Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Video - Boko Haram launches two deadly attacks in Borno State Nigeria
Barely hours after jihadists in Nigeria killed a dozen farmers in Kalla, Borno state, the militants have launched another attack, this time killing three people and injuring several others. Locals say the jihadists arrived in trucks to attack the neighbouring villages, 6 kilometres outside Maiduguri. Over the weekend, the militant group hacked to death around 12 farmers. Their bodies were found in their fields. The villages were raided and burnt to the ground. This comes barely a week after a Boko Haram faction executed a kidnapped aid worker.
Monday, October 22, 2018
Video - At least 12 farmers killed in Boko Haram attack in Borno state
At least 12 farmers have been killed in a suspected Boko Haram attack in the volatile Borno state in Nigeria. Scores of others were injured. According to the leader of a local militia, the militants attacked farmers harvesting crop in the remote village of Kalle. He says they used machetes instead of guns so as not to attract the attention of troops nearby. It was not clear which of the two Boko Haram factions was behind the attack.
Nigerian woman on a mission to save Lagos beaches and turtles from plastic
The tide is low and the layer of scattered debris across a seemingly endless stretch of golden sand emerges as the waves recede into the ocean.
Every type of man-made waste imaginable, from polystyrene, broken ceramic, assorted flip-flops and building materials, is visible. I can even spot a syringe.
This is Elegushi beach - and nothing can beat the beauty this strip of Atlantic coastline, but the sheer scale of litter hits you right away.
"Sometimes it gets very overwhelming," says Ms Ogunye, an environmental activist who has set up a programme to rid the beach of rubbish.
'A bath for the beach'
Every week she and her volunteer crew collect about 50 large sacks of litter.
It's a mammoth task, but the 30-year-old has put herself on the frontline, battling the destruction caused by pollution.
As well as cleaning the public beach, she plants trees and rescues endangered sea turtles.
"I always have to look at it from a positive light. Every morning when I wake up, I have my bath. Every morning when I wake up, I try to clean the beach. It's basically a bath for the beach."
Ms Ogunye founded the Kids' Beach Garden, a space stretching over seven hectares (17 acres) of land along the coast, where children come to learn about the environment.
As I watch the playful way Ms Ogunye interacts with the children, teaching them about marine life and recycling using sport, games, chants and songs, it's obvious why the children keep coming back.
Ms Ogunye believes change starts with the young. She credits a childhood spent outdoors in Lagos for her love of nature.
Although Ms Ogunye trained as a lawyer, she realised that she wanted to pass on her passion for the environment to the next generation.
She decided to set up a charity for that purpose seven years ago while she was studying. The Kids' Beach Garden grew out of that initial venture.
"Every time I wanted to have fresh air from studying, I would come to the beach and relax.
"I realised that the beach was very dirty. There was no way I would even be comfortable in a place like that."
Ms Ogunye decided to take action. She used her database from previous charity projects to sign up volunteers to clean the beach and sort the recyclable waste on a regular basis.
Every week she and her volunteer crew collect about 50 large sacks of litter.
It's a mammoth task, but the 30-year-old has put herself on the frontline, battling the destruction caused by pollution.
As well as cleaning the public beach, she plants trees and rescues endangered sea turtles.
"I always have to look at it from a positive light. Every morning when I wake up, I have my bath. Every morning when I wake up, I try to clean the beach. It's basically a bath for the beach."
Ms Ogunye founded the Kids' Beach Garden, a space stretching over seven hectares (17 acres) of land along the coast, where children come to learn about the environment.
As I watch the playful way Ms Ogunye interacts with the children, teaching them about marine life and recycling using sport, games, chants and songs, it's obvious why the children keep coming back.
Ms Ogunye believes change starts with the young. She credits a childhood spent outdoors in Lagos for her love of nature.
Although Ms Ogunye trained as a lawyer, she realised that she wanted to pass on her passion for the environment to the next generation.
She decided to set up a charity for that purpose seven years ago while she was studying. The Kids' Beach Garden grew out of that initial venture.
"Every time I wanted to have fresh air from studying, I would come to the beach and relax.
"I realised that the beach was very dirty. There was no way I would even be comfortable in a place like that."
Ms Ogunye decided to take action. She used her database from previous charity projects to sign up volunteers to clean the beach and sort the recyclable waste on a regular basis.
'Turtles eat more plastic than food'
But it was not long before she realised that beach-cleaning and rescuing sea turtles would have to go hand in hand.
She found many of the reptiles washed up on the shore.
"Most of the time the turtles are disoriented, especially when they're caught in the garbage or caught in grass," Ms Ogunye explains.
"We tend to keep them in a very dark place and later on we release them."
Many of the baby sea turtles that hatch on the shore die because of the conditions of the beaches.
"Right now the sea turtles are eating more plastic than even food," Ms Ogunye says.
"That's basically what's been killing sea turtles."
