Two Chinese construction workers, who were abducted in Nigeria’s southeastern Ebonyi state last Wednesday, have been freed, police said on Monday.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Loveth Odiah, police spokeswoman for the state, said the Chinese workers -- Sun Zhixin and Wang Quing Hu -- were released on Saturday.
They were kidnapped by masked armed gunmen on Wednesday in Ohaozara area of the state where they were constructing a bridge.
Odiah did not say whether any ransom had been paid or that their abductors were arrested.
She urged expatriates in the area to seek security cover to avoid such incidents in the future.
Meanwhile, the army has confirmed the kidnapping of two foreign oil workers at an oil rig in Abua-Odua area of southern River state.
Local media, quoting sources, said the abductees are a Canadian and a Scot, who were taken away on Saturday.
"The joint military task force has launched a manhunt for the kidnappers with a view to free the oil workers," army spokesman Ibrahim Abdullahi told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
He said the kidnappers were yet to contact the firm the expatriates work for, urging the oil companies to always provide extra security to their workers in the volatile area.
AA
Monday, April 29, 2019
Women and Children face sexual violence in prisons in Nigeria
An Amnesty International investigation has exposed sexual violence against children and women by security agents and inmates at two high-security prison facilities in Borno State, Nigeria.
The harrowing violations took place at Maiduguri Maximum Security Prison and Giwa Barracks, where thousands of civilians arrested due to claimed links to the Boko Haram armed group are being held. Amnesty’s research also found that scores of children are being unlawfully detained alongside adults in Maiduguri Prison.
“This is another sad and disturbing case of human rights violations against civilians caught up in the Boko Haram crisis in northeast Nigeria,” said Osai Ojigho, Amnesty International’s Nigeria Director.
“It is inexcusable that children are subjected to such vile treatment under government care, and likewise it is intolerable that women are once again bearing the brunt of abuse by the Nigerian security forces that are meant to protect them.”
An Amnesty International research team visited Maiduguri earlier this month to investigate claims made by inmate Charles Okah – first documented by Sahara Reporters – that children were being abused and unlawfully detained in Maiduguri Prison.
Okah alleged that three children detained on death row in Maiduguri were among the many victims of sexual abuse.
Amnesty International has obtained court documents confirming that at least 68 children are being held in Maiduguri Prison. The organization also spoke to former Giwa Barracks child detainees who identified 39 of these children as their former cellmates at Giwa; a list that included names of the three young boys detained in the same area with death row inmates mentioned in Okah’s report.
The findings confirm that dozens of children are being held in the maximum security prison in connection with the Boko Haram crisis. According to Amnesty International’s findings, the 68 boys held in Maiduguri Prison were first detained without charge by the Nigerian military in Giwa Barracks before they were transferred between late 2016 and early 2017.
“The government has so far failed in its duty to protect these children and violated its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,” said Osai Ojigho.
“The Nigerian government must ensure the immediate transfer of all children from Maiduguri prison and those who have not been charged with a recognizable criminal offence must be released. Children suspected of criminal responsibility should only be detained in children’s facilities. The detention of children in the same cells with adults is unacceptable.”
Amnesty International interviewed a Maiduguri Prison detainee as well as a former prison warder who both confirmed that sexual abuse of children was widespread in the prison. The detainee said he had observed the abuse of children by adult inmates.
“It is not a secret in the prison what is happening with the little boys,” said the detainee, who spoke to Amnesty International via a contact to protect his identity.
The source also told Amnesty that it was sometimes possible to hear what was happening in the stalls, and this confirmed his understanding that sexual assault was occurring.
“Sometimes, you see that a little boy goes into the toilet and immediately, an adult detainee goes after them, and when the boy comes out, you don’t need to be told what has happened to him.”
The Maiduguri Prison former warder, who was also too afraid to meet Amnesty International in person, confirmed that he had been aware of sexual abuse of children.
According to the former warder: “The condition there [in the prison] is not good for children and it is difficult to stop what is going on with the boys. The only way is for them to be taken out of there. What do you expect when you keep children with grown up men?”
Amnesty International also documented the sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy by an adult inmate in Giwa Barracks in or around January 2018, six months before all children were released from the facility.
