Monday, September 3, 2018
Video - Nigeria looking to broaden its relations with China
Nigeria is looking to broaden its relations with China to rip maximum benefits.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Video -Theresa May to discuss trade, human trafficking with Buhari
British Prime Minister is continuing her tour of Africa in Nigeria. Aside from discussions on trade, May is set to tackle the issue of human trafficking with President Muhammadu Buhari. She will also meet with survivors of slavery in Lagos. May is due to announce a new joint project with France to strengthen Niger and Nigeria's borders. She has already pledged 5 billion dollars towards African economies.
Video - UK PM Theresa May discusses trade, security with President Buhari
UK Prime Minister Theresa May continues her tour of Africa. She's in Nigeria at the moment on the second stop of a three-country visit. The prime minister landed in Abuja earlier on Wednesday. She and President Muhammadu Buhari ave been discussing trade, security, and human trafficking. May is on what some are calling a charm offensive to seek more investment partners for the UK after it breaks away from the European Union. May is also meeting with victims of modern slavery in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, before she heads to Nairobi on Thursday for talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
British Prime Minister Theresa May signs security partnership with President Buhari
The British prime minister’s agreement with Muhammadu Buhari was announced at a summit between the pair in Abuja and billed by the UK as an example of May’s ambition to promote a greater British presence in Africa and support states under pressure from terrorist threats.
“We are determined to work side by side with Nigeria to help them fight terrorism, reduce conflict and lay the foundations for the future stability and prosperity that will benefit us all,” she said.
Billed as the UK’s first security and defence partnership with Nigeria, the pact was the centrepiece of the second day of May’s three-day trip to Africa, in which she will visit Kenya on Thursday having been to South Africa on Tuesday.
The UK will provide training to the Nigerian military to help it contend with improvised explosive devices used by Boko Haram, and has offered to help train full army units, as opposed to individual soldiers, before they are deployed in the country’s north-east, where the Islamist militant group has its base.
It also hopes to cut the flow of new recruits by working with local communities “to push out counter-narratives” to Boko Haram, drawing on the UK’s experience of “countering terrorist propaganda at home”, according to the pact announcement. An additional £13m will be spent on an education programme for the 100,000 children living in the conflict zone.
May told Buhari the UK wanted to support Nigeria’s stability and said it was important their joint work on security was undertaken in line with international standards on human rights. The prime minister added that she endorsed the country’s efforts to combat illegal migration and modern slavery.
The British prime minister then travelled to Lagos, where she was greeted with several outdoor hoardings bearing her name. May switched tack to promote Britain’s expertise in financial services while seeking to emphasise future trade possibilities, in a week when she had called for the UK to become the leading G7 investor in Africa by 2020.
She met Aliko Dangote, one of the country’s wealthiest men, who has already agreed to list his $10bn (£7.7bn) cement business on the London Stock Exchange.
Thursday’s trip to Kenya will see May announce that the UK will build a cybercrime centre in Nairobi to help bring prosecutions against paedophiles in the east African nation.
The day-long visit will include a meeting with the country’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and a press conference.
Kenyan authorities are not able to receive reports of child sexual abuse material from US technology companies because they say the country does not have the secure channels of communication needed. The UK’s National Crime Agency has already worked with Kenya’s anti-human trafficking and child protection unit in several investigations, securing prosecutions in 2015 and 2018 of British men who had sexually abused Kenyan children.
Video - Digital innovation in Nigeria offering new learning opportunities
Here's a look at digital innovation that could offer an alternative learning opportunity away from the conventional education system.
British Prime Minister Theresa May visits Nigeria
Theresa May is visiting Nigeria on the second day of her trade mission to boost ties with Africa after Brexit.
Mrs May will discuss security, trade and people trafficking with President Muhammadu Buhari before meeting victims of modern slavery in Lagos.
The prime minister already announced £4bn of extra British support for African economies during the first leg of her trip on Tuesday.
She also insisted her "sensible" Brexit plans will deliver a "good" deal.
Mrs May is travelling to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria - Britain's second largest trading partner in Africa - for talks with President Buhari.
She is expected to announce a new UK and French project to help Nigeria and Niger strengthen their borders to crack down on trafficking.
The prime minister will also pledge to support victims of modern slavery who have suffered "enormous trauma".
Speaking ahead of her visit, she said the UK was a "world leader" in trying to end modern slavery.
Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said Mrs May's "warm words" rang hollow as her government had cut Border Force staff and police officers, who were "the frontline in the fight against modern slavery".
Mrs May's three-day trip to Africa is aimed at deepen economic and trade ties with growing African economies ahead of Britain leaving the EU in 2019.
Arriving in South Africa on Tuesday, Mrs May - who is accompanied by a team of business delegates - said she wanted the UK to overtake the US to become the G7's biggest investor in Africa by 2022.
She struck Britain's first post-Brexit trade pact with Mozambique and the Southern African Customs Union, made up of six African nations. The EU currently has an economic partnership with this union, and the UK will now continue working with it after Brexit.
