Nigeria's military says it has rescued at least 160 more women and children who had been abducted by Boko Haram and were being held in the Sambisa Forest, considered to be the armed group's last stronghold.
Colonel Sani Usman, an army spokesperson, said in a statement on Thursday that those rescued include around "60 women of various ages and around 100 children".
"They have been evacuated to a safety zone for further processing," Usman said.
At least one woman and one soldier were reportedly killed in the fighting during the rescue. Eight other women and four soldiers were also injured.
Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from Abuja, said that the reports from the army could not be independently verified because of restricted access to the area.
However, she added that the military promised to release more evidence of the rescues, including photographs, later on Thursday.
All the former hostages - some of whom are said to be traumatised by the experience - were being screened to determine their identities and from where and when they were abducted.
Their release comes a day after the Nigerian military rescued nearly 300 hostages - 200 girls and 93 women - in Boko Haram's forest stronghold.
Usman said that the girls who were seized from the northeastern town of Chibok in April 2014 were not part of the group. The fighters are believed to have taken the schoolgirls in trucks into the Sambisa Forest. Dozens escaped, but 219 remain missing.
Boko Haram has abducted an unknown number of girls, women and young men to be used as sex slaves and fighters. Many have escaped or been released as Boko Haram fighters have fled a multinational offensive that began at the end of January.
A month ago, the Nigerian military began pounding the Sambisa Forest in air raids, an assault they said earlier they had been avoiding for fear of killing the Chibok schoolgirls, or inciting their captors to kill them.
'Tip of the iceberg'
Earlier this month, rights group Amnesty International published a report saying that the armed group has abducted at least 2,000 women and girls since the start of 2014.
Amnesty's Africa director for research and advocacy, Netsanet Belay, said the rescues were a "cause for celebration" but he warned: "This is just the tip of the iceberg.
"There are thousands more women and girls, and men and boys, who have been abducted by Boko Haram," he said in a statement.
Aljazeera
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Indonesia executes four Nigerians for drug trafficking
Indonesian authorities on Tuesday executed eight people, including four Nigerians, convicted for drug offenses.
The death row prisoners, whose pending execution drew condemnations around the world amid pleas for clemency, were killed by firing squad.
The execution of a ninth convict, a woman from the Philippines, was postponed at the last minute.
The Fillipino was spared after a woman accused of tricking her into carrying drug, handed herself to the police in Philippines Tuesday.
The four Nigerians included Martins Anderson, 50, who was charged with possession of heroin, and Okwudili Oyatanze, 41, also charged for smuggling heroin.
Jamiu Abashin, 50, was also executed for smuggling heroin, while Sylvester Nwolise, 42, was also executed for the same offence.
Other convicts who were executed were 34-year-old Australian, Myruan Sukumaran, 31 year-old Australian, Andrew Chan, charged for smuggling heroin, and 41 year-old Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, 42, who was convicted for smuggling cocaine.
Also executed was Zainal Abidin, a 50-year-old Indonesian, who was convicted for marijuana possession with intent to distribute.
Premium Times
The death row prisoners, whose pending execution drew condemnations around the world amid pleas for clemency, were killed by firing squad.
The execution of a ninth convict, a woman from the Philippines, was postponed at the last minute.
The Fillipino was spared after a woman accused of tricking her into carrying drug, handed herself to the police in Philippines Tuesday.
The four Nigerians included Martins Anderson, 50, who was charged with possession of heroin, and Okwudili Oyatanze, 41, also charged for smuggling heroin.
Jamiu Abashin, 50, was also executed for smuggling heroin, while Sylvester Nwolise, 42, was also executed for the same offence.
Other convicts who were executed were 34-year-old Australian, Myruan Sukumaran, 31 year-old Australian, Andrew Chan, charged for smuggling heroin, and 41 year-old Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, 42, who was convicted for smuggling cocaine.
Also executed was Zainal Abidin, a 50-year-old Indonesian, who was convicted for marijuana possession with intent to distribute.
Premium Times
Audit shows oil firm overpaid Nigerian government
An audit has found that Nigeria's state oil company overpaid the government $750m (£490m), but also found it had not properly accounted for $1.48bn.
The financial report follows allegations in 2013 by then-central bank chief Lamido Sanusi that the firm had failed to account for about $20bn.
It caused a huge uproar in Nigeria, forcing President Goodluck Jonathan to order an independent audit.