She says it is essential that people living in coastal communities are educated about the need to conserve the creatures.
According to the activist, fostering relationships with people in these neighbourhoods and involving them in the process plays a central role in the education process.
She says it is crucial to explain to communities, who mainly depend on fishing, what they stand to lose if sea turtles are wiped out.
Ms Ogunye explains that a sea turtle's diet consists of jellyfish, seaweed and sea grass.
"Jellyfish are toxic. If [we] have [too] much jellyfish in the ocean, we're going to have a reduced amount of fish and that will cause food shortages."
Before I leave her, she promises to call when she next releases a rescued turtle.
'Meat in the sea'
A few weeks later I get an urgent call from her asking me to meet her at the beach garden.
She has bought a sea turtle from a fisherman who, she had heard through social media, was attempting to sell it in a village for food.
Of course Ms Ogunye has other ideas, wanting to release it back into the ocean.
When I arrive I find her digging a ditch in the sand with the help of a few volunteers and the fisherman who sold her the turtle.
The turtle, which had been bleeding from the mouth earlier, is floundering in the sand in distress.
Ms Ogunye is trying to contact a marine biologist for advice, but the turtle dies later that evening.
The marine biologist explains the cause of death was internal bleeding and there was little they could have done to save it.
It is illegal to catch and sell sea turtles and if anyone is caught they will be fined and possibly jailed.
Despite this, selling the creatures can prove too much of a temptation for fishermen.
The fisherman in this instance boasts that he can make more than $200 (£126) for one turtle and refers to them as "meat in the sea".
Changing these attitudes can make her work feel like an uphill struggle, but Ms Ogunye says she will never give up.
"I call it a burden because it's all I think about sometimes," she says.
When I wake up in the morning, when I'm having my bath, I'm wondering how we can take care of the environment. It's so precious and so important to me.
"I want in my lifetime to see Nigerians and Africans taking care of the environment."
Curfew declared in Kaduna after violent clash leaves 55 people dead
Nigerian authorities declared a 24-hour curfew Sunday in Kaduna after clashes between young Christians and Muslims left at least 55 people dead.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai posted a statement on Facebook from his spokesman stating: "The state government has declared a curfew in Kaduna metropolis and its environs to manage the situation."
"The governor appealed to all residents to do their best to uphold peace," the statement added.
Kaduna was plunged into communal violence this week after fighting broke out between Hausa Muslim and Adara Christian youths in the town of Kasuwan Magani's market following a dispute among wheelbarrow porters.
'RETALIATORY ATTACKS'
Two people were said to have been killed in the initial market fracas on Thursday. The violence then dramatically escalated when Adara youths later attacked Hausa residents, burning homes, and killing dozens.
"Most of the killings were done in the second attack which took the Hausa community off guard," Muhammadu Bala, a Kasuwar Magani resident who lost his home, told AFP over the weekend.
Kaduna state police commissioner Ahmad Abdur-Rahman told reporters on Friday 22 people had been arrested in connection with the violence.
Kaduna state is where Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north meets the predominantly Christian south, and has seen previous bouts of sectarian violence.
In February clashes left at least 10 people dead and hundreds of homes and businesses burnt. Major bouts of sectarian rioting in 2000 and 2002 killed thousands.
The latest outbreak prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to express concern that Nigerians were too frequently resorting to violence over misunderstandings that could be resolved peacefully.
"No culture and religion supports the disregard for the sanctity of life," he said, adding that "peaceful coexistence is necessary for the progress of any society and its wellbeing".
Governor Nasir El-Rufai posted a statement on Facebook from his spokesman stating: "The state government has declared a curfew in Kaduna metropolis and its environs to manage the situation."
"The governor appealed to all residents to do their best to uphold peace," the statement added.
Kaduna was plunged into communal violence this week after fighting broke out between Hausa Muslim and Adara Christian youths in the town of Kasuwan Magani's market following a dispute among wheelbarrow porters.
'RETALIATORY ATTACKS'
Two people were said to have been killed in the initial market fracas on Thursday. The violence then dramatically escalated when Adara youths later attacked Hausa residents, burning homes, and killing dozens.
"Most of the killings were done in the second attack which took the Hausa community off guard," Muhammadu Bala, a Kasuwar Magani resident who lost his home, told AFP over the weekend.
Kaduna state police commissioner Ahmad Abdur-Rahman told reporters on Friday 22 people had been arrested in connection with the violence.
Kaduna state is where Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north meets the predominantly Christian south, and has seen previous bouts of sectarian violence.
In February clashes left at least 10 people dead and hundreds of homes and businesses burnt. Major bouts of sectarian rioting in 2000 and 2002 killed thousands.
The latest outbreak prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to express concern that Nigerians were too frequently resorting to violence over misunderstandings that could be resolved peacefully.