And Mrs May also pledged a "fundamental shift" in aid spending to focus on long-term economic and security challenges rather than short-term poverty reduction.
On Thursday, she will finish her tour in Kenya, where she will hold talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta and attend a state dinner, visit a business school and meet British troops.
While in South Africa, the prime minster also faced questions from journalists on Brexit.
She told the BBC's Ben Wright that the UK is "still operating to the timetable" as it is originally set out in the Brexit negotiations.
It comes after the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier indicated last week that a deal may be pushed back to early November.
She played down warnings from Chancellor Philip Hammond - who said last week that a no-deal Brexit could damage the economy.
She said the comments were based on analysis first released in January that were, at the time, a "work in progress".
Mrs May then cited comments by the head of the World Trade Organisation, who said Brexit "won't be a walk in the park, but won't be end of the world either".
"We are working for a good deal, we have put forward our proposal for a good deal," she said. "I believe that deal is to the benefit, not only of the UK, but the EU.
"What the government is doing is putting in place the preparations to make sure we can make a success whatever our future relationship is with the EU and whatever the outcome of the negotiations."
Talking to journalists on board RAF Voyager on Tuesday morning, Mrs May reiterated that she believed a no-deal Brexit was still better than a bad deal.
Mrs May will discuss security, trade and people trafficking with President Muhammadu Buhari before meeting victims of modern slavery in Lagos.
The prime minister already announced £4bn of extra British support for African economies during the first leg of her trip on Tuesday.
She also insisted her "sensible" Brexit plans will deliver a "good" deal.
Mrs May is travelling to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria - Britain's second largest trading partner in Africa - for talks with President Buhari.
She is expected to announce a new UK and French project to help Nigeria and Niger strengthen their borders to crack down on trafficking.
The prime minister will also pledge to support victims of modern slavery who have suffered "enormous trauma".
Speaking ahead of her visit, she said the UK was a "world leader" in trying to end modern slavery.
Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said Mrs May's "warm words" rang hollow as her government had cut Border Force staff and police officers, who were "the frontline in the fight against modern slavery".
Mrs May's three-day trip to Africa is aimed at deepen economic and trade ties with growing African economies ahead of Britain leaving the EU in 2019.
Arriving in South Africa on Tuesday, Mrs May - who is accompanied by a team of business delegates - said she wanted the UK to overtake the US to become the G7's biggest investor in Africa by 2022.
She struck Britain's first post-Brexit trade pact with Mozambique and the Southern African Customs Union, made up of six African nations. The EU currently has an economic partnership with this union, and the UK will now continue working with it after Brexit.
And Mrs May also pledged a "fundamental shift" in aid spending to focus on long-term economic and security challenges rather than short-term poverty reduction.
On Thursday, she will finish her tour in Kenya, where she will hold talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta and attend a state dinner, visit a business school and meet British troops.
While in South Africa, the prime minster also faced questions from journalists on Brexit.
She told the BBC's Ben Wright that the UK is "still operating to the timetable" as it is originally set out in the Brexit negotiations.
It comes after the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier indicated last week that a deal may be pushed back to early November.
She played down warnings from Chancellor Philip Hammond - who said last week that a no-deal Brexit could damage the economy.
She said the comments were based on analysis first released in January that were, at the time, a "work in progress".
Mrs May then cited comments by the head of the World Trade Organisation, who said Brexit "won't be a walk in the park, but won't be end of the world either".
"We are working for a good deal, we have put forward our proposal for a good deal," she said. "I believe that deal is to the benefit, not only of the UK, but the EU.
"What the government is doing is putting in place the preparations to make sure we can make a success whatever our future relationship is with the EU and whatever the outcome of the negotiations."
Talking to journalists on board RAF Voyager on Tuesday morning, Mrs May reiterated that she believed a no-deal Brexit was still better than a bad deal.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Video - Nigeria expresses keen interest in One Belt One Road initiative
Nigeria's government has expressed great interest in the "Belt and Road Initiative" and hopes to be included into the infrastructure development project. Speaking ahead of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation next week, the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria Zhou Pingjian said his government attaches great importance to the summit. Ambassador Zhou pointed out that China-Nigeria relations, have been steady. The "One Belt, One Road" initiative will top the agenda during the upcoming Beijing Summit. The initiative proposed by China is consistent with the development aspirations and development strategy of Nigeria.
UK seize £70m from Nigerian
The United Kingdom says it had returned the sum of £70million recovered from a Nigerian.
The country said the individual was convicted of fraud in an Italian court.
British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Paul Arkwright, made the disclosure in a chat with journalists in Abuja on Monday.
He said, “There was an Italian court case with a particular person involved.
“A portion of the fund has been in the UK and that was the portion that was returned recently from the UK to Nigeria.
“So, it’s in that context that the 70 million (pounds) was returned.”
Arkwright, who, refused to disclose the identity of the Nigerian, said more funds would be repatriated.
“The British government has no intention of keeping one kobo of Nigerian funds in the UK,” said the diplomat, adding “It all must come back to Nigeria.”
