Africa highlights: 'No prisoner swap' for Chibok girls, Kenyan citizenship for stateless people

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who is travelling to Germany on an official visit, will send his Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to meet the Chibok girls tonight, according to a tweet on his official account: 

Sahara Reporters, which was the first media outlet to break the story of the girls' release this morning, has thrown doubt on its own earlier report that most of the girls had babies while in captivity. 

A security official also told the BBC that this was the case. 

The government did not touch on the issue in its earlier press briefing. 

The Nigeria-focused news website has a couple more significant updates, the first of which is about the girls' condition: 

It also says that it has been told a ransom was paid to secure the girls' release, though the government made no mention in its statement earlier either: 

The BBC’s Tomi Oladipo has snapped photos of these Togolese fishermen  tending their nets in the capital Lome:

BBCCopyright: BBC

The fishermen say their livelihoods are being threatened by illegal fishing by foreign trawlers.

They told our correspondent that Chinese vessels come at night, using bright lights to attract the fish.

As a consequence the fish supply has declined near the shore which means they have to go further out to fish and use more nets than before.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Togo is currently hosting a maritime security summit. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

Guinea ex-junta leader, Moussa Dadis Camara, has resigned as his party's leader.

Capt Camara has lived in exile in Burkina Faso for six years after surviving an assassination attempt in 2009.

In a letter to officials of his FPDD party, AFP quotes him as saying: 

Quote Message: I am no longer the head of the FPDD. I withdraw from all political activities in connection with the local and parliamentary elections."

I am no longer the head of the FPDD. I withdraw from all political activities in connection with the local and parliamentary elections."

BBC Africa analyst Lamine Konkobo says this effectively means he has withdrawn from politics.

He did make an attempt to return to Guinea last year to run for president, but was prevented from landing in the country several times.

On one occasion the passenger plane on which he was travelling was diverted to Ivory Coast.

Capt Camara headed the junta which took power in Guinea in 2008 following the death of former President Lansana Conte.     

He is wanted for his possible role in the massacre in September 2009 of at least 150 opposition activists who were gathered at a stadium to demand an end to the junta's rule. 

All public officials in Kenya have been ordered to use Kenya Airways when travelling outside the country to help support the financially troubled airline.

The decision was taken today by Kenya's cabinet.

The national carrier is facing a range of problems ranging from an imminent pilots strike to allegations of financial mismanagement.

The pilots have been warned that if they go ahead with industrial action next Tuesday, the airline will be forced to stop selling tickets.

This will push the company into even deeper financial trouble.

Kenya Airways has just announced that its net loss for half-year period stands at 5bn Kenya shillings ($49m, £40m).

CNN says it has received exclusive photographs of some of the 21 Chibok girls released earlier today. 

It has tweeted its story, with one of the photos attached, reportedly showing some of the girls shortly after they were handed over to the Nigerian authorities: 

The BBC cannot verify their authenticity and the government has not yet released any photographs of the girls.   

BBCCopyright: BBC

The typists who sit outside the courts in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, are kept very busy, reports the BBC Ahmed Said from the city.

One typist told our reporter he charges $4 (£3.25) for each document he types up for clients making applications to the court.

Electricity is not reliable in the self-declared republic, so that’s why people prefer to rely on typewriters as there is never a problem getting hold of type tape, he said.

“Business is non-stop,” he said.

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Our colleagues at BBC Swahili have been celebrating in style after they passed an impressive social media milestone. 

There was even a personalised cake to mark the achievement, a photo of which had go straight up on their page. 

In case you can't read Swahili, the photo caption reads:

"CONGRATULATIONS!!! BBCswahili for reaching 2,000,000 likes on our Facebook page. We thank you our fans for checking it out and sharing your comments on our news! Thank you very much!" 

BBCCopyright: BBC

After 40 years of statelessness, members of the Makonde community, whose origin is traced to Mozambique, have finally won their battle to be recognised as Kenyan citizens.

The Makonde people say they were born in Kenya after their parents arrived in the country in 1936 and were recruited to work on sisal and sugar farms owned by European settlers in Kwale county.

President Uhuru Kenya made the announcement at state house in the presence of representatives of Makonde people:

Quote Message: Between now and the month of December we shall ensure that all of you have been issued national identity cards so that you are fully recognised as Kenyan citizens.

Between now and the month of December we shall ensure that all of you have been issued national identity cards so that you are fully recognised as Kenyan citizens.

Quote Message: You are not foreigners in this country and today should mark the end of your suffering."

You are not foreigners in this country and today should mark the end of your suffering."

The population of the Makonde people in Kenya is estimated to be about 10,000.  

BBCCopyright: BBC

Ghana have failed to reach the semi-finals of the Women's Under-17 World Cup in Jordan - as they lost 2-1 to North Korea - who scored their winner in four minutes into injury time at the end of the match.

Ghana had grabbed an equaliser with less than 10 minutes remaining and looked set to force the game into extra time before the North Koreans scored with less than 30 seconds to play. 

Africa's other teams at the tournament - Cameroon and Nigeria - both failed to make it beyond the group stage of the tournament.

A maritime security summit is kicking off in Togo’s capital, Lome.  

It is being organised by the African Union to tackle the issue of piracy among other security-related issues.

Reporting from Lome's beachfront, the BBC Monitoring’s Africa security Tomi Olapido looks at the issues on the agenda.  

Read more: Chasing West Africa’s pirates

AFPCopyright: AFP

The International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank has called for forceful international diplomacy to put the electoral process back on track in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Their panel of experts says street protests have become the main form of political expression in the country. 

