Nigerian prisoners in the U.K. to complete jail term in Nigeria

 Nigerians serving jail terms in the United Kingdom will soon be transferred to Nigeria to complete their period, following an agreement signed yesterday between the Federal Government and the UK government.

According to a top government source, former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, will be part of those that will be repatriated to complete their jail term in Nigeria.

Ibori still has more than six months to stay in prison.

The British government has also promised to give Nigeria one million pounds (about N280 million) to assist in the comprehensive reformation of Nigerian prisons to ease the stress of the inmates.

The United Kingdom Minister of Justice, Mr. Jeremy Wright, revealed this when he led the UK team to visit the Minister of Interior to finalise the process of prisoner exchange between the two countries.

He said under the agreement, which he signed, Nigerians in British prisons would be repatriated to complete their jail terms in the country.

Wright told the minister the importance of the two countries respecting the agreement, saying there is need for the state of prisons in Nigeria to be improved.

Wright, who led a five-man delegation to the ministry, said even though the prisoners were paying for the crimes they might have committed, conditions in detention centres where they were staying should be made humane and accommodating.

He hailed the Federal Government and the Minister of Interior for making it possible for the two countries to finalise the agreement, which would lead to the mutual exchange of prisoners and said efforts would be made to foster the cordial relationship between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.


The Nation

Starving Boko Haram militants surrender to Nigeria military

Dozens of emaciated-looking Boko Haram members begging for food have surrendered in northeast Nigeria, the military and a civilian self-defense fighter said Wednesday.

Seventy-six people including children and women gave themselves up to soldiers last Saturday in Gwoza, about 60 miles southeast of Maiduguri, according to a senior officer.

All are being detained at military headquarters in Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and currently the command center of the war against the Islamic extremists, according to the officer. He insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists.

The detainees said many more fighters want to surrender, a self-defense civilian fighter who helped escort them to Maiduguri told The Associated Press.

Food shortages could indicate that Nigeria's military is succeeding in choking supply routes of the Islamic extremists who have taken their fight across Nigeria's borders. Some 20,000 people have died in the 6-year-old uprising. Boko Haram was declared the deadliest of all terror groups in 2014, surpassing the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to which it declared allegiance last year.

Nigeria's military reported that dozens of Boko Haram fighters were surrendering in September and October last year. It promised those who give themselves up voluntarily that they will be rehabilitated through a de-radicalization program.

In the 10 months since he took office promising to halt the insurgency, President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced the leadership of the military, moved the headquarters for the fight from the distant capital, Abuja, to the heart of the northeastern insurgency and resupplied soldiers.

As the military has driven the insurgents from the towns and villages where they had set up an Islamic caliphate, Boko Haram has returned to hit-and-run tactics and suicide bombings.


CBS

Video - Sports betting getting big in Nigeria

Sports betting is gaining a firm ground as an emerging business. An estimated 60 million Nigerians engaged in betting every week and that number is expected rise as more Nigerians turn to gambling as a source of income. CCTV's Kelechi Emekalam reports about the rapidly growing gambling culture in Nigeria.

Video - Retail chain Shoprite decides to stay in Nigeria despite economic challenge

Africa's biggest retail chain Shoprite says it has no intention of pulling out of Nigeria despite the challenging business environment. As part of efforts to lift local businesses Nigeria has placed a ban on hundreds of imported products. South African clothing retailer Truworths was forced to exit the continent's biggest economy as a result of the ban, strict foreign exchange controls and rising costs.

Social media helps find 'abducted girl' in Nigeria

A 13-year-old Nigerian girl who was allegedly abducted and forced into marriage has been found and will be re-united with her family, police say.

A search for her began on Sunday after a paper published an article about her alleged abduction, prompting a social media campaign demanding she be freed.

Her family say she was abducted from the south in August by a man who forced her to convert to Islam before marrying her in the northern city of Kano.

The man denies it was against her will.

The alleged abduction has ignited the debate about child brides and forced marriages in Nigeria.

The UN said more than one in three girls are married before the age of 18, mostly in poor rural families in Africa.

The family say they have made several efforts to bring Ese back from Kano, some 900km (600 miles) away from her home in southern Bayelsa state, but were told she was no longer their daughter.

There have been some 50,000 tweets using the hashtag #FreeEse since Sunday to put pressure on the authorities to rescue the girl.

The alleged abductor of the girl was a long-standing customer of Ese's mother, who is a food vendor, reports the BBC's Chris Ewokor from the capital, Abuja.

Prominent girls' rights activist and former World Bank Director Oby Ezekwesili and human rights campaigners have called for the prosecution of all those involved in the alleged kidnapping.

There have been reports that the marriage took place at the palace of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, an influential Muslim leader in Nigeria.

But he has vehemently denied this.

The Emir said the girl was brought to his palace after her alleged conversion to Islam but he told the person to return her to her family because she was too young.

"We asked that if he really wants her he should wait for her until she turns 18 and then if she still wants him they can get married. No-one will stand in the way," Mr Sanusi said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's Premium Times newspaper is reporting that the girl has said she wants to remain in Kano.

She told police she was not forced to convert to Islam, it reports.

In 2014, a 14-year-old girl used rat poison to kill a 35-year-old man she was forced to marry in the city.


BBC

Related story: 15 year old child bride acquitted for murdering 35 year old husband