“Just as in Nigeria, the UK feels that the judicial process is important, and we have to go through those processes before the money can be returned.”
Arkwright also confirmed that British Prime Minister Theresa May will visit Nigeria on Wednesday as part of her visit to Africa.
The country said the individual was convicted of fraud in an Italian court.
British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Paul Arkwright, made the disclosure in a chat with journalists in Abuja on Monday.
He said, “There was an Italian court case with a particular person involved.
“A portion of the fund has been in the UK and that was the portion that was returned recently from the UK to Nigeria.
“So, it’s in that context that the 70 million (pounds) was returned.”
Arkwright, who, refused to disclose the identity of the Nigerian, said more funds would be repatriated.
“The British government has no intention of keeping one kobo of Nigerian funds in the UK,” said the diplomat, adding “It all must come back to Nigeria.”
“Just as in Nigeria, the UK feels that the judicial process is important, and we have to go through those processes before the money can be returned.”
Arkwright also confirmed that British Prime Minister Theresa May will visit Nigeria on Wednesday as part of her visit to Africa.
Monday, August 27, 2018
Third Mainland Bridge in Nigeria shut down for maintenance
Nigeria has shut down its busiest bridge for maintenance. The Third Mainland Bridge links Lagos Island to the shores of the capital, a city of nearly 20 million people. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris looks at the ageing bridge and the disruption that will follow the shutdown.
Nigerian coastal communities may be submerged in a few years
Coastal communities in Lagos are facing the grim prospect of being wiped out as a result of Ocean surge and erosion. The city's long stretch of shoreline is fast eroding with some coastal communities badly affected. Environmentalists are blaming the situation on climate change and human activities and are warning that if attitudes don't change and something done, Coastal communities in Lagos could be completely submerged in a few years time.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Video - Nigerian hailed a hero for helping internally displaced people
Nigeria is battling with a lack of resources in camps for internally displaced people. Many families have fled their homes during the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency. Often aid agencies are overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in need of assistance. One man has become a local hero in Abuja, by helping those living in temporary shelters in Nigeria's capital.
Video - Nigeria to hand out $500m in collateral free loans
Nigeria's government says it will hand out more than half a million dollars collateral free loans to small and medium scale businesses. Vice president Yemi Osinbajo says the scheme will boost the role of small businesses in the growth of the country's economy.
Nigerian village where men and women speak different languages
In Ubang, a farming community in southern Nigeria, men and women say they speak different languages. They view this unique difference as "a blessing from God", but as more young people leave for greener pastures and the English language becomes more popular, there are concerns it won't survive, reports the BBC's Yemisi Adegoke.
Dressed in a brightly coloured traditional outfit, a red chief's cap and holding a staff, Chief Oliver Ibang calls over his two young children, eager to demonstrate the different languages.
He holds up a yam and asks his daughter what it is called.
"It's 'irui'," she says, without hesitating.
But in Ubang's "male language" the word for yam, one of Nigeria's staple foods, is "itong".
And there are many other examples, such as the word for clothing, which is "nki" for men and "ariga" for women.
It is not clear exactly what proportion of words are different in the two languages and there is no pattern, such as whether the words are commonly used, related or linked to traditional roles for men or women.
"It's almost like two different lexicons," says anthropologist Chi Chi Undie, who has studied the community.
"There are a lot of words that men and women share in common, then there are others which are totally different depending on your sex. They don't sound alike, they don't have the same letters, they are completely different words."
'Dual-sex culture'
Ms Undie has an anthropological theory.
"This is a dual-sex culture," she says.
"Men and women operate in almost two separate spheres. It's like they're in separate worlds, but sometimes those worlds come together and you see that pattern in the language as well."
She notes that her theory does not have all the answers.
"I call it a theory but it's weak," she admits. "Because in Nigeria there are lots of dual-sex systems and yet we don't have this kind of language culture."
There are concerns about the survival of the different languages.
Neither the male nor female language is written down so their futures depend on the younger generation passing them down. But these days, few young people speak either fluently.
"I see it with young people," says secondary school teacher Steven Ochui.
"They hardly speak pure Ubang languages without mixing an English word."
'Mother tongues demonised'
This mirrors what is happening across Nigeria.
In 2016 the Linguistic Association of Nigeria said that 50 of the nation's 500 languages could disappear in the next few years if drastic measures were not taken.
Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa are Nigeria's major languages, as well as English - used to foster unity in a country with numerous ethnic groups.
The three major languages are taught in schools as part of the country's National Policy on Education, which speaks of the importance of preserving culture.
It also states that "every child shall learn the language of the immediate environment".
But this is not being enforced in Ubang, where children are discouraged from, and even punished for, speaking their language in school.
Mr Ochui says he is worried about the consequences of "demonising" the mother tongue in an attempt to encourage students to speak English instead.
"In my school here we punish students - beat them, at times they pay fines - for speaking their mother tongue," he says.
"If you beat a child for speaking his or her language, it will not survive."
'Text books needed'
Mr Ochui says more needs to be done to preserve Ubang's languages.