"No culture and religion supports the disregard for the sanctity of life," he said, adding that "peaceful coexistence is necessary for the progress of any society and its wellbeing".
Separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu resurfaces in Israel
Missing Nigerian separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu has resurfaced in Israel more than a year after soldiers stormed his home.
"I'm in Israel," Mr Kanu said on Sunday in a broadcast on his outlawed pirate radio station - Radio Biafra.
A video of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (Ipob) leader praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem has also been shared online.
Mr Kanu holds both Nigerian and British nationality and says he is Jewish.
His wife, Uchechi Kanu, told the BBC in February that she believed the government knew where her husband was being held after his home was raided by soldiers.
Mr Kanu has been campaigning for an independent state called Biafra in south-eastern Nigeria.
In 2015, Mr Kanu was charged with "criminal conspiracy, intimidation and membership of an illegal organisation" - charges that could amount to treason.
He was released on bail last year after spending more than 19 months without trial on treason charges.
He then renewed his campaign for independence, before his house in the south-eastern Abia state was raided by the military.
Who is Nnamdi Kanu?
He was a relatively obscure figure until 2009 when he started Radio Biafra, a station that called for an independent state for the Igbo people and is broadcast to Nigeria from London.
Though he grew up in Nigeria's south-east and went to the University of Nsukka, Mr Kanu moved to the UK before graduating.
Soon after setting up Ipob in 2014, he spoke to gatherings of the large Igbo diaspora, calling for Biafran independence. In some of his comments, he urged Biafrans to take up arms against the Nigerian state.
"We need guns and we need bullets," he said in one such address. This comment is what brought him to the attention of Nigeria's security services.
He was a relatively obscure figure until 2009 when he started Radio Biafra, a station that called for an independent state for the Igbo people and is broadcast to Nigeria from London.
Though he grew up in Nigeria's south-east and went to the University of Nsukka, Mr Kanu moved to the UK before graduating.
Soon after setting up Ipob in 2014, he spoke to gatherings of the large Igbo diaspora, calling for Biafran independence. In some of his comments, he urged Biafrans to take up arms against the Nigerian state.
"We need guns and we need bullets," he said in one such address. This comment is what brought him to the attention of Nigeria's security services.
What is Biafra?
The plan for a Biafra state is not new.
In 1967 Igbo leaders declared a Biafran state, but after a brutal civil war, which led to the deaths of up to a million people, the secessionist rebellion was defeated.
Mr Kanu is the latest in a line of ethnic Igbo activists taking up the cause of pushing for an independent state, saying the Igbos have been marginalised by successive Nigerian governments.
. First republic of Biafra was declared by Nigerian military officer Odumegwu-Ojukwu in 1967
. He led his mainly ethnic Igbo forces into a deadly three-year civil war that ended in 1970
. More than one million people lost their lives, mostly because of hunger
. Decades after Biafra uprising was quelled by the military, secessionist groups have attracted the support of many young people
. They feel Nigeria's central government is not investing in the region
. But the government says their complaints are not particular to the south-east
The Israel connection
Mr Kanu said in Sunday's broadcast that he was still pushing for a referendum to create a breakaway state in the south-east.
He urged his followers to boycott next year's elections in Nigeria unless the government agrees to the push for a referendum.
"Ipob will liberate Biafra and we will not take part in any elections until we get a referendum, it is not negotiable, we will do it by any means," he said.
"I will be back soon in the land of Biafra and I will bring hell with me," he said.
"I owe my survival to the state of Israel," he added, saying that he had been aided by Mossad, country's spy agency, without elaborating how he was assisted.
The BBC has contacted Mossad for its comments.
It is, however, unclear how Mr Kanu was able to get to Israel, as he had to surrender his Nigerian and British passports after his arrest.
The Ipob leader says he is an Igbo Jew, part of a group who believe they are descendants of the lost tribe of Israel who settled in West Africa. According to Jewish tradition, the tribes were scattered after the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in the 8th Century BC.
The Israel connection
Mr Kanu said in Sunday's broadcast that he was still pushing for a referendum to create a breakaway state in the south-east.
He urged his followers to boycott next year's elections in Nigeria unless the government agrees to the push for a referendum.
"Ipob will liberate Biafra and we will not take part in any elections until we get a referendum, it is not negotiable, we will do it by any means," he said.
"I will be back soon in the land of Biafra and I will bring hell with me," he said.
"I owe my survival to the state of Israel," he added, saying that he had been aided by Mossad, country's spy agency, without elaborating how he was assisted.
The BBC has contacted Mossad for its comments.
It is, however, unclear how Mr Kanu was able to get to Israel, as he had to surrender his Nigerian and British passports after his arrest.
The Ipob leader says he is an Igbo Jew, part of a group who believe they are descendants of the lost tribe of Israel who settled in West Africa. According to Jewish tradition, the tribes were scattered after the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in the 8th Century BC.
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