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IMF, World Bank Must End Colonial Rule, Says ActionAid
IMF, World Bank Must End Colonial Rule, Says ActionAid
By: Michael Mike
ActionAid has said the time is up for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to stop perpetuating a colonial rule on the world.
The call was made at the weekend as the two global financial institutions conclude their Spring meetings in Washington DC this week.
ActionAid, in the statement said for the last 80 years the IMF and World Bank have been in existence, not much has changed as global South countries have been pushed further into debt and are reeling from the impacts of IMF-imposed austerity measures.
In its 2023 report Fifty Years of Failure, ActionAid found that despite following the IMF’s advice for decades, many African countries are in debt distress or facing a high risk of debt distress. Austerity measures have blocked the recruitment of teachers, doctors and nurses, even in countries with severe shortages, and has squeezed public sector salaries at a time of a rising cost of living.
Global Lead on Economic Justice and Public Services at ActionAid International, Roos Saalbrink, said:“Countries in the global South have since the structural adjustment progammes been in perpetual austerity, eroding public health and education. At a time of unprecedented climate crisis and debt crisis in the global South, the Bretton Woods Institutions continue to oil the wheels of colonial exploitation and extraction. At the same time global South governments have very little say in the policies coming from these institutions at the centre of the international financial architecture. 80 years is enough.”
The statement said ActionAid is also concerned about a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ which has ensured that the IMF managing director has for 80 years been European and the World Bank president a US national.
Country Director of ActionAid USA, Niranjali Amerasinghe, said: “Kristalina Georgieva’s appointment is a continuation of the colonial era ‘gentleman’s agreement’, where rich western powers have the most say. It is unacceptable that 80 years later we are still having to call this out. The IMF must change its leadership selection process, its decision-making model, and the harmful practices that keep developing countries in a cycle of crisis.
“As the climate crisis wreaks havoc, global South countries are so deep in debt that they cannot adapt to these impacts. We are calling for debt cancellation and tax justice to help these countries free up the finances needed to build resilience to climate impacts.
“We need to see an overhaul of the international financial architecture with a proper debt workout mechanism, a UN tax convention, to ensure global South governments have a say over policies impacting them disproportionately.”
ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 41 million people living in more than 71 of the world’s poorest countries, the organisation wants to see a just, fair, and sustainable world, in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and to eradicate poverty.
IMF, World Bank Must End Colonial Rule, Says ActionAid
Troops Arrest Three Suspected Cattle Rustlers in Borno
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of 212 Battalion deployed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Tuba have arrested three suspected cattle rustlers during an operation in Karnuwa general area of Borno State.
Security sources said the operation followed intelligence provided by a local resident, Malam Muhammadu Ardo, concerning alleged cattle rustling activities within the area.
The troops reportedly mobilised to Karnuwa at about 12:30 p.m. on May 4, 2026, where they apprehended the suspects identified as Mallam Mohammad Abatcha, 28; Mallam Mamman Bukar, 18; and Malam Modu Hassan, 30.
According to the sources, the suspects were intercepted while using a pickup vehicle with registration number WW 806 GZ Delta, allegedly employed in transporting stolen cattle.
The rustled cattle were recovered and immediately handed over to their rightful owners at the scene of the arrest.
Items recovered from the suspects included a bow and arrow, three mobile phones, five national identity cards and the sum of N20,650.
Preliminary investigation reportedly revealed that the suspects admitted to repeatedly stealing and selling rustled cattle to buyers in Maiduguri.
Security sources further disclosed that investigators suspect possible links between the suspects and members of the Islamic State West Africa Province or Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad due to alleged inconsistencies observed in their statements during interrogation.
Troops Arrest Three Suspected Cattle Rustlers in Borno
Troops Discover Illegal Refinery Site, Recover 600 Litres of Stolen Crude in Rivers
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of 29 Battalion operating under the Joint Task Force South-South, Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), have uncovered an illegal refining site and recovered about 600 litres of suspected stolen crude oil in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Security sources said the discovery was made at about 10:00 a.m. on May 12, 2026, during ongoing anti-illegal bunkering operations in the Niger Delta region.
The troops reportedly discovered the illegal refining site around Asa community, where a large cooking pot loaded with stolen crude oil was found stockpiled in sacks.
Military authorities said the recovered products and equipment were handled in accordance with operational directives guiding anti-crude oil theft operations under Operation Delta Safe.
The operation was conducted without any confrontation or security incident.
The Nigerian military has continued to intensify operations against crude oil theft, illegal refining and other forms of economic sabotage across the Niger Delta region.
Troops Discover Illegal Refinery Site, Recover 600 Litres of Stolen Crude in Rivers
Troops, NDLEA Raid Drug Hideout in Katsina, Arrest Suspected Supplier to Terrorists
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Malumfashi at Kafur, in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, have raided a suspected drug peddlers’ hideout in Kafur Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Security sources said the operation was conducted at about 12:30 p.m. on May 12, 2026, at Huguma village following intelligence on illicit drug activities within the area.
During the raid, troops apprehended one suspect identified as a major supplier of illicit drugs and other substances to terrorists and criminal elements operating within Kafur Local Government Area and surrounding communities.
Items recovered during the operation included 146 grams of suspected cannabis and 16.5 grams of a substance identified as Exol-5.
The suspect and the recovered drugs have since been handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for further investigation and necessary legal action.
Troops, NDLEA Raid Drug Hideout in Katsina, Arrest Suspected Supplier to Terrorists
Troops Neutralise Two Terrorists in Night Ambush Operation in Borno
Troops Arrest Three Suspected Cattle Rustlers in Borno
Troops Intercept Vehicle Conveying Illegal Diesel in Bayelsa
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