Big Brother Naija season four winner, Mercy Eke, said words of prayer for a critic who allegedly wished her dead.
In a Snapchat story on Monday, the reality TV star shared a private message she got from a critic on the social platform.
The user told her, “Disappear from the face of the earth Olosho. I hoped you will be dead by now. God go soon answer my prayer. I hope you die there in Morocco.”(sic)
In response to the troll’s comment, Mercy, who is currently on vacation in Malaysia, said, “Wow. It’s not that deep na. May God keep you alive to keep watching me. May all your pain and bitterness turn to sweet and honey. I’m sending you love.”(sic)
Mercy, in 2019, won the Big Brother Naija season four tagged ‘Pepper Dem’. Since then, she has been an active media personality and entrepreneur.
She recently launched her reality TV series titled ‘Mercy What’s Next?’, where she shares details of her celebrity life.
Her recent post comes two days after BBNaija Shine Ya Eye finalist, Angel Smith, also alleged death threats because of her relationship status.
According to her, fans have been calling her to threaten her about her friendship with their fave.
Tributes are being paid to former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has died of Covid-19 complications aged 84.
The former top military officer died on Monday morning, his family said. He was fully vaccinated.
Powell became the first African-American secretary of state in 2001 under Republican President George W Bush.
He also sparked controversy for helping garner support for the Iraq War.
“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” the family said in a statement, thanking the staff at the Walter Reid Medical Center “for their caring treatment”.
Powell had previously been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer which may have made him more susceptible to Covid symptoms, according to US media, as well as Parkinson’s disease.
President Joe Biden, calling Powell a “dear friend”, said he had embodied the “highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat”.
Former President Bush was among the first to pay tribute to “a great public servant” as well as “a family man and a friend” who “was such a favourite of presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom – twice”.
Mr Bush’s Vice-President, Dick Cheney, saluted Powell as “a man who loved his country and served her long and well” while also being “a trailblazer and role model for so many”.
Condoleezza Rice, Powell’s successor as secretary of state and the first black woman in the role, called him “a truly great man” whose “devotion to our nation was not limited to the many great things he did while in uniform or during his time spent in Washington”.
“Much of his legacy will live on in the countless number of young lives he touched.”
Current secretary of state Antony Blinken called Powell’s life “a victory of the American Dream”.
Powell gave the Department of State “the very best of his leadership,” Mr Blinken said. “He never stopped believing in America, and we believe in America in no small part because it helped produce someone like Colin Powell.”
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair – who worked closely with Powell during the early years of the Iraq War – said he was someone of “immense capability and integrity” who was “a great companion, with a lovely and self-deprecating sense of humour”.
Remembrances also poured in from prominent African-American leaders. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton called him “a sincere and committed man”, while members of the Congressional Black Caucus praised his “legacy of valour and integrity”.
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, the first black man to serve in that role, hailed Powell as “a tremendous personal friend and mentor” who would be “impossible to replace”.
Once a moderate Republican, Powell became a trusted military adviser to a number of leading US politicians.
But he broke with his party to endorse Barack Obama in 2008, as well as Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. A sharp critic of Republican president Donald Trump, Powell said he could no longer call himself a Republican after the violent 6 January riot at the US Capitol.
He also saw service and was wounded in Vietnam, an experience that later helped define his own military and political strategies.
However, he would say himself that his own legacy had been damaged by a speech to the United Nations Security Council which used faulty intelligence to back the invasion of Iraq.
“It was painful. It’s painful now,” Powell told ABC News in 2005.
Colin Powell was an iconic American success story. The child of immigrants, he became the first black man to rise to the highest positions in US military and diplomacy.
In the 1990s, Powell was one of the few American public figures with appeal that crossed political boundaries – reminiscent of General Dwight D Eisenhower after the Second World War.
Unlike Eisenhower, Powell would not ascend to the presidency – although there were abundant calls for him to run.
Those calls dwindled after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, a decision Powell later acknowledged was a “blot” on his legacy. He had staked his reputation on the presence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction – and his reputation suffered for it.
In his later years, Powell became a different kind of icon. His drift away from the Republican Party following Donald Trump’s rise to power reflected the dwindling influence of Powell’s moderate, internationalist faction within the American conservative movement.
Powell’s life may be somewhat overshadowed by his cause of death, as he now ranks as the most prominent American to succumb to Covid-19.
