NAIJAFEED

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Court in Nigeria Orders Binance to Relinquish Data of All Nigerians Trading on its Platform

The interim order comes after an earlier report that Nigeria wanted Binance to give information regarding its top 100 users in the nation and all transaction history spanning the past six months.

A Nigerian court has ordered Binance to provide Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with comprehensive information on all persons from the nation trading on its platform, according to a report by the local news outlet Peoples Gazette.

The interim order comes after an earlier report that Nigeria had asked the crypto exchange to hand over the information regarding its top 100 users in the country and all transaction history spanning the past six months. But Justice Emeka Nwite from the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court appears to have granted the motion of EFCC’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho which sought information on any Nigerian trading on Binance.

The EFCC is Nigeria’s law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes.

“The applicant’s application dated and filed February 29, 2024, is hereby granted as prayed. That an order of this honorable court is hereby made directing the operators of Binance to provide the commission with comprehensive data/information relating to all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform,” the judge ordered, the report said.

Nigeria has taken action against the crypto industry for allegedly facilitating illegal capital outflows, which purportedly led to the Nigerian naira weakening to record lows against the dollar. The nation’s authorities have taken a particular interest in Binance’s operations, demanding $10 billion in penalties for enabling some $26 billion of untraceable funds.

Nigerian authorities also detained two of Binance’s senior executives after inviting them into the country to discuss the matter. The court hearing of the two detained Binance executives is scheduled for Wednesday, Reuters reported. Nigerian authorities have also proposed a 400% increase in registration fees for crypto firms.

Binance and the EFCC did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

By Amitoj Singh, CoinDesk

Video - Nigeria detains Binance executives

Gunmen kidnap more than 100 in latest Nigeria attacks

Kidnappers have abducted over 100 people in two new attacks in northwest Nigeria weeks after more than 250 school pupils were seized in the same state, residents and officials told AFP on Monday.

They blamed gangs of criminals known locally as bandits for the abductions in the Kajuru area of Kaduna state over the weekend, which pile pressure on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after a spate of large-scale abductions.

Bandits routinely target communities, loot villages and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom in northwest and north-central Nigeria, where the violence has displaced around a million people, according to the UN.

On Sunday night, gunmen kidnapped 87 people in Kajuru Station, according to local government chairman Ibrahim Gajere.

"They went and removed people from their homes at gunpoint," he said.

Resident Harisu Dari said bandits stormed the village at around 10:00 pm and went door to door abducting residents.

A UN source and a former local official, both speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, confirmed the account.

On Saturday, 16 people were kidnapped in Dogon Noma around 10 kilometres (six miles) away, according to Dari, the UN source and the former local official.

Kaduna police and the state's security commissioner did not respond to repeated requests for confirmation.

'Out of control'

Last week, gunmen abducted dozens of people from another village in Kajuru district.

It followed the kidnapping of more than 250 pupils from a school in Kuriga village about 150 kilometres (93 miles) from Kajuru district earlier this month, one of the biggest such attacks in years.

A family member told AFP that state governor Uba Sani met relatives' representatives on Monday and said he was doing all he could to free the children.

Relatives say the kidnappers demanded a large payment for the return of the students, but last week President Tinubu said he had ordered security forces not to pay up.

Kidnap victims in Nigeria are often freed following negotiations with the authorities, though a 2022 law banned handing money to kidnappers and officials deny ransom payments are made.

Officials say troops have been searching forests to rescue the Kuriga students, but families say few details have emerged since the abductions.

Nigerian risk consultancy SBM Intelligence said it had recorded 4,777 people abducted since Tinubu took office in May last year.

Tinubu's government has promised to tackle insecurity, but in an interview last week senior SBM security analyst Confidence MacHarry told AFP there had been few improvements.

"Nigerian security architecture is not responsive enough to stop the menace from going out of control," he warned.

AFP

Video - Kaduna state abductions raise Nigeria's insecurity crisis

President Tinubu rules out ransoms for abducted students as observers urge dialogue

kidnappers say they will kill all 287 school if $622,000 ransom not paid

61 people kidnapped in Kaduna, Nigeria

Video - At least 15 students kidnapped in Nigeria - Third mass kidnapping since last week

Gunmen abduct 287 students in northwestern Nigeria in latest school attack

Suspected insurgents kidnap 50 people in northeast Nigeria

Monday, March 18, 2024

Video - Nigeria government bans leave of absence for health workers

The Nigerian government has banned health professionals from taking leave of absence as it tries to stop them taking jobs abroad while on leave. Many health workers in Nigeria have been taking the extended leave to secure jobs abroad and abandoning their posts at home without formally resigning.

CGTN

Nigeria suffering from medical brain drain

Video - Thousands of farmers in Nigeria still displaced three months after Bokkos village attacks

Many villages in north-central Nigeria remain deserted nearly three months after a series of coordinated attacks. Gunmen targeted over 20 villages in the Bokkos local government area of Plateau State over several days in December 2023. Thousands of people remain displaced.