Nigeria's government has launched a special operation led by its navy to curb sabotage and theft of oil in the country's oil-producing areas. Nigeria is battling an unprecedented oil theft which has seen production drop drastically leading to huge loss of revenue. The country has also not been able to meet its OPEC quota for quite some time now as a result of the problem. CGTN's Deji Bademosi has more on the story.
Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was unhurt in a crash involving his motorcade but two of his security aides were killed in the incident on Wednesday, his media office said Thursday.
Two other security aides of Jonathan also sustained injuries in the accident which involved a car carrying the security men in the vicinity of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, while the former president was on his way out of the city on Wednesday evening, the media office said in a statement.
"The former president who described the incident as painful and heart-rending stated that the sudden death of the two security details has thrown him into deep mourning," the statement said, without revealing the cause of the accident.
The deceased were police officers attached as security details to Jonathan, who was the Nigerian leader from 2010 to 2015.
Jonathan described the deceased aides as "fine officers who were dedicated to their duties and service to the nation," according to the media office's statement.
More than a week after an Abuja-Kaduna train was attacked, gunmen released a hostage video depicting the captors and one of the abducted passenger who has since been freed.
Gunmen who carried an attack on a passenger train on March 28 before abducting an undiclosed number of passangers have released a video. In the footage, Alwan Ali-Hassan, a bank manager in Nigeria is surrounded by four masked gunmen in military uniform.
The hostage calls on the authorities to meet the demands of his captors to secure the release of other hostages who "are in a desperate situation," he says. Some may have returned home and failed to contact the authorities.
The AFP couldn't independently authenticate the video but Ali-Hassan relatives confirmed he was now free since Wednesday.
Propaganda
So far, no armed group or jihadist group has claimed responsibility for this attack, or for the video, which was shot in a forest area. Armed men locally called bandits have terrorised communities, conducting mass kidnappings for ransom, raiding villages and stealing cattle in the northwest and central Nigerian states.
Although criminal gangs used not to make ideological claims, there is growing concern about the infiltration of jihadists into these gangs. In the video visible elements are reminiscent of the propaganda footage fabricated by jihadist groups operating in northeastern Nigeria, hundreds of miles away.
One week after the men attacked a train with explosives in northwestern Nigeria, the whereabouts of 168 passengers are still unknown, according to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC). 8 Passengers died during the attack.
Related story: Video - Rail staff killed in ‘unprecedented’ attack on train in Nigeria
Nigeria is experiencing nationwide power outages caused by poor electricity generation and distribution. Businesses and homes are relying on generators, but the rising cost of diesel is adding to the problems. In the past 10 years, its electricity grid has had 200 system failures. Despite having four refineries, Africa’s biggest oil producer does not refine its crude oil. Instead, it imports fuel. Nigeria’s current electricity supply is only 4,000 megawatts for a population of more than 200 million. As the electricity supply worsens, thousands of industries have stopped working, throwing millions out of their jobs. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports from Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.
The flavourful and spicy Jollof rice is the King of West African cuisines. That explains the unending banter about which African nation has the mastery of this infamous delicacy. The rivalry is particularly intense between Nigeria and neighboring Ghana. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam brings us this report on the Jollof rice dispute.