Besides authorities’ resistance to activities commemorating one year anniversary of #EndSARS protests this week, the Federal Government appears to be haunted by worries of social resistance in implementing certain policies that can reduce its dependence on borrowing and expenditure on subsidies.
Government’s challenges are coupled with the fact that many Nigerians are currently struggling to sustain daily living due to rise in food prices and inflationary trend on basic household essentials, amid dwindling incomes.
While the #EndSARS crisis was primarily a fall-out of demand for the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other police reforms, it later became an agitation for governance overhaul.
Indeed, the level of carnage that was witnessed as a result of the social unrest last year remains unprecedented with the effect still visible on the morale of policemen. While the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) estimates about N700 billion as losses in economic value to the mayhem, other economists put the loss above N1 trillion.
One year on, many businesses are yet to be compensated while the insurance industry has not extended its coverage to the impact of disasters from the unrest.
In August, the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) said insurance companies had paid over N5.4 billion in claims settlement arising from #EndSARS losses.
The NIA Director-General, Yetunde Ilori, said: “There is a privacy policy regarding insurance. For the #EndSARS period, we have paid over N5.4 billion in settlement of claims. As an umbrella body, we would summarise what we are doing in terms of insurance claims payment later.”
Also, Chairman, NIA, Ganiyu Musa, said about 2,000 insured businesses were affected by the violence. He said insurance operators were still collating claims, stressing that every genuine claim would be settled.
Recent figures show 25 insurance firms have recorded claims totalling N20.4 billion from losses that emanated from the #EndSARS protests, while the companies have set aside a reserve of N13.2 billion to settle the claims.
The NIA DG added: “Out of a total of 1,661 claims that we have received, 143 have been fully settled; a total of N105 million claims had been paid; 539 claimants are yet to substantiate their claims with the necessary documents; seven claims were repudiated because they were not covered by any of the policies; while 972 claims are going to be settled.”
Out of the number of claims received, 667 of the claimants were from Lagos.
On the development of insurance schemes to address impacts of social unrests, stakeholders urged underwriting firms to extend their comprehensive policies to cover high risks such as storms, earthquakes, arson, and mass destruction emanating from social unrest, for them to meet the N1 trillion premium income target and contribute immensely to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the economy.
The experts, who spoke with The Guardian, are of the opinion that only four per cent of first-tier insurers can afford special insurance products against such loss.
Executive Brand Management and Corporate Communications/Customer Engagement, Social Media Campaign, International Energy Insurance Plc, Tamuno Kari, described social unrest as a business risk that business owners are concerned about, especially underwriting firms that bear losses that emanate from such situations.
According to Kari, the implication to the industry is that some insurance companies provide in their comprehensive policies against fire, earthquake, storms and vandalism as a result of public unrest, even though, the rates charged for such policies are much higher than regular comprehensive policies against fire, road accidents, burglary, and theft.
“The situation of the Nigerian economy, which has dictated low disposable income has made insurance companies in the country to play safe by not extending their comprehensive policies to cover high risks such as storms, earthquakes, others emanating from social unrest,” he stated.
The Independent Director, Saham Unitrust Insurance Co. Limited, Adebayo Adeleke, told The Guardian that social unrest is manifested in mob action with its attendant destruction, looting, vandalisation, among others.
“The implication for insurance companies is a huge claim payout where affected persons or businesses are insured. Insurance exists as underwriters of risk. Where and when the risk crystallises, the insurance is duty-bound to pay the insured to offset losses incurred by the insured.
“The industry has several products that cater to various categories of risk. The culture of insurance is just growing especially amongst the masses. Religious beliefs have held many people back from facing the reality that the unexpected does happen,” he stated.
From currency pressure to increased prices in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)/cooking gas and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel, Nigeria’s core inflation remains high and reflecting in other commodities.
Although the economy witnessed an incremental deceleration in inflation over the last couple of months, high inflationary pressures remain a major concern to stakeholders in the Nigeria economy.
At about $85 a barrel, Nigeria is yet to witness the impact of the improved earnings from crude oil on its external reserves, alongside rising subsidy payments.
With a proposal to remove both electricity and fuel subsidies by 2022, there are concerns about how to implement the proposals quietly without creating uproar from labour unions and citizens, an example being a slight electricity tariff adjustment implemented quietly last week without notifying consumers.
