'Fulani herdsmen’ kill 16 in Benue

Suspected herdsmen have killed 16 persons during an attack on Ebete community in Agatu local government area of Benue state.

The herders were said to have attacked the community at 1am on Wednesday, opening fire on residents and setting houses ablaze.

Adeyemi Yekini, force commander, Operation Whirl Stroke, an army task force outfit, confirmed the attack but was unable to give the number of casualties.

“I received a report this afternoon that some people were killed in Agatu by suspected armed bandits. I’m not sure of the number of casualty yet,” he said in a statement.

However, The Nation quoted residents as saying 16 persons were killed and two injured in the attack.

Daddy Seni, a witness, told the newspaper his father and siblings were among the deceased.

Yekini added in the statement that the army had sent a patrol team to the area where the incident happened.

Samuel Ortom, governor of the state, also confirmed the incident, adding that he had raised an alarm earlier.

lterver Akase, chief press secretary to Ortom, told journalists the governor has met with the police over the incident.

“I can confirm that the governor of Benue State met earlier today with the commissioner of Police Mr. Bishi and he confirmed that there was attack in Ebete in Agatu earlier today in which seventeen persons were killed by suspected armed herdsmen,” he said.

“We feel that this is unfortunate because the governor has raised an alarm that some persons for political reasons are planning to unleashed armed herdsmen on innocent Benue people, to create fear in the people for political gains.”

In the past, Agatu experienced similar attacks — on a larger scale.

In March 2016, at least 300 persons were reported to have been killed when suspected herders invaded the community.

Benue is one of the worst hit states by the crisis involving farmers and herders.

- THECABLE

INEC says card readers will shut down by 10pm on election day

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says card readers will automatically shut down by 10pm on the day of election.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, disclosed this at a press briefing on the progress made by the commission in Abuja. on Wednesday.

The INEC chairman said the card readers were reconfigured to the new election date to make them impossible to be used illegally.

“They are configured to specific polling units and only open for use at 8am on the election day; they will automatically shut down by 10pm in order to forestall any illegal use before the appointed time for elections,” he said.

“Yesterday, I reported 95 percent completion of the configuration. I am pleased to report that we have now achieved 100 percent completion of the configuration. We are good to go on this call.”

Yakubu added that the electoral body had made progress on logistics. He disclosed that the deployment of materials in all states across the country and the federal capital territory (FCT) had been completed.

He also added that 10 states had already begun the movement of the materials to local governments while other states would do so and conclude on Thursday.

The states he listed include Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, Ekiti, Jigawa, Katsina, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, and Taraba.

The presidential and national assembly elections have been rescheduled till February 23 while the governorship and state house of assembly elections would hold on March 9.

- THECABLE

God and justice: Gay church prays for historic Kenya ruling

A lesbian church leader lights pink, yellow, and purple candles and passes them around to worshippers as they pray for a court decision that will mean they no longer have to live a lie.

"The Lord is in control," she says, as swaying congregants yell out "Victory!" and a musician shuts his eyes in prayer, his fingers dancing across a keyboard laid on a table covered with a rainbow flag.

The Cosmopolitan Affirming Church (CAC) is a rare space where Kenya's LGBT community can escape hostility from society, which is often reflected in hatred and vitriol from religious pulpits.

Dozens of LGBT churchgoers and their allies crammed into a tiny room Sunday to worship ahead of Friday's potentially historic decision by Kenya's High Court on whether laws that criminalise homosexuality are unconstitutional.

"When this law is struck down it is going to be a huge kind of liberation for us, like a burden has been taken off our shoulders," said David Ochara, who helped found the church in 2013.

'Police in our bedrooms' 

Kenya's colonial-era laws echo those in more than half of Africa's countries, where homosexuality is illegal. Being gay can even lead to the death penalty in Mauritania, Sudan, northern Nigeria and parts of Somalia.

One section of the penal code says that anyone who has "carnal knowledge ... against the order of nature" can be imprisoned for 14 years, while another could see one land in jail for five years for "indecent practices between males".

"The law specifies 'in public or private' which essentially allows police to enter our bedrooms to investigate these crimes," said Eric Gitari, the co-founder of the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Council (NGLHRC), one of the petitioners.

Imani Kimiri of the NGLHRC's legal team, told AFP her office dealt with 15 prosecutions under the laws in 2018, but cannot recall the last conviction -- slamming the process as "just a frustrating endeavour".

In 2014, a government report to appease parliament's anti-gay caucus reported some 600 prosecutions over three years.

However, Gitari said 70 percent of these were "conflated" and some turned out to be cases of child rape, bestiality or even traffic offences.

The biggest fear is the persecution that the laws allow.

"Because of the law you fear blackmail, you fear extortion, you fear violence ... because there is no law protecting you, and the law is against you," said Arthur Owiti, who plays the keyboard in church.

 Blackmailed by online dates 

The NGLHRC in 2017 recorded an increase in cases where people using online dating applications such as Grindr end up being blackmailed or extorted, often by organised gangs who work with the police.

"When you get a date online you have to ask them security questions so you don't fall into a trap," said Owiti.

And those who are blackmailed, evicted, fired, expelled from school, or assaulted over their sexual orientation, are unable to access justice because it means "confessing to a crime", said Gitari.

While Gitari points to recent court decisions as cause for optimism, most activists agree that even if the court rules in their favour it will be tied up in appeals for the foreseeable future.

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In March last year the High Court banned forced anal testing of men suspected of being gay.

And in September a court ruled that "Rafiki" (friend), a film about a lesbian love affair, could be screened for seven days after its initial banning. 

African precedent 

Kenya's decision could reverberate across the continent, where several countries are facing challenges to similar legislation.

