An Argentinian who was kidnapped by gunmen near a farm where he was working in Nigeria’s Niger state has been released, a police spokesman said on Monday.
Santiago Lopez Menendez was set free by his abductors on Saturday morning, Bala Elkana, police spokesman in the north central state, told AFP by telephone.
Menendez was seized last Wednesday in the town of Machagu as he travelled on the Mokwa to Kontagora road in the west of the state, where there have been previous abductions by criminals.
“He was released by his abductors early Saturday morning. He was hale and hearty when we saw him after his release. He has since returned to his farm,” said Elkana.
The spokesman said he was not aware if any ransom was paid.
Foreigners working on farms and elsewhere in Niger state are normally given police protection but Menendez was travelling alone when he was snatched, state police commissioner Olusola Amore said.
The South American, an agronomist, worked for Nigerian Flour Mills Plc managing two farms in the Sunti and Kabbugi districts of Niger state.
Kidnapping of foreigners for ransom is common in the oil-rich southern part of Nigeria, with victims usually released unharmed once a ransom is paid.
AFP
Related story: Argentinean kidnapped in Lagos, Nigeria
Monday, June 29, 2015
Nigeria and India to sign prisoner exchange deal
Arrangements are on ground for Nigeria and India are to sign Prisoners Transfer Agreement to allow prisoners of the two countries to return to their home countries to serve their jail terms.
The Indian High Commissioner, Amb. Ajjampur Ghanashyam, who said this while featuring on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Sunday in Abuja, said no fewer than 1,100 Nigerians were serving various prison terms in India.
“When I came to Nigeria, there were about 1,800 Nigerians in our prisons and that was shocking for me and now I am told it is about 1,100.
“We are waiting for an agreement to be signed between India and Nigeria on transfer of sentenced persons.
“They need to be brought back and they can also be taken back to India before commencing their jail terms so that they can serve their sentences here.
“At this is at the moment, pending with the Nigerian government. I hope that we will be able to sign it”, he said.
The Indian envoy also said some Indians had been arrested as pirates, adding that the High Commission was engaging the Nigerian authorities to ensure that the innocent ones among them released.
“We still have some problems with piracy. There are ships operators who hire Indians to run the ships.
“The boys are not aware of that the ships are used for bunkering; they are paid to do a job on the ship.
“So they picked up the job and then land on the ship only for the Navy to come and pick them up and take them to jail.
“You must arrest the owner of the ship, maybe you should arrest the Captain of the ship but not these boys who have no knowledge of what the ship was doing,” he told NAN.
Ghanashyam said Indians living in Nigeria were quite happy adding: “I have not come across Indian who complains but occasionally there are some pockets of kidnappings”.
“But ultimately we have not seen any loss of lives to kidnapping and I believe the situation was much worse before.
“This is because I think the infrastructure of law enforcements in the country is now far better than what it was in the past in Nigeria,” he said.
Daily Post
The Indian High Commissioner, Amb. Ajjampur Ghanashyam, who said this while featuring on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Sunday in Abuja, said no fewer than 1,100 Nigerians were serving various prison terms in India.
“When I came to Nigeria, there were about 1,800 Nigerians in our prisons and that was shocking for me and now I am told it is about 1,100.
“We are waiting for an agreement to be signed between India and Nigeria on transfer of sentenced persons.
“They need to be brought back and they can also be taken back to India before commencing their jail terms so that they can serve their sentences here.
“At this is at the moment, pending with the Nigerian government. I hope that we will be able to sign it”, he said.
The Indian envoy also said some Indians had been arrested as pirates, adding that the High Commission was engaging the Nigerian authorities to ensure that the innocent ones among them released.
“We still have some problems with piracy. There are ships operators who hire Indians to run the ships.
“The boys are not aware of that the ships are used for bunkering; they are paid to do a job on the ship.
“So they picked up the job and then land on the ship only for the Navy to come and pick them up and take them to jail.
“You must arrest the owner of the ship, maybe you should arrest the Captain of the ship but not these boys who have no knowledge of what the ship was doing,” he told NAN.