His office released the findings as he prepares to step down in a month.
Ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari will be inaugurated on 29 May after he defeated Mr Jonathan in elections last month.
He has vowed to tackle corruption in Nigeria, Africa's main oil producer where most people live on less than $2 a day.
'Accounting errors'
The BBC's Chris Ewokor in the capital, Abuja, says the findings suggest that Mr Sanusi's claims were exaggerated.
However, many Nigerians still believe that corruption in the oil sector runs deep, our correspondent adds.
The audit into the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was carried out by PwC, one of the world's leading accounting firms.
It stated that it could not vouch for the integrity of the information it was given when it conducted the audit, our reporter says.
PwC said the oil company should be overhauled and pay the government about $1.5bn arising from duplicate claims and accounting errors.
Mr Sanusi, then a respected banker, caused shockwaves in September 2013 when he claimed that the NNPC had failed to account for $20bn of oil sold between January 2012 and July 2013.
He was forced out of office following a heated row with Mr Jonathan and the NNPC over the allegation.
Mr Sanusi, now a powerful Muslim traditional leader in Nigeria, has not commented on PwC's findings.
BBC
The financial report follows allegations in 2013 by then-central bank chief Lamido Sanusi that the firm had failed to account for about $20bn.
It caused a huge uproar in Nigeria, forcing President Goodluck Jonathan to order an independent audit.
His office released the findings as he prepares to step down in a month.
Ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari will be inaugurated on 29 May after he defeated Mr Jonathan in elections last month.
He has vowed to tackle corruption in Nigeria, Africa's main oil producer where most people live on less than $2 a day.
'Accounting errors'
The BBC's Chris Ewokor in the capital, Abuja, says the findings suggest that Mr Sanusi's claims were exaggerated.
However, many Nigerians still believe that corruption in the oil sector runs deep, our correspondent adds.
The audit into the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was carried out by PwC, one of the world's leading accounting firms.
It stated that it could not vouch for the integrity of the information it was given when it conducted the audit, our reporter says.
PwC said the oil company should be overhauled and pay the government about $1.5bn arising from duplicate claims and accounting errors.
Mr Sanusi, then a respected banker, caused shockwaves in September 2013 when he claimed that the NNPC had failed to account for $20bn of oil sold between January 2012 and July 2013.
He was forced out of office following a heated row with Mr Jonathan and the NNPC over the allegation.
Mr Sanusi, now a powerful Muslim traditional leader in Nigeria, has not commented on PwC's findings.
BBC
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Nigerian army rescues hundreds of kidnapped girls from Boko Haram
Nigeria's army has rescued 200 girls and 93 women during a military operation to wrest back the Sambisa Forest from the Boko Haram Islamist militant group, it said on Tuesday.
Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls near the northern village of Chibok in April 2014, causing an international outcry. The six-year insurgency has seen thousands killed and many more abducted.
"Troops this afternoon rescued 200 girls and 93 women from Sambisa Forest. We cannot confirm if the Chibok girls are in this group," army spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said, adding Nigerian troops had also destroyed three camps run by the militants there.
Diplomats and intelligence officials say they believed at least some of the girls were being held in the forest about 100 km (60 miles) from Chibok, although U.S. reconnaissance drones failed to find them.
The girls and women will be screened on Wednesday to determine whether they had been abducted or if they were married to the militants, one intelligence source told Reuters.
"Now they are excited about their freedom," he said. "Tomorrow there will be screenings to determine whether they are Boko Haram wives, whether they are from Chibok, how long they have been in the camps, and if they have children."
Some of the girls were injured, and some of the militants killed, he said without giving more details.
The group was rescued on Tuesday afternoon from camps, "discovered near or on the way to Sambisa," one army official said.
Nigerian forces backed by warplanes invaded the vast former colonial game reserve late last week as part of a push to win back territory from the group.
The group, notorious for violence against civilians, controlled an area roughly the size of Belgium at the start of the year but has since been beaten back by Nigerian troops, backed by Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
While the Nigerian army maintains the group is now hemmed in Sambisa Forest, militants have managed to launch attacks in the neighbourhood including chasing soldiers out of Marte town and an island on Lake Chad.
Reuters
Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls near the northern village of Chibok in April 2014, causing an international outcry. The six-year insurgency has seen thousands killed and many more abducted.