"We need text books in Ubang languages - novels, art, films - and they should allow us to teach the languages in schools," he says.
Stella Odobi, a student in Ubang, agrees more need to be done to stop the languages dying.
"Parents take their children to study in different communities and don't bother to teach [them] their mother tongues," she says.
But she says she is among many young people within the community who plan to pass the languages down to their children even if they leave Ubang.
Chief Ibang has dreams that one day a language centre will be set up in Ubang, showcasing the uniqueness of the community's two languages.
And he is confident that the languages will survive.
"If the languages die, then the Ubang people will exist no more."
Dressed in a brightly coloured traditional outfit, a red chief's cap and holding a staff, Chief Oliver Ibang calls over his two young children, eager to demonstrate the different languages.
He holds up a yam and asks his daughter what it is called.
"It's 'irui'," she says, without hesitating.
But in Ubang's "male language" the word for yam, one of Nigeria's staple foods, is "itong".
And there are many other examples, such as the word for clothing, which is "nki" for men and "ariga" for women.
It is not clear exactly what proportion of words are different in the two languages and there is no pattern, such as whether the words are commonly used, related or linked to traditional roles for men or women.
"It's almost like two different lexicons," says anthropologist Chi Chi Undie, who has studied the community.
"There are a lot of words that men and women share in common, then there are others which are totally different depending on your sex. They don't sound alike, they don't have the same letters, they are completely different words."
'Sign of maturity'
She says the differences are far greater than, for example, British and American versions of English.
However, both men and women are able to understand each other perfectly - or as well as anywhere else in the world.
This might be partly because boys grow up speaking the female language, as they spend most of their childhoods with their mothers and other women, as Chief Ibang explains.
By the age of 10, boys are expected to speak the "male language", he says.
"There is a stage the male will reach and he discovers he is not using his rightful language. Nobody will tell him he should change to the male language."
"When he starts speaking the men language, you know the maturity is coming into him."
If a child does not switch to the correct language by a certain age, they are considered "abnormal", he says.
Ubang people are immensely proud of their language difference and see it as a sign of their uniqueness.
But there are different theories about how it happened. Most of the community offer a Biblical explanation.
"God created Adam and Eve and they were Ubang people," says the chief.
God's plan was to give each ethnic group two languages, but after creating the two languages for the Ubang, he realised there were not enough languages to go around, he explains.
"So he stopped. That's why Ubang has the benefit of two languages - we are different from other people in the world."
She says the differences are far greater than, for example, British and American versions of English.
However, both men and women are able to understand each other perfectly - or as well as anywhere else in the world.
This might be partly because boys grow up speaking the female language, as they spend most of their childhoods with their mothers and other women, as Chief Ibang explains.
By the age of 10, boys are expected to speak the "male language", he says.
"There is a stage the male will reach and he discovers he is not using his rightful language. Nobody will tell him he should change to the male language."
"When he starts speaking the men language, you know the maturity is coming into him."
If a child does not switch to the correct language by a certain age, they are considered "abnormal", he says.
Ubang people are immensely proud of their language difference and see it as a sign of their uniqueness.
But there are different theories about how it happened. Most of the community offer a Biblical explanation.
"God created Adam and Eve and they were Ubang people," says the chief.
God's plan was to give each ethnic group two languages, but after creating the two languages for the Ubang, he realised there were not enough languages to go around, he explains.
"So he stopped. That's why Ubang has the benefit of two languages - we are different from other people in the world."
'Dual-sex culture'
Ms Undie has an anthropological theory.
"This is a dual-sex culture," she says.
"Men and women operate in almost two separate spheres. It's like they're in separate worlds, but sometimes those worlds come together and you see that pattern in the language as well."
She notes that her theory does not have all the answers.
"I call it a theory but it's weak," she admits. "Because in Nigeria there are lots of dual-sex systems and yet we don't have this kind of language culture."
There are concerns about the survival of the different languages.
Neither the male nor female language is written down so their futures depend on the younger generation passing them down. But these days, few young people speak either fluently.
"I see it with young people," says secondary school teacher Steven Ochui.
"They hardly speak pure Ubang languages without mixing an English word."
'Mother tongues demonised'
This mirrors what is happening across Nigeria.
In 2016 the Linguistic Association of Nigeria said that 50 of the nation's 500 languages could disappear in the next few years if drastic measures were not taken.
Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa are Nigeria's major languages, as well as English - used to foster unity in a country with numerous ethnic groups.
The three major languages are taught in schools as part of the country's National Policy on Education, which speaks of the importance of preserving culture.
It also states that "every child shall learn the language of the immediate environment".
But this is not being enforced in Ubang, where children are discouraged from, and even punished for, speaking their language in school.
Mr Ochui says he is worried about the consequences of "demonising" the mother tongue in an attempt to encourage students to speak English instead.
"In my school here we punish students - beat them, at times they pay fines - for speaking their mother tongue," he says.
"If you beat a child for speaking his or her language, it will not survive."
'Text books needed'
Mr Ochui says more needs to be done to preserve Ubang's languages.
