An audio message has emerged of Nigerian-based Islamist militant group Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau, in which he denies he has been replaced.
In the message, addressed to the leader of the Islamic State militant group to whom Boko Haram has pledged allegiance, Mr Shekau said he was still in command.
He had not featured in the group's recent videos, prompting speculation he had been killed or incapacitated.
Last week the Chadian president said Mr Shekau had been replaced.
The Nigerian army has dismissed the recording as irrelevant, saying it did not matter whether he was alive or dead.
Mr Shekau described as "blatant lies" reports that he was no longer in charge.
"I am alive," he said, adding: "I will only die when the time appointed by Allah comes."
The eight-minute-long recording mocked a recent statement by the new Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari that Boko Haram would be eliminated within three months.
BBC
Monday, August 17, 2015
Friday, August 14, 2015
New Nigeria oil chief Emmanuel Kachikwu announces restructuring
The new head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp said on Thursday that he had started a three-pronged restructuring of the state-owned company that should lead to "a new NNPC".
President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Emmanuel Kachikwu last week with a brief to root out corruption and mismanagement at the NNPC, which has been accused of failing to account for tens of billions of dollars in recent years.
The former Exxon Mobil executive has already dismissed all of the company's executive directors and other top layers of management.
"There's a people aspect which we are dealing with now," he said after a meeting with Buhari. "After the people at the right places, we are going to get a forensic audit done ... that will cover us all the way to 2014, 2015."
In the final stage, the NNPC will review all existing contracts, including production sharing contracts with independent oil companies, and analyse the plunge in crude oil prices to improve revenue for the government.
"Over the next five-six months, you will begin (to) see emerging a new NNPC," Kachikwu said.
The NNPC has not been publishing annual reports and its bookkeeping has been criticised as opaque, which appears to have allowed billions of dollars to disappear.
It is supposed to remit all revenues to the country's treasury but is allowed to keep what it needs to cover costs with little oversight. The result is a legal grey area that has been open for abuse for decades.
The president on Sunday ordered ministries including the NNPC to use only approved government bank accounts to make payments, as part of efforts to improve transparency and clamp down on corruption.
"The reality is that to run an oil company, you've got to have funds to do it. If you don't, you close down the corporation and the production system will close down," he told reporters in the capital Abuja.
Reuters
President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Emmanuel Kachikwu last week with a brief to root out corruption and mismanagement at the NNPC, which has been accused of failing to account for tens of billions of dollars in recent years.
The former Exxon Mobil executive has already dismissed all of the company's executive directors and other top layers of management.
"There's a people aspect which we are dealing with now," he said after a meeting with Buhari. "After the people at the right places, we are going to get a forensic audit done ... that will cover us all the way to 2014, 2015."
In the final stage, the NNPC will review all existing contracts, including production sharing contracts with independent oil companies, and analyse the plunge in crude oil prices to improve revenue for the government.
"Over the next five-six months, you will begin (to) see emerging a new NNPC," Kachikwu said.
The NNPC has not been publishing annual reports and its bookkeeping has been criticised as opaque, which appears to have allowed billions of dollars to disappear.
It is supposed to remit all revenues to the country's treasury but is allowed to keep what it needs to cover costs with little oversight. The result is a legal grey area that has been open for abuse for decades.
The president on Sunday ordered ministries including the NNPC to use only approved government bank accounts to make payments, as part of efforts to improve transparency and clamp down on corruption.
"The reality is that to run an oil company, you've got to have funds to do it. If you don't, you close down the corporation and the production system will close down," he told reporters in the capital Abuja.
Reuters
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Chad's President says Boko Haram has new leader
The Nigerian-based Islamist militant group Boko Haram has a new leader, Chad's President Idriss Deby says.
He did not say what had happened to Abubakar Shekau, but said he had been replaced by Mahamat Daoud - who has not been heard of before.
Mr Shekau has not featured in the group's recent videos, leading to speculation that he has been killed.
Mr Deby, whose troops have been involved in battling Boko Haram, said Mr Daoud was open to dialogue.
The BBC's Nigeria correspondent Will Ross says that last year, the Chadian leader was said to be brokering peace talks with Boko Haram.
But the negotiations never happened and were widely seen as a sham so some analysts will question how much credence to give to Mr Deby's latest comments about the jihadist group, he adds.
Mr Shekau took over as the group's leader after the its founder, Muhammad Yusuf, died in Nigerian police custody in July 2009.
Under his leadership the group has become more radical and carried out more killings.
Previous reports about his death proved to be untrue.
The last Boko Haram video, which was released earlier this month, showed an unidentified young man speaking in the name of the Islamic State in West Africa calling on people to be patient: "We are still present everywhere we had been before."
