African Unite Concert: South African lawmaker, Malema assures Burna Boy of safety as local artistes kick against his performance

South African opposition politician, Julius Malema, has assured
Nigerian singer, Burna Boy, of his safety during his performance at
the African Unite Concert scheduled to hold on November 24 in the
country.

Via his verified Twitter handle, Malema, who is the founder of
Economic Freedom Fighters and legislator said that he was looking
forward to being entertained by Burna boy and that there was “no
mascot” who can stop him from performing in South Africa.

Malema tweeted, “Looking forward to receiving and being
entertained by my brother @burnaboy here at his home called South
Africa. There’s no mascot that can stop him from performing, he’s
one of our own and we will protect him. We must resolutely oppose
regionalism led by political illiterates.”

It would be recalled that earlier this week, South African
rapper, AKA Worldwide had resurrected an old spat with Burna Boy
which started from the recent xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and
other foreigners in South Africa. He demanded an apology from Burna
Boy before he comes to perform in South Africa.

During the Twitter spat in September, Burna Boy had urged black
foreigners living in SA to defend and protect themselves against
the attackers. In a now-deleted tweet, he also told AKA to have
enough security around him whenever they met.

“Ek se … @burnaboy all we want is an apology. We know ?? is not
perfect. But we took you in as our own before you reached these
levels. You say you are an AFRICAN GIANT, prove it (sic),” tweeted
AKA on Thursday.

Meanwhile, some local artistes have written to South Africa’s
Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, to demand that the
minister stop Burna Boy from performing in the country.

According to OkayAfrica, the artistes under the Tshwane
Entertainment Collective told the minister saying, “We first
inquired to the minister and to the department to say, what is this
all about? How is this happening? How are you guys supporting this?
Then further to that, we asked how are you supporting an event that
also includes… so not only are you failing us with funding but you
are also supporting an event that includes an artist who has
threatened violence to fellow South African artists.(sic)”

Burna Boy has yet to react to the development.

See tweets:

Looking forward to receiving and being
entertained by my brother @burnaboy^[1] here at his home called
South Africa. There’s no mascot that can stop him from performing,
he’s one of our own and we will protect him. We must resolutely
oppose regionalism led by political illiterates.

— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) November
14, 2019^[2]

Ek se … @burnaboy^[3] all we want is an
apology. We know ?? is not perfect. But we took you in as our own
before you reached these levels. You say you are an AFRICAN GIANT,
prove it.

— AKA (@akaworldwide) November
13, 2019^[4]

COUNTER ATTACKS: Again, 5 Terrorists Killed in Fatori, 2
Soldiers Wounded

NIGERIAN ARMY TROOPS RECORD A SECOND SUCCESSIVE VICTORY AGAINST
BOKO HARAM CRIMINAL ELEMENTS IN MALAM FATORI WITHIN 24 HOURS

In what could be adjudged as another futile revenge mission,
some uncoordinated and cowardly remnants of the Boko Haram/ISWAP
criminal elements staged yet another unsuccessful attack on the
location of the troops of 64 and 98 Task Force Battalions and
elements of the Armed Forces Special Forces Battalion at Malam
Fatori in Abadam LGA of Borno State. It could be recalled that on
13th November 2019, some marauding Boko Haram criminal elements
attempted to infiltrate the troops’ location by launching an
unsuccessful attack with Person Borne Improvised Explosive Devices
(PBIEDs), Gun Trucks, Rocket Propelled Guns and other small arms
but were decisively annihilated, having been made to suffer very
high casualties in both men and equipment.

Within less than 24 hours of their devastating defeat however,
the outgunned criminal insurgents launched another desperate attack
on the highly spirited troops of Mallam Fatori in the wee hours of
today, 15 November 2019.

In their swift and highly coordinated response, the gallant and
relentless troops at the location once again brought their
resilience, bold action and superior fire power/lethality to bear
on the criminal insurgents as they handed them another crushing
defeat. At the end of this particular encounter, one Boko Haram Gun
Truck was completely burnt along with 3 of the criminal insurgents
that were trapped in it.

Apparently, the vehicle was gutted by fire as a result of the
high volume of fire delivered by the troops. Furthermore, 2 of the
Boko Haram criminal elements were equally neutralised during the
ensuing gun battle between the troops and the criminal insurgents.
Some of the equipment captured from the criminal insurgents during
this futile mission include one Anti-Aircraft Gun, one
Anti-Aircraft Gun barrel, 8 AK 47 Riffles, one Rocket Propelled Gun
tube, 3 AK 47 magazines, one bandolier, 2 rounds of Anti-Aircraft
Gun ammunition and one Rocket Propelled Grenade bomb. Subsequently,
the Air Task Force, Operation LAFIYA DOLE went on the trail of the
routed remnants of the insurgents to ensure their total
obliteration. Regrettably, 2 gallant soldiers sustained gunshot
wounds during this encounter. Both of them have already been
stabilized and are already responding positively to treatment at a
military hospital.

The Theatre Commander, Operation LAFIYA DOLE Maj Gen Olusegun
Adeniyi on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Yusufu
Buratai once again conveys his message of encouragement to the
troops for a job well done. He further enjoins them to continue to
mount pressure on the insurgents until they are forced to total
submission.

AMINU ILIYASU
Colonel
Nigerian Army Operations Media Coordinator
15 November 2019