Nigerian State Approves Carrying Guns to Defend Against Bandits

Nigerian northern Zamfara State will allow people to carry guns to protect themselves against armed bandits after authorities failed to curb a rise in kidnappings and killings.

The government has told police to issue firearm licenses “to all those who qualify and are wishing to obtain guns to defend themselves,” Hudu Yahaya, a spokesman for governor Bello Matawalle, said on his Facebook page. It’s intended “to deal with the recent escalating attacks, kidnapping and the criminal levies being enforced on our innocent communities,” he said.

Many states in Nigeria’s northern region, including Zamfara, have been targeted by armed militants and bandits who have been carrying out a growing number of kidnappings for ransom and murders. The violence has forced thousands to flee their homes. Crime is growing at the same time authorities are battling Islamist insurgents and facing separatist unrest in various parts of the country. 

By Emele Onu

Bloomberg

Nigerians may arm themselves

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, yesterday, warned the Federal Government that its inability to secure lives and property would soon force Nigerians to arm themselves in self-defence.

Akeredolu, in his keynote address at the meeting of the Attorneys-General of the 36 states of Nigeria, in Lagos, said the Police were overwhelmed.

The governor asked the Police to ‘close shop’ if the Federal Government could not meet its equipment needs.

Akeredolu insisted that the Police have failed in their constitutional role of protecting Nigerians and that if the situation does not improve, citizens would be left with no other option but to arm themselves in self-defence.

Akeredolu stated: “The current spate of insecurity in the country leaves us with no room for equivocation on the rights of the states to maintain law and order through the establishment of State Police. The growing distrust in the polity is a direct result of the disconnect between Federal Government and the constituent units of the country. The economic adversity currently experienced in the country points directly at the defective political structure.

“A unitary system cannot work, successfully, in a country like Nigeria. The 1999 Constitution has been amended twice. There is another promise of further amendments arising from the manifest irregularity in many provisions.

“This has compelled many lawyers and educated citizens to insist on having a new Constitution which will reflect the agitations of the various groups which make up the country. The law is becoming increasingly less certain under these circumstances.

“The crises created by the 1999 Constitution, as amended, have been unending. There have been agitations that the Exclusive Legislative List in this Constitution is limited to Nigeria’s external trade, customs duties, export duties, tax on incomes, profits and capital gains, interstate commerce, external borrowing, mining rents and royalties from mineral resources, among others.

“The Federal Government has, consistently, rejected this suggestion, presumably, because of the humongous 52 percent revenue allocation to it while the 36 States and the 774 Local Governments share the remaining 48 percent.”

Akeredolu challenged states to restructure the country by, among others, setting up their anti-graft agencies.

However, in his address, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami , SAN, said governors cannot continue to agitate for restructuring and state police when they are responsible for the compromise and mismanagement of the current system.

Malami also stated that “State police will not work because state governors would abuse it, look at the way they treat local government, imagine what will happen if they control the police.“

The AGF advised the governors to utilise the existing structures through the National Assembly to press on with their demands for restructuring and other constitutional amendments.

By Innocent Anaba 

Related story: Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?

Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?

 

Two mass shootings in different parts of Nigeria have brought people together in shock and revulsion - and have highlighted a country-wide security crisis. In one attack that horrified people across the country, gunmen killed dozens of congregants at a church in Owo, a town in Ondo state, on June 5. 

No group has claimed responsibility for the assault, but the National Security Council says Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) masterminded it. Reports later emerged that on the same day as the church massacre, gunmen killed at least 32 people in the Kajuru region of the northwestern state of Kaduna, about 350 miles from Owo. President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned "the heinous killing of worshippers" in Owo, while pledging that the government will win its fight against armed groups. But the attacks are just the latest in a series of assaults against communities across Nigeria - north, south, east and west. Murder, kidnapping, and violent robberies have mounted in recent months, including in parts of the country that were once relatively peaceful. 

The federal government and security forces are struggling to tackle a series of overlapping security challenges, including threats from Boko Haram and ISWAP, banditry, separatist groups, and violent conflict between herders and farmers over scarce land and resources. With police forces underfunded and understaffed, some leaders are now asking vigilante groups to guarantee communities’ safety – a development some analysts fear could spur further violence. In this episode of The Stream we'll look at the various security crises that Nigeria is facing, and ask what can be done to improve safety for communities enduring the daily threat of attack.

