Thursday, February 22, 2018
Video - Pupils, teachers escape militant attack on school in Nigeria's Yobe State
Boko Haram insurgents have made unsuccessful attempt to kidnap school girls at a rural secondary school in Yobe state. The group that gained international notoriety for kidnapping hundreds of school girls from Chibok raided the school on Monday evening.
Video - Nigeria's electoral commission aims to register 80 million voters
Nigeria has started preparing for next year's elections. The country is due to go to the polls in February 2019. And the Independent National Electoral Commission has already started registering voters.
Some missing girls rescued after Boko Haram attack on school
Some of the schoolgirls missing after a militant attack on a boarding school in northern Nigeria have been rescued by the military, officials say.
About 100 children were believed to be missing after pupils and teachers fled into bush outside the town of Dapchi during the attack.
Parents told the BBC they had seen girls being taken away in trucks.
The attack comes four years after Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 girls from a school in the town of Chibok.
In a statement, the Yobe state government said an unspecified number of girls had been rescued from the "terrorists who abducted them" and were now with the army.
Reuters news agency quoted parents and a government official as saying that 76 girls had been rescued and at least 13 were still missing
Two girls had been found dead, Reuters said, without specifying how they had died.
Yobe state officials had previously said there was no information to suggest any of the girls had been kidnapped.
Dapchi is about 275km (170 miles) north-west of Chibok.
The jihadists entered the town firing guns and letting off explosives, causing students and teachers to flee into the surrounding bush.
Residents say that Nigeria's security forces - backed by military jets - later repelled the attack.
Locals living near the school told the BBC that many of the girls who had fled had been found after hiding in surrounding villages - some up to 30km away.
Yobe's police minister said that 815 of the school's 926 students had later returned to the school.
The minister was speaking before news that more girls had been rescued by the military.
About 100 children were believed to be missing after pupils and teachers fled into bush outside the town of Dapchi during the attack.
Parents told the BBC they had seen girls being taken away in trucks.
The attack comes four years after Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 girls from a school in the town of Chibok.
In a statement, the Yobe state government said an unspecified number of girls had been rescued from the "terrorists who abducted them" and were now with the army.
Reuters news agency quoted parents and a government official as saying that 76 girls had been rescued and at least 13 were still missing
Two girls had been found dead, Reuters said, without specifying how they had died.
Yobe state officials had previously said there was no information to suggest any of the girls had been kidnapped.
Dapchi is about 275km (170 miles) north-west of Chibok.
The jihadists entered the town firing guns and letting off explosives, causing students and teachers to flee into the surrounding bush.
Residents say that Nigeria's security forces - backed by military jets - later repelled the attack.
Locals living near the school told the BBC that many of the girls who had fled had been found after hiding in surrounding villages - some up to 30km away.
Yobe's police minister said that 815 of the school's 926 students had later returned to the school.
The minister was speaking before news that more girls had been rescued by the military.
What has happened to the Chibok girls?
Last September, a group of more than 100 of the Chibok girls were reunited with their families at a party in Abuja.
Most of the group were released in May as part of a controversial prisoner swap deal with the Nigerian government that saw five Boko Haram commanders released.
But more than 100 schoolgirls are still being held by Boko Haram, and their whereabouts are unknown.
Boko Haram militants have been fighting a long insurgency in their quest for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. The conflict is estimated to have killed tens of thousands of people.
The Chibok girls represent a fraction of the women captured by the militant group, which has kidnapped thousands during its eight-year insurgency in northern Nigeria.
Last September, a group of more than 100 of the Chibok girls were reunited with their families at a party in Abuja.
Most of the group were released in May as part of a controversial prisoner swap deal with the Nigerian government that saw five Boko Haram commanders released.
But more than 100 schoolgirls are still being held by Boko Haram, and their whereabouts are unknown.
Boko Haram militants have been fighting a long insurgency in their quest for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. The conflict is estimated to have killed tens of thousands of people.
The Chibok girls represent a fraction of the women captured by the militant group, which has kidnapped thousands during its eight-year insurgency in northern Nigeria.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Video - Nigeria women's bobsleigh team makes Olympic history
Nigeria’s women Bobsleigh team is making history by becoming the first ever African bobsled team to qualify for the Olympics.
205 Boko Haram suspects convicted in Nigeria
A Nigerian high court convicted 205 Boko Haram suspects for their involvement with the insurgent group, according to a Justice Ministry statement on Monday.
The suspects were sentenced to jail terms ranging from three to 60 years, the ministry said.
"Most of them were convicted for professing to belong to the terrorist group, concealing information about the group which they knew or believe to be of material assistance that could lead to the arrest, prosecution or conviction of Boko Haram members," the justice ministry statement said.
Since last week, hundreds of suspected Boko Haram members have appeared before a court at the Kainji military base in Niger, a central Nigerian state.
It also freed 526 suspects, including minors, for lack of evidence and ordered they be sent to their state governments for "proper rehabilitation."
Seventy-three cases were adjourned for another hearing.
Among those released was a young girl from Nigeria's Borno State with a 3-month-old baby. She was arrested in 2014 while escaping Sambisa forest, a Boko Haram enclave.
The court on Friday imposed a second 15-year sentence on Haruna Yahaya, who was involved in the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014.
The suspects were sentenced to jail terms ranging from three to 60 years, the ministry said.
"Most of them were convicted for professing to belong to the terrorist group, concealing information about the group which they knew or believe to be of material assistance that could lead to the arrest, prosecution or conviction of Boko Haram members," the justice ministry statement said.
Since last week, hundreds of suspected Boko Haram members have appeared before a court at the Kainji military base in Niger, a central Nigerian state.
It also freed 526 suspects, including minors, for lack of evidence and ordered they be sent to their state governments for "proper rehabilitation."
Seventy-three cases were adjourned for another hearing.
Among those released was a young girl from Nigeria's Borno State with a 3-month-old baby. She was arrested in 2014 while escaping Sambisa forest, a Boko Haram enclave.
The court on Friday imposed a second 15-year sentence on Haruna Yahaya, who was involved in the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014.
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