At the time, children were being detained in a cell next to adult cells, making interactions with adult inmates inevitable. A former detainee told Amnesty International he had witnessed an adult inmate “trying to take the trousers off” a sleeping boy.
“A boy who saw it woke the boy that was being assaulted and, in the morning, it was reported to the soldiers,” said the eyewitness. It is understood the adult inmate was subsequently transferred a different cell, although no other steps were taken to protect the boys. This incident was confirmed to Amnesty International by the boy who had been assaulted, along with 15 male former detainees.
Immediately after Okah’s report was published, the Borno State governor announced he had set up a panel to investigate and submit its findings and recommendations within a week. However, there has been no word on its progress. Amnesty International called the Borno State Attorney General on phone but there was no response. A text message sent to his phone was not replied to. The organization also sent an email and text message to the spokesperson of the Borno State governor but no response was received.
“To detain children with adults in the full knowledge that they may be abused is despicable. Far from protecting these children from this abuse, the Nigerian authorities have created the enabling environment for it to thrive,” said Osai Ojigho.
“The authorities must ensure that the investigation into these allegations is prompt, independent and impartial, and that any prison officials or military members found responsible for human rights violations are brought to justice.”
Women raped at Giwa Barracks
Amnesty International researchers in Nigeria also uncovered fresh allegations that soldiers have raped women in the Giwa Barracks detention facility.
Three former female detainees independently said they had witnessed such attacks and identified 10 of the male soldiers responsible - including five who worked in the detention centre’s health clinic. Two of these former detainees were women who said they had been sexually violated themselves.
According to the eyewitnesses, at least 15 former female detainees were victims of rape, with soldiers demanding sex in exchange for food, soap, basic necessities and the promise of freedom.
One female former detainee told Amnesty International: “We knew them, all the women befriended by soldiers. They always had things we did not have, like soap, detergent and wrappers [clothing items]. Some of the women… had as many as 15 wrappers each [given by soldiers]. The soldiers also bought bread, beverages and other food for their ‘girlfriends’.”
A victim and former detainee explained that while the soldiers did not use physical force to make women have sexual relationships with them, it was not possible to refuse sex due to their circumstances. One woman told us she had a soldier “boyfriend” to survive her time in detention and access additional food. She said she knew of others.
Another former detainee said soldiers promised to get women released if they agreed to sex, such as in the case of a woman who became pregnant by a soldier.
“Since [the soldiers] were the ones that would call the names of those to be released, it was easy for them to substitute some names. The women knew that the soldier’s girlfriend was two months pregnant. So a night before they released some women, the soldier did documentation for her and the next morning her name was called among those to be released,” the former detainee said.
Last year, female former detainees at Giwa Barracks told Amnesty International about sexual violence in the detention centre. Amnesty International called for an investigation into these allegations in May 2018, but it is unclear if one has been carried out.
“Even in cases where detained women apparently consented, these acts constitute rape as the soldiers took advantage of a coercive environment in which the detainees had little choice but to have sex with them,” said Osai Ojigho.
“The soldiers held massive power over the women; they controlled much of women’s daily life in detention, they held the power to mete out arbitrary punishments on the one hand, or to provide desperately needed food and medicine on the other. And yet some abused this power. This is despicable behavior and the soldiers involved must be held accountable.”
“These latest testimonies follow a pattern of violation we have repeatedly documented in Nigeria’s prisons. It is time for President Buhari to act.”
Background
On 23 March 2019, Sahara Reporters revealed details of a 30-page eyewitness report by Charles Okah which described a pattern of sexual violence perpetrated against women and young boys in the prison. According to the media report, there are at least 106 young boys aged between 11 and 17 in detention in the prison.
A Borno State government committee visited the prison shortly after its inauguration to investigate the allegations in the Okah report. Some prison officials were arrested but released the following day. Nothing has been heard of the committee since. Amnesty International is calling on the Borno State government to make public the committee’s findings.
The Nigerian Prisons Service denied the allegations of sexual violence at the Maiduguri Prison, saying a committee set up to investigate the allegations did not find evidence of sexual violence.
The Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Prisons Service said the service would not share the report with the organization for security reasons because the report contains other security concerns.
The official, however, suggested that children were being detained in the same area with adult inmates at the Maiduguri Prisons.