Ghanashyam said Indians living in Nigeria were quite happy adding: “I have not come across Indian who complains but occasionally there are some pockets of kidnappings”.
“But ultimately we have not seen any loss of lives to kidnapping and I believe the situation was much worse before.
“This is because I think the infrastructure of law enforcements in the country is now far better than what it was in the past in Nigeria,” he said.
Daily Post
Suicide bomber kills 5 at leprosy hospital in Nigeria
At least five people have been killed and 10 wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a leprosy hospital on the outskirts of the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, emergency services said Sunday.
The bomber, who tried to gain access to the hospital, detonated his explosives outside the building at around 5:30 pm (1630 GMT) on Saturday.
"Five people were killed and 10 others injured near the Molai leprosy hospital when a male bomber blew himself up," said Mohammed Kanar, regional coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency.
"The bomber had wanted to gain entry into the hospital but was contemplating how to pass through security checks at the gate when the bomb went off."
He added: "We took the bodies and the injured to the specialist hospital (in Maiduguri)."
Local resident Ibrahim Bulama said the bomber was one of three men who were dropped off near the hospital by a SUV vehicle.
"They looked around for a while, obviously trying to sneak into the hospital," Bulama said, adding that the facility was being guarded by civilian vigilantes who are assisting the military in the fight against Boko Haram Islamist insurgents.
"Suddenly, the explosives on one of them went off. The other two fled in the confusion. Five people were killed and 10 others injured."
- 'The Boko Haram bandits' -
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but Nigeria's Borno state, where the attack took place, has been the hardest hit by the Boko Haram insurgency which has left at least 15,000 people dead.
Boko Haram, which has been fighting to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria since 2009, has intensified its campaign of violence in the last month.
Danlami Ajaokuta, a civilian vigilante fighting Boko Haram, confirmed the hospital explosion and added that there had been a failed suicide attack by two women in Jakarna village, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Maiduguri on Saturday afternoon.
"Two female suicide bombers died when the explosives on one of them went off prematurely while they were waiting for a bus along the highway in Jakarna," Ajaokuta said.
"Residents from the village heard a huge explosion and when they arrived at the scene they found one of the bombers in parts while the other lay dead face down.
"Her explosives were still intact."
Ajaokuta added that bus drivers have been refusing to pick up female passengers on the road outside Maiduguri since March, when three female suicide bombers blew themselves up at a bus stop in the area.
More than 250 people have been killed in violence since May 29 when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office, according to an AFP toll.
Buhari has made the fight against Boko Haram a top priority.
On Sunday he condemned the latest attacks by "the Boko Haram bandits".
Describing the perpetrators as "cowards who lack any moral inhibition and any iota of humanity," he warned that hey would find no safe haven in Nigeria as they would be "hunted down without mercy and compromise."
The armies of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon have been fighting a joint campaign against Boko Haram for several months, pushing militants out of captured towns and villages.
AFP
The bomber, who tried to gain access to the hospital, detonated his explosives outside the building at around 5:30 pm (1630 GMT) on Saturday.
"Five people were killed and 10 others injured near the Molai leprosy hospital when a male bomber blew himself up," said Mohammed Kanar, regional coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency.
"The bomber had wanted to gain entry into the hospital but was contemplating how to pass through security checks at the gate when the bomb went off."
He added: "We took the bodies and the injured to the specialist hospital (in Maiduguri)."
Local resident Ibrahim Bulama said the bomber was one of three men who were dropped off near the hospital by a SUV vehicle.
"They looked around for a while, obviously trying to sneak into the hospital," Bulama said, adding that the facility was being guarded by civilian vigilantes who are assisting the military in the fight against Boko Haram Islamist insurgents.
"Suddenly, the explosives on one of them went off. The other two fled in the confusion. Five people were killed and 10 others injured."
- 'The Boko Haram bandits' -
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but Nigeria's Borno state, where the attack took place, has been the hardest hit by the Boko Haram insurgency which has left at least 15,000 people dead.
Boko Haram, which has been fighting to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria since 2009, has intensified its campaign of violence in the last month.