Video - Nigeria's Borno State offers free vocational training for youth

 

Nigeria's northeastern Borno State is offering free vocational training in an effort to reduce youth unemployment. Borno has been the epicentre of Nigeria's more than decade-long conflict with Boko Haram fighters.

Video - Nigeria security: Fears of Boko Haram fade in Borno state

Boko Haram now appears to be on the back foot after 12 years of carrying out attacks in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state. But security forces have stepped up their campaign against the armed group in recent years and people in Borno say they feel more at ease about venturing out again.

Video - Nigeria launches sweeping measures to contain violence

 

Nigeria’s government has announced sweeping measures it hopes will help contain worsening attacks by armed groups in the north. Markets and the transportation of certain goods have been banned and communication services cut. But as days run into weeks, some citizens are getting desperate. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports from Kaduna.

Video - Nigerian states arm locals against rise in attacks by armed groups

 

At least 20 people have been killed in Nigeria's Sokoto state when gunmen attacked a market. Armed groups still disrupt life for millions in the country's northwest, but Nigeria is also facing growing insecurity across regions. The military and police are stretched dealing with Boko Haram in the northeast, so-called bandits in the northwest, and criminal gangs in the south. And as Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports from Kaduna, Nigeria, state governors are arming local people to fight back.

Nigeria Recaptures 108 Inmates After Prison Outbreak

At least 108 out of 240 inmates who escaped from a prison in central Nigeria have been recaptured, a prison official said Tuesday.

Heavily armed gunmen stormed the Security Custodial Centre in Kabba, in Kogi State, late on Sunday, freeing scores of inmates.

It was unclear who the gunmen were but criminal gangs have terrorized central and northwest Nigeria for years.

“We have a total of 108 inmates rearrested,” Nigeria’s correctional service spokesman Francis Enobore told AFP by phone.

“But as the day progresses, the figure will definitely increase,” he added, saying “several processes have been activated to ensure all inmates are rearrested.”

At about 2245 GMT on Sunday, the spokesman had said earlier in a statement, numerous attackers “engaged the armed guards in a fierce gun battle.”

The gunmen invaded the prison, which had 294 prisoners in custody at the time, including 224 pre-trial detainees.

A soldier and a police officer lost their lives in the attack, Enobore later added.

Large prison outbreaks are not uncommon in Nigeria.

On April 5, gunmen raided Owerri police headquarters, in Nigeria’s southern Imo state, freeing more than 1,800 inmates.

In addition to fighting criminal gangs who also kidnap people for ransom and rustle cattle, Nigeria’s security forces are facing a violent jihadist insurgency in the northeast and separatist agitation in the southeast.

The Defense Post 

Related story: Militant group storm prison in Kogi and free 118 inmates

Nigeria and Russia Sign Military Cooperation Agreement

The Nigerian Embassy in Moscow announced last week the signing of a legal framework agreement that would provide for Russia to supply Nigeria with military equipment and training. The Agreement on Military-Technical Cooperation also provides for “after-sales services, training of personnel in respective educational establishments, and technology transfer.” Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly raised the possibility of such an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2019.

Media sees the agreement as related to U.S. congressional hesitancy to authorize the sale to Nigeria of certain military equipment because of human rights concerns. Indeed, ​Nigerian desire to buy such materiel—and American reluctance to sell, often on human rights grounds—is a perennial irritant to the bilateral relationship. Nigeria already uses military equipment from Russia and other military suppliers as well as the United States.

The just-signed agreement is a legal framework only; Nigeria has not entered into a new agreement actually to make new purchases. With respect to Nigeria, Russia is likely to be “transactional”—can its companies make money? Any accompanying increase in political influence Moscow will regard as a secondary dividend. 

By John Campbell 

CFR

Nigerian Police Ordered to Free 5 Anti-Buhari Activists

 A Nigerian court has ordered the secret police to release five suspects detained for wearing T-shirts criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari, their lawyer said Tuesday.

The men were arrested early this month by the Department of State Service (DSS) during a church service led by a well-known evangelical pastor in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

They had been wearing T-shirts with the slogan "Buhari Must Go!" inside the church when they were arrested and detained.

The church was accused of aiding the arrests, but it denied the allegation.

