exodus

Doug Bledsoe has made the rounds as a high school football coach. He’s been head coach at North Hollywood, Dorsey, Pasadena and University. He says his latest coaching position will be his last until his 3-year-old grandson reaches high school.

It’s going to be his most challenging, trying to rebuild a Narbonne program that once again had an exodus of players and coaches after rule violations caused the City Section to impose a three-year playoff ban and make the program vacate its City title. This also happened in 2019 and the team dropped to 2-9 during a similar transition year in 2021.

Bledsoe insists, “The Narbonne Gauchos ain’t dead.”

He has four returning all-league players, including King’leon Sheard, a defensive end who had two sacks in last season’s City Section Open Division final won by the Gauchos. They chose to stay even though there will be no playoffs when the 10-game regular season ends.

“They love the school,” Bledsoe said. “We told them what we could do for them.”

There’s about 30 varsity players. Bledsoe is confident he and his staff can prepare his many new varsity players for the season ahead. Playing 10 games will be better than the eight games played last season when Marine League coaches boycotted playing the Gauchos, resulting in the loss of four games.

A new coach and a new principal give the Gauchos a chance to start over. The harsh penalty imposed also could be reduced with good behavior. One sign of the dramatic change in a year’s time is that the Gauchos had 27 transfers in the football program a year ago. There are currently none in the City Section transfer portal for this season.

The starting quarterback will be basketball point guard Quamare Meadows, who was the JV quarterback two seasons ago but didn’t play last season.

Narbonne opens on the road against Los Osos on Aug. 22. It will play its first league game in two seasons against runner-up San Pedro on Oct. 3.

Since late 2019, families fleeing relentless violence in eastern Sokoto in Nigeria’s northwestern region have poured into the Guidan Roumdji Department of the Republic of Niger, carrying little more than the trauma of survival. Sabon Birni, a once-thriving community built on agriculture and livestock trading, has now become synonymous with terrorist raids, extortions, displacement, and despair.

“On the fateful day of May 27, 2020, our community came under brutal attack by armed groups,” recalled Malam Sani Manomi, a refugee from the community. “Many were killed, and the rest of us fled to neighbouring communities of Guidan Roumdji, Niger Republic.”

Sabon Birni Local Government Area (LGA), bordered to the north by the Republic of Niger and flanked by Isa LGA to the east, has devolved into a conflict hotspot. Once known for its Gobirawa heritage and cross-border kinship with Nigerien communities, the area is now fractured by fear. Armed groups and terrorists, operating with impunity, have rendered nine of the LGAs’ ten wards inaccessible.

Just across the border, Guidan Roumdji, an arrondissement in Niger’s Maradi Region, has served as a sanctuary. Its deep ethnic and historical ties to Sabon Birni, especially among the Gobirawa, have made it a natural destination for fleeing families from not only Sabon Birni but also other areas of Sokoto, Zamfara, and Katsina States.

“Guidan Roumdji is like a continuation of Sabon Birni,” said a local chief who asked not to be named. “The same people, the same roots, divided only by a line on the map.”

From peace to panic

Sabon Birni’s slide into chaos has been swift and brutal. Proximity to Zamfara, a notorious hub for non-state armed groups, has exposed it to the spillover of violence. Between 2019 and 2025, communities have endured waves of killings, mass abductions, sexual violence, and the destruction of schools, clinics, and farms.

Extortion has become a daily reality. “Bandits impose ‘life’ and ‘farming’ taxes,” said one resident. “If you don’t pay, you can’t live or work.”

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that between May 2023 and April 2024, a staggering ₦1.2 trillion was paid in ransom from the North-West region. In Sabon Birni alone, reports from the Gobir Development Association indicate that over ₦160 billion was paid in ransom and protection levies between 2019 and 2024. An estimated 600,000 cattle and five million small ruminants have been rustled, while vast areas of farmland remain inaccessible.

Earlier, in July 2024, armed assailants stormed the Tsamaye community, killing people and abducting 20 others, including children. “They killed two persons and kidnapped 18 women and 2 men,” said the village head of Tsamaye.

In December, the Dan Tudu and Kwaren Gamba communities were targeted in a violent attack that left many people dead. Several men and women were abducted during the incident. 

“They rustle our livestock, rape our wives, abduct our children, and threaten anyone who speaks to the authorities,” an eyewitness of Kwaren Gamba attack said. “We live in silence, or we die.”

As attacks continue in the North West, communities remain displaced. Fearing attacks or oppressive demands from armed actors, thousands of Sabon Birni residents continue to flee to safer communities in Guidan Roumdji, leaving behind homes and livelihoods. 

Migration as survival

What began as a trickle of desperate families in 2019 has become a steady, tragic flow. By mid-2020, the UNHCR and Niger’s National Eligibility Commission had biometrically registered over 40,000 refugees in Guidan Roumdji. Tens of thousands more remain unregistered, spread across Niger’s southern regions.

“There are more Nigerians here than those officially registered,” said Hamidou, a resident of Tibiri. “They’ve scattered across communes, many are undocumented, unseen by any government.”

A turning point came on May 27, 2020, when coordinated attacks on Garki, Dan-Aduwa, Masawa, Katuma, and Kuzari districts left 74 dead and thousands displaced. The refugee population in Guidan Roumdji surged, with many settling in Tudun Sunnah village.

Describing the harrowing journey to safety, Manomi said they travelled on foot through informal routes, including Maiwa, Garin Bage, Son Allah, and the Burkusuma forest. Along the way, they learnt that similar assaults had been carried out on other communities. “While fleeing through the forest, we crossed paths with residents of Dan-Aduwa, Masawa, Katuma, and Kuzari, all desperate to survive,” he said.

Manomi’s wife, Kulu, described the journey as tragic and defined by sheer luck.

“On that day, we had no choice but to leave Garki. They burned houses and killed without mercy. We fled with nothing but the clothes on our backs, leaving our farmland behind. We trekked for hours through the bush, avoiding the roads for fear of ambush. My children cried from hunger and fear. There were moments when we thought we wouldn’t survive.”

The trend reflects the growing humanitarian crisis in many rural communities of northwestern Nigeria.

According to Manomi, their arrival in Tudun Sunnah village of Guidan Roumdji brought no relief, as they encountered scores of displaced people from rural areas of Zamfara, Katsina, and the Isa LGA of Sokoto State. “It was terrible,” he said. “People were pouring in from everywhere, escaping the violence that had consumed their villages.”

Hardship and hope in exile

Life in exile is marked by struggle. Refugees live in makeshift huts or open fields, surviving on meagre incomes from blacksmithing, petty trade, or subsistence labour. Healthcare is scarce, and disease outbreaks, including cholera, are common.

“Even here, life is tough,” said Sama’ila Mamadou, 61, who fled Dankware. “But it’s better than being killed back home.”

“When we finally reached Tudun Sunnah, we found hundreds of other refugees,” Kulu recalled. “We had no shelter, no food; only our lives. Now, we live in a makeshift camp in a nearby hamlet, sharing cramped conditions with many others who fled like us. Every day is a struggle. My husband now works as a manual labourer just to keep us going. But at least we are alive. I pray for peace, so we can return home.”

Local officials describe the living conditions as “pathetic.” Aminu Boza, a lawmaker from Sabon Birni, says he has distributed food and basic supplies out of his own pocket. “No shelter, no medicine, no toilets—an epidemic is just one rainstorm away,” he warned.

A patchwork of relief

While conditions remain harsh, there have been glimmers of support. The Nigerien government, in collaboration with UNHCR, Nigeria’s NEMA, and authorities in Sokoto, established “villages of opportunity,” — Dan Dadji Makaou, Garin Kaka, and Chadakori, for registered refugees from across the northwestern states. These camps in the aforementioned communities offer better security and more structured aid.

Yet most displaced persons remain outside this system. In towns like Tsouloulou, grassroots generosity by host communities sustains the newcomers. “People gave the little they have, such as clothes, maize, millet,” said Hussaini Shuaibu, a civil servant.

Wealthy individuals have also stepped in. Alhaji Umar Ajiya Isa donated trailers of food; Alhaji Mukhtar Shehu Shagari distributed rice and essentials.

“Since we arrived here in Tudun Sunnah, no institution or individual has given us any form of assistance,” said Manomi.

Resilience in ruins

Despite the hardship, many refugees are rebuilding. Women run food stalls, men farm on borrowed land, and youth repair phones or sell tailoring services. “We may not have much,” said Sama’ila Mamadou, a migrant from the Dankware community, “but we have each other. And we are trying.”

Back home, the attacks continue. In July 2024, Sarkin Gobir of Gatawa District, Alhaji Isa Bawa, was kidnapped and later died in captivity. The following days saw the abduction of over 150 residents. Between August and December, assaults intensified across Dan Tudu, Kwaren Gamba, and other villages.

A witness described one harrowing night: “Gunmen stormed our village, and a bride and her bridesmaids were kidnapped. We couldn’t stop them, we were helpless.”

By May 2025, attacks by the infamous Bello Turji drove thousands more from Gatawa District. Return is no longer a viable option.

“They tell us, ‘We cannot go back to a place where human life is worthless,’” said Ibrahim Maigari, a chief in Guidan Roumdji.

Future in Limbo

Most Sabon Birni refugees in Niger are unregistered, without access to education, healthcare, or legal protection. Insecurity, hunger, and disease continue to stalk them.

Calls for intervention are growing louder. “We need more than emergency aid,” said Boza. “We need security, justice, and a path back home.”

For now, however, hope clings to the resilience of the displaced.

The 1975 took to the Pyramid Stage at Worthy Farm as the first headline act at Glastonbury 2025 earlier tonight, with Matty Healy and his bandmates back at the festival

The crowd for the 1975‘s headline set at Glastonbury has been described as “surprisingly sparse” by one festivalgoer this evening. The rock band, which is fronted by singer Matty Healy, were on the main stage at the music festival.

The 1975, consisting of Matty, Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald and George Daniel, took to the Pyramid Stage for their set. The band are the first headline act of the weekend, with Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo headlining at Worthy Farm in Somerset on Saturday and Sunday night respectively.

A source at the festival told the Mirror that the crowd was “surprisingly sparse” for the 1975’s headline set though. They said that the audiences were bigger for Lewis Capaldi and CMAT, who performed on the stage earlier in the day. Some people were heard saying the band wasn’t their vibe before moving away from the stage.

Matty, 36, and his bandmates opened their set tonight with their song Happiness. The the Brit Award winning band’s setlist for Glastonbury later included singles like Chocolate, as well as other tracks such as Love Me and Paris.

The staging for the set included occasional strobe lighting and various graphics on screen behind the band. A car was also visible on stage at one point, with lead singer Matty opening the song Somebody Else whilst sat inside it.

Viewers on BBC iPlayer had faced issues at times when the 1975 performed at Worthy Farm tonight. Despite the suggestion that the crowd was “sparse,” many fans were seen in the audience and cheers were heard during the set.

Fans shared their thoughts on the band during their set. One person wrote on X: “The 1975 are brilliant. I’m a fan.” Sharing their support, another viewer commented: “Matty Healy and the 1975, definitely do it for me, never disappoints.”

One fan wrote: “The 1975 at #Glastonbury has to go down as one of the greatest sets of all time. No debate.” Another said: “The 1975 set list tonight has been INSANE, if you are at #Glastonbury tonight i hope you’re appreciating this.”

Someone wrote: “The 1975 your smashing it as always. Great band live. Wish I was at Glastonbury.” Whilst another fan reacted after the performance: “The 1975 were incredible, amazing set, loved it alot!”

Not everyone was impressed with the set though. One person instead reacted: “The 1975 must be one of the most boring bands to headline Glasto in a long time.” Someone else said: “Seriously what’s all this hype about the 1975?”

Sharing their thoughts on the platform, another viewer commented during the headline set: “Absolute garbage from the 1975.” Whilst one person said: “I just don’t get The 1975.”

Another wrote: “That lead fella from the 1975 is insufferable isn’t he? Some bangers mind.” One person wrote: “I haven’t tweeted in over a year. However, I had to get this off my chest. The 1975 are shite and Matty Healy is insufferable. He’s trying his hardest to look like he’s a genuine rock star. They were never Glastonbury headliners and they’ve just proved us all right.”

Prior to the 1975’s performance this evening, a source told the Mirror that the band “pulled out all the stops” for their set. The source said: “Everyone was so blown away that Matty, Ross, George and Adam were headlining, but it’s no surprise given how loved they are universally.”

The source added: “They’ve played Glastonbury before, but this is the boys at their very best and then some. They’re one of the biggest bands in the world, and their tours sell out almost instantly, but to see them on the Pyramid Stage in the headline slot, nobody could have expected this.”

It was teased that fans could “expect a few surprises” during their set at Glastonbury this year. The source had told us: “Everyone behind the scenes has worked so hard to pull out all the stops – fans should expect a few surprises.”

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