Sierra Leone diplomat kidnapped in Nigeria freed

The former head of Sierra Leone's army who was kidnapped in Nigeria last week has been freed, officials say.

They say Maj Gen Nelson Williams, who is now Sierra Leone's Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, is back at his base in the capital Abuja.

It was not immediately clear whether any ransom was paid for his release.

He was seized on Friday as he was travelling to the northern state of Kaduna for a military ceremony.

"He is in sound health," Nigerian police spokesman Don Awunah was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

Maj Gen Williams is believed to be the first Sierra Leone diplomat to be abducted anywhere in the world since the country became independent in 1961.

His seizure was hugely embarrassing for the Nigerian government, correspondent say.

Kidnapping for ransom is common in some parts of Nigeria.

BBC

Video - Nigeria's Skye Bank sacks top executives

Nigerian Central Bank has sacked top executives of Skye Bank over capital adequacy issues. Chief Executive Timothy Oguntayo -- who led Skye to acquire nationalised lender Mainstreet in 2014 -- resigned before the announcement on Monday. Last year, the central bank gave three commercial lenders until June 2016 to recapitalise after they failed to hit a minimum capital adequacy rate of 10 percent. Local media are reporting that Skye Bank has a non-performing loan portfolio of just under 2-point-5 billion dollars.

Nigeria's oil minister Kachikwu replaced as state oil boss

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as group managing director of state oil company NNPC as part of a wider board overhaul.

Oil accounts for about 70 percent of Nigeria' revenue, but the OPEC member has been hit hard by a prolonged drop in crude prices that has caused the deepest crisis in Africa's biggest economy for more than a decade.

Dr Maikanti Kacalla Baru, previously group executive director for exploration and production, will take the reins from Kachikwu, who will remain on the board as chairman, the president's spokesman said on Monday.

Buhari, elected last year, has accused the previous administration of failing to save when crude oil cost more than $100 a barrel. In 2013 the central bank governor said that tens of billions of dollars in oil revenue had failed to make it into state coffers, which the company denied.

Kachikwu was appointed minister of state for oil last year, making him a junior minister, while Buhari kept the petroleum minister portfolio for himself in order to oversee energy sector reforms.

Baru's previous roles at the state oil company included a six year stint, from 1993 to 1999, as an executive at the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), an NNPC subsidiary, where he worked on gas-related projects.

"President Buhari urges the new board to ensure the successful delivery of the mandate of NNPC and serve the nation by upholding the public trust placed on them in managing this critical national asset," said Buhari's spokesman Femi Adesina.

The president's chief of staff, Abba Kyari, joins the new board, which replaces the one dissolved by Buhari in June last year.

"Reconstituting the board appears to be an attempt to adopt a different approach with a sense of proper oversight and accountability," said Antony Goldman, head of Nigeria-focused PM Consulting.

"The issue in the past has been that NNPC has been involved in deals that benefited certain individuals but not Nigeria as a whole," he added.

Kachikwu, a former Exxon Mobil executive, was brought in by Buhari as head of NNPC last August and was named as minister of state for oil when his cabinet was appointed a few months later.

Rolake Akinkugbe, head of energy and natural resources at FBN Capital, said there was "always a question around how you could have the head of the national oil company who was also the oil minister".

"Being moved to chairman, where he will not be involved in day-to-day operations but retains strategic input, helps to resolve that issue," she said.

Reuters

Nigerian army averts triple suicide bombing

Nigeria's army said it thwarted a suicide bombing on Monday when soldiers killed two female suspects before they were able to attack displaced people, while a third died when her explosives detonated prematurely.

Army spokesperson Colonel Sani Usman said the trio tried to attack internally displaced people (IDPs) collecting water at a well on the outskirts of Monguno, in Borno state, at about 06:15 (05:15 GMT).

Two of the three women, who he described as "Boko Haram terrorists suicide bombers" were shot and killed, causing their explosives to detonate, injuring two civilians.

The third suspect's explosives went off about an hour later at a nearby location, Usman said.

The attempted attack came just before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is marked in Nigeria with two days' public holiday – Tuesday and Wednesday.

It also follows a similar attempted suicide bombing at a mosque in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, on June 27, which saw two men try to target Ramadan night prayers at a city mosque.

Both incidents underlined the threat posed by Boko Haram, which has used suicide bombers against civilian "soft targets" as part of its seven-year insurgency to create a hard-line Islamic state.

A military counter-offensive waged since January last year has pushed out the militants into remote border areas around Lake Chad. The rate of attacks has declined in recent months.

Borno governor Kashim Shettima meanwhile announced there would be no restriction on movement in or out of the state during the celebrations to mark the end of a month of fasting and prayer.

It is the first time in six years that restrictions will be lifted.

But Shettima said "stringent security measures" will be in place at prayer grounds, where large crowds were expected.

News24

Video - Renowned Nigerian author Elechi Amadi dies aged 82

Nigeria is remembering the life and literary contribution of author Elechi Amadi who died age 82, after a long illness earlier this week.