With the international oil benchmark, Brent crude, at $84.86 per barrel, the landing cost of imported petrol is expected to increase, spiking the pump price of petrol.
The price of diesel has already skyrocketed beyond N330 per litre, an indication that may further worsen the plight of local manufacturers and businesses that largely rely on the product for power generation in the face of erratic power supply in the country.
Amid plans to increase electricity tariff from January as part of the implementation of the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO), stakeholders are worried about increase in prices of goods and services, high inflation, foreign exchange challenges as well as poverty surge.
Though Nigeria’s headline inflation in the month of September 2021 dropped further to 16.63 per cent compared to 17.01 per cent recorded in the previous month, a decline described by the Statistician-General of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Simon Harry, as reflective of government’s intervention, rising food prices appeared to have defied all odds going by the steep rise in many basic commodities, month-on-month.
Specifically, core inflation reversed the moderation witnessed in August as it increased by 47bps to 1.24 per cent month-on-month in September in line with the increase in the prices of energy and household appliances.
“Our sole responsibility is in terms of producing the data that concerns some of these developments. It is not our responsibility to formulate policies that will control some of these negative happenings.”
“We go beyond our responsibility to identify some factors responsible for some of these problems and then present them to the policymakers and advise them to come out with policies to help strengthen the system so we have a better system,” Harry added.
However, an economist and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, said many investors and state governments were yet to recover from the destruction of public facilities and businesses during the #EndSARS protest in October 2020, adding that the economic implication of the protest was enormous due to the wanton destruction of public and private property after it was hijacked by hoodlums.
He noted that the way forward was for government at all levels to strengthen engagements with citizens. “These were complaints that had been on for a number of years and because these complaints were not addressed, it eventually led to an implosion.
“When people have grievances and those grievances are not addressed promptly, it leads to an accumulation of anger, and any little trigger can cause chaos.”
There are indications that the Economic and Crimes Commission has commenced investigations into the alleged tax evasion by some Nigerians named in the Pandora Papers.
It was gathered that a former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has already been summoned for questioning by the commission over his secret assets and financial deals exposed in the Pandora Papers.
Apart from Obi, the acting Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Mohammed Bello-Koko; and a former minister and serving senator, Stella Oduah, mentioned in the report are also being probed.
Others include Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State as well as his associates including former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun.
Children of a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), were also said to have engaged in offshore deals.
Pandora Papers is the biggest leak of 11.9 million documents from offshore services providers, detailing the secret offshore accounts of 35 world leaders, including current and former presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state as well as celebrities.
The EFCC was said to have asked Obi to report at the agency’s Abuja headquarters on October 27 for questioning following revelations that he incorporated offshore holdings, which he did not declare to the Code of Conduct Bureau when he served as a governor, apart from allegedly operating foreign accounts and hiding his wealth in tax havens to evade taxes.
PremiumTimes, which has been publishing the Pandora Papers, said Obi and others were being investigated for tax evasion.
The EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said he had not been briefed on the investigations.
Obi did not respond to calls on Sunday and he had yet to reply a text message sent to his phone as of the time of filing this report.
The United Front (TUF), a group within the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday alleged that a former governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun is fuelling crisis in the Oyo State chapter of the party.
The group alleged that Amosun is working hard to hijack the party’s structure in Oyo.
TUF, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders of the party to intervene and stop Amosun from causing more crises in the party.
The group stated this in a statement made available to newsmen in Ibadan on Sunday.
It accused Amosun of sponsoring members of the Unity Forum in the state, which include Prof. Adeolu Akande, Alhaji Fatai Ibikunle, Bayo Shittu, Dr. Ismail Adewusi to divide the party.
“Amosun takes absolute delight in the fragmentation of Oyo APC for the purpose of extending the web of schism he established in Ogun APC to other parts of the South-West. His divisive ego-trip in Oyo State can be traced to the build-up to the 2019 elections when he extensively bankrolled Unity Forum to tear the fabrics of the party’s wholeness apart – a move that triggered the inevitable lacklustre performance of the party in the gubernatorial polls.
“When Oyo APC restricted his petulant kicks aimed at opening cracks in the party’s leadership, Amosun later established a strong foothold in the ADC along with his bedfellows in the Unity Forum to scuttle the chances of his own party. It is on record that he channelled a large junk of Ogun State resources to finance the mobilisation and campaigns of ADC candidate, Senator Femi Lanlehin. However, his dream to glide ADC to power was built on illusionary hopes, as the party fell flat in the senatorial election which made Amosun’s camp to become completely rattled. With no other options up his sleeves, he lent formidable support to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Engr Seyi Makinde,” the statement reads in part.