On Monday, the federal high court Abuja ordered the DSS to release the suspects, lawyer Allen Sowore told AFP.

"The judge ordered their release forthwith without any condition. But we have not got a certified true copy of that order," he said.

He said his clients were yet to be freed.

"Unfortunately, the judge has not signed the order. So, we just came here [to the DSS office] thinking that they will act on the order of the court, but they have not acted."

Buhari, a former army commander, has come under fire after his government recently banned Twitter, a move Western allies and critics warned undermined freedom of expression.

Officials announced the ban after Twitter removed a remark from Buhari's personal account for violating its policies.

The Nigerian leader is also under pressure to tackle the country's insecurity.

The security forces are battling an Islamist insurgency in the northeast, a surge in mass kidnappings by criminal gangs in central and northwestern states, and separatist tension in parts of the south.

VOA

Policeman killed, more than 80 students abducted in attack on Nigerian school

Gunmen killed a police officer and kidnapped at least 80 students and five teachers from a school in the Nigerian state of Kebbi, police, residents and a teacher said.

The attack is the third mass kidnapping in three weeks in northwest Nigeria, which have authorities have attributed to armed bandits seeking ransom payments.

Usman Aliyu, a teacher at the school, said the gunmen took more than 80 students, most of them girls.

"They killed one of the (police officers), broke through the gate and went straight to the students' classes," he told Reuters.

Kebbi State police spokesman Nafiu Abubakar, said the gunmen killed one officer during an exchange and also shot a student, who was receiving medical treatment.

Police late on Thursday had not released the number of students missing, and a spokesman for the Kebbi state governor said they were conducting a tally of the missing.

The attack took place at a federal government college in the remote town of Birnin Yauri. Abubakar said security forces were searching a nearby forest for the abducted students and teachers.

Atiku Aboki, a resident who went to the school shortly after the gunfire stopped, said he saw a scene of panic and confusion as people searched for their children.

"When we got there we saw students crying, teachers crying, everyone is sympathising with people," he said by telephone.

"Everyone was confused. Then my brother called me (to say) that his two children have not been seen and (we) don't know if they are among the kidnapped."

Bandits seeking ransom have kidnapped more than 800 Nigerian students from their schools since December in a series of raids. Some have been freed while others remain missing.

The raids in the northwestern region are separate from Islamist insurgencies centred on the northeast, where the Boko Haram militant group made global headlines in 2014 when it abducted more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok.

Reuters

MTN warns of service disruption in Nigeria due to rising insecurity

ABUJA, June 15 (Reuters) - MTN's (MTNN.LG) service in Nigeria could be disrupted as a result of rising insecurity in different parts of the country, the local unit of South Africa's telecoms group (MTNJ.J) said on Tuesday.

MTN Nigeria (MTNN.LG) is the first company to acknowledge a possible disruption to its services due to insecurity in Africa's most populous nation.

Nigeria faces increased insecurity across the country -- ranging from mass abductions at schools, kidnappings for ransom, armed conflict between herdsmen and farmers, armed robberies and various insurgencies -- a drag on growth and job creation.

"Sadly, we must inform you that with the rising insecurity in different parts of Nigeria, service delivery to your organization may be impacted in the coming days," MTN wrote in a message to customers seen by Reuters.

"This means that in some cases, our technical support team may not be able to get to your site and achieve optimum turnaround time in fault management as quickly as possible."

Nigeria is MTN's most lucrative market out of the 22 countries the company operates in across Africa, Asia and the Middle East but it is also one of the most problematic.

MTN runs Nigeria's largest mobile phone network which generates around a third of the company's revenue.

Growth in Nigeria resumed in the fourth quarter after a COVID-19 induced recession but it lags the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, with food inflation, heightened insecurity and stalled reforms slowing the economy and increasing poverty, the World Bank said.

By Chijioke Ohuocha

Reuters

1,603 killed, 1,774 abducted in violent attacks across Nigeria in three months

At least 1,603 people were killed in violent attacks across Nigeria between January and March 2021, a report by a non-governmental organisation, Nigeria Mourns, has shown.

The report titled “Violent Incidents Report: January – March 2021″ was published on Sunday.

The group said it gathered its figures through the use of newspaper reports and family sources to track violent killings.

The report also showed that 1,774 people were abducted within the three months under review.

