BBC News Africa

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu spent 3.4bn naira ($3.5m; £2.7m) on domestic and foreign travel during his first six months in office, local reports say, citing data from the GovSpend portal.

The spending means President Tinubu and his team exceeded the 2.49bn naira travel budget allocated for the entirety of 2023 by 36%, the privately owned Nigerian newspaper The Punch reports.

The Punch said that although the president inherited the budget halfway through 2023, "he spent more than what was apportioned for the whole year between June and December 2023".

The reports, which have not been verified by the BBC, come nearly a week after President Tinubu capped the number of aides allowed to accompany him abroad.

Prior to this move, he had been criticised for incurring travel expenses that some Nigerians deem to be excessive.

Most notably, Mr Tinubu came under fire after his government sponsored over 400 people to attend last year's COP28 climate conference in Dubai.

The privately run GovSpend portal collates official data from Nigeria's treasury.

Private security guards in Uganda have been banned from carrying firearms until after the end of a key international summit starting in the capital, Kampala.

Over 4,000 delegates, including UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and heads of state and government, will be attending the 19th Non-Aligned Movement summit.

The summit runs for nine days.

All private security firms have been notified that due to the summit, the movement of private security guards with firearms will not be allowed until end of the month, state-owned New Vision news website reported.

Police director in charge of operations John Nuwagira told the private security firms to treat the directive with “the urgency and strictness demanded of you by the situation”.

Security has been heightened at airports, meeting venues and hotels in Kampala.

Ugandan police spokesperson Fred Enanga said that counter-terrorism measures have also been enhanced.

President Yoweri Museveni will take over the leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement from Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.

At least 11 people have died after heavy rains and severe floods hit South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province at the weekend.

The severe weather conditions have also caused widespread devastation, including damaging property and infrastructure, cutting off power, displacing dozens and trapping several other residents in their homes or vehicles.

Authorities have closed several public swimming pools and beaches in Durban as a precautionary measure.

The South African Weather Service has predicted that heavy rains and thunderstorms will continue throughout the week, reaching peak levels on Wednesday and Thursday.

Heavy rains and flooding in the east of South Africa have killed at least 52 people since December, KZN's cooperative governance and traditional affairs spokesperson Siboniso Mngadi told Newzroom Afrika news channel on Sunday.

Guinean military authorities have arrested French journalist Thomas Dietrich amid reports of a deteriorating press freedom situation in the West African country.

The journalist was arrested on Sunday in the capital, Conakry, while investigating alleged corruption in the country's National Oil Company (Sonap).

Sources say the journalist was interested in how certain officials of Guinea's transitional government had acquired their wealth and had been in the country for several days to investigate Sonap.

It is not the first time Mr Dietrich is arrested in Guinea.

In March 2020, he was arrested and deported after he filmed a police crackdown on an opposition demonstration in the capital Conakry.

It is not clear if Mr Dietrich has been deported following his latest arrest.

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Schools have been closed in Mauritius amid predictions of heavy rains that could result in flooding.

The nearby French island of Réunion was on Monday placed on the highest cyclone alert level after it was hit by the powerful Tropical Cyclone Belal.

Authorities have warned residents to stay indoors and emergency services are no longer authorised to intervene.

The extreme weather conditions have caused fatalities in both Réunion and Mauritius.

The body of a homeless man was found in the resort village of Saint-Gilles in Réunion's west coast shortly before the cyclone alert was upgraded from red to purple on Monday.

The man declined to be evacuated, authorities say.

In the Mauritian village of Baie-du-Tombeau, a 75-year-old man drowned on Sunday.

Two surfers faced the storm at sea in La Preneuse in western Mauritius. One reached the coast, while the other one is missing.

AFPCopyright: AFP

One of the six sisters abducted in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, over a week ago has reportedly died in captivity, sparking outrage in the country.

Unknown gunmen invaded the residence of the family in the Bwari area of Abuja and shot three police officers before kidnapping the sisters and their father.

One of the sisters, identified as Nabeehah, a university student, was reportedly killed by the abductors on Friday night after the family failed to pay a ransom of $63,000 (£50,000).

A relative who has been involved in rescue efforts told Daily Trust news website that the kidnappers have handed over Nabeehah's body to the family.

The abductors warned that they would kill the rest of the siblings if the ransom, which they have increased to $104,000, would not be paid by Wednesday, the relative said.

Two of the three injured policemen hit by bullets during the kidnap have also reportedly died.

Police said "all hands are on deck" to rescue the victims, without confirming Nabeehah's reported murder.

Opposition leader Atiku Abubakar has said Nabeehah's killing "is yet another reminder that kidnappers and bandits are operating unhindered in our country," and called for the country's security architecture to be "rejigged".

Peter Obi, leader of the opposition Labour Party, says the kidnapping in the country's capital "is a clear pointer to how insecure the rest of the country now is”.

It is illegal to pay ransom to kidnappers in Nigeria.