Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Video - Nigeria's US$1 billion Ogoniland clean-up project grinds to a halt
More than a year after the Nigerian government launched a billion-dollar Ogoniland clean-up project, the region remains severely polluted. It turns out the initial clean-up activities didn't last long, reportedly due to a lack of funds.
Mass trial of hundreds of Boko Haram suspects resumes
Hundreds of people suspected of links to Boko Haram stood trial in a detention center in central Nigeria on Monday in a resumption of the country’s biggest legal investigation of the militant Islamist insurgency, authorities said.
More than 20,000 people have been killed and two million forced to flee their homes in northeastern Nigeria since Boko Haram began an insurgency in 2009 aimed at creating an Islamic state.
The justice ministry said the suspects appeared in open court, after rights groups criticized earlier hearings in which more than 1,000 people stood trial in secret.
On Monday four judges presided over the trial of another several hundred people accused of links to the group, the justice ministry said.
“Unlike the first phase which was restricted, this phase is opened with some civil society groups, including human rights organizations and journalists invited to witness the proceedings,” the ministry added in a statement.
There were no immediate reports from journalists or rights activists said by the ministry to have been invited to attend.
Kainji detention facility is about eight hours’ drive from Minna, the main town in Nigeria’s Niger state, itself about three hours’ drive from the capital Abuja, along roads often plagued by kidnapping gangs.
In October, the ministry of justice said 45 suspects suspected of Boko Haram links had been convicted and jailed. A further 468 suspects were discharged and 28 suspects were remanded for trial in Abuja or Minna.
The other trials were adjourned.
More than 20,000 people have been killed and two million forced to flee their homes in northeastern Nigeria since Boko Haram began an insurgency in 2009 aimed at creating an Islamic state.
The justice ministry said the suspects appeared in open court, after rights groups criticized earlier hearings in which more than 1,000 people stood trial in secret.
On Monday four judges presided over the trial of another several hundred people accused of links to the group, the justice ministry said.
“Unlike the first phase which was restricted, this phase is opened with some civil society groups, including human rights organizations and journalists invited to witness the proceedings,” the ministry added in a statement.
There were no immediate reports from journalists or rights activists said by the ministry to have been invited to attend.
Kainji detention facility is about eight hours’ drive from Minna, the main town in Nigeria’s Niger state, itself about three hours’ drive from the capital Abuja, along roads often plagued by kidnapping gangs.
In October, the ministry of justice said 45 suspects suspected of Boko Haram links had been convicted and jailed. A further 468 suspects were discharged and 28 suspects were remanded for trial in Abuja or Minna.
The other trials were adjourned.
Chibok schoolgirl kidnapper jailed in Nigeria
A Nigerian court has jailed a Boko Haram militant involved in the 2014 kidnapping of the Chibok girls.
Haruna Yahaya, 35, is the first member of the group to be sentenced for playing a part in the mass abduction.
The former trader, who confessed to his role in taking the 276 schoolgirls, argued he was made to act under duress.
But judges sitting at a military court in Kanji, who are hearing the cases of more than 1,000 suspected Boko Haram militants, dismissed his excuse.
They were also unmoved by his pleas for leniency on the grounds of his disability, which has left him with a paralysed arm and deformed leg, BBC News' Ishaq Khalid reports.
Justice ministry spokesman Salihu Isah confirmed to news agency AFP that Yahaya was given a 15-year jail sentence.
Yahaya, who came from Potiskum, in Yobe state, north-east Nigeria, was captured by a vigilante group called Civilian JTF in 2015 - a year after the girls were snatched from Government Girls Secondary School in Borno state.
Of the 276 girls taken in April 2014, 112 are still in captivity.
This week, some 700 of the suspected militants are due to appear before the judges in Kanji, according to sources at the court.
On Monday, 20 were found guilty of crimes associated with Boko Haram, while two were discharged for lack of evidence.
Haruna Yahaya, 35, is the first member of the group to be sentenced for playing a part in the mass abduction.
The former trader, who confessed to his role in taking the 276 schoolgirls, argued he was made to act under duress.
But judges sitting at a military court in Kanji, who are hearing the cases of more than 1,000 suspected Boko Haram militants, dismissed his excuse.
They were also unmoved by his pleas for leniency on the grounds of his disability, which has left him with a paralysed arm and deformed leg, BBC News' Ishaq Khalid reports.
Justice ministry spokesman Salihu Isah confirmed to news agency AFP that Yahaya was given a 15-year jail sentence.
Yahaya, who came from Potiskum, in Yobe state, north-east Nigeria, was captured by a vigilante group called Civilian JTF in 2015 - a year after the girls were snatched from Government Girls Secondary School in Borno state.
Of the 276 girls taken in April 2014, 112 are still in captivity.
This week, some 700 of the suspected militants are due to appear before the judges in Kanji, according to sources at the court.
On Monday, 20 were found guilty of crimes associated with Boko Haram, while two were discharged for lack of evidence.
Monday, February 12, 2018
Video - U.N. seeks $1 billion for humanitarian aid in Nigeria in 2018
The United Nations says it requires more than a billion dollars to help Nigerians affected by the Boko Haram insurgency. While launching the world body's 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan, the U.N. country representative - Edward Kallon - says the initiative identifies more than 6.1 million people in need of assistance.
Friday, February 9, 2018
Video - Nigerian army celebrates victory as militants vow revenge
Nigerian government officials have told residents in the north-east of the country it's time to celebrate. They say the military has taken control of the last Boko Haram stronghold in the country -- Sambisa Forest. However, the militant group has released a video, refuting the claims and threatening more attacks.
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