Bandits have released 15 more students kidnapped last month from a Baptist school in northwest Nigeria, officials said.
School administrator Reverend John Hayab told Reuters news agency on Sunday that parents had raised and paid an undisclosed ransom to free the students, who were among more than 100 taken on July 5 from the Bethel Baptist High School.
“The students are already being released and would be handed over to their parents any moment from now,” Hayab said.
Hayab had previously said the abductors were seeking 1 million naira ($2,430) per student.
So far, 56 of the kidnapped Bethel students have been released or escaped from their abductors.
“We still have 65 more of our students with the bandits and we are working to see they can be freed,” Hayab told the AFP news agency on Sunday.
Kaduna state’s commissioner for internal security, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the release but did not immediately comment on the ransom payment.
The Bethel abduction was part of a string of kidnappings by armed gangs known locally as bandits who have long terrorised northwest and central Nigeria, looting, stealing cattle and kidnapping for ransom.
About 1,000 students have been kidnapped since December after gangs started to target schools and colleges. Most have been released after negotiations.
But many hostages remain captive, including more than 136 children abducted in June from an Islamic seminary in Tegina in central Niger State, four of whom have died in captivity.
On Friday, the gangs asked the seminary to send clothing for the schoolchildren who have been in the same clothes for months, according to one of the parents.
“They phoned the head of the school and told him to ask parents to send the children new clothes as the ones they have been wearing are in shreds,” Maryam Mohammed, whose seven children are among the hostages, told AFP.
Last week, nine pupils of an Islamic seminary were also seized by motorcycle-riding attackers in Katsina State, the second such incident in as many months.
President Muhammadu Buhari in February called on state governments to stop paying bandits, and Kaduna Governor Nasir el-Rufai publicly refuses to pay.
But desperate parents and communities often raise and pay ransoms themselves.
President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law long-awaited legislation to overhaul the oil and gas industry in Africa's biggest crude producer. A harmonised version of the Petroleum Industry Bill completed its passage through both houses of parliament on 16 July, nearly two decades after it was first introduced. The law aims to provide a clearer framework, and simplify taxes and royalties for oil companies working in Africa's top oil producer. For a more detailed look into this, CGTN's Ramah Nyang' had a chat with Dauda Garuba, a Natural Resource Governance Expert.
Twitter Inc. agreed to most of the conditions set by the Nigerian government to resume operations in the West African country, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said.
The social media giant “has met almost 70% of the government’s terms and conditions, many of them quite fundamental and important,” Mohammed said in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg Television. “We are working on a few more.”
A spokesman for the San Francisco-based company declined to comment.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration blocked access to Twitter’s services in Africa’s most populous country on June 5, after the company deleted one of his tweets for violating its rules. The dispute added to other controversies Twitter has faced with government leaders, including its decision in January to ban former U.S. President Donald Trump and a clash with Indian authorities over posts on its app.
Buhari, who was briefly a military dictator during the 1980s, ran afoul of Twitter’s rules when he issued a threat to crack down on separatists he accuses of waging a rebellion in the southeast of the country.
The Nigerian government didn’t shutter Twitter because of the removal of Buhari’s tweet, Mohammed said. Rather, it was because of the use of the U.S. microblogging site by the Indigenous People of Biafra, he said.
Buhari’s government has proscribed IPOB, which wants to establish an independent nation in southeastern Nigeria, as a terrorist organization and blames the group for a series of deadly attacks this year on security forces. The group’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was captured in June and returned to Nigeria to continue a treason trial he fled in 2017.
“Twitter became the platform of choice for a group that was targeting policemen, killing policemen, killing the military and promoting the interest of one ethnic group against another,” Mohammed said. “For national security, we suspended the operations.”
IPOB maintains that it’s a self-determination movement committed to creating its own state for the Igbo ethnic group through non-violent means. It accuses the government of “abducting” Kanu abroad in violation of international law.
Twitter officials last met with representatives of the Nigerian government “about a week ago,” according to Mohammed. “It’s been quite encouraging.