Danlami Ajaokuta, a civilian vigilante fighting Boko Haram, confirmed the hospital explosion and added that there had been a failed suicide attack by two women in Jakarna village, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Maiduguri on Saturday afternoon.
"Two female suicide bombers died when the explosives on one of them went off prematurely while they were waiting for a bus along the highway in Jakarna," Ajaokuta said.
"Residents from the village heard a huge explosion and when they arrived at the scene they found one of the bombers in parts while the other lay dead face down.
"Her explosives were still intact."
Ajaokuta added that bus drivers have been refusing to pick up female passengers on the road outside Maiduguri since March, when three female suicide bombers blew themselves up at a bus stop in the area.
More than 250 people have been killed in violence since May 29 when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office, according to an AFP toll.
Buhari has made the fight against Boko Haram a top priority.
On Sunday he condemned the latest attacks by "the Boko Haram bandits".
Describing the perpetrators as "cowards who lack any moral inhibition and any iota of humanity," he warned that hey would find no safe haven in Nigeria as they would be "hunted down without mercy and compromise."
The armies of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon have been fighting a joint campaign against Boko Haram for several months, pushing militants out of captured towns and villages.
AFP
Friday, June 26, 2015
Video - Nigerians still drinking local gin 'ogogoro' after recent spate in deaths associated with the drink
Countries across Africa have been trying to crack down on the consumption of illicit brew. The vice regularly claims large numbers of lives. In Nigeria, the government is finding the eradication of these brews to be quite difficult.
Related stories: Video - Illegal gin brewing thrives in Nigeria
Home brewed gin kills 70 in Nigeria
Argentinean kidnapped in Lagos, Nigeria
Gunmen have kidnapped an Argentinian national near a farm where he was working in Niger state, north central Nigeria, police said on Thursday.
Santiago Lopez Menendez was seized on Wednesday in the town of Machagu as he travelled on the Mokwa to Kontagora road in the west of the state, said commissioner of police Olusola Amore.
"We normally provide protection for all foreigners working on farms and elsewhere in the state," he told AFP.
"But he [Menendez] chose to travel alone on the bad road without police protection and they kidnapped him."
The South American, an agronomist, worked for Nigerian Flour Mills Plc managing two farms in the Sunti and Kabbugi districts of Niger state.
At least 10 patrol vans and a special anti-kidnapping team have been deployed to rescue him.
Problem of crime
State police spokesman Bala Elkana said the potholed road where the kidnapping took place was usually plied by motorcyclists because it is "hardly motorable".
Abductions have previously occurred on the road, he added.
Security officials were scheduled to meet this week to tackle the problem of crime in the area, he added.
"We are closing in on the abductors and we are very hopeful to rescue the foreigner," said Elkana.
Argentinian press reports on Wednesday quoted Menendez's sister and the government in Buenos Aires as confirming the kidnapping.Kidnapping of foreigners for ransom is common in the oil-rich southern part of Nigeria, with victims usually released unharmed once a ransom is paid.
AFP
Santiago Lopez Menendez was seized on Wednesday in the town of Machagu as he travelled on the Mokwa to Kontagora road in the west of the state, said commissioner of police Olusola Amore.
"We normally provide protection for all foreigners working on farms and elsewhere in the state," he told AFP.
"But he [Menendez] chose to travel alone on the bad road without police protection and they kidnapped him."
The South American, an agronomist, worked for Nigerian Flour Mills Plc managing two farms in the Sunti and Kabbugi districts of Niger state.
At least 10 patrol vans and a special anti-kidnapping team have been deployed to rescue him.
Problem of crime
State police spokesman Bala Elkana said the potholed road where the kidnapping took place was usually plied by motorcyclists because it is "hardly motorable".
Abductions have previously occurred on the road, he added.
Security officials were scheduled to meet this week to tackle the problem of crime in the area, he added.
"We are closing in on the abductors and we are very hopeful to rescue the foreigner," said Elkana.
Argentinian press reports on Wednesday quoted Menendez's sister and the government in Buenos Aires as confirming the kidnapping.Kidnapping of foreigners for ransom is common in the oil-rich southern part of Nigeria, with victims usually released unharmed once a ransom is paid.
AFP
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