African press review 21 May 2015

More than 500 pending cases in Nigeria's military courts, the South African government's U-turn on Gauteng's toll road system, East Africa as the hub for illegal wildlife trade on the continent and Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor make headlines Thursday.

Punch says the Nigerian Army is prosecuting a total of 579 officers and soldiers for offences ranging from professional misconduct and indiscipline to deserting in the Armed Forces.

The Army's public relations man, Colonel Sani Usman, unveiled the astonishing figure in a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.

He didn't however say how many suspects were officers and how many were rank and file. But it is believed there is a high number of commissioned officers among the lot.

The soldiers are being tried at two courts martial - one in Abuja, the other in Lagos

The number of trials highlights the pressures faced by the Nigerian military - low moral, claims of bad discipline, poor equipment and empty stomachs - in the face of Boko Haram's insurgency in the north.

Reports of soldiers dropping their guns and simply running are not uncommon.

Analysts say that the country's army is not up to the job and that recent victories against the extremist Islamists are largely thanks to support from neighbouring countries such as Cameroon and Chad.

In Uganda the Daily Monitor says East Africa tops all the regions of the continent when it comes to facilitating illegal wildlife trade. More than 41.6 tonnes of illicit ivory were seized last year alone.

And according to the head of Uganda's Revenue Authority, Doris Akol, "the seizures represent unprecedented increases over previous years, mirroring heightened rates of elephant poaching throughout Africa.”

Uganda' Wildlife Authority is now calling for airports and border entry points to be kitted out with scanners to detect illegaly poached products.

This news comes as the northern white rhino in neighbouring South Sudan has been poached down to the very last male in the entire sub-species. If he failes to sucessfully mate with one of the handful of remaining females, they will become the latest victim of the illicit trade.

South Africa's Business Day reports on some welcome news for motorists in Gauteng. Fees for the country's hugely unpopular e-toll system are to be cut in half.

There were massive protests when the scheme was rolled out in 2013 with drivers saying the tolls were simply unaffordable.

Two years later a report from the Gauteng government has come to the same conclusion.

Monthly fees will now be reduced from 34 euros to 17 euros for cars.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement on Wednesday of a new hybrid model for e-tolls that cuts the price of travel with only part of the funding coming from charges to motorists passing under automated gantries.

In the sports pages of Nigeria's Vanguard comes more news from the Togolese footballer Emmanuel Adebayor.

Earlier this month Adebayor went public with family problems (which are affecting his career) to highlight how complicated a rags to riches story can be. He says he has contemplated suicide on many occasions.

Adebayor says his mother is obsessed with money and his brothers were kleptomaniacs.

The Tottenham striker claimed Wednesday on Facebook that his brothers had held a knife to his throat when he played for Monaco because they wanted cash.

Adebayor describes how he woke up to find his siblings, Kola and Peter, standing over him at his apartment in the French Riviera.

Peter died in 2013 and Adebayor says Kola accuses him of his death.

The woes of Adebayor's family life have put a halt to his playing career which last year saw him earn in excess of 6 million euros.