"We need text books in Ubang languages - novels, art, films - and they should allow us to teach the languages in schools," he says.
Stella Odobi, a student in Ubang, agrees more need to be done to stop the languages dying.
"Parents take their children to study in different communities and don't bother to teach [them] their mother tongues," she says.
But she says she is among many young people within the community who plan to pass the languages down to their children even if they leave Ubang.
Chief Ibang has dreams that one day a language centre will be set up in Ubang, showcasing the uniqueness of the community's two languages.
And he is confident that the languages will survive.
"If the languages die, then the Ubang people will exist no more."
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Video - FIFA withdraws threat to suspend Nigeria from world football
FIFA has withdrawn its threat to ban Nigeria from international competition. It brings to an end a football crisis that began four years ago. FIFA says it has assurances that the legitimate leadership of Nigeria's football federation has been restored and is in full control of its offices.
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Nigeria escape FIFA ban
Nigeria has narrowly escaped an international football ban after its government responded to a FIFA ultimatum shortly before a suspension took effect on Monday.
FIFA had issued a statement saying it would suspend Nigeria at 11 am GMT Monday because of a power struggle over the leadership of the Nigeria National Federation, known as the NFF.
Amaju Pinnick was elected head of the NFF in 2014. However, while he was at the World Cup with Nigeria's Super Eagles team, another faction took over the federation's headquarters.
The faction was led by sports administrator Chris Giwa who says he is the rightful leader because of a court ruling in his favor earlier this year.
Nigeria's Sport Minister Solomon Dalung, acting on the court ruling ordered Pinnick and his board to comply with the court and leave the NFF, according to local media reports.
However, faced with a FIFA ban for government interference, Nigeria on Monday rejected Giwa's claim to leadership and backed Pinnick instead.
The vice president's media aide, Laolu Akande earlier tweeted: "The FG has already conveyed to FIFA its firm position recognizing Amaju Pinnick-led NFF as the current and only NFF Exco,"
FIFA later released a statement saying: "FIFA received confirmations that the legitimate leadership of the NFF under President Amaju Melvin Pinnick and General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi has been given back effective control of the NFF and its offices."
It is not the first time that Nigeria has faced a FIFA ban over government interference.
FIFA suspended the country when a high court ordered the NFF to hand over the reins of the national team to a government civil servant after the country's exit from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Football is a much-beloved sport in the country, but poor showings at international tournaments by the Super Eagles team have often inspired calls for change and prompted successive governments to interfere in the administration of the sport, a clear breach of FIFA rules, which does not accept government interference in football.
The footballing ruling body says it will continue to monitor the situation in Nigeria to make sure "FIFA rules and regulations are fully adhered to."
Monday, August 20, 2018
Video - Nigerian fans mourn fallen Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin
The death of America's soul queen, Aretha Franklin, came as a shock to music lovers all around the world. She ruled the airwaves for decades and won the heart of millions with her dynamic voice. Tributes have been pouring in especially from her fans in Nigeria.
Video - Nigeria remains defiant as FIFA ban looms
Monday is deadline day for Nigeria to sort out the running of its Football Federation. Otherwise, the country shall be banned by FIFA. Soccer's governing body has taken issue with how much the state has allegedly interfered in the running of the Nigerian Football Federation. Amaju Pinnick, who is recognized by FIFA, and his team were kicked out of the NFF and a rival faction, led by Chris Giwa has taken control. Giwa is under a five-year ban by FIFA for breaches of the NFF statutes and the FIFA code of ethics handed in February last year. But he appears to have the backing of the Nigerian government.
Video - 19 killed, hundreds displaced in latest militant attack in Borno State
At least 19 people have been killed and hundreds displaced in an Islamist militant attack on a village in northeast Nigeria. A survivor, Abatcha Umar, says the militants attacked the village of Mailari in the Guzamala region of Borno state at around 2am on Sunday. Survivors have fled to a camp for displaced people in nearby Monguno. The Islamist militants had been spotted around the village three days before the attack. This strike is the latest blow to Nigeria's efforts to defeat insurgencies by the Islamist Boko Haram group and Islamic State in West Africa. Locals say they had warned Nigerian troops stationed in the nearby town of Gudumbali, but no action was taken.
700 Nigerians attempting illegal migration drown in Mediterranean sea
A group, on the platform of Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria, MEPN, has raised the alarm that over 700 Nigerians died in the Mediterranean Sea while migrating illegally in the last six months.
The Director MEPN, Femi Awoniyi, who made this known while addressing newsmen in Abuja, weekend, said the figure is low, compared to those who died while trying to cross the Sahara Desert.
The Director MEPN, Femi Awoniyi, who made this known while addressing newsmen in Abuja, weekend, said the figure is low, compared to those who died while trying to cross the Sahara Desert.
While disclosing that Nigerians constitute the highest number of illegal migrants from Africa, he lamented that Nigerians have the highest rate of rejection among sub-Sahara asylum applicants in the European Union, EU.