According to the official: “Because of the nature of the crime, you may have people who are not supposed to be where they are. Maiduguri is an unusual situation due to the Boko Haram crisis.”
In April 2019 Amnesty International interviewed one adult detainee and one former prison warder at Maiduguri Prison, along with 18 former Giwa Barracks detainees, 15 boys and three women. It also spoke with relatives of detainees in Maiduguri Prison, court officials and sources with inside knowledge of Maiduguri Prison, including a former prison official.
Amnesty International
The harrowing violations took place at Maiduguri Maximum Security Prison and Giwa Barracks, where thousands of civilians arrested due to claimed links to the Boko Haram armed group are being held. Amnesty’s research also found that scores of children are being unlawfully detained alongside adults in Maiduguri Prison.
“This is another sad and disturbing case of human rights violations against civilians caught up in the Boko Haram crisis in northeast Nigeria,” said Osai Ojigho, Amnesty International’s Nigeria Director.
“It is inexcusable that children are subjected to such vile treatment under government care, and likewise it is intolerable that women are once again bearing the brunt of abuse by the Nigerian security forces that are meant to protect them.”
An Amnesty International research team visited Maiduguri earlier this month to investigate claims made by inmate Charles Okah – first documented by Sahara Reporters – that children were being abused and unlawfully detained in Maiduguri Prison.
Okah alleged that three children detained on death row in Maiduguri were among the many victims of sexual abuse.
Amnesty International has obtained court documents confirming that at least 68 children are being held in Maiduguri Prison. The organization also spoke to former Giwa Barracks child detainees who identified 39 of these children as their former cellmates at Giwa; a list that included names of the three young boys detained in the same area with death row inmates mentioned in Okah’s report.
The findings confirm that dozens of children are being held in the maximum security prison in connection with the Boko Haram crisis. According to Amnesty International’s findings, the 68 boys held in Maiduguri Prison were first detained without charge by the Nigerian military in Giwa Barracks before they were transferred between late 2016 and early 2017.
“The government has so far failed in its duty to protect these children and violated its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,” said Osai Ojigho.
“The Nigerian government must ensure the immediate transfer of all children from Maiduguri prison and those who have not been charged with a recognizable criminal offence must be released. Children suspected of criminal responsibility should only be detained in children’s facilities. The detention of children in the same cells with adults is unacceptable.”
Amnesty International interviewed a Maiduguri Prison detainee as well as a former prison warder who both confirmed that sexual abuse of children was widespread in the prison. The detainee said he had observed the abuse of children by adult inmates.
“It is not a secret in the prison what is happening with the little boys,” said the detainee, who spoke to Amnesty International via a contact to protect his identity.
The source also told Amnesty that it was sometimes possible to hear what was happening in the stalls, and this confirmed his understanding that sexual assault was occurring.
“Sometimes, you see that a little boy goes into the toilet and immediately, an adult detainee goes after them, and when the boy comes out, you don’t need to be told what has happened to him.”
The Maiduguri Prison former warder, who was also too afraid to meet Amnesty International in person, confirmed that he had been aware of sexual abuse of children.
According to the former warder: “The condition there [in the prison] is not good for children and it is difficult to stop what is going on with the boys. The only way is for them to be taken out of there. What do you expect when you keep children with grown up men?”
Amnesty International also documented the sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy by an adult inmate in Giwa Barracks in or around January 2018, six months before all children were released from the facility.
At the time, children were being detained in a cell next to adult cells, making interactions with adult inmates inevitable. A former detainee told Amnesty International he had witnessed an adult inmate “trying to take the trousers off” a sleeping boy.
“A boy who saw it woke the boy that was being assaulted and, in the morning, it was reported to the soldiers,” said the eyewitness. It is understood the adult inmate was subsequently transferred a different cell, although no other steps were taken to protect the boys. This incident was confirmed to Amnesty International by the boy who had been assaulted, along with 15 male former detainees.
Immediately after Okah’s report was published, the Borno State governor announced he had set up a panel to investigate and submit its findings and recommendations within a week. However, there has been no word on its progress. Amnesty International called the Borno State Attorney General on phone but there was no response. A text message sent to his phone was not replied to. The organization also sent an email and text message to the spokesperson of the Borno State governor but no response was received.