Mozambique struck down anti-gay laws in 2015, and Angola decriminalised homosexuality in January. Botswana is expected to hear a case against its laws in March.

"The law is one of the means of changing society," said Gitari.

"Politically there is a chance for African states to assert themselves in their grounding of justice which is inclusive of LGBT persons without necessarily having to give in to political pressure, which is external."

During the court case, local experts testified on the history of homosexuality in Kenya -- often decried as a colonial import by politicians -- and also leaned on a decision decriminalising homosexuality in India last year.

Living a lie 

Ochara believes Kenyans are ready to begin a discussion about homosexuality.

He has allied with other pastors and even does radio talks on grassroots radio stations -- often fighting off intense homophobia to talk about the acceptance of minorities -- which he believes are starting to scratch the surface of intolerance.

In the meantime, the reality for those like Arthur is that "basically you live a lie", with brief moments of respite in safe spaces like the CAC.

He said that before CAC he attended a church "where the messages every Sunday were that homosexuals, lesbians, they are not loved by God ... it was like being stabbed every time."

In between rousing gospel music and moments of candlelit reflection, the pastors gave a security update ahead of the court case, urging congregants to avoid certain hotspots and be careful if attending the ruling.

"I know you are fabulous but don't make yourself an easy target -- you don't need to have rainbow feathers on your head and all that sexiness," said Ochara.

-AFP

The most dangerous form of depression hides behind a smile

The term “smiling depression”—appearing happy to others while internally suffering depressive symptoms—has become increasingly popular. Articles on the topic have crept up in the popular literature, and the number of Google searches for the condition has increased dramatically this year. Some may question, however, whether this is actually a real, pathological condition.

While smiling depression is not a technical term that psychologists use, it is certainly possible to be depressed and manage to successfully mask the symptoms. The closest technical term for this condition is “atypical depression.” In fact, a significant proportion of people who experience a low mood and a loss of pleasure in activities manage to hide their condition in this way. And these people might be particularly vulnerable to suicide.

It can be very hard to spot people suffering from smiling depression. They may seem like they don’t have a reason to be sad—they have a job, an apartment and maybe even children or a partner. They smile when you greet them and can carry pleasant conversations. In short, they put on a mask to the outside world while leading seemingly normal and active lives.

Inside, however, they feel hopeless and down, sometimes even having thoughts about ending it all. The strength that they have to go on with their daily lives can make them especially vulnerable to carrying out suicide plans. This is in contrast to other forms of depression, in which people might have suicide ideation but not enough energy to act on their intentions.

Although people with smiling depression put on a “happy face” to the outside world, they can experience a genuine lift in their mood as a result of positive occurrences in their lives. For example, getting a text message from someone they’ve been craving to hear from or being praised at work can make them feel better for a few moments before going back to feeling low.

Other symptoms of this condition include overeating, feeling a sense of heaviness in the arms and legs, and being easily hurt by criticism or rejection. People with smiling depression are also more likely to feel depressed in the evening and feel the need to sleep longer than usual. With other forms of depression, however, your mood might be worse in the morning and you might feel the need for less sleep than you’re normally used to.

Smiling depression seems to be more common in people with certain temperaments. In particular, it is linked to being more prone to anticipate failure, having a hard time getting over embarrassing or humiliating situations, and tending to ruminate or excessively think about negative situations that have taken place.

Women’s Health magazine captured the essence of smiling depression—the façade—when it asked women to share pictures from their social media and then to recaption them on Instagram with how they really felt in the moment they were taking the picture. Here are some of their posts.

Burden and treatment

It is difficult to determine exactly what causes smiling depression, but low mood can stem from a number of things, such as work problems, relationship breakdown, and feeling as if your life doesn’t have purpose and meaning.

It is very common. About one in ten people are depressed, and between 15% and 40% of these people suffer from the atypical form that resembles smiling depression. Such depression often starts early in life and can last a long time.

If you suffer from smiling depression it is therefore particularly important to get help. Sadly, though, people suffering from this condition usually don’t, because they might not think that they have a problem in the first place—this is particularly the case if they appear to be carrying on with their tasks and daily routines as before. They may also feel guilty and rationalize that they don’t have anything to be sad about. So they don’t tell anybody about their problems and end up feeling ashamed of their feelings.

So how can you break this cycle? A starting point is knowing that this condition actually exists and that it’s serious. Only when we stop rationalizing away our problems because we think they’re not serious enough can we start making an actual difference. For some, this insight may be enough to turn things around, because it puts them on a path to seeking help and breaking free from the shackles of depression that have been holding them back.

Meditation and physical activity have also been shown to have tremendous mental health benefits. In fact, a study done by Rutgers University in the US showed that people who had done meditation and physical activity twice a week experienced a drop of almost 40% in their depression levels only eight weeks into the study. Cognitive behavioral therapy and learning to change your thinking patterns and behavior is another option for those affected by this condition.

And finding meaning in life is of utmost importance. The Austrian neurologist Viktor Frankl wrote that the cornerstone of good mental health is having purpose in life. He said that we shouldn’t aim to be in a “tensionless state,” free of responsibility and challenges, but rather we should be striving for something in life. We can find purpose by taking the attention away from ourselves and placing it onto something else. So find a worthwhile goal and try to make regular progress on it, even if it’s for a small amount each day, because this can really have a positive impact.

We can also find purpose by caring for someone else. When we take the spotlight off of us and start to think about someone else’s needs and wants, we begin to feel that our lives matter. This can be achieved by volunteering, or taking care of a family member, or even an animal.

Feeling that our lives matter is ultimately what gives us purpose and meaning—and this can make a significant difference for our mental health and well-being.

- QUARTZ