In Nigeria, security officials are reporting that 22 people have been killed in an armed attack in the nation's Plateau state. 14 others were injured when a convoy of five buses ferrying Muslim followers was ambushed along Rukuba road in Jos. The victims were heading to Ikare town in Ondo state after attending prayers in Bauchi state. Authorities say they have arrested six suspects in connection with the attack. CGTN spoke to Phil Ihaza in Abuja for more details on this story.
It is one of the most anticipated Nollywood films of all time and the trailer for King Of Boys: The Return Of The King was released Monday amid frenzy from fans of the crime and political thriller, who call themselves the KOB Army.
The seven-part project is Netflix's first Original Series from Nigeria and a sequel to the highly acclaimed 2018 King of Boys movie directed by leading director Kemi Adetiba.
Fans can now take a peek at what to expect, as formidable businesswoman Eniola Salami, played by Nollywood veteran Sola Sobowale, returns to Nigeria after a five-year exile eager to mete out blood-curdling punishments to her adversaries.
Following the success of the first installation, which made over N450 million ($1M) at the box office, Adetiba announced a sequel was in the works.
After a two-year wait, she revealed that the sequel initially intended to be a movie will be a Netflix Original limited series.
The KOB Army
The KOB Army has shown immense support for the franchise since the first movie, with fans making plans for viewing parties and special outfits when it premieres on August 27 on Netflix.
As the release day for the sequel draws nearer, the anticipation runs high as many wait with bated breath to see The Return Of The King. But fans are not the only ones eager; Adetiba describes the weight of the expectation as "awaiting a report card for the last year and a half of my life."
"My anxiety these days ranges from numb to severe...so I too am on tenterhooks, she says. "But I'm mostly absolutely thrilled by the love and support of the KOB ARMY. It's been so overwhelming. The massive anticipation simply shows us how well-loved KOB 1 is."
The King of Boys has been a stand-out movie for modern Nollywood. It was the sophomore film by Adetiba, whose directorial debut, The Wedding Party, was the unopposed Nollywood movie of the year 2016, being the highest-grossing film until January 2021 and spotlighting Adetiba, who already made her mark in the music and television industry, as a filmmaker of note.
The new installment will see old characters from the original, including actor Toni Tones, who reprises her role as a young Eniola Salami and musician Reminisce as Makanaki.
It also introduces new characters who have a bone to pick with Salami. Among them are seasoned actors Nse Ikpe-Etim and Nollywood heartthrob Richard Mofe Damijo.
King of Boys is a departure from the cheery, bright romcom of The Wedding Party into the dark crime-filled world of Eniola Salami, whose quest for power leaves a trail of dead bodies in her wake. It was a wager which paid off in an industry known of late for primarily producing comedies to meet the audience's demand. Of the top 10 highest-grossing Nollywood movies, King of Boys is the sole thriller on the list.
Trusting the audience
Adetiba says the successful outing taught her not to cage her audience.
"I remember once in film school, an instructor said, 'If you treat your audience as if they were intelligent, they'll love you for it,'" she says.
"Yes, I was told that the audience wasn't ready for a film like KOB." Still, Adetiba and her brother, Remi Adetiba, who co-produces the franchise, persisted in bringing the project to light.
"Running on blind faith, we were all, "Go Big Or Go Home." It was our very own 'Do It Afraid' moment, but we jumped in the deep end, and our amazing audience, aka KOB ARMY, thanked us with their massive support. Just as my instructor said."
Not only was the genre a deviation from the norm in modern Nollywood, but her lead figure was complex in a way that is rarely done in the industry, where characters are usually portrayed as either good or evil.
Adetiba says it was vital for her to highlight this complexity because it mirrors real life. "I love my characters to be relatable...There are many facets to you and I. Understanding this then creating a character that is one-dimensional is an injustice."
"So when I'm creating a character like Eniola Salami ... I'm interested in who s(he) is to all those different people. In Eniola's life, we have her family, those she encounters in everyday life, her legit business customers, then her interactions... in the 'underworld.'"
Adetiba says the production has been a real labor of love and promises a great time. "We threw everything into this production... including the kitchen sink. We gave everything we had, so it's a product of REAL love, blood, sweat and tears. Most important of all, it's a great story."
