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Black Thursday

Rostrum The ancient narrow pathway had become so bad that they could not find their way to their destination as the three moved in a grey Honda Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) being piloted by Dayo who was very mindful of the steering. It was on a Thursday. The 35-year-old Misters Dayo, Emeka and Okon were old time friends who reunited just a few days ago at Nsukka in Enugu State having lost contacts about eight years back, or thereabouts, after their graduation from one of the reputable higher citadels of learning in Nigeria situated in the Eastern part of the country, precisely University of Nigeria Nsukka popularly known by its acronym ‘U.N.N’. What occasioned the long-awaited reunion was the convention of their alma-mater’s alumni body themed ‘The homecoming of UNN Alumni’, which usually held once in a blue moon. Though they never studied in the same department, they were conspicuously best of friends during their school days that people within bega...

Bangladesh ex-Prime Minister, Hasina receives Death Sentence over Massacre

Frank Musa
A Bangladeshi war crimes' court has sentenced the country’s ousted Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina to death over massacre.

Hasina was sentenced to death on Monday, November 17, 2025, after a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year being 2024.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader in decades and comes months ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in early February, 2026.

Hasina got a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

There was cheering and clapping in the court after the death sentence was pronounced.

However, the verdict can be appealed in the country’s Supreme Court.

But Hasina’s son and adviser, Sajeeb Wazed, told newsmen on the eve of the verdict that they would not appeal unless a democratically elected government took office with the Awami League’s participation.

During the trial, prosecutors told the court that they had uncovered evidence of her direct command to use lethal force to suppress a student-led uprising in July and August 2024.

According to a United Nations report, up to 1,400 people may have been killed during the protests between July 15 and August 5, 2024, with thousands more injured — most of them by gunfire from security forces — in what was the worst violence in Bangladesh since its 1971 war of independence.

Hasina was represented by a state-appointed defence counsel who told the court that the charges against her were baseless and pleaded for her acquittal.

Ahead of the verdict, Hasina dismissed the accusations and the fairness of the Tribunal proceedings, asserting a guilty verdict was a "foregone conclusion.”

Bangladesh had been tense ahead of the verdict, with at least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles torched across the country over the past few days, though there have reportedly been no casualties.

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