“To detain children with adults in the full knowledge that they may be abused is despicable. Far from protecting these children from this abuse, the Nigerian authorities have created the enabling environment for it to thrive,” said Osai Ojigho.
“The authorities must ensure that the investigation into these allegations is prompt, independent and impartial, and that any prison officials or military members found responsible for human rights violations are brought to justice.”
Women raped at Giwa Barracks
Amnesty International researchers in Nigeria also uncovered fresh allegations that soldiers have raped women in the Giwa Barracks detention facility.
Three former female detainees independently said they had witnessed such attacks and identified 10 of the male soldiers responsible - including five who worked in the detention centre’s health clinic. Two of these former detainees were women who said they had been sexually violated themselves.
According to the eyewitnesses, at least 15 former female detainees were victims of rape, with soldiers demanding sex in exchange for food, soap, basic necessities and the promise of freedom.
One female former detainee told Amnesty International: “We knew them, all the women befriended by soldiers. They always had things we did not have, like soap, detergent and wrappers [clothing items]. Some of the women… had as many as 15 wrappers each [given by soldiers]. The soldiers also bought bread, beverages and other food for their ‘girlfriends’.”
A victim and former detainee explained that while the soldiers did not use physical force to make women have sexual relationships with them, it was not possible to refuse sex due to their circumstances. One woman told us she had a soldier “boyfriend” to survive her time in detention and access additional food. She said she knew of others.
Another former detainee said soldiers promised to get women released if they agreed to sex, such as in the case of a woman who became pregnant by a soldier.
“Since [the soldiers] were the ones that would call the names of those to be released, it was easy for them to substitute some names. The women knew that the soldier’s girlfriend was two months pregnant. So a night before they released some women, the soldier did documentation for her and the next morning her name was called among those to be released,” the former detainee said.
Last year, female former detainees at Giwa Barracks told Amnesty International about sexual violence in the detention centre. Amnesty International called for an investigation into these allegations in May 2018, but it is unclear if one has been carried out.
“Even in cases where detained women apparently consented, these acts constitute rape as the soldiers took advantage of a coercive environment in which the detainees had little choice but to have sex with them,” said Osai Ojigho.
“The soldiers held massive power over the women; they controlled much of women’s daily life in detention, they held the power to mete out arbitrary punishments on the one hand, or to provide desperately needed food and medicine on the other. And yet some abused this power. This is despicable behavior and the soldiers involved must be held accountable.”
“These latest testimonies follow a pattern of violation we have repeatedly documented in Nigeria’s prisons. It is time for President Buhari to act.”
Background
On 23 March 2019, Sahara Reporters revealed details of a 30-page eyewitness report by Charles Okah which described a pattern of sexual violence perpetrated against women and young boys in the prison. According to the media report, there are at least 106 young boys aged between 11 and 17 in detention in the prison.
A Borno State government committee visited the prison shortly after its inauguration to investigate the allegations in the Okah report. Some prison officials were arrested but released the following day. Nothing has been heard of the committee since. Amnesty International is calling on the Borno State government to make public the committee’s findings.
The Nigerian Prisons Service denied the allegations of sexual violence at the Maiduguri Prison, saying a committee set up to investigate the allegations did not find evidence of sexual violence.
The Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Prisons Service said the service would not share the report with the organization for security reasons because the report contains other security concerns.
The official, however, suggested that children were being detained in the same area with adult inmates at the Maiduguri Prisons.
According to the official: “Because of the nature of the crime, you may have people who are not supposed to be where they are. Maiduguri is an unusual situation due to the Boko Haram crisis.”
In April 2019 Amnesty International interviewed one adult detainee and one former prison warder at Maiduguri Prison, along with 18 former Giwa Barracks detainees, 15 boys and three women. It also spoke with relatives of detainees in Maiduguri Prison, court officials and sources with inside knowledge of Maiduguri Prison, including a former prison official.
Amnesty International
Foreign workers kidnapped from oil rig in Nigeria
A Canadian and a Scottish oil worker were kidnapped by armed men off a rig in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta over the weekend, a military spokesperson told CNN on Monday.
The foreign nationals were seized by the gunmen who attacked an oil rig owned by Niger Delta Petroleum Resources in the southern Rivers State around 8am local (3aET) on Saturday, Major Ibrahim Abubakar, a spokesman for the Niger Delta Military operations said.