“In the Q1 of 2021, Nigeria continued to experience inordinately high incidents of armed violence with very high body counts. Our tracking shows that at least 1603 persons lost their lives in the country from January – March 2021,” the group said on Twitter.

On the aspect of the perpetrators of the violence, the report revealed that 921 people were killed by suspected bandits, 207 people killed by persons suspected to be members of Boko Haram or its breakaway faction, ISWAP, 205 killed in isolated attacks and 106 lives were claimed by cult clashes.

Also, 79 people died through extra-judicial killings, communal crises led to the death of 53 people and 32 people killed by herdsmen.

A member of the Nigeria Mourns Coalition, Ier Jonathan, said the figures are worrying “but not meant to criticise the government.”
 

Rising insecurity

Nigeria has been battling with various forms of insecurity for years. This led to agitation by many citizens for state police.

As part of efforts to curb the challenges, South-west governors last year created a regional paramilitary outfit, Amotekun.

Also, the governors of the South-east states resolved to maintain a joint security outfit to be called Ebube Agu in April.

Aside from ordinary citizens, different state governors – Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Babagana Zulum of Borno, and Hope Uzodinma of Imo, among others, have been victims of violence as they or their properties were attacked.


Mr Ortom recently knocked the federal government for being complacent in the face of insecurity.

Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State in early May told journalists that Boko Haram terrorists have been occupying some communities in the state.

He claimed the terrorists have displaced over 3,000 residents of the affected communities.
 

Governors want Buhari to address nation

The 17 governors in southern states of Nigeria, on Tuesday, asked the federal government to “convoke a national dialogue as a matter of urgency.”

They called on President Muhammadu Buhari to “address Nigerians on the challenges of insecurity.”

The National Assembly had also called for a national security summit with the House of Representatives already announcing modalities for one of such.

President Muhammadu Buhari has never shown support for such calls. He also did not endorse the establishment of state police.
 

Buhari’s aide blames ‘evil forces’

Amidst the security challenges, President Buhari’s media aide, Femi Adesina, blamed ‘evil forces’ popularly referred to as ‘Aiye’ in Yoruba as the reason for insecurity in Nigeria.

“…Just as some forces knew the record that was to be achieved by Muhammadu Buhari as Nigerian President, and which he had begun to show since 2015 when he got into office, they positioned themselves against the government

“The lesson? When you are high-flying, the centrifugal forces will come against you, and it would only take the grace of God for you to attain.

“Yoruba people call those forces Aiye. When Aiye is on your case, as it was against Man City, and it is against the Buhari government, you need God, and God alone. Aiye (meaning ‘the world,’ if freely translated) is the negative part of mankind. The pernicious, baleful, sly and scheming part of humanity. If Aiye gets on your matter, you need God and God alone,” his article published on Thursday partly read.

He, however, expressed optimism that Mr Buhari will conquer.

“Who says Nigeria will not rise from its current travails? Who says Aiye will always win? Not where God is involved. And God is involved with Nigeria, our own dear na Under President Buhari, peace and security would be restored. The economy would rebound. Life would be abundant for the people, and Aiye would be left standing small, holding the rump of the flag of a country it thought had gone into oblivion,” he wrote.

By Adejumo Kabir

Premium Times 

Related stories: Nigerian lawmakers demand action on security crisis

Nigeria's Buhari condemns killing of 'tens' of villagers

Search Underway for Kidnapped Students from Nigeria’s Kaduna State 

Nigeria army dismisses suggestions of takeover from Buhari

Nigeria's armed forces have dismissed suggestions that they should take over from President Muhammadu Buhari, who is facing mounting pressure over the country's worsening insecurity.

It was not the first time Nigeria's armed forces have issued a statement backing Buhari, but the latest has come after weeks of criticism of the 78-year-old former general's failures to stem the protracted security crisis.

From a jihadist insurgency in the northeast to herder-farmer clashes in the centre, banditry in the northwest and separatist tensions in the southeast, Buhari's armed forces appear to be struggling to curb insecurity.

In a statement late Monday, the armed forces said they would continue to "fully" support the government, remain politically neutral and protect Nigeria's democracy.

"Let it be stated categorically that the Armed Forces of Nigeria remain fully committed to the present administration and all associated democratic institutions," army spokesman Onyema Nwachukwu said in the statement.

