Two Nigerian officials jailed for selling food aid

Two Nigerian officials have been jailed for selling food aid meant for people fleeing militant attacks and food shortages in the country's north-east.

The two sold 180 bags of rice donated by an international aid agency, the court in Maiduguri, Borno State, heard.

They were jailed for two years and fined 1m naira ($3,200; £2,500) each.

More than two million people have been displaced in north-eastern Nigeria where security forces are battling Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

The prosecution of the two officials was brought by Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, the EFCC.

Umar Ibrahim, a local councillor, and Bulama Ali Zangebe, a member of a camp feeding committee, are said to be the first convicted for corruption in relation to food aid in Nigeria since the insurgency began in 2009.

The rice had been donated by the Danish Refugee Council for victims of insurgency in the town of Mafa, and had been marked as not for sale.

The two admitted the charges against them but told the court that the rice was about to expire.

President Muhammadu Buhari took office in 2015 with a pledge to root out corruption in government.

Last month his office ordered an investigation after the head of the national intelligence agency was suspended over corruption allegations.

He acted after anti-corruption officers found more than $43m (£34m) in a flat in the main city, Lagos.

BBC

Video - Abubakar Shekau 'injured' in an air strike in northeast Nigeria

Nigerian militant group Boko Haram's leader has reportedly been injured and one of his deputies killed in an air strike. According to sources, who spoke to AFP news agency, Abubakar Shekau was wounded last week, during bombings carried out by two Nigerian Air force jets in northeast Nigeria. The Air Force jets had attacked the insurgents, who had gathered for prayers in a village 40 kilometres from Damboa, on the edge of the Sambisa Forest. The sources say Shekau was just leaving a house nearby for the mosque, when the first jet struck. He is believed to be receiving treatment around Kolofata area. The air force says assessment conducted after the strike has shown that several leaders of the Boko Haram terrorist organisation and their followers have been killed during the attacks. Nigerian authorities have claimed to have killed Shekau on at least three occasions. Boko Haram has killed over 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million from their homes.

President Buhari misses third straight cabinet meeting

Nigeria's president hasn't been seen in public for more than a week and he's missed his third straight cabinet meeting. That's got Nigerians wondering what's going on with his health.

Muhammadu Buhari is under increasing pressure to "disclose the nature of his illness to the nation," NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports. She says some prominent Nigerians are demanding that he take medical leave amid questions about his fitness to govern.

The president's wife, Aisha Buhari, took to Twitter to try to calm the growing health concerns. "I wish to inform everyone that his health is not as bad as it's being perceived," she wrote, adding that her husband "continues to carry out his responsibilities."

He missed his third straight cabinet meeting this morning. A tweet from the presidency's verified Twitter account indicated that the vice president led the meeting.

After Buhari returned from medical leave in March, he told reporters that he had never been so sick, according to the BBC. And while he hasn't revealed his condition, he mentioned receiving blood transfusions, The Associated Press reports.

"The 74-year-old returned to work in mid-March but often works from home, according to aides," according to the AP. "The uncertainty over Buhari's health has raised fears of instability in Africa's most populous nation and one of its top oil producers."

NPR 

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As Anthony Joshua slugged it out in the ring with Wladimir Klitschko last Saturday for boxing's world heavy champion, it was not only the British who were rooting passionately for him, millions of Nigerians too were because of his Nigerian heritage. Both of Joshua's parents are Nigerians and there was a huge euphoria in the country when he beat Klitschko to become the heavy weight champion of the world.

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