4,000 inmates released to ease prison overcrowding in Nigeria

More than 4,000 Nigerian prisoners were released on Saturday as part of a drive to reduce prison overcrowding in the country, Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo announced on Sunday.

"We have announced the release of 4,068 prisoners (...) detained because of their inability to pay their fines", said the minister in a message posted on the social network X after visiting the Kuje detention centre, near Abuja, the previous day.

"Only detainees whose fines do not exceed 1 million naira (€1,113) have been chosen to benefit from this mass release," Interior Ministry spokesman Ajibola Afonja told AFP.


Mr Tunji-Ojo cancelled fines totalling 585 million naira (651,000 euros), the spokesman added.

This decision is part of a process to relieve overcrowding in Nigeria's prisons, a goal of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Ultimately, the Head of State hopes to introduce new practices into the prison system, in particular the use of non-custodial measures.

In Nigeria, the United Nations deplores an overcrowding rate of 147% due to the excessive use of pre-trial detention. Prisoners often wait several years before being brought to trial.

AFP

Nigeria in talks with Elon Musk to create jobs in Nigeria

The Federal Government of Nigeria has initiated discussions with Elon Musk's Starlink on setting up programs that will create jobs in Nigeria through local maintenance and production of its hardware.

The discussions happened on the sideline of the ongoing International Telecommunication Union-World Radio Communication (ITU-WRC) Conference in Dubai, with the Senior Director of Global Licensing and activation of SpaceX, Ryan Goodnight.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Sunday through his verified X handle.

The conversation focused on the possibility of Starlink creating a program to certify local installers and maintenance personnel in Nigeria, and contracts with hardware startups in the country to produce Starlink's repeater boxes locally.

What the minister said:

“Excellent conversation with Ryan Goodnight, Snr. Director, Global Licensing & Activation of @SpaceX on the sidelines of ITU-WRC 23, who shared that Nigeria is their biggest market in Africa. As demand for @Starlink continues to grow in Nigeria, we discussed connecting unserved and underserved Nigerians,” he stated.

“I also mentioned the possibility of creating thousands of new jobs in Nigeria through initiatives like a certified installer/maintenance programme for Starlink and working with hardware startups to produce repeater boxes locally.

“We intend to encourage every tech company to invest and deepen our tech ecosystem,” the Minister added.

When Elon Musk’s Starlink made its debut in Nigeria in January 2023, the next-gen satellite internet service provider promised to usher in a new era of high-speed internet connectivity in Africa's most populous nation. It also promised low-latency internet to areas where it is either unreliable or inaccessible.

In October, Starlink Nigeria reduced its hardware prices by 21% in its efforts to capture a larger portion of the Nigerian Internet Service Provider (ISP) market.

Following this reduction, Starlink's hardware is now priced at N299,500, down from its previous rate of N378,000. However, the monthly subscription fee of N38,000 has not changed. 

By Adekunle Agbetiloye, Business Insider Africa

 
Related stories: Nigeria becomes first country in Africa to have Starlink

Starlink in advanced talks for Nigerian operating licence

Video - Lackluster Nigeria held by Zimbabwe in World Cup qualifiers

 

Nigeria continued their stumbling start to the African 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Sunday when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Zimbabwe, but there were wins for Egypt and Algeria as the continent's top sides flexed their muscles.

Nigeria could only manage a point in neutral Butare, Rwanda after starting their bid to reach the global finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada with a desperately disappointing 1-1 draw at home to lowly Lesotho on Thursday.

The Super Eagles have therefore taken two points from their opening two games in the six-team Group C, with only the top side in each pool assured of one of Africa’s nine automatic qualification places.

South Africa could open up an early four-point lead in Group C when they visit Rwanda on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe took the lead midway through the first half via Walter Musona, but Nigeria salvaged a draw when Kelechi Iheanacho equalised in the second half.

Zimbabwe are among the 19 African countries forced to move their home qualifiers to neutral venues because of poor facilities or security concerns.

Trezeguet scored a brace of goals as Egypt cruised to a 2-0 win over nine-man Sierra Leone in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, making it a full haul of six points for The Pharaohs in their opening two qualifiers.

The Leone Stars lost Tyrese Fornah to a first-half red card and never looked able to challenge Egypt after that as Mohamed Salah, who scored four goals against Djibouti on Thursday, completed another 90 minutes and provided the assist for his side's second.

The hosts also had Abdul Kabia sent off for a second bookable offence, while before that there were ugly scenes as several local fans invaded the pitch and at least one was involved in a fracas with Salah before being forcefully removed.

Algeria made it two wins from two but had to wait until the 69th minute to get the opener in a 2-0 victory in Mozambique. Fares Chaibi handed them the lead and Ramiz Zerrouki made sure of the points in the final 10 minutes.

Gabon have also made a perfect start to their Group F campaign after claiming a 2-1 victory against Burundi in neutral Dar-es-Salaam.

Jim Allevinah and Denis Bouanga scored in either half, before Abedi Bigirimana set up a tense finish when he pulled a goal back for Burundi near the end.

An own goal from midfielder Charles Pickel 11 minutes from fulltime gave Sudan a 1-0 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

By Nick Said, Reuters

Video - Insecurity in Nigeria's northern regions hampering food production

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, as many as 26 million Nigerians could face severe hunger by next year. The UN agency says several issues, but mainly insecurity, contribute to the problem. Experts have called on the government to address these concerns to safeguard food production.

CGTN

Nigeria declares state of emergency in health sector

The Federal Government has declared a state of emergency in Nigeria’s health sector.

This was as stakeholders across the sector converged in Ekiti State for the 64th National Council on Health where salient issues around the health sector are up for discussion.
Muhammed Ali Pate, the coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare said the nation’s health facilities are in bad shape, adding that there is a need for an urgent intervention.

The House of Representatives had last month called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the sector and allocate significant votes to it in the 2024 budget.

The call was a sequel to a motion by a Lagos lawmaker Fayinka Oluwatoyin (APC) during a plenary session in Abuja.

In the motion captioned “Need for the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency to collaborate with relevant health agencies in states and local governments to ensure the functionality of Primary Healthcare Centres,” the lawmaker representing Mushin Federal Constituency II of Lagos State said Nigeria’s health facilities are dilapidating at a fast rate.

Read also: FG urged to deepen public private partnership in health sector

According to him, the shortage of personnel, medical equipment, drugs, and qualified personnel among others, has led to a hike in the death toll in health facilities in the country.

By Temitayo Ayetoto-Oladehinde, Business Day