The group also alleged that Amosun had given out a huge amount of money to Unity Forum to allow them to take over the party.
It said, “Recently Amosun’s political hatchet men have returned to the drawing board with a view to sowing seeds of discord among the age-long party faithful. It has been revealed that the former governor has released up to 200
Million Naira to the likes of Prof. Adeolu Akande, Alhaji Fatai Ibikunle, Barr. Shittu, Senator Ayo Adeseun, and Dr. Ismail Adewusi with a mandate to either take over the party structure in the state or cause endless crises that will mar the chances of the party in the 2023 elections.”
The group while recalling the role played by the former governor during the 2019 general elections in Ogun State said, “Amosun has consistently shown, with his divisive inclination and high-handedness that he lacks the requisites expected of managing a party even at the ward level. We can’t forget in a hurry how he almost succeeded in running Ogun APC into a state of inoperable rigidity, as he openly backed Adekunle Akinlade of APM in the 2019 gubernatorial polls. His eyes are kept on devising the same template in Oyo State.
“We hereby appeal to our revered leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) and all esteemed leaders of APC in the South-West to look critically into all contentious issues in Oyo APC and prioritise oneness of all party members. Oyo APC might start swinging in a downward spiral unless the likes of Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Prof. Adeolu Akande, Barr. Bayo Shittu, Alhaji Fatai Ibikunle, Dr. Adewusi, Sen. Adeseun, Senator Akanbi and other divisive elements are made to sit out of the party’s affairs.”
The group also urged the APC CECPC to investigate the alleged forgery of sensitive documents by some party chieftains in Oyo State, which led to the postponement of the October 16 state congress in the state.
“APC CECPC must investigate the matter with a view to bringing the erring members of the party to book. Punishment of the fraudulent members will serve as a deterrent,” the statement concluded.
The United States said Friday it has offered to pay unspecified compensation to relatives of 10 people in Afghanistan including seven children who were killed by mistake in a US drone strike as American forces were completing their withdrawal.
In a statement the Pentagon also said it was working with the State Department to relocate to the United States any of those relatives who wish to leave Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
The offer to pay these people was made Thursday in a meeting between Colin Kahl, the under secretary of defense for policy, and Steven Kwon, the founder and president of an aid group active in Afghanistan called Nutrition and Education International, the Pentagon said in a statement.
That organization employed Ezmarai Ahmadi, who was wrongly identified as an Islamic State militant by US intelligence on August 29 during the final days of the chaotic US evacuation from Kabul.
US intelligence tracked his white Toyota for eight hours before targeting the car with a missile, killing seven children and three adults, including Ahmadi.
US Central Command commander General Kenneth McKenzie said at the time that American intelligence had seen the vehicle at a site in Kabul that had been identified as a location from which IS operatives were believed to be preparing attacks on the Kabul airport.
Three days earlier an Islamic State-Khorasan suicide bomber had killed scores at the airport, including 13 US service members.
But last month US officials conceded the drone attack was an error.
In the meeting Thursday “Dr. Kahl noted that the strike was a tragic mistake and that Mr. Ezmarai Ahmadi and others who were killed were innocent victims who bore no blame and were not affiliated with ISIS-K or threats to US forces,” said a statement attributed to Defense Department spokesman John Kirby.
“Dr. Kahl reiterated Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s commitment to the families, including offering ex gratia condolence payments,” he added without saying how much money was offered.
Last month relatives of the people killed in the attack demanded compensation and a face to face apology.
Austin has apologized for the botched attack. However, Ahmadi’s 22-year-old nephew Farshad Haidari said that was not enough.
“They must come here and apologize to us face-to-face,” he told AFP in a bombed-out, modest house in Kwaja Burga, a densely populated neighborhood in Kabul.
Haidari, whose brother Naser and young cousins also died in the blast, said on September 18 that the US had made no direct contact with the family.
In the meeting Thursday NEI chief Kwon spoke of how Ahmadi worked with that aid organization “over many years, providing care and lifesaving assistance for people facing high mortality rates in Afghanistan.”
The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), in partnership with some other bodies will hold a lecture and public presentation in commemoration of the first anniversary of #EndSARS protest on Tuesday.