According to him, MEPN was poised to raising awareness on the risks and dangers of irregular migration, and dispelling the misconception that they were better job opportunities outside the shores of Nigeria. According to him, “this year alone, more than 1,500 migrants have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, many of them Nigerians.
“This is not even counting those who have died travelling through the Sahara Desert, or in the transit countries. “Everybody knows that more than half of Saharan migrants in Africa are Nigerians. We cannot count the number of people who die in the Sahara Desert.
Experts say more people die in the Sahara Desert than the Mediterranean. “For those who are lucky to reach Europe, a difficult struggle to obtain legal residency begins. More than 30,000 Nigerians are currently awaiting deportation in Germany alone. “Their asylum claims have been rejected since Nigeria is not considered by the European Union as a country where there is political persecution.”
Cattle thieves carrying daily killings and kidnappings in North East Nigeria
Besides Boko Haram attacks in northeastern Nigeria and the pastoralist crisis across the central region's lush vegetation belt, a lesser-known conflict is brewing in the northwest, and casualties are rising.
Cattle thieves are carrying out daily killings and kidnappings in Zamfara state.
Hundreds have died this year alone.
In early August, 22-year-old Zuleiya Kura braved a two-day trek in the bush with her four children - including 40-day-old twins - to escape the violence.
The young family fled their village of Kanya to Zurmi town, both in Zamfara state, after cattle rustlers on motorcycles stormed her hometown with AK47s.
Her husband, the family's breadwinner, is missing. He had stayed behind with other men to defend Kanya and no one knows if they were killed or managed to escape.
"We all deserted the town after we heard that the bandits have come," says Kura, from the safety of a government-owned Arabic school housing more than 6,000 displaced people from across the state - all of whom were impacted by the same violence. "They were chanting Allahu Akbar."
Zamfara state is home to 4.1 million people and more than 90 percent are Muslim. It was the first Nigerian state to adopt Islamic law, in 2000.
Cattle rustling, which has long afflicted northern Nigeria, has assumed a dangerous dimension in recent years, say residents and analysts.
The many forests in the area, especially the twin forests of Mashema in Zamfara's north bordering nearby Niger Republic and Birnin Gwari to the south leading to the neighbouring, equally insecure state of Kaduna, have served as bases for criminals who stockpile sophisticated weapons.
According to an estimate from Amnesty International, at least 371 people have been killed in Zamfara state alone since January.
In July this year, young people incensed by the frequent killings burned down a police station in the town of Zurmi after policemen refused to release three suspected bandits to them for vigilante justice.
"The situation in Zamfara is nothing new and has been building for years since the state adopted [Islamic] law as a placebo to respond to economic challenges," explains Cheta Nwanze, head of research at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence.
"Zamfara is one of Nigeria's poorest states, and there is circumstantial evidence that some of the perpetrators of violence may have been part of the enforcement brigade of that law almost two decades ago. Having said that, the seeming escalation is indicative of the wider issue in Nigeria where there is less money to go round and a larger population struggling for dwindling resources."
Nigeria's law enforcement agencies are understaffed and with its army stretched thin by other conflicts, the cattle-rustler crisis has continued unabated mostly in Zamfara but also Kaduna, Katsina, Niger and, recently, Sokoto states.
'Our equivalent of black-on-black crime'
The crisis has largely gone under the radar as both media and the government focus on rumblings elsewhere in northern Nigeria.
Some analysts also believe the conflict is considered less pressing because it is an example of "Muslim-on-Muslim" violence.
"In Nigeria, we like our binary fixtures - Muslim versus Christian, Igbo versus Hausa, Fulani versus Yoruba," said Nwanze, the researcher. "Most of us can't process anything outside of those binaries, and since Zamfara doesn't fit any of those binaries, and is our equivalent of black-on-black crime, it is largely ignored. However, Zamfara is our laboratory for conflict resolution. How we resolve it, if we can resolve it, will determine whether we can resolve future conflicts."
In June, apparently frustrated by the situation, Zamfara governor Abdulazeez Yari told reporters that he was powerless in his role as chief security officer of the state.
"We have been facing serious security challenges over the years, but in spite of being governor and Chief Security Officer of the state, I cannot direct security officers on what to do nor sanction them when they err," he said.
Yari, who has been criticised for weak leadership and living outside his state on a regular basis, has no control over the internal security infrastructure because, in accordance with Nigeria's constitution, law enforcement apparatus is controlled wholly by the federal government.
Dosara, the government spokesperson, says in 2016, the state government convened a series of reconciliatory meetings with two main suspected leaders of the attacks, Dogo Gide and Buharin Daji. Both are Fulani.
"We initiated a disarmament and reconciliation process which succeeded in recovering over 3,000 different types of arms comprising machine guns, AK47s, locally made pistols, revolvers and other ammunition … and they took payments. Just about four months ago, they [the weapons] were destroyed before international organisations."
Not long after the suspected leaders surrendered their weapons and were paid off an undeclared sum, Daji broke the brief ceasefire.
Nicknamed General Buharin to mimic the title of Muhammadu Buhari, the retired general and Nigeria's president, Dajin went rogue.
