Monday, March 24, 2014
Video - Increase in child rape cases in Kano, Nigeria
Convicted child rapists could be jailed for life in Nigeria, as part of government efforts to stop the rising number of sexual assaults. A hundred rape cases were recorded in just two months in the northern state of Kano.
Boko Haram market bomb blast leaves 20 dead in
Suspected Islamist militants detonated a bomb in a crowded marketplace in northeastern Nigeria killing at least 20 people, witnesses said on Sunday.
Nigerian security officials said the attack late on Saturday in the town of Bama in Borno state bore the hallmarks of an attack by the al Qaeda-linked militant group Boko Haram, which is fighting to carve an Islamic state out of northeast Nigeria.
Security sources say Boko Haram has killed hundreds, possibly thousands, this year in a campaign of violence that is growing in intensity.
"I travelled to Bama ...to buy bags of beans. Suddenly, there was a deafening bang at the middle of the market. It was in the late afternoon and commercial activities were at their peak," said Shuaibu Abdulahi, a trader at the market. He estimated the death toll to be as high as 29.
Abba Tahir, a bus driver who was offloading passengers at the market, said he counted 20 bodies.
"People were helping in evacuating the corpses after the confusion had died down. Some people who were injured were taken to the general hospital," Tahir said.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. The military spokesman for Borno state did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A military crackdown since last May has failed to quell the insurgency, which after four and a half years remains the leading security threat to Africa's top oil producer.
Borno state has ordered all of its schools to shut before the end of term to protect children after Islamists killed dozens of pupils in an attack last month, state officials said on Friday.
Security officials said Boko Haram had shot or burned to death at least 29 pupils in a boarding school in northeast Nigeria. A journalist who counted bodies in the morgue after the attack put the figure at 59.
The failure of the military to protect civilians is fuelling anger in the northeast, although state security officials have claimed some recent successes, including killing several militants as they tried to escape from a prison in Borno's state capital Maiduguri this month.
Reuters
Nigerian security officials said the attack late on Saturday in the town of Bama in Borno state bore the hallmarks of an attack by the al Qaeda-linked militant group Boko Haram, which is fighting to carve an Islamic state out of northeast Nigeria.
Security sources say Boko Haram has killed hundreds, possibly thousands, this year in a campaign of violence that is growing in intensity.
"I travelled to Bama ...to buy bags of beans. Suddenly, there was a deafening bang at the middle of the market. It was in the late afternoon and commercial activities were at their peak," said Shuaibu Abdulahi, a trader at the market. He estimated the death toll to be as high as 29.
Abba Tahir, a bus driver who was offloading passengers at the market, said he counted 20 bodies.
"People were helping in evacuating the corpses after the confusion had died down. Some people who were injured were taken to the general hospital," Tahir said.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. The military spokesman for Borno state did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A military crackdown since last May has failed to quell the insurgency, which after four and a half years remains the leading security threat to Africa's top oil producer.
Borno state has ordered all of its schools to shut before the end of term to protect children after Islamists killed dozens of pupils in an attack last month, state officials said on Friday.
Security officials said Boko Haram had shot or burned to death at least 29 pupils in a boarding school in northeast Nigeria. A journalist who counted bodies in the morgue after the attack put the figure at 59.
The failure of the military to protect civilians is fuelling anger in the northeast, although state security officials have claimed some recent successes, including killing several militants as they tried to escape from a prison in Borno's state capital Maiduguri this month.
Reuters
Police investigate house of horror in Ibadan
Nigerian police have opened a murder investigation after human skeletons and body parts were discovered in an abandoned building in the south-west.
Officers also rescued several people nearby who had been chained together and appeared severely malnourished.
The alarm had been raised by motorcycle taxi riders in the city of Ibadan after some of their colleagues went missing.
Several people have been arrested in the city - Nigeria's third largest - a police spokeswoman said.
Living skeletons
When police searched the abandoned building - dubbed the "house of horror" by the media - they found skeletons, decomposing bodies, skulls and bones on bloodstained floors.
A number of people were found shackled in leg-irons inside the building.
"Some seven malnourished human beings looking like living skeletons were also rescued in the bushes surrounding the building," police spokeswoman Olabisi Ilobanafor told AFP.
She said the motorbike riders had stumbled on the bodies after complaining to police about the disappearance of colleagues in suspicious circumstances.
"It is not a common occurrence in Ibadan or in the (Oyo) state. The police will investigate this crime in all its ramifications," she said.
Observers say some victims of kidnapping are often tortured or used as sacrifices in black magic rituals.
BBC
Officers also rescued several people nearby who had been chained together and appeared severely malnourished.
The alarm had been raised by motorcycle taxi riders in the city of Ibadan after some of their colleagues went missing.
Several people have been arrested in the city - Nigeria's third largest - a police spokeswoman said.
Living skeletons
When police searched the abandoned building - dubbed the "house of horror" by the media - they found skeletons, decomposing bodies, skulls and bones on bloodstained floors.
A number of people were found shackled in leg-irons inside the building.
"Some seven malnourished human beings looking like living skeletons were also rescued in the bushes surrounding the building," police spokeswoman Olabisi Ilobanafor told AFP.
She said the motorbike riders had stumbled on the bodies after complaining to police about the disappearance of colleagues in suspicious circumstances.
"It is not a common occurrence in Ibadan or in the (Oyo) state. The police will investigate this crime in all its ramifications," she said.
Observers say some victims of kidnapping are often tortured or used as sacrifices in black magic rituals.
BBC
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Nigerian filmmaker Kunle Afolayan talks with SaharaTV about his career and the industry
Award winning Nigerian film maker, Kunle Afolayan has produced movies that won for him international accolades. The veteran actor shares with SaharaTV his definition of "Nollywood", what it takes to make quality movies in Nigeria and his passion for making film with special cut on African culture.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Video - KICKTV profiles Nigeria's Super Eagles ahead of 2014 World Cup
The World Cup is less than 100 days away, and to kick things off, KICKTV in partnership with Howler Magazine is rolling out its World Cup Crash Course. Next up, Nigeria. The Super Eagles are bringing a strong mix of veterans and youngsters. But will it be enough to get out of their group?
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