At least 32 people died last month when protests against President Joseph Kabila were violently put down. 

The International Crisis Group warns urban violence could now spread beyond Kinshasa.

The group's briefing paper calls for targeted sanctions against leaders who inflame tensions, and suggests threatening to withdraw UN peacekeepers from eastern DR Congo. 

President Kabila took over from his father in 2001. He is due to finish his term at the end of this year. But presidential elections due in November have been delayed.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Riek Machar, who was sacked as South Sudan's vice-president in July after heavy clashes in the capital, Juba, is in South Africa to receive medical treatment, according his spokesman, quoted by Reuters news agency. 

The former rebel leader had been receiving treatment in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after sustaining a leg injury. 

Mr Machar, whose bitter rivalry with President Salva Kiir sparked a civil war in December 2013, fled across the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo with more than 700 of his soldiers in the wake of the July clashes.

His fighters remain in DR Congo, at a UN camp, but the Congolese government says it no longer wants to host them and has ordered them to leave.

Read more: Riek Machar profile

AFPCopyright: AFP

Burkina Faso has asked France to declassify military documents about the killing of ex-President Thomas Sankara, a lawyer for his family has said.

A judge had made the request because efforts to get them through "political channels" had failed, the lawyer said.

France, the former colonial power, has not yet commented on the request.

Mr Sankara's widow and supporters have repeatedly accused France of masterminding his 1987 killing because he was a Marxist revolutionary.

Mr Sankara's assassination led to his second-in-command, Blaise Compaore, seizing power in a coup.

Mr Compaore steered Burkina Faso into a strong alliance with France, which retains close political, security and economic ties with many of its former colonies in Africa.

Burkina Faso opened an investigation into the killing after he was ousted from power in 2014 in a popular uprising.

Read the BBC News story for more  

Around 15 migrants drowned when their boat ran into trouble off the coast of Libya. 

A rescue vessel operated by a Spanish aid agency arrived on the scene as the dinghy was sinking. 

More than 100 passengers were saved, but others were lost in what were rough seas. Among them was a three-year old boy.    

AFPCopyright: AFP

Lawyers for South African President Jacob Zuma are attempting to block a report by anti-corruption chief Thuli Madonsela.

Her interim report threatens to expose the extent of corruption and cronyism at the top levels of South Africa leadership. 

The legal action comes just hours before Ms Madonsela, South Africa’s public protector, steps down from her job.

Her investigation has examined allegations of corruption linked to the controversial Indian family the Guptas, who it is alleged enjoy close ties to Mr Zuma and have been accused of influencing the appointment of cabinet ministers. They deny all the allegations. 

The delay means the investigation will fall into the hands of the incoming anti-corruption chief Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

She is a former South African diplomat, who some have accused of being a spy loyal to the governing African National Congress (ANC), and she may have less appetite to probe the country’s leadership.

Meanwhile, one of Ms Madonsela’s most loyal defenders, the outspoken politician Julius Malema, has been served with a summons (see earlier posts).

That too is being widely seen as a move to try to silence criticism, through the courts - a tactic which seems to be becoming an all too familiar pattern in South African politics.

Read more: The Guptas and their links to Zuma

Here are some more quotes from the information minister's media briefing. 

Mr Mohammed appears to contradict information provided to the BBC by a security official, who said several Boko Haram militants had been released as part of the deal: 

Quote Message: Please note that this is not a swap. It is a release, the product of painstaking negotiations and trust on both sides.

Please note that this is not a swap. It is a release, the product of painstaking negotiations and trust on both sides.

He also said that today's announcement raised the prospect of recovering the 197 girls who are still missing: 

Quote Message: We see this as a credible first step in the eventual release of all the Chibok Girls in captivity."

We see this as a credible first step in the eventual release of all the Chibok Girls in captivity."

You can follow the full text of the press briefing on the information ministry's Facebook page: 

Nigerian Information Minister Lai Mohammed has been giving more details about the release of the Chibok girls at a press conference in the capital Abuja: 

Quote Message: We can confirm that 21 of the girls were released, safely, to us by 5.30 this Thursday morning and they were flown to Kaduna from the location of their release.

We can confirm that 21 of the girls were released, safely, to us by 5.30 this Thursday morning and they were flown to Kaduna from the location of their release.

Quote Message: We expect the released girls to land in Abuja shortly. Ahead of their arrival, we have assembled a team of medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, trauma experts, etc to properly examine the girls, especially because they have been in captivity for so long.

We expect the released girls to land in Abuja shortly. Ahead of their arrival, we have assembled a team of medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, trauma experts, etc to properly examine the girls, especially because they have been in captivity for so long.

Quote Message: We have the list of the 21 girls but we are now contacting their parents as part of the necessary verification exercise. As soon as that is concluded, we will release the names to the public."

We have the list of the 21 girls but we are now contacting their parents as part of the necessary verification exercise. As soon as that is concluded, we will release the names to the public."

Nigeria militaryCopyright: Nigeria military

Most of the Chibok grils freed after more than two years in Boko Haram captivity have babies, a security official has told the BBC.

The official also said that the girls were released as part of a prisoner swap. 

According to the source, several top-level Boko Haram prisoners were taken to a meeting point close to the Cameroon border. 

Under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the girls were then released in exchange for the prisoners.  

They were flown back to the north-eastern city of Maiduguri where they are now under the supervision of the security forces. 

Just last month the Nigerian government announced that several rounds of talks with Boko Haram had broken down, and called for the UN to mediate.

With today’s release they have shown that the girls can be released through intermediaries.