One of the communities he attacked and stole cows from was a small village in the Dansadau area of the state, the hometown of Gide's wife.
Gide, exasperated by Daji's refusal to return his booty, pretended to extend an olive branch to his former ally - and killed him.
A few weeks ago, the army shot dead Daji's teenage heir after a run-in between his gang and security officials.
Still, the kidnappings, killings and general instability are yet to end.
Buhari's belated response
Calls for communal policing have resurfaced as the government at state and federal levels deliberate on how to ease the crisis.
"It is both a case for communal policing since the locals know many of the perpetrators, and a cautionary tale about communal policing without proper training and funding. Eventually, these people will turn those weapons against the very people they are meant to protect," warns Nwanze.
In a belated response in July, President Buhari - who came to power in 2015 vowing to tackle insecurity - deployed a 1,000-man strong military contingent from the army and air force to embark on yet another military exercise, Operation Diran Mikiya (Hausa for Eagle Fighting).
"Buharin Daji is the main rustling and kidnapping guy in-country and he's supposedly a Nigerian," says Beegeagles, a popular anonymous military intelligence blogger.
"In northern Zamfara, there are far more menacing guys coming in from Niger [Republic] … most of whom go unchallenged, given the negligible security. Everything that spells cash - gold, cattle, kidnapping - feeds into the conflict."
Cattle thieves are carrying out daily killings and kidnappings in Zamfara state.
Hundreds have died this year alone.
In early August, 22-year-old Zuleiya Kura braved a two-day trek in the bush with her four children - including 40-day-old twins - to escape the violence.
The young family fled their village of Kanya to Zurmi town, both in Zamfara state, after cattle rustlers on motorcycles stormed her hometown with AK47s.
Her husband, the family's breadwinner, is missing. He had stayed behind with other men to defend Kanya and no one knows if they were killed or managed to escape.
"We all deserted the town after we heard that the bandits have come," says Kura, from the safety of a government-owned Arabic school housing more than 6,000 displaced people from across the state - all of whom were impacted by the same violence. "They were chanting Allahu Akbar."
Zamfara state is home to 4.1 million people and more than 90 percent are Muslim. It was the first Nigerian state to adopt Islamic law, in 2000.
Cattle rustling, which has long afflicted northern Nigeria, has assumed a dangerous dimension in recent years, say residents and analysts.
The many forests in the area, especially the twin forests of Mashema in Zamfara's north bordering nearby Niger Republic and Birnin Gwari to the south leading to the neighbouring, equally insecure state of Kaduna, have served as bases for criminals who stockpile sophisticated weapons.
According to an estimate from Amnesty International, at least 371 people have been killed in Zamfara state alone since January.
In July this year, young people incensed by the frequent killings burned down a police station in the town of Zurmi after policemen refused to release three suspected bandits to them for vigilante justice.
"The situation in Zamfara is nothing new and has been building for years since the state adopted [Islamic] law as a placebo to respond to economic challenges," explains Cheta Nwanze, head of research at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence.
"Zamfara is one of Nigeria's poorest states, and there is circumstantial evidence that some of the perpetrators of violence may have been part of the enforcement brigade of that law almost two decades ago. Having said that, the seeming escalation is indicative of the wider issue in Nigeria where there is less money to go round and a larger population struggling for dwindling resources."
Nigeria's law enforcement agencies are understaffed and with its army stretched thin by other conflicts, the cattle-rustler crisis has continued unabated mostly in Zamfara but also Kaduna, Katsina, Niger and, recently, Sokoto states.
Kidnappings and vigilantism
Two military exercises codenamed Operations Sharan Daji (Hausa for Sweep the Forest) and Harbin Kunama (Hausa for Scorpion Sting) set up in previous years, have proved unable to curb the attacks.
A dusk to dawn curfew, imposed again after being lifted in 2016, is not fully enforced either.
Encouraged by the failure to stem the violence, the perpetrators have also taken to indiscriminate kidnapping-for-ransom schemes across major highways, killing locals in communities after stealing their cows and abducting women and forcing them into sex slavery. There have also been a few cases of artisanal gold miners being robbed of their gold and then killed.
The attackers tend to arrive on Honda motorcycles, says Sokoto-based taxi driver Abdullahi Abubakar.
"They park across the road and look inside vehicles they stop for those with fine skin or well-dressed [people] that look like they have money. Then they kidnap you and ask you to call your people to pay millions. Recently, they took one expatriate engineer working on a project in [Zamfara] and kept him for 12 days, feeding him well until a ransom of N30 million ($83,100) was paid."
Young people in several affected communities have formed local vigilante groups, arming themselves with sticks, Dane guns and crude weapons available for self-defence in case of reprisal attacks by ethnic militia.
The bandits are mostly Fulani mercenaries attacking predominantly Hausa settlements, with some criminal elements among the ethnic militia also instigating their own attacks in similar patterns, says the state government.
