Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Video - At least eight killed in suicide attack on Borno State mosque



In Nigeria, at least eight people have been killed in a suicide attack at a mosque in Borno State. Boko Haram insurgents are believed to be responsible.

Video - Police raid Nigeria Football Federation headquarters



Nigeria's football leadership dispute has taken another new twist. Officials of the Department of State Service have stormed the NFF headquarters in Abuja and ejected the new president, Chris Giwa. Giwa took over leadership following an order by the sports minister, Solomon Dalung, in compliance with a verdict from the Supreme Court.

Video - 52 MPs quit President Buhari's ruling APC party ahead of 2019 poll in Nigeria



In Nigeria, 52 lawmakers from both chambers of the National Assembly have defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress. The move is a blow to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is seeking a second term in next year's elections.

75 Nigerian football fans vanish in Russia after 2018 World Cup

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 75 out of 230 stranded Nigerian Football fans vanished in Russia after the 2018 FIFA World Cup .

The ministry’s spokesperson, Dr Tope Elias-Fatile, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that the fans absconded in spite of government’s efforts to repatriate them.

Fatile said that 230 stranded Nigerian football fans were profiled to board chartered Ethiopian Airline to Abuja but at the last minute, only 155 boarded the flight.

“As at the last count, over 230 stranded Nigerians had been cleared to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to Abuja, however, only 155 boarded the flight that arrived Friday night July 22,” he said.

He said that the ministry officials had to contribute to feed some of the stranded Nigerians in Moscow as many of them were left with nothing.

He said that though they had the rights not to come back, it would be better for them to return because of the unfavourable weather in that country.

He said that the mission had done a lot to facilitate their coming back, but they did not appreciate it.

”Do you know that the officials at the mission had to sacrifice their earning by contributing money to feed the stranded fans?,” he said.

He said that if, however, they repented and decided to come back, the ministry was ever ready to assist them.

Fatile said that Federal Government was ever willing to assist Nigerians at anytime, anywhere in the world

The spokesperson said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, had also made some contacts with relevant agencies to commence investigation into suspected human trafficking in the case.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the stranded football fans including a nursing mother in her mid-thirties arrived Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja at about 9.12 p.m. on July 20.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, who was at the airport to monitor their arrival, had said that the Federal Government was going to probe the case.

Onyeama said that the plan to probe the issue surrounding the incident was underway.

He said after a discussion with the Director-General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Ms Julie Okah–Donli, it was clear that there were possible cases of human trafficking among the returnees.

“I have spoken to the D-G of NAPTIP and she had also indicated that they had sounded the alarm bells for these young children not to leave the country, that it had all the hallmarks of trafficking and irregular migration,” he said.

The minister insisted that some of them, among whom was a nursing mother, were quite too young to have travelled to Russia by themselves solely for the purpose of the World Cup tournament.

He added that an investigation would also be launched into an allegation that some travel agents cancelled the return tickets of the football fans without informing them, leaving them stranded in the European country.


Thursday, July 19, 2018

Video - Nigeria makes progress towards reaching consensus on CFTA deal



Nigeria is moving closer to signing the pan-African free-trade deal. 44 other countries have already signed on. The agreement scraps barriers to intra-African trade. President Muhammadu Buhari says he's made significant progress in reaching consensus to sign the deal.