"We have sent troops to the area, but we have not been able to locate the abductors and abductees," said Abubakar, adding that the military has extended the search for the nationals beyond the area where the incident occurred.
Abubakar added that no ransom has been demanded yet for the workers, who have not been named.
This latest kidnapping comes after two Shell workers were abducted and their police escorts killed on Thursday, a Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria spokesman said.
Those two Shell workers have not been named nor their nationalities released.
Nigeria's oil-rich Delta region produces the bulk of the country's crude oil but has been hit by violence from militia and armed gangs.
Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria and foreign workers and prominent Nigerians are often targets.
Last year, British missionary Ian Squires was killed after being abducted with three others in the Delta area.
CNN
The foreign nationals were seized by the gunmen who attacked an oil rig owned by Niger Delta Petroleum Resources in the southern Rivers State around 8am local (3aET) on Saturday, Major Ibrahim Abubakar, a spokesman for the Niger Delta Military operations said.
"We have sent troops to the area, but we have not been able to locate the abductors and abductees," said Abubakar, adding that the military has extended the search for the nationals beyond the area where the incident occurred.
Abubakar added that no ransom has been demanded yet for the workers, who have not been named.
This latest kidnapping comes after two Shell workers were abducted and their police escorts killed on Thursday, a Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria spokesman said.
Those two Shell workers have not been named nor their nationalities released.
Nigeria's oil-rich Delta region produces the bulk of the country's crude oil but has been hit by violence from militia and armed gangs.
Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria and foreign workers and prominent Nigerians are often targets.
Last year, British missionary Ian Squires was killed after being abducted with three others in the Delta area.
CNN
Friday, April 26, 2019
Nigeria plans to double oil output and triple refining
Nigeria plans to almost double oil production and triple its refining capacity within six years, reviving previous pledges that turned out to be too ambitious.
The OPEC member is looking to pump 4 million barrels a day by 2025 and increase refining capacity to 1.5 million barrels daily, Maikanti Baru, managing director of state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., said at a conference Thursday in the capital, Abuja. “Nigeria needs to unlock new barrels as quickly as possible,” he said.
Africa’s biggest oil producer pumps 2.2 million barrels a day and previously set a 4-million target for 2010, before successively delaying it. The country, where output peaked near 2.5 million barrels a day in the middle of the last decade, has grappled with militant attacks, leakages and theft at its oil installations.
“Targets such as these are not new to NNPC,” said Cheta Nwanze, an analyst at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence. “Nigeria has not met a single production target for at least a decade now, in many cases because of security concerns.”
Self-Reliant
Nigeria also wants to be self-reliant in meeting its fuel demand and cut imports that put a strain on foreign reserves. Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu told the BBC in 2017 that he’d step down if the country doesn’t achieve that goal by the end of this year. The target is likely to be missed as the four state-owned refineries struggle to fully utilize their combined 445,000 barrel-a-day capacity following years of neglect and mismanagement.
Baru said part of the additional refining would come from a 650,000 barrel-a-day complex being built near Lagos by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person. NNPC is working with private investors for the remainder, Baru said.
“The desperate need for an improvement in local refining capacity has been obvious for decades,” Nwanze said. The 2025 plan is “extremely optimistic.”
NNPC, which pumps crude from the country’s fields in partnership with international companies like Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp., returned to profit in 2018 after reporting losses in at least the three previous years, according to statements on its website. That was mainly due to the strong performance of its oil and gas production unit. Its refineries had a $365 million operating loss.
Written by Paul Wallace and Elisha Bala-Gbogbo
Bloomberg
The OPEC member is looking to pump 4 million barrels a day by 2025 and increase refining capacity to 1.5 million barrels daily, Maikanti Baru, managing director of state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., said at a conference Thursday in the capital, Abuja. “Nigeria needs to unlock new barrels as quickly as possible,” he said.
Africa’s biggest oil producer pumps 2.2 million barrels a day and previously set a 4-million target for 2010, before successively delaying it. The country, where output peaked near 2.5 million barrels a day in the middle of the last decade, has grappled with militant attacks, leakages and theft at its oil installations.
