Africa Live this week: 3-9 April 2023

BBCCopyright: BBC

Reports by eyewitnesses and local media say at least 51 corpses of villagers have been recovered from a rural community in Benue state in central Nigeria.

The deaths were a result of an armed gang attacking the village of Umogidi.

A number of villagers are still reported to be missing.

Community youth leader Adakole Inalegu Daniel told the BBC that residents, including youth groups, were still combing the surrounding bushes for more bodies.

Reports say armed men invaded the community in large numbers on Wednesday.

They started from the village market, shooting at anyone on sight.

Residents say many of those who ran into the bush were cut down by bullets and their bodies decapitated.

Although the security forces have been deployed to the area, their presence has not stopped the deadly attacks.

Residents of several agrarian communities in Benue state have had violent clashes with herders.

Farmers accuse herders of using their animals to destroy their crops while the herders accuse farmers of attacking their animals.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Afro-soul artists Nabalum and Amzy, whose style mixes hip-hop and Afrobeats, have recently dropped a collaboration that has women and men in Burkina Faso talking.

The song is called Amour Compliqué and Nabalum wrote it after she heard some women complaining about how their husbands stayed out late night after night, leaving them at home alone.

She invited Amzy to feature on it because, as she puts it, she liked his rawness and wanted him to express what a typical Burkinabè man might say:

Quote Message: Amzy was really natural, it was really easy to work with him.”

Amzy was really natural, it was really easy to work with him.”

The admiration is mutual. Amzy says he had been a fan of Nabalum before she got in touch with him:

Quote Message: Here the men go out whenever they want and the women suffer from this situation.

Here the men go out whenever they want and the women suffer from this situation.

Quote Message: The problem is that men think, 'I am the man, I make the decisions, I do what I want and you don’t have a say in it.'”

The problem is that men think, 'I am the man, I make the decisions, I do what I want and you don’t have a say in it.'”

Amzy’s lyrics in the song tell the woman to calm down because even if he is out with other women, he always comes home to her arms in the end. She should be content to stay at home.

Amzy says his words do not represent his own views at all:

Quote Message: I just played the role of the people who think like that. If I had advice it would be to talk about it and try to understand each other and treat each other equally, even if it’s difficult.

I just played the role of the people who think like that. If I had advice it would be to talk about it and try to understand each other and treat each other equally, even if it’s difficult.

Quote Message: We have to learn to raise the level of women.”

We have to learn to raise the level of women.”

There has been lots of reaction on social media to Amour Compliqué, especially from women and apparently many of them are playing it, by way of a challenge, to their partners.

You can hear Nabalum and Amzy on This is Africa this Saturday, on BBC World Service radio - available online - and partner stations across Africa.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Scores of people were injured in Sudan in mass protests organised on Thursday against military rule.

The demonstrators were angered by delays in signing a final agreement to re-establish civilian rule in the country.

The protests also marked the fourth anniversary of the popular uprising that led to the overthrow of former long term ruler Omar al-Bashir.

Hundreds of demonstrators blocked main roads in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Many carried placards and chanted slogans denouncing the army’s involvement in politics.

The security forces used tear gas to disperse the huge crowds who had planned to go to the presidential palace in Khartoum.

It comes as Sudan's leaders again postponed the signing of a deal to form a civilian-led government.

Differences between military factions have led to the delays in finalising the agreement.

Sudan has been in political turmoil since the military seized power in a coup in October 2021, scuttling the transition to democratic rule.

The country has witnessed near weekly protests which have led to the deaths of hundreds of protesters.

More on this topic:

• Sudan alarm at return of Bashir loyalists and the NCP
• Why the army is gambling with the future
• Viewpoint: How Sudan's generals betrayed my generation

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team, but we'll be back next week.

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Quote Message: A man accused of stealing a goat mustn’t entertain guests with dried meat." from An Igbo proverb sent by Chukwuemeka Munachiso in Ibadan, Nigeria.

A man accused of stealing a goat mustn’t entertain guests with dried meat."

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of a member of the 'Tanoura Dance Troupe' performing at the Ghouri complex in Cairo, Egypt.

EPACopyright: EPA

AFPCopyright: AFP

Pro-democracy protests have been held in several parts of Sudan in the latest demonstration of anger at the continuing military rule.

The protesters were also marking the anniversary of a 2019 sit-in that led to the overthrow of the former president, Omar al-Bashir.

Since then the military has dominated power. Following months of talks, a deal was supposed to have been signed earlier on Thursday to launch a new political transition to democracy.

But it was once again delayed due to disagreements within the security forces.

One area of tension has been a plan to integrate a powerful military unit known as the Rapid Support Forces into the regular army.

BBCCopyright: BBC

A Ugandan government minister who has been remanded in custody in connection with a corruption scandal involving the theft of thousands of metal roofing sheets has pleaded not guilty in court.

Mary Goretti Kitutu, the minister of the north-eastern Karamoja region, was denied bail and will spent Easter weekend in jail.

The metal sheets were intended for vulnerable communities in Ms Kitutu's region.

Her brother was charged with receiving stolen property.

Officials say at least 10 other government figures including the vice-president, the prime minister and the speaker of parliament received some of the stolen roofing sheets.

The prime minister has apologised and urged other officials to return the sheets.

One minister was recently forced to remove some from the roof of his goat shed.

President Yoweri Museveni has called for the prosecution of all those involved.