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Friday 25 March 2022

‘I have two wombs, two cervixes and two vaginas’

 


“My name is Elizabeth Amoaa – the woman with two wombs, two cervixes and two vagina canals,” a 38-year-old Ghanaian tells BBC Pidgin’s Favour Nunoo in Accra.


Her tone is almost defiant as she explains how she has struggled with an unusual medical condition.

It was not until she was 32 that doctors figured out what was wrong with her.

Now based in the UK, Ms Amoaa says she spent years with crippling stomach pain that often stopped her being able to work before she was diagnosed with uterus didelphys – sometimes called double uterus, a rare congenital abnormality.

She even became pregnant and gave birth prematurely to a daughter in 2010 without being diagnosed. She was still having periods while she was pregnant as the foetus was growing in her healthier right womb.

“I can be pregnant in my right womb and still have my menstrual periods through my left. This is why when I was pregnant with my daughter I was seeing blood,” she told our reporter.

After multiple surgeries, scans and medication, she finally understood what was happening with her body in 2015.

Ms Amoaa now wants the world to know about her plight, so other women do not have to suffer.

She faced a backlash when she first went public on a Ghanaian radio station talking about her condition, but is determined to educate people.

She has set up a charity called Specially Awareness and written a book, published last November, about her experience.

“My advice to women going through my kind of condition is: do not keep quiet; do not suffer in silence; seek early diagnosis and appropriate treatment – and remember, you are special,” she

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Nigerian widows lose execution case against Shell



A court in the Netherlands has ruled against four Nigerian widows in their lawsuit against oil giant Shell over the execution of their husbands by Nigeria’s military government in 1995.


The men had been part of a group of nine activists involved in peaceful protests against pollution caused by oil leaks in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta. Best known among them was author Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Ken Saro-Wiwa
Ken Saro-Wiwa (pictured) was among nine activists executed by the military government in 1995Image caption: Ken Saro-Wiwa (pictured) was among nine activists executed by the military government in 1995

Dubbed the “Ogoni nine”, they were hanged after a secret trial which saw them being convicted of murdering four traditional leaders. They denied the charge, saying they had been framed.

The judges in The Hague said there was not enough evidence to support the widows’ claim that Shell had been involved in bribing witnesses whose testimony contributed to their conviction.

Two of the widows – Victoria Bera and Esther Kioble – were in court for the ruling, reports the BBC’s Anna Holligan from The Hague.

They had sat patiently in the front row – waiting almost three decades for justice.

Outside the courtroom Ms Kioble told the BBC she was happy her voice had been heard. She had testified in court in 2019, explaining how her husband death had left her traumatized.

She told Reuters she aimed to appeal: “I want their names exonerated. That’s what I want and that’s what I’m fighting for.”

Ms Bera said she would continue to fight the Ogoni people’s battle against oil pollution.

Shell paid out more than $15m (£11.4m) to the dead men’s families in 2009 without acknowledging any wrong doin.Victoria Bera pictured in 2019

Victoria Bera said she would continue to fight against oil pollution

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Gridlock in Lagos after market fire under key bridge



A fire underneath one of the main bridges in Lagos has brought chaos to the Nigerian commercial hub.


All traffic has been re-routed from the Eko Bridge which links Lagos Island to the mainland – the result has been gridlock.

The head of the city’s fire services described the fire, which broke out in the early hours of Wednesday, as disastrous.

There have been no reports of casualties

The area under the bridge is home to hundreds of small stalls, many of which have been destroyed.

Scene of a fire under Eko Bridge in Lagos, Nigeria - 23 March 2022
The stalls under Ekko Bridge formed park of Apongbon market Image caption: The stalls under Ekko Bridge formed park of Apongbon market

Reports say there has been looting of merchandise and opportunistic thefts from cars stuck in traffic.

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Sudanese protester killed in anti-coup march

 A Sudanese protester was killed by security forces on Thursday during anti-coup demonstrations held across the country.



The death of the 28-year-old is the latest of the 90 people who have been killed since protests broke out against the country’s military rulers following the coup in October.

Protesters have remained undeterred despite heavy crackdown by the security forces.

On Thursday, thousands of demonstrators marching towards the presidential palace in the capital city Khartoum were met by gunfire and tear gas from security forces.

Several people were carried away bleeding, the Reuters news agency reported.

The protesters want the military to step down and to hand power over to a civilian government.

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