"We shall continue to remain apolitical, subordinate to the civil authority, firmly loyal to the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari and the 1999 Constitution as amended," it said.

Last week, lawmakers had urged Buhari to declare a nationwide state of emergency after a month of almost daily attacks, kidnappings and killings across Africa's most populous country.

The mililtary statement referred specifically to comments made by Robert Clarke, a prominent lawyer and social commentator.

He had said the country was on the brink of collapse and suggested the political leadership hand power to the military so that the security forces could be restructured.

Opposition figures like Bukola Saraki and Nobel winner and playwright Wole Soyinka have also urged Buhari to seek external help or resign.

In a statement Tuesday, Buhari's office said "some disgruntled religious and past political leaders" were planning to "eventually throw the country into a tailspin, which would compel a forceful and undemocratic change of leadership."

Describing such attempt as "patently illegal, and even treasonable," the presidency warned that such behaviour "would attract the necessary consequences."

- Security meeting -

Buhari met with his top security chiefs last week and again on Tuesday to discuss the country's violence.

"We shall continue to discharge our constitutional responsibilities professionally, especially in protecting the country’s democracy, defence of the territorial integrity of the country as well as protection of lives and properties of citizens," the military statement said.

The army expressed the hope that the nation's "current security challenges are not insurmountable."

Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 after almost 16 years of military rule.

Buhari, a former army commander and military ruler in the 1980s, was first elected in 2015 and re-elected four years later on a pledge to end the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.

Rather than abate, the Islamist rebellion has stubbornly persisted with a Boko Haram splinter faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), becoming the dominant jihadist force.

Since 2009 when it began, the jihadist uprising has killed 36,000 people and forced over two million others to flee their homes in Nigeria's northeast alone.

The violence has also spread to neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.

By Joel Olatunde

AFP

‘Nobody is safe’: Nigeria reels from nationwide wave of deadly violence

Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has come under mounting pressure from critics and allies alike as the country reels from multiple security crises that have claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks.

An alarming wave of violence has left millions in Africa’s most populous country in uproar at the collapse in security. Attacks by jihadist groups in the north-east have been compounded by a sharp rise in abductions targeting civilians in schools and at interstate links across Nigeria. Mass killings by bandit groups in rural towns, a reported rise in armed robberies in urban areas and increasingly daring attacks on security forces by pro-Biafran militants in the south-east have also all risen.

In April alone, almost 600 civilians were killed across the country and at least 406 abducted by armed groups, according to analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations. The violence has left much of the country on edge and Buhari facing the fiercest criticism since he took office.

Governors, politicians – including those in the president’s own All Progressives Congress (APC) party – Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and civil society groups have all called for urgent measures, and criticised the 78-year-old president.

Among the most scathing criticisms in recent weeks have come from allies. “This is the worst instability we are facing. Our security system has collapsed, it has failed,” APC senator Smart Adeyemi said on the senate floor last week. “The security infrastructure that we have today cannot cope with what we are facing. From the north to the south nobody is safe, nobody can travel 50km in our nation,” he added before breaking down in tears.

Soyinka, who in recent years has been an ardent critic of Buhari’s government, has bemoaned a lack of leadership. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a government. It was quite apparent, even before the end of Buhari’s first term that he is not capable of the task of being president,” he told the Guardian in a recent interview. “Human lives have become expendable and the president has shown he is not able to protect.”

The former military general returned to power in 2015, promising to tackle Boko Haram and corruption. Yet some of the gains made in fighting the jihadist group have come undone, with multiple groups now active. Elsewhere in the country, insecurity has soared as the president has cut a muted and remote figure.

Life for millions in Africa’s largest economy has become increasingly hard, with Nigeria suffering two recessions in the last five years. The number of unemployed people has more than doubled since 2015 to 23 million.

As the economy has suffered, crime and insecurity has grown and the failings of Nigeria’s underfunded and under-equipped security forces have grown more glaring.

On Tuesday, distraught parents of 17 university students, among 22 people kidnapped from Greenfield University in Kaduna in the north-west last month, protested in the streets of the capital, Abuja, accusing the government of abandoning them and pleading with authorities to secure their children’s release.

Serial kidnappings this year by armed groups targeting students in the north have sparked outrage and despair.