"Troops this afternoon rescued 200 girls and 93 women from Sambisa Forest. We cannot confirm if the Chibok girls are in this group," army spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said, adding Nigerian troops had also destroyed three camps run by the militants there.
Diplomats and intelligence officials say they believed at least some of the girls were being held in the forest about 100 km (60 miles) from Chibok, although U.S. reconnaissance drones failed to find them.
The girls and women will be screened on Wednesday to determine whether they had been abducted or if they were married to the militants, one intelligence source told Reuters.
"Now they are excited about their freedom," he said. "Tomorrow there will be screenings to determine whether they are Boko Haram wives, whether they are from Chibok, how long they have been in the camps, and if they have children."
Some of the girls were injured, and some of the militants killed, he said without giving more details.
The group was rescued on Tuesday afternoon from camps, "discovered near or on the way to Sambisa," one army official said.
Nigerian forces backed by warplanes invaded the vast former colonial game reserve late last week as part of a push to win back territory from the group.
The group, notorious for violence against civilians, controlled an area roughly the size of Belgium at the start of the year but has since been beaten back by Nigerian troops, backed by Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
While the Nigerian army maintains the group is now hemmed in Sambisa Forest, militants have managed to launch attacks in the neighbourhood including chasing soldiers out of Marte town and an island on Lake Chad.
Reuters
Local Bitcoin Remittance service Bitstake launches in Nigeria
This gives it a strong proposition in a country where only 38% of the population has access to the Internet, compared to a mobile phone penetration of close to 100%.
Nigeria has the largest population in Africa, as well as the largest economy, with a 2013 GDP of $523 billion. Ironically, Bitcoin-related enterprises have been relatively slow to take hold there. This is why many Bitcoin enthusiasts on the continent will be watching to see how Bitstake performs in the coming months.
Speaking to CoinTelegraph, the company’s CTO Alexander Christian said that Bitstake offers a platform that makes it easy for the local Bitcoin community to exchange between cryptocurrencies and naira, the local fiat currency.
Christian said the startup targets Nigerians who live abroad and frequently send money back home to their families. It gives them a secure and fast remittance service at a cost of 1%, which is much cheaper than the fees that MoneyGram or Western Union charge. He adds:
“By creating a wallet on Bitstake, one can send and receive money from anywhere in the world at the cost of 1% of the value moved. Those who choose to have their funds held on the platform will also earn interest. Furthermore, there are options of trading, lending and getting low-cost loans."
The Challenge
Exchange and remittance, however, are not the only services Bitstake is putting forward. It also offers individuals and businesses an opportunity to acquire loans at very low cost through a peer-to-peer lending platform.
On the other hand, the company promises lenders in this arrangement, as well as those who save on the platform, a higher interest rate than what they would get if they saved their money in a bank account.
The exchange also has a trading section where you can buy and sell Bitcoin, Ripple, Blackcoin, and their native coin Bitstake against the naira to make a profit out of the price movement occasioned by demand-and-supply market forces.
Achieving success in all areas—the exchange and the peer-to-peer lending and trading services, as well as with its own crypto coin—however, might turn out to be the biggest challenge the company will face.
Cashing out into the local currency may also remain a pain point for customers. Unlike in Kenya where exchanges such as Bitpesa and Tagpesa found an infrastructure in Mpesa that made it easy to change between fiat and bitcoin, Bitstake customers will still have to go through a bank to get their money in naira. This is because mobile money service is still alien to Nigeria.
Christian, whose is working toward earning a masters in cyber security at the University of Oxford, says Bitstake has taken every possible measure in terms of security. This includes holding the bulk amount of clients’ funds in cold storage.
Bitstake Is a Proof-of-Stake Coin
Bitstake (XBS) is the native proof-of-stake coin of the platform, which has a total of 1,302,037 units. It can be exchanged for the other crypto coins, as well as the naira.
Christian says that Bitstake is in beta, but they have plans to launch early in May 2015, if all goes according to plan. He adds:
“It is after David could not find a faster and secure way to send money to his family in Nigeria that he invited me and [Roy] Carlos to work on the idea of Bitstake.”
The startup was founded by Christian, Carlos (who is the senior project manager) and David Ajayi, a Nigerian whose challenges in sending money home from England gave birth to the idea.
In order to encourage more signups from Nigerians, Bitstake plans to give out a bonus of 100 naira for every exchange account created and verified once the platform is up and running.
Coin Telegraph
Related story: Bitcoin exchange market coming to Nigeria
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