"After our ban of Yan Banga (vigilante) and allowances stopped, some transformed into Yan Sakai (volunteer forces) to revenge on Fulani people and some of them became criminals," said Ibrahim Dosara, a government spokesperson. "When we discovered that they were now part of the problem, the government banned them again."
Two military exercises codenamed Operations Sharan Daji (Hausa for Sweep the Forest) and Harbin Kunama (Hausa for Scorpion Sting) set up in previous years, have proved unable to curb the attacks.
A dusk to dawn curfew, imposed again after being lifted in 2016, is not fully enforced either.
Encouraged by the failure to stem the violence, the perpetrators have also taken to indiscriminate kidnapping-for-ransom schemes across major highways, killing locals in communities after stealing their cows and abducting women and forcing them into sex slavery. There have also been a few cases of artisanal gold miners being robbed of their gold and then killed.
The attackers tend to arrive on Honda motorcycles, says Sokoto-based taxi driver Abdullahi Abubakar.
"They park across the road and look inside vehicles they stop for those with fine skin or well-dressed [people] that look like they have money. Then they kidnap you and ask you to call your people to pay millions. Recently, they took one expatriate engineer working on a project in [Zamfara] and kept him for 12 days, feeding him well until a ransom of N30 million ($83,100) was paid."
Young people in several affected communities have formed local vigilante groups, arming themselves with sticks, Dane guns and crude weapons available for self-defence in case of reprisal attacks by ethnic militia.
The bandits are mostly Fulani mercenaries attacking predominantly Hausa settlements, with some criminal elements among the ethnic militia also instigating their own attacks in similar patterns, says the state government.
"After our ban of Yan Banga (vigilante) and allowances stopped, some transformed into Yan Sakai (volunteer forces) to revenge on Fulani people and some of them became criminals," said Ibrahim Dosara, a government spokesperson. "When we discovered that they were now part of the problem, the government banned them again."
'Our equivalent of black-on-black crime'
The crisis has largely gone under the radar as both media and the government focus on rumblings elsewhere in northern Nigeria.
Some analysts also believe the conflict is considered less pressing because it is an example of "Muslim-on-Muslim" violence.
"In Nigeria, we like our binary fixtures - Muslim versus Christian, Igbo versus Hausa, Fulani versus Yoruba," said Nwanze, the researcher. "Most of us can't process anything outside of those binaries, and since Zamfara doesn't fit any of those binaries, and is our equivalent of black-on-black crime, it is largely ignored. However, Zamfara is our laboratory for conflict resolution. How we resolve it, if we can resolve it, will determine whether we can resolve future conflicts."
In June, apparently frustrated by the situation, Zamfara governor Abdulazeez Yari told reporters that he was powerless in his role as chief security officer of the state.
"We have been facing serious security challenges over the years, but in spite of being governor and Chief Security Officer of the state, I cannot direct security officers on what to do nor sanction them when they err," he said.
Yari, who has been criticised for weak leadership and living outside his state on a regular basis, has no control over the internal security infrastructure because, in accordance with Nigeria's constitution, law enforcement apparatus is controlled wholly by the federal government.
Dosara, the government spokesperson, says in 2016, the state government convened a series of reconciliatory meetings with two main suspected leaders of the attacks, Dogo Gide and Buharin Daji. Both are Fulani.
"We initiated a disarmament and reconciliation process which succeeded in recovering over 3,000 different types of arms comprising machine guns, AK47s, locally made pistols, revolvers and other ammunition … and they took payments. Just about four months ago, they [the weapons] were destroyed before international organisations."
Not long after the suspected leaders surrendered their weapons and were paid off an undeclared sum, Daji broke the brief ceasefire.
Nicknamed General Buharin to mimic the title of Muhammadu Buhari, the retired general and Nigeria's president, Dajin went rogue.
One of the communities he attacked and stole cows from was a small village in the Dansadau area of the state, the hometown of Gide's wife.
Gide, exasperated by Daji's refusal to return his booty, pretended to extend an olive branch to his former ally - and killed him.
A few weeks ago, the army shot dead Daji's teenage heir after a run-in between his gang and security officials.
Still, the kidnappings, killings and general instability are yet to end.
Buhari's belated response
Calls for communal policing have resurfaced as the government at state and federal levels deliberate on how to ease the crisis.
"It is both a case for communal policing since the locals know many of the perpetrators, and a cautionary tale about communal policing without proper training and funding. Eventually, these people will turn those weapons against the very people they are meant to protect," warns Nwanze.
In a belated response in July, President Buhari - who came to power in 2015 vowing to tackle insecurity - deployed a 1,000-man strong military contingent from the army and air force to embark on yet another military exercise, Operation Diran Mikiya (Hausa for Eagle Fighting).
"Buharin Daji is the main rustling and kidnapping guy in-country and he's supposedly a Nigerian," says Beegeagles, a popular anonymous military intelligence blogger.
"In northern Zamfara, there are far more menacing guys coming in from Niger [Republic] … most of whom go unchallenged, given the negligible security. Everything that spells cash - gold, cattle, kidnapping - feeds into the conflict."
Friday, August 17, 2018
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