The Greenfield University kidnappers have killed five of the students after parents were only able to raise half of the $263,000 ransom demanded. On Monday, an assailant who claimed to have carried out the abduction told Voice of America radio that the 17 remaining students would be killed if the rest of the ransom was not paid on Tuesday.

The policy of the Kaduna government is not to pay ransoms, which it says fuel a kidnap “industry”. But families have been left bereft, with many critical that the policy has not been supported by an increase in local security measures.

Shehu Sani, a senator for the opposition People’s Democratic party in Kaduna, said on Tuesday: “We must not wait for bandits to throw the corpses of our 17 children on our doorsteps … If the government has a better solution to freeing the kidnapped students other than the one embarked upon by the parents of the students, let it be put to work immediately.”

Reforms to restructure and better fund the police were urgently needed, Sani said. “The government has just failed to live up to its responsibilities and expectations. Corrupt security officers feeding on the defence budget must be dealt with and the welfare of troops must be upgraded. The military and the police must be better armed to match the bandits and terrorists.”

The Guardian

Related stories: Nigerian lawmakers demand action on security crisis

Nigeria's Buhari condemns killing of 'tens' of villagers

Search Underway for Kidnapped Students from Nigeria’s Kaduna State

Nigerian lawmakers demand action on security crisis

Nigeria's parliament called on the presidency, armed forces and police to address the country's mounting security crisis on Tuesday, with the lower house urging President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency.

The resolutions come as a wave of violence and lawlessness sweeps across Africa's largest economy. Security forces, including the military deployed across most of Nigeria's states, have shown little ability to stem the tide.

"The president should immediately declare a state of emergency on security so as to fast track all measures to ensure the restoration of peace in the country," said a resolution passed by the lower house.

In the northwest, gunmen have kidnapped more than 700 schoolchildren since December, as militants pillage communities in the region. read more

In the northeast, the armed forces are still struggling in a 12-year war with Boko Haram and Islamic State's West Africa branch. On Sunday, more than 30 soldiers died in an attack, soldiers and a resident said.

"The nation is on fire," said Smart Adeyemi, a senator in Buhari's ruling party. "The president must rise to the occasion and bring in people to save this country or else we will be consumed. We cannot keep quiet any longer."

The senate upper house called for "massive recruitment" for the military and police and procurement of new equipment for security forces.

Meanwhile, the senate also resolved for its leadership to meet Buhari to discuss the insecurity, and invite Nigeria's army chief and other commanders and intelligence chiefs to speak on the matter.

The military did not immediately respond to calls and messages seeking comment. A presidency spokesman declined to comment.

Earlier on Tuesday, Rivers state, in Nigeria's oil-producing heartland, said it will ban people crossing its borders at night due to insecurity.

Reuters

Nigeria court fines pirates for seizing ship in Gulf of Guinea

 

A court in Nigeria has fined three men $52,000 (£40,000) each for hijacking a ship in March and securing a ransom of $200,000 for the release of its crew.

These are the first convictions in the West African state since a new anti-piracy law came into force last year.

Nigeria has been under pressure from the shipping industry to curb piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

It accounts for more than 80% of maritime kidnappings globally, the International Maritime Bureau says.

The three, who are believed to include two Nigerians and a foreign national, pleaded guilty to two counts of piracy during their trial in the High Court in the oil hub of Port Harcourt.

The director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Bashir Jamoh, welcomed the verdict.

"This will serve as a deterrent to other criminal elements who are still engaged in the nefarious activities on our waterways," he said.

Asked whether financial penalties alone were enough of a deterrent, he told the BBC:

"Absolutely - now we have a legal instrument to prosecute effectively and put the pirates out of business legally speaking."

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) also welcomed the men's conviction.

"It is the deterrent which was lacking," IMB spokesman Cyrus Moody told the BBC.

Another six men pleaded not guilty and their trial continues.

They are accused of being part of a gang that seized a vessel off Equatorial Guinea's coast in March.

They are alleged to have demanded a $2m ransom for the crew's release, but were paid $200,000.

The Nigerian navy arrested the men.

Almost 50 crew were kidnapped in the Gulf of Guinea in the first half of this year, compared with 27 last year, according to the IMB.


BBC

Nigeria launches updated security plan to tackle emerging threats

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday inaugurated an updated security plan to tackle emerging threats in the most populous African nation.

