Costa Rica beat Nigeria in Football International Friendly

World Cup-bound Costa Rica bid farewell to home fans with a 2-0 victory over Nigeria in a friendly international on Wednesday.

Oscar Duarte’s seventh minute goal was followed by a second from Kendall Waston in the 73rd minute against a Nigerian team without any of their overseas-based regulars and made up mainly of members of their Under-23 team.

Costa Rica had several other chances to add to their tally as supporters at the National Stadium provided a carnival atmosphere ahead of the team's departure for the World Cup in Qatar.

Costa Rica will compete against Germany, Japan and Spain in Group E at the World Cup finals.

Reuters, by Mark Gleeson

Five sisters released by Gunmen after parents pay ransom

Gunmen have freed five sisters abducted six months ago from their boarding school in northwest Nigeria after their parents paid ransom money to secure their release, police and relatives said.

The bandits kidnapped 11 schoolgirls, including the sisters, from a secondary school in Zamfara state in March and later released six of them. The sisters were detained because the kidnappers found out their father had previously worked as a senior government official in the state.

Kidnapping has become endemic as roving gangs of armed men abduct people from schools, hospitals, roads and farms and demand ransom money from their relatives.

Hadiza Abubakar, the mother of the school girls, said a total of 72 million naira ($164,000) was paid as ransom in three instalments in exchange for their freedom.

She said the bandits last month posted a video showing her daughters with rifles and ammunitions, pressuring the family to meet their demands.

"Initially, we almost lost hope especially when we saw them in a video with guns around their necks," Abubakar told Reuters.

A Zamfara police spokesperson confirmed the release of the five girls but did not mention the ransom payment.

Last week, a group of 21 children who were abducted by gunmen from a farm in northwestern Nigeria's Katsina state were freed and reunited with their families, police said.

Reuters, by Chijioke Ohuocha

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Catholic priest kidnapped in northern Nigeria

A Nigerian priest was kidnapped from his home in northern Kaduna state, the local Roman Catholic diocese said in a statement on Tuesday, in the first such reported abduction of a clergyman in the state since July.

Armed gangs are rife across northern Nigeria where they rob or kidnap for ransom, and violence has been increasing, where thinly stretched security forces often fail to stop the attacks.

Father Christian Okewu Emmanuel, the chancellor for Kaduna Catholic diocese, said Reverend Father Abraham Kunat, a parish priest in Idon Gida village, was abducted from a home he was staying in in another town, after leaving his parish due to insecurity.

Kaduna police spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Reuters, by Garba Muhammad

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Blast in market kills four in Anambra state

At least four people were killed and a dozen more injured on Tuesday following a blast at a popular market in Nigeria's southeastern state of Anambra, a witness and official said.

Emeka Umeagbalasi, who heads civil society group Intersociety and witnessed the incident, said the blast occurred in a section of the market that sells chemicals, leading to a fire that razed some shops while "four people died and scores (were) injured."

Onitsha South local government area chairman Emeka Orji confirmed the death toll to reporters, adding that at least 12 people were injured as people stampeded to leave the market.

Anambra state police spokesman said the casualty figure was unknown but the situation was under control while the state emergency management agency said it was investigating.

Anambra is among states in the southeast of the country that are pushing to secede from Nigeria, and has been plagued by violence, which authorities blame on separatist groups.

Reuters, by Anamesere Igboeroteonwu

Nigerian Senator Ike Ekweremadu charged with organ-harvesting

Nigeria’s former deputy Senate president will go on trial in the United Kingdom in January for alleged organ harvesting, a judge has said.

Ike Ekweremadu, 60, is accused with his wife, Beatrice, 56, their daughter, Sonia, 25, and a doctor of bringing a man from Nigeria to have a kidney removed.

The 21-year-old man is said to have raised the alarm after refusing to consent to the operation following preliminary tests at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

The BBC reported that the Ekweremadu family allegedly treated the man like a slave before he ran away and went to Staines police station in Surrey.

Ekweremadu is a senator for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party for Enugu State in southeast Nigeria.

Ekweremadu and his family were arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport in June.

The family and the doctor, Obina Obeta, 50, are accused of conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view of exploitation.

Prosecutors say the kidney was meant for Sonia.

The alleged offence is believed to have taken place between August 1 last year and May 5 this year.

No pleas were entered when the defendants appeared at London’s Central Criminal Court on Monday.

Ekweremadu and Obeta were remanded into custody while Beatrice and Sonia were released on conditional bail.

Judge Mark Lucraft set another hearing date for December 16 and brought forward the defendants’ trial from May to January 31.

Al Jazeera

Related story: Nigerian senator accused of organ harvesting attempt in UK