“Targets such as these are not new to NNPC,” said Cheta Nwanze, an analyst at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence. “Nigeria has not met a single production target for at least a decade now, in many cases because of security concerns.”
Self-Reliant
Nigeria also wants to be self-reliant in meeting its fuel demand and cut imports that put a strain on foreign reserves. Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu told the BBC in 2017 that he’d step down if the country doesn’t achieve that goal by the end of this year. The target is likely to be missed as the four state-owned refineries struggle to fully utilize their combined 445,000 barrel-a-day capacity following years of neglect and mismanagement.
Baru said part of the additional refining would come from a 650,000 barrel-a-day complex being built near Lagos by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person. NNPC is working with private investors for the remainder, Baru said.
“The desperate need for an improvement in local refining capacity has been obvious for decades,” Nwanze said. The 2025 plan is “extremely optimistic.”
NNPC, which pumps crude from the country’s fields in partnership with international companies like Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp., returned to profit in 2018 after reporting losses in at least the three previous years, according to statements on its website. That was mainly due to the strong performance of its oil and gas production unit. Its refineries had a $365 million operating loss.
Written by Paul Wallace and Elisha Bala-Gbogbo
Bloomberg
Nigeria becomes first African country to win world curling championship match
It was a curling celebration unlike any other.As France's rock careened wide to end Thursday afternoon's mixed doubles game, Nigerian curlers Tijani and Susana Cole quickly shook their opponents hands and then started jumping up and down wildly.
They hugged. They yelled. They threw their hands in the air.
For the first time ever, an African nation had won a curling game at a world championship.
Nigeria defeated France 8-5 Thursday afternoon in Stavanger, Norway at the 2019 mixed doubles world curling championship.
"Nigeria we did it for you," Tijani said. "I'm over over-the-top happy, elated, excited."
The fans inside Sormarka Arena erupted in applause. Even some of the curlers started clapping too.
"All of our hard work has paid off. We did it," Susana said.
Tijani and his wife Susana live together in Denver where they started curling for the first time three years ago.
Tijani's family comes from the south-central Nigerian city of Onitsha. His love of sport and love of country has been an integral part of his life — so when he found out there was an opportunity to compete on the world stage in a sport, he jumped at the opportunity to curl.
"Watching it on the Olympics over the years was motivating for me and my wife. We're both athletes and competitors," he said.
The two have been training relentlessly over the past year for this world championship. They so badly wanted to win at least one game for Nigeria — and in their final game of the event they did it. And when it happened, there was an outpouring of emotion.
"What a great dream to share this with your best friend, my wife," Tijani said. "You go through so many trials and tribulations. It's been a long journey."
At times throughout the world curling championship there have been a lot of frustrating times on the ice, including a 20-0 loss to the Czech Republic.
But they were able to put all of their valuable learning lessons into practice to defeat France.
"To all of my friends in Nigeria and the entire Nigerian Curling Federation, thank you so much," Tijani said.
His wife echoed Tijani's praise for those who helped them achieve this first-ever win.
"Thank you for believing in us," Susana said.
Sweet victory for Canadian coach
At the end of the on-ice celebration after their victory, Tijana and Susana then turned to the bench behind them to salute their coach.
Ellery Robichard is a Canadian curler and coach based in Moncton, N.B. He holds a yearly summer curling clinic and that's how he first connected with Tijana and Susana.
It's been a long, challenging learning process for the Nigerian curlers but the victory Thursday made it all worth it for Robichaud.
"It's as if I won the Brier. For them it's quite an achievement," Robichaud said.
"You saw how happy there were. I don't see people win the Brier and be as happy as them. You get the feeling from there. The energy from them."
Robichaud says Nigeria's victory over France is one of top moments in his curling career — he's spent his life at curling rinks.
"It's a reward for the headaches of coaching," he said. "It can be frustrating sometimes. The rewarding part of today was they got it. They placed the rocks. They put it together."
Tijani couldn't stop raving about Robichaud after the victory.
"We have one of the greatest coaches in the world," Tijani said. "He knows our temperaments. He knows how to communicate. And he believes in us."
And maybe now after this first-ever curling victory Nigerians believe just a little bit more about their future on the pebbled ice.
"Even before the victory we had already won being here," Susana said.
CBC
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