The National Security Strategy, a document revised every five years, covers details on how to enhance the capacity of Nigeria's military and other security agencies.

Speaking at the inauguration of the document in Abuja, Buhari said the government remains committed to enhancing the social security of Nigerians as a means of improving physical security.

He said the numerous security challenges facing the country made it necessary to come up with a comprehensive and coordinated response involving all segments of the society.

"As we continue to work towards completely ending insurgency in the northeast and laying the foundation of sustainable peace and development in the region, we are also addressing conflicts between farmers and herders, banditry and various forms of security challenges," Buhari said.

He said security is about bottom-to-top operation, and failure at any level will lead to a serious lapse in overall security.

"The task that now lies before us is the execution of the strategy and the achievement of a safer and more secure nation," Buhari said. "It is a task to which this administration remains fully and unreservedly committed."

Speaking earlier, Babagana Monguno, Nigeria's national security adviser, noted both internal and external security threats globally are attributable to organized crimes across borders.

"As we consolidate on the successes of peace-building in the northeast and the Niger Delta, the clear lesson for all of us here is that the key to sustainable peace and development is to guarantee security both in terms of economy and social status for everybody," he said.

Xinhua

Lion removed from house near school in Lagos, Nigeria

A lion which was reportedly being used to guard a house in Lagos, Nigeria, has been removed by authorities.

The two-year-old lion was reportedly discovered at a property opposite a school by a task force team on Friday.

It was tranquilised on Monday and transferred to Bogije Omu zoo in Lekki, head of the task force team Yinka Egbeyemi told the BBC.

The owner of the animal has been told to report himself to police before the end of Monday or face arrest.

A team from the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit located the animal after residents filed a petition to the state's ministry of environment.

A crèche and elementary school stand opposite the house, according to the BBC's Damilola Oduolowu in Lagos.

The school's management said it had been conscious of the children's safety.

It is thought the lion was brought into the building two months ago.

BBC

Nigeria police publish guidelines on how to survive their checkpoints

Smile, be polite, and avoid fighting an officer. These are some of the tips to improve drivers' experience during a police roadblock in Nigeria, according to the force's Twitter account.

It is not clear what prompted them to share the 16 guidelines, but a recent embarrassing viral video of an officer hassling a driver at a checkpoint for a bribe might be behind it.

In it, an officer is captured asking for a bribe of 4,000 naira ($10; £7) because the initial offer was, according to him, not enough.

Such incidents have reportedly ended in motorists being shot dead after drivers refused to oblige.

The police do not address the issue of bribe solicitation in their "tips for safe and cordial relationship at checkpoints".

So, just in case you're wondering how to comply with the guidelines, here's what a motorist should do:

Slow down as you approach the checkpoint, ensure the car's interior lights are on, if it's at night, and keep your hands visible to avoid spooking police officers. Lowering the volume of the car radio would be greatly appreciated. The police also felt it was necessary to warn about the potentially fatal consequences of fighting an armed police officer.

Most Nigerians don't trust the police because they see them as unprofessional and corrupt, according to BBC Nigeria editor Aliyu Tanko.

They often complain about the ubiquitous checkpoints, which many feel have been set up purely to extort bribes.

Nigerian police are among the worst paid and ill equipped in the world, our reporter says.

The police, however, see bad interactions with the public as being a result of misunderstandings.

The guidelines are being seen as part of efforts by the police service to burnish its image. It comes after the police held a public engagement event on social media.

The reaction on Twitter to the police checkpoint guidelines has been mixed:

"As you've given us these tips. Also educate your officers on how to behave. Not when one follow these tips and at the end your officers start saying 'leave those talk', pay me and go'. Let's be guided and play our respective parts." @Shilorine

"The only thing missing here is what citizens should expect of policemen they meet on the roads. Do we not have any rights, or expectations of courteous service from people who are supposed to be providing service. It is all one way." @rotilaw

"Sir I am I highly impressed with this information and as you are informing and guiding us also try to inform your boys too". @_Tee90papi

"All the policemen along Abakpa to Nsukka road know me and can recognise my vehicle from miles away. Why? Whenever I see a check point, I slow down, hail the officer on duty, ask him how his day is going and tell him well done. I've never had an incident. They're human beings too" @crayziggy


BBC