He spoke in the regional Hausa language, with an accent from the Kanuri ethnic group, to which Mr Shekau belongs.
In numerous videos, Mr Shekau has taunted the Nigerian authorities, celebrating the group's violent acts including the abduction of the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014.
He was last heard from in March, when he released an audio message pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group.
Last month, Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari said he would be willing to negotiate with the Boko Haram leadership for the release of the Chibok girls - depending on the credibility of those saying they represented the group.
A previous prisoner-swap attempt ended in failure.
Earlier this year, Chadian troops played a key role in a regional effort to retake towns and villages held in north-eastern Nigerian by Boko Haram.
BBC
He did not say what had happened to Abubakar Shekau, but said he had been replaced by Mahamat Daoud - who has not been heard of before.
Mr Shekau has not featured in the group's recent videos, leading to speculation that he has been killed.
Mr Deby, whose troops have been involved in battling Boko Haram, said Mr Daoud was open to dialogue.
The BBC's Nigeria correspondent Will Ross says that last year, the Chadian leader was said to be brokering peace talks with Boko Haram.
But the negotiations never happened and were widely seen as a sham so some analysts will question how much credence to give to Mr Deby's latest comments about the jihadist group, he adds.
Mr Shekau took over as the group's leader after the its founder, Muhammad Yusuf, died in Nigerian police custody in July 2009.
Under his leadership the group has become more radical and carried out more killings.
Previous reports about his death proved to be untrue.
The last Boko Haram video, which was released earlier this month, showed an unidentified young man speaking in the name of the Islamic State in West Africa calling on people to be patient: "We are still present everywhere we had been before."
He spoke in the regional Hausa language, with an accent from the Kanuri ethnic group, to which Mr Shekau belongs.
In numerous videos, Mr Shekau has taunted the Nigerian authorities, celebrating the group's violent acts including the abduction of the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014.
He was last heard from in March, when he released an audio message pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group.
Last month, Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari said he would be willing to negotiate with the Boko Haram leadership for the release of the Chibok girls - depending on the credibility of those saying they represented the group.
A previous prisoner-swap attempt ended in failure.
Earlier this year, Chadian troops played a key role in a regional effort to retake towns and villages held in north-eastern Nigerian by Boko Haram.
BBC
4 dead in helicopter crash in Lagos
A helicopter carrying 12 people crashed into a lagoon in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos on Wednesday, killing at least four people, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)said.
The helicopter operated by offshore energy transportation specialists Bristow Group, flying from an oil rig, crashed at around 3.30 p.m. (1430 GMT) in the Oworonshoki area of the city, shortly before it was due to land.
A rescue operation was continuing.
"We were watching the helicopter swaying in the air. And then it started to go down. As soon as it hit the water, we saw flames," said Nkoli Moka, who watched the crash from a car on the city's Third Mainland bridge.
"Four bodies have been recovered. Six people survived and two people are missing," said Fan Ndubuoke, a spokesman for the NCAA. The aircraft had been carrying 10 passengers and two crew.
Bristow Helicopters (Nigeria) Limited is part of Bristow Group, which provides helicopter transport to the worldwide offshore energy industry.
"Bristow Helicopters (Nigeria) Limited, confirmed today
that one of its helicopters was involved in an accident ... on approach to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at Lagos, Nigeria," said the company in a statement.
"The aircraft, a Sikorsky S-76C+, was returning from a drilling rig offshore," it said.
Reuters
The helicopter operated by offshore energy transportation specialists Bristow Group, flying from an oil rig, crashed at around 3.30 p.m. (1430 GMT) in the Oworonshoki area of the city, shortly before it was due to land.
A rescue operation was continuing.
"We were watching the helicopter swaying in the air. And then it started to go down. As soon as it hit the water, we saw flames," said Nkoli Moka, who watched the crash from a car on the city's Third Mainland bridge.
"Four bodies have been recovered. Six people survived and two people are missing," said Fan Ndubuoke, a spokesman for the NCAA. The aircraft had been carrying 10 passengers and two crew.
Bristow Helicopters (Nigeria) Limited is part of Bristow Group, which provides helicopter transport to the worldwide offshore energy industry.
"Bristow Helicopters (Nigeria) Limited, confirmed today
that one of its helicopters was involved in an accident ... on approach to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at Lagos, Nigeria," said the company in a statement.
"The aircraft, a Sikorsky S-76C+, was returning from a drilling rig offshore," it said.
Reuters
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Video - Nigerian banks continue shaming agenda for delinquent debtors
Nigeria's Bankers Committee has resolved to press ahead with the naming and shaming of delinquent debtors and even threatened to apply market sanctions on affected individuals and corporations. This is despite the controversy it has raised and potential lawsuits.
Related story: Video - Banks in Nigeria publicly shaming debtors
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