US emphasizes 'accountability and transparency' in Nigeria security operations

Senior U.S. diplomat Victoria Nuland met Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and discussed "promoting accountability and transparency" in the aftermath of security operations in Nigeria, the State Department said on Thursday.


WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Observers have noted a pattern of deadly aerial assaults by the Nigerian military that have killed civilians, which was the subject of a special Reuters report last year.


Nigeria's military is backed by the United States, Britain and other allies in a long war against Islamist insurgents in the northeast.

KEY QUOTE

"They further agreed on the importance of protecting civilians, safeguarding human rights, and promoting accountability and transparency in the aftermath of security operations," the State Department said in a statement on Thursday.

CONTEXT

Civilians were killed n Nigeria's northern Kaduna state following a military drone attack targeting insurgents and bandits in December. The death toll in the attack was at least 85, including women and children.

The Boko Haram and splinter Islamic West Africa Province have waged an insurgency in Nigeria's northeast for more than one decade and continue to carry out sporadic attacks against civilians and the military.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Nigeria in the coming week as part of a West Africa trip. 

By Kanishka Singh, Reuters

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Nigeria Security agencies have been struggling to contain a 14-year insurgency by militants that has led to the death of over 350,000 people. Analysts have welcomed the recruitment of additional police officers but insist that the welfare of security personnel across the country needs to be improved.

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President Tinubu says ‘massive education’ of youth will help end kidnappings threatening the capital

Nigeria’s leader said Tuesday that his government will embark on “massive education” of youth as one way to tackle the increasing kidnappings for ransom now threatening the capital city along with the rest of the country’s conflict-hit north.

President Bola Tinubu won last year’s election after promising to rid the West African nation of its security crisis. However, deadly attacks particularly in the north have persisted, with the capital of Abuja recording a spike in abductions along major roads and in homes in recent weeks.

Tinubu condemned the abductions as “disturbing, ungodly and sinister” and touted education as “the antidote to the troubles agitating the nation,” according to a statement from presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale.

“There is no weapon against poverty that is as potent as learning,” the statement said. “Security agencies are acting with dispatch to immediately address the current challenge (while) all required resources, policies and plans will be rolled out soon for the massive education of Nigerian youths.”

Nigeria’s security forces already are battling jihadi rebels in the northeast in addition to armed groups that often carry out mass killings and abductions in remote communities across the northwest and central regions.

Now residents on the outskirts of the capital are beginning to relocate amid a surge in abductions for ransom suspected of being carried out by gunmen from volatile neighboring states.

Analysts said Tinubu has not done much to address the security crisis.

“Nigeria is drifting towards a failing state (with) non-state armed groups challenging the state authority,” said Oluwole Ojewale, a West and Central Africa researcher with the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies.

Although Tinubu had promised that his government will “mobilize the totality” of Nigeria’s assets to protect citizens, there has been “no tangible improvement in (the) security situation yet,” Ojewale said.

By Chinedu Asadu, AP

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Deadly blast in Nigeria affects several suburbs

A massive explosion in the Nigerian city of Ibadan killed two people and injured 77 others overnight.

Rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing in seven suburbs of Nigeria's third most-populous city.

The cause of the blast is still unclear, but the authorities suspect that it may have been triggered by mining explosives stored in a house.


Photos show buildings reduced to near rubble and vehicles destroyed by shells.

Dramatic videos have been shared on social media, with one witness describing a mall being destroyed in Bodija, a residential district of the city.

"We hear a loud bang around 07:30pm. Dominoes Pizza and Ace Mall in Bodija were destroyed," he said.

Police have promised a swift inquiry into the explosion.

"Preliminary investigations by the security agencies revealed that illegal miners occupying one of the houses in Bodija had stored explosive devices there which caused the blast," the regional governor Seyi Makinde said.

BBC

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The Central bank in Nigeria has released guidelines for banks opening cryptocurrency accounts after it lifted its ban on crypto assets. However, there are calls for the government to embark on crypto-awareness campaigns among young people as a way to boost the economy. 

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