The lecture and public presentation, in partnership with Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria, National Consultative Front (NCF), PLAYYA and MILID Foundation, will also be about Remaking Nigeria: Sixty Years, Sixty Voices – a book of sixty essays by sixty young Nigerians which salutes sixty years of Nigeria’s independence and points the way towards a better country.
Chido Onumah, Coordinator of AFRICMIL disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, according to SaharaReporters.
According to the statement, the event, which will start at 10am at NECA House, Hakeem Balogun Way, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, is themed: “One Year After #EndSARS, 35 Years After Dele Giwa and the Quest to Remake Nigeria.”
The #EndSARS advocacy made global headlines last October when young Nigerians across the country and in major cities around the world embarked on protests against persistent brutality and rights violations by the Nigeria Police Force.
“One year after the protests and the reprehensible violent response by the Nigerian Army which led to the death of unarmed protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, it is important to cast a critical eye on that incident and see what lessons have been learnt and what needs to be done going forward,” Onumah said in the statement on behalf of the group.
Significantly, the first-year remembrance of these protests coincides with the 35th anniversary of the murder via letter bomb of the celebrated journalist, Dele Giwa, editor-in-chief of Newswatch magazine.
“It is a measure of the acute dysfunction of the Nigerian state that till date, no one has been arrested let alone brought to trial for this heinous crime,” Onumah noted.
The statement further read, “All of this and more including the rise of separatist agitations which has fuelled the search for a new direction for the country will be dissected at this event which will be chaired by renowned public intellectual, Prof. Pat Utomi.
“The keynote speaker is the irrepressible human rights lawyer and social crusader, Femi Falana. Other speakers include Richard Akinnola, journalist and executive director, Centre for Free Speech (CFS); Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, founding director, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre; and Lanre Arogundade, journalist and executive director, International Press Centre (IPC).
“On hand also is a panel of discussants featuring Motunrayo Alaka, Olanrewaju Ogunmefun (Vector), Inibehe Effiong, Rasheedat Adeshina and Femi Adeyeye. Moderator is Anike-Ade Funke Treasure.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission has advised female voters in Anambra to avoid using makeup during the November 6 governorship election in the state.
The commission said the advice becomes necessary because of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System the agency would deploy to capture voters’ faces during the poll.
The INEC State Deputy Director, Gender Desk, Chika Osuji stated this in Awka, Anambra State at a voters’ education and sensitisation forum for Persons With Disabilities And Women’s groups.
The programme was organised by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, United States Agency for International Development and the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening.
Osuji, said “The BVAS will be used during the Anambra gubernatorial election to enable voters to use their fingerprints during accreditation at the polling units.
“I know many women may not be able to engage makeup artists due to restriction of movements; but for those who can’t do without makeups, we appeal to you to minimise the level of the painting. If we can’t read your fingerprints we can read your face, and if we cannot read your face, you are not a registered voter, and we will not allow you to participate.”
A couple is currently seeking the dissolution of their 10-year-old marriage before an Ikeja High Court in Lagos. This is on account of a bottle of ‘holy water’ the wife brought into the house without her husband’s approval.
The aggrieved husband, Olaniyi Oluwaseun Oladepo, is asking Justice Christopher Balogun to dissolve his marriage with his wife, Adeyinka, claiming that he was provoked to violence over the strange prayer-water, which the wife brought into her matrimonial home without his knowledge.
Oladepo has since left his matrimonial home, maintaining that his life is under threat and as he was being provoked, he would not want to do something he might later regret.
The petitioner, Oladepo, in his explanation on why he wanted the court to dissolve the marriage, narrated to Justice Balogun that he left his home because he was incited to aggression. He accused his wife of being fetish.
He said: “I feel threatened. I was being provoked to violence, but I left the house. I saw a liquid content in the house.”
Responding to the allegation, Mrs. Oladepo said they got married in October 15, 2011. “We have two children who are five and seven years old.”
She explained that her husband told her in 2015 that they were no longer compatible. “My mother brought holy water she collected at a Catholic Church programme. And I only collected the water; I have not used it for anything. I travelled from work and upon returning home, I discovered that my husband had absconded. He left our matrimonial home.”
The judge adjourned further hearing of the matter.
IN another development, a Protocol Officer of a company, Mrs. Adeyinka Olasunbo Raheem, has told a court that her eight-year-old marriage has broken down irretrievably. She asked the court to dissolve the marriage over allegation that her husband is a womaniser.
