's capital, Nairobi, while an eight-year-old girl in her company was taken into protective care, police added.

A 45-year-old man was also arrested at the airport. He was not on the flight, police said. 

The arrests followed concerns raised by a school in south London about one of their pupils being absent. The pupil was believed to have been taken to Somalia, police added.

Some of you have been reacting to the story about a Zimbabwen police officer who has reportedly been charged with insulting President Robert Mugabe after he allegedly said the 92-year-old leader "was too old to lead":

See our 10:48 post for more details

US-based Uber plans to expand in Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana this year and will focus on convincing traditional taxi drivers to work for the app-based taxi service, its general manager for sub-Saharan Africa has said. 

In an interview with Reuters news agency, Alon Lits said Uber will set up East and West Africa "hubs" in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, and Nigeria's main city, Lagos, to act as launchpads for forays into Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana.

"We feel we are at a point now where we have a strong sense for what it takes to build a successful Uber business in Africa," he said. 

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Traditional taxi operators have protested against Uber's entry into the market, saying it was knocking them out of business.

Mr Lits said there would be "more engagement" with them. 

The strategy will involve convincing traditional taxi drivers to work for Uber, showing them they can continue working on their own, but when they don't have a fare they can also choose to use the Uber smartphone app to pick up passengers and make extra money, Reuters reports.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The number of people killed when a five-storey building under construction in Nigeria's main city, Lagos, collapsed yesterday has risen to 30, emergency officials say. 

The building, located in the wealthy Lekki district, crumbled during heavy rainfall. 

Thirteen people have so far been rescued but it's thought others may still be trapped in the rubble. 

In a statement, the Lagos State government said work on the building had continued without a permit from the authorities, who had sealed off the site. 

They have ordered the managers of the project to report to police or face arrest. 

The building had been inhabited by construction workers and their families.

Somalia's militant Islamist group al-Shabab has been arresting suspected spies following the raid on its base in the southern town of Awdhegle by US and Somali forces, a resident says, the Associated Press news agency reports. 

A Somali intelligence official says the raid on an al-Shabab base in southern Somalia was aimed at a "high-profile target" who was apparently killed in heavy fighting, the Associated Press news agency reports. 

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the assault by US and Somali forces, said: 

Quote Message: It was a high-profile target, and chances of capture were challenged by a stiff resistance by militants guarding the house targeted by the special forces, which forced the commando to resort to the kill or capture method."

It was a high-profile target, and chances of capture were challenged by a stiff resistance by militants guarding the house targeted by the special forces, which forced the commando to resort to the kill or capture method."

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

British sprinter Sean Safo-Antwi has been cleared to compete for Ghana with immediate effect, British Athletics has announced, the Press Association (PA) news agency reports. 

The 25-year-old asked the world athletics governing body, IAAF, in January for permission to switch allegiance and Britain did not oppose the transfer request.

The athlete won the 60 metres at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix last month before finishing third at the British Championships.

However, he missed out on automatic GB team selection for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland.

APCopyright: AP

The Associated Press news agency is now also quoting US officials as saying that American special operations were involved in the raid on a base of militant Islamist group al-Shabab  in southern Somalia. 

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the raid was carried out jointly with Somali forces. 

Earlier, al-Shabab said one of its fighters had died in the battle while a Somali official put the number of militants killed at 15.  

Roughly 50 US special operations troops have been active in Somalia on a rotational basis for the last few years, AP says. 

The raid came just days after the US carried out an air strike on an al-Shabab training camp in Somalia that the Pentagon said killed about 150 militants.

Al-Shabab said the US was exaggerating the death toll. It had lost "several" men, it said. 

See our 14:39 post for more details

EPACopyright: EPA

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has joined dozens of protesters in a march through the capital, Harare, to mark one year since the abduction of anti-government activist Itai Dzamara, the Associated Press news agency reports. 

Mr Tsvangirai accused the government of using forced disappearances to silence critics of President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980.     

The march only proceeded after a judge overturned a police ban on the event, the AP says.

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Mr Dzamara, a former newspaper reporter, was grabbed by assailants when he was in a barbershop and was bundled into a waiting car, his family says. 

Two days before his abduction, Mr Dzamara said at a rally organized by Mr Tsvangirai that Zimbabweans should rebel against Mr Mugabe, AP reports.  

The government has denied that its security services abducted him. Police say they are still searching for leads.

Kenyan Afro-fusion band Sarabi has made a name for itself with activist music which speaks out on issues like corruption, injustice and poverty. 

The band's latest song is Tumechoka or "We've had enough", and has been released ahead of general elections next year. 

The BBC's Janet Onyango went to meet the band in Kenya's capital, Nairobi:  

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Nigeria's Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu says he will meet with trade union leaders to end a strike over the restructuring of the state oil company, Reuters news agency reports. 

Mr Kachikwu says he doesn't want the industry to shut down and " will resolve the issues very soon".   

About 7,000 refinery workers, petroleum tanker drivers and maintenance staff went on strike this morning to oppose the splitting of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC into seven different firms. 

"These changes have created real apprehension among our members," an official of the Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria said, Reuters reports. 

The government says the changes will ensure efficiency and bring the loss-making NNPC back to profit.

Due to social media, Africa has seen a recent rise in youth groups who are trying to push leaders to be more accountable and deal with everyday issues. 

 Chapter Three of the series covers Lucha movement in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been badly hit by years of conflict. 

The BBC's Maud Jullien went to meet the activists involved.

To subscribe to the rest of the Whatsapp series, you can add +44 7734778817 to your phone contacts. Send a message to the number saying "SIGN UP" to receive the videos in English, or "SOUSCRIRE" to the same number for the French editions.  

The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the overnight raid on a militant Islamist base in southern Somalia was carried out by both US and Somali forces, AFP news agency reports.

The al-Qaeda-linked militants said they fought off foreign commandos who attacked them in the town of Awdhegle, some 50km (30 miles) west of the capital Mogadishu. 

Students are protesting in the UK city of Oxford to demand the removal of a statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes from the prestigious local university.

A journalist is tweeting from there:  

The new leader of the militant Islamic State (IS) group in Libya has been named as Shaykh Abd-al-Qadir al-Najdi, following the killing of his predecessor in a US air strike last year. 

His name, announced in IS's weekly newspaper Al-Naba, suggests that he is not Libyan and could be from the Najd region in Saudi Arabia. 

His predecessor, Abu-al-Maghirah al-Qahtani, was from Iraq.  

Unlike in other regions where IS appoints local leaders, it appears so far to have chosen individuals from outside Libya to lead its activities there.

In the interview with the newspaper, Al-Najdi said that IS in Libya was still in its infancy but was growing in strength.

The Tunisian government's decision to build a wall along its border with Libya would not protect it, the newspaper quoted him as saying.  

Documents were stolen from the offices of legal representatives of Uganda's opposition, following a burglary last night.

It comes days before they are due back in the Supreme Court to challenge election results. 

Opposition candidate Amama Mbabazi says the 18 February poll was rigged to extend President Yoweri Museveni's 30-year rule. Election officials deny the allegation, and are defending the case.

The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga reports from the capital, Kampala: