Axe-wielding men attack opposition campaign rally in Lagos

A group of armed men rushed a campaign event in Nigeria on Thursday, attacking journalists and supporters of opposition candidate Peter Obi at a political rally two months before the country's January 16, 2027, presidential election.

Videos uploaded to social media captured the mid-morning incident, showing men armed with axes, clubs and machetes barging into an event center in Lagos, where they attacked supporters of Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate Obi.

Supporters, who vowed they would not be intimidated, blamed the attack on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). APC spokesman Felix Morka rejected the claim, citing a lack of evidence.

The NDC has also accused the APC of being behind the forced cancellation of several of its campaign events, claiming the government of President Bola Tinubu is pressuring venue owners to turn them away.

Here, too, the government has denied the accusations.

Fighting spills into the street

Violence is a regular feature of Nigeria's elections and is often carried out by individuals colloquially referred to as "thugs."

Eyewitnesses on Thursday said the attackers, "came into the hall, [and] broke all the entrance doors and the glass walls."

"The NDC guys repelled them, chased them out of the hall into the road," one eyewitness added.

After that, the two groups engaged in pitched street battles for over an hour before police arrived on the scene and began firing tear gas to disperse them.

Security officials on the scene said they had not been on site to protect participants when the violence broke out because they had not been notified of the event.

Journalist attacked, robbed

A local journalist attacked in the melee described being hit with an axe as well as being punched and kicked before thugs made off with all of his equipment.

"I tried to resist, so they started attacking me" said Sam Adebanjo of the online outlet The Cable.

"I eventually yielded and surrendered the devices when one of them kept shouting, 'Leave the camera — do you want them to kill you?'"

Oil-rich Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, ranked 112 out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2026 World Press Freedom Index.

January's election will pit President Bola Tinubu, who is seeking his second term in office: against Obi, who placed third in the country's 2023 election; and Atiku Abubakar, who was runner-up in 2023.

Abubakar is facing legal challenges to his candidacy and accuses Tinubu's government of trying to push him out of the way with lawfare, a charge the APC also denies.

By Jon Shelton, AFP

Swiss woman evacuated from Nigeria discharged after recovery from ebola

The woman who tested positive for Ebola in Nigeria and was evacuated to Switzerland for treatment has been discharged from hospital after making a full recovery.

She was discharged from Geneva University Hospitals on Wednesday, after medical personnel confirmed her recovery, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting a statement from the hospital.

“After the medical team confirmed her full recovery, the cantonal physician authorised the patient being treated for Ebola virus disease to leave the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) on 11 November 2026,” the hospital said.

The Uganda-born woman and her husband, a Swiss diplomat, were evacuated from Nigeria to Switzerland on 26 October. Her evacuation was confirmed by the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate.

The patient had returned to Abuja from Uganda on 3 October. She developed symptoms days later and was admitted to a private health facility before the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) was notified. Laboratory tests confirmed the infection on 20 October.

Nigeria continues Ebola surveillance

The NCDC’s latest Ebola situation dashboard, updated on 12 November with data as of 11 November, lists one confirmed case, no deaths and seven negative cases.

It also shows that 62 contacts linked to the confirmed case have been identified. Of these, 52 have completed their mandatory 21-day follow-up, while 10 remain under monitoring.

The NCDC said its response includes contact tracing, investigation of reported alerts, laboratory testing, infection prevention and control measures, and surveillance at the country’s points of entry.

On 11 November, NCDC disclosed that Nigeria recorded no additional confirmed Ebola cases since the imported infection was confirmed.

The agency has urged healthcare workers to remain vigilant, ask patients about their travel and exposure histories, and promptly report suspected cases to public health authorities.

Regional outbreak continues

The situation in Nigeria is part of a wider outbreak of Bundibugyo virus disease affecting parts of Africa.

In its latest situation update published on 6 November, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the DRC had recorded 10,668 confirmed cases and 5,198 deaths as of 3 November, across 67 health zones in eight provinces.

Kenya had recorded nine confirmed cases and two deaths, while Nigeria had reported one imported case. WHO said there had been no new confirmed cases in Kenya or Nigeria since its previous update.

By Mariam Ileyemi, Premium Times

Nigerian university in mourning after four students die at post-exam party

Four Nigerian students have died after attending a party in the south-eastern town of Nsukka to celebrate the end of their final exams.

The cause of death has not been confirmed but police spokesman Daniel Ndukwe said the two men and two women had reportedly fallen ill after consuming alcoholic drinks at the party.

The University of Nigeria Nsukka has declared three days of mourning, during which academic and social activities will be suspended.

The tragedy comes amid a wider crackdown on fake and adulterated alcoholic drinks in Nigeria, where the food and drug regulator has been raiding suspected producers of unsafe food and beverages.

The university's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Simon Ortuanya, said the university had received a distress call at 22:00 on Wednesday, and sent security personnel to a house party at Praise Lodge, outside the campus in Nsukka's Hilltop area.

"The preliminary investigation and interim report point to alleged alcohol abuse or drug paraphernalia and things like that. But we are not conclusive on those matters," he said.

He described the deaths as "tragic and painful".

"As a community, we mourn, not just alone, we mourn with the families, the parents that have suffered these years to train the men and women in their studies," he said.

Ortuanya also announced a ban on signing-out celebrations, which are commonly held by final-year students to mark the completion of their studies.

The celebrations often involve parties, dancing, photographs and friends signing one another's shirts. He urged students to use graduation as a time to reflect on their university experience and prepare for life beyond campus.

The university said it was working with security agencies to establish what had caused the deaths.

The police have also launched an investigation. They said alcoholic drinks had been recovered from the scene and the bodies taken to a mortuary for autopsies.

The investigation comes amid wider concerns about unsafe alcoholic drinks in Nigeria.

In September, dozens of people fell ill after consuming locally made alcoholic drinks and herbal mixtures in communities across Ondo State, south-west Nigeria.

More than 11 people died in the Araromi-Obu area, while more than 50 others were hospitalised.

Investigations found that some of the drinks had been contaminated with methanol, a highly toxic form of alcohol that can cause blindness and death.

Nigeria's food and drug regulator, Nafdac, reported more than 150 cases, including 48 confirmed deaths. More than 80 people were hospitalised, and five lost their sight.

The regulator has been carrying out raids across the country, targeting facilities suspected of producing fake or adulterated alcoholic drinks, food and beverages.

Nigeria has long struggled with the sale of unsafe and adulterated products, which campaigners warn pose a serious threat to public health.

By Makuochi Okafor, BBC

Nigeria election body to comply with presidential candidate ruling

Nigeria’s electoral commission will obey any court ruling on whether the main challenger to President Bola Tinubu is eligible to contest January’s presidential election, its chairman said, potentially handing the judiciary a key role in Africa’s biggest poll.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is set to appeal last week’s high court ruling that invalidated his candidacy. The chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Joash Amupitan, speaking at the Chatham House think tank in London, said the body would be constitutionally “obligated” to “obey every court order” if the appeal fails.

INEC’s position adds to uncertainty around the vote in Africa’s top crude oil producer with less than 10 weeks until polls open.The commission is currently embroiled in more than 300 legal cases related to local elections, Amupitan said, adding that unresolved disputes could complicate its preparations for the forthcoming polls.
Credibility test

Bukola Idowa, executive director of civil society group Kimpact Development Initiative, warned any impression that the electoral process was opaque would undermine the validity of the vote. “We’re looking at an election that will put the credibility of all our constitutional institutions to the test,” he told the Chatham House event, adding that this was particularly true of the judiciary.

Tinubu won the 2023 election with 36% of the vote with Atiku coming second with a 29% share. But voter turnout stood at just 27% — the lowest since the return to civilian rule in 1999.

Atiku has vowed to restore a fuel subsidy the removal of which by Tinubu has been blamed for driving up the cost of living. The price of fuel has increased five-fold since the president announced the scrapping of the subsidy at his inauguration.

Nigeria’s net direct investment inflows have improved significantly since Tinubu took office in 2023 and, in recent years, the nation has received credit rating upgrades. The president has campaigned on a strengthened economy that is projected to grow 4.2% this year. In a tacit acknowledgment of the criticism aimed at him over the higher cost of living, last month Tinubu said the country would shift its economic policy goal from administering “emergency treatment” to delivering shared prosperity.

Meanwhile, the oil industry is booming. Africa’s top crude oil exporter has benefited from higher prices sparked by the Iran war and in the past year the regulator has approved 145 new well operations.

“The macroeconomic backdrop for these elections are probably the strongest that we’ve seen in a very long time,” said Yewande Sadiku, senior investment banker, international, at Standard Bank. But she stressed that investors care most about consistency around policies. “Elections matter, but the identity of the winner is not as important as the commitment to policy continuity,” she said.

By Alexis Akwagyiram, SEMAFOR

World's second-largest economy gets 81% more goods from Africa's most populous country as Nigeria-China trade hits $17.4 billion

 

Trade between the global economic giants China and Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, rose sharply between January 2026 and June 2026.

This information was disclosed by the Director of the China Cultural Centre in Nigeria, Yang Jianxing, who also revealed that trade between the two countries increased by 35 per cent to $17.4 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year.

The Chinese director also highlighted that Nigeria’s exports to China rose by 81% to $2.25 billion during the launch of the Mandarin Service of the Voice of Nigeria and the celebration of the China-Nigeria Bridge Chinese Radio Programme in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

Yang said the new trade figures showed that more African goods were finding their way into the Chinese market.

He attributed part of this growth to China's decision to scrap import duties on goods from 53 African countries, Nigeria included.

Trade between China and Africa hit $207.4 billion in the first half of 2026, the highest figure ever recorded for that period.

Imports of African seafood, textile materials and speciality fruits all grew by more than 10%, while the removal of tariffs was estimated to have lifted Africa's total exports to China by 6%.

“Nigeria’s performance has been particularly impressive. In the first half of this year, bilateral trade between China and Nigeria reached 17.4 billion US dollars, up 35 percent year on year.

China’s imports from Nigeria amounted to 2.25 billion US dollars, representing a remarkable increase of 81 percent,” he said.

Nigeria's exports to China also saw a significant rise, with Yang revealing that shipments from the country grew by more than 40% year-on-year in May and June.

The Chinese director revealed that Nigerian businesses could take advantage of the growing demand by sending more agricultural products, raw materials and other specialised goods to China, as reported by the Punch.

Outside of trade, Yang spoke about China's approach to working with African countries in the mining industry.

He noted that the Asian country wanted partnerships that recognise each country's right to control its mineral resources, deliver benefits to both sides and create room for fair competition and investment.

He also touched on security in Africa, saying Chinese President Xi Jinping had set out four principles to guide efforts to resolve conflicts across the continent.

The idea centers around a call for African countries to be at the forefront of resolving their own conflicts, ensure that all sides are treated fairly, work towards ending violence and finding peaceful solutions, and tackle not just the immediate causes of conflict but also the problems behind them.

According to Yang, China supported Africa's right to make its own decisions about the kind of development it wants to pursue.

By Chinedu Okafor, Business Insider Africa