In her testimony before the court, she said they got married at the Ikeja Marriage Registry on September 20, 2013, and that they lived at No 12, Sunday Agbedo Street, Park View Estate, Ikoyi, where both cohabitated for over two years. She, however, explained that the problem started, when her husband started bringing another woman to their matrimonial home.
She said: “My relationship with my husband was not cordial at all. I had given birth to a baby boy and that was what bonded our relationship. He used to bring different women to our matrimonial home. Whenever I complained, he would place himself on permanent night shift in his work place.
“In 2016, he called me that he did not want to waste my time. So, I left our matrimonial home on August 7, 2018 and enrolled my son in a popular school in Surulere. I want the court to dissolve the marriage and give me custody of the boy, but he (husband) should be responsible for the child’s maintenance and welfare.”
She confirmed under cross-examination that the relationship was not cordial before the court adjourned further hearing till November 6, 2021.
President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday condemned as “inexcusable” a deadly crackdown by Paris Police on a 1961 protest by Algerians, the scale of which was covered up for decades by French authorities.
Macron told relatives and activists on the 60th anniversary of the bloodshed that “crimes” were committed on the night of October 17, 1961, under the command of the notorious Paris Police Chief, Maurice Papon.
He acknowledged several dozen protesters were killed, “their bodies thrown into the River Seine” and paid tribute to the memory of the victims.
The precise number of victims has never been made clear and some activists fear several hundred people could have been killed.
Police attacked the demonstration by 25,000 pro-National Liberation Front (FLN) Algerians protesting against a curfew imposed on Algerians.
The march was repressed “brutally, violently and in blood”, Macron’s office said in a statement.
Macron “recognised the facts: that the crimes committed that night under Maurice Papon are inexcusable for the Republic”, the Elysee said.
“This tragedy was long hushed up, denied or concealed,” it added.
The rally was called in the final year of France’s increasingly violent attempt to retain Algeria as a North African colony, and in the middle of a bombing campaign targeting mainland France by pro-independence fighters.
Papon was in the 1980s revealed to have been a collaborator with the occupying Nazis in World War II and complicit in the deportation of Jews. He was convicted of crimes against humanity but later released.
‘Much Further’
Macron, the first French president to attend a memorial ceremony for those killed, observed a minute of silence in their memory at the Bezons bridge over the Seine on the outskirts of Paris where the protest started.
His comments that crimes were committed went further than predecessor Francois Hollande, who acknowledged in 2012 the protesting Algerians had been “killed during a bloody repression”.
However, as expected, he did not issue a formal apology. He also did not give a public speech with the Elysee issuing only the written statement.
The President, France’s first leader born after the colonial era, has made a priority of historical reconciliation and forging a modern relationship with former colonies.
But Macron, who is expected to seek re-election next year, is wary about provoking a backlash from political opponents.
His far-right electoral opponents, nationalists Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour, are outspoken critics of efforts to acknowledge or show repentance for past crimes.
Historian Emmanuel Blanchard told the AFP news agency that Macron’s comments represented “progress” and had gone “much further” than those made by Hollande in 2012.
But he took issue with the decision to pin responsibility on Papon alone, saying then-Prime Minister Michel Debre and President Charles de Gaulle had not been held to account over the ensuing cover-up or the fact Papon would remain Paris police chief until 1967.
‘Looking With Lucidity’
The 1961 protests were called in response to a strict curfew imposed on Algerians to prevent the underground FLN resistance movement from collecting funds following a spate of deadly attacks on French police officers.
Some of the worst violence occurred on the Saint Michel bridge near the Notre-Dame cathedral where witnesses reported seeing police throwing Algerians into the River Seine where an unknown number drowned.
The Police arrested about 12,000 Algerians, beat several to death and shot others at the time.
Macron’s comments come during an ongoing diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers fuelled by comments attributed to the president describing the country as ruled by a “political-military system” that had “totally re-written” its history.
A report commissioned by the president from historian Benjamin Stora earlier this year urged a truth commission over the Algerian war but Macron ruled out issuing any official apology.
Another historical commission set up by Macron also found that France had overwhelming responsibilities over the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in a finding that has led to a certain thawing in ties between Paris and Kigali.
“France is looking at all its history with lucidity and recognises responsibilities that have been clearly established,” the Elysee said.
