Nigerian presidency confirmed on Thursday two people were killed in a fuel tanker explosion which wreaked havoc in the southern state of Anambra on Wednesday.
A woman and her child were confirmed killed as the tanker fell and spilled its content on a busy road in Onitsha, a commercial city of Anambra, according to a statement from the presidency.
"I am profoundly touched by the sight of the charred remains of an innocent mother and her child who are victims of this tragedy," Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said in the statement issued in Abuja.
"I also extend my sympathies to other victims of the explosion whose houses, shops and other property were destroyed in the mishap," he said.
Over 40 buildings and scores of shops were lost to the fire, according to local media.
Buhari called for urgent action on the part of those concerned to stem these frequent fatal disasters on public roads.
The president directed relevant government ministries and departments, as well as local stakeholders, to urgently address the issue of safety standards in the country, with a view to "stemming the embarrassing frequency of these tragedies".
Andrew Kumapayi, head of the state's Federal Road Safety Commission, told Xinhua the tanker lost control and fell into a gutter after experiencing break failure, spilling its content and causing fire.
Kumapayi said the fire service officials got to the scene promptly but could not put out the fire as their water pump developed fault.
Acording to him, the fire spread through the gutter and affected houses and shops along the road.
In July, a similar explosion in the central Nigerian state of Benue had claimed at least 45 lives.
Xinhua
Friday, October 18, 2019
Town in Nigeria celebrate being 'twins capital' of the world
The sleepy-looking town boasts of having the highest concentration of multiple births of any place on the globe.
To celebrate its self-proclaimed title the town hosts an annual festival, now in its second year, that draws hundreds of sets of twins from around the country.
Donning different traditional clothes and costumes, the twins -- male and female, old, young and even newborns -- sang and danced at the latest edition this weekend to the appreciation of an admiring audience.
"We feel elated that we are being honoured today," Kehinde Durowoju, a 40-year-old twin, told AFP as he hugged his identical brother Taiwo.
"With this event, the whole world will better appreciate the importance of Ibeji (twins) as special children and gifts from God."
Around them, twins moved in procession to show off their colourful outfits as magic displays and masquerades also entertained the crowds.
- 'Twins tourism' -
Population experts say the Yoruba-speaking southwest has one of the highest twinning rates in Nigeria.
Statistics are difficult to come by, but a study by British gynaecologist Patrick Nylander, between 1972 and 1982, recorded an average of 45 to 50 sets of twins per 1,000 live births in the region.
That compares to a twin birth rate of 33 per every 1,000 births in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
Igbo-Ora is the epicentre of the phenomenon in the West African country.
Residents in the town, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Nigeria's biggest city Lagos, say that almost every family has some twins.
Traditional leader Jimoh Olajide Titiloye knows all about this special quirk.
"I am a twin, my wife is a twin and I have twins as children," he told AFP.
"There is hardly any household in this town which does not have at least a set of twins."
He said the festival on Saturday was aimed at promoting Igbo-Ora as "the foremost twins tourism destination in the world" and that efforts were underway to get the town listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
Prominent Yoruba ruler, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, said the festival "is a celebration of culture and recognition of Ibeji as special children in Yorubaland".
He said the birth of twins usually "heralds peace, progress, prosperity and good luck to their parents," adding that parents should always take good care of them.
But while twins are seen as a blessing by many today, that has not always the case in parts of southern Nigeria.
In pre-colonial times twins were often regarded as evil and were either banished to the "evil forest" or killed.
Scottish missionary Mary Slessor is widely credited with helping to curb the practice in the late 19th century.
- Food or genes? -
Scientists have not said definitively why Igbo-Ora has such a high number of twins.
Local residents have a theory that it is down to the diet of women in the town.
"Our people eat okra leaf or Ilasa soup with yam and amala (cassava flour)," community leader Samuel Adewuyi Adeleye told AFP.
Yams are believed to contain gonadotropins, a chemical substance that helps women to produce multiple eggs.
"The water we drink also contributes to the phenomenon," Adeleye added.
Fertility experts are sceptical -- and point to another explanation.
They say there is no proven link between diet and the high birth rate, with the same food being consumed across the region.
"It's a genetic thing," said Emmanuel Akinyemi, the medical director of Lagos-based Estate Clinic.
AFP
Related stories: The town in Nigeria known for multiple twin births
Video - Advocacy group in Nigeria fights to end traditional practice of killing twins
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Nigerian painting sells for $1.4 million
The portrait, Christine, was by one of the most revered African artists of the 20th century, Ben Enwonwu. The captivating sitter was Christine Elizabeth Davis, an American hair stylist of West Indian descent. The painting was completed in under a week as Christine was able to hold her pose for as long as needed. Christine, who was in her mid-30s at the time, passed away in Texas thereafter. But the painting remained in the family.
Just three months ago it was valued by Sothebys at around $200,000, but on Tuesday the portrait sold in London for over seven times the estimated price at $1.4 million.
And it’s not the first remarkable story of a Ben Enwonwu find. His best known portrait, Tutu, is a depiction of Nigerian royal princess Adetutu Ademiluyi (Tutu), often dubbed the “Nigerian Mona Lisa.” Prints of Tutu adorned the walls of living rooms across Nigeria. The 2017 discovery of Tutu was equally fascinating. The long-lost painting was found in a modest London flat and the owners had no idea of its importance or value. It sold at a record $1.6 million in 2018. It was originally estimated at a quarter of that price.
Enwonwu, who died aged 77 in 1994, was a Nigerian artist whose career spanned 60 years seeing the journey of Nigeria from a British colony to an independent nation. His story is unique in that not only did he become famous in his own country, but also in the UK where he studied.
While African art only accounted for 0.1% of global sales in 2016, these recent interesting discoveries and the impressively high prices they are garnering at auctions is cause for optimism. They are also proof that the international market for African art is indeed growing.
By Ciku Kimeria
Quartz
Related stories: Britain open to loan Nigeria stolen art
The 'Mona Lisa' of Nigeria returns back home
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
President Buhari to crackdown on abusive Islamic schools
Nigeria's president on Tuesday ordered a crackdown on abuse at Islamic schools, after a second police raid in less than a month revealed men and boys subjected to beatings, abuse and squalid conditions.
Nearly 300 had been held captive at a school in the Daura area of Katsina, the home town of President Muhammadu Buhari, where police said they discovered "inhuman and degrading treatment" following a raid on Monday to free the remaining students.
Late last month, police freed hundreds from similarly degrading conditions in neighbouring Kaduna state.
"Mr President has directed the police to disband all such centres and all the inmates be handed over to their parents," said a presidential spokesman.
"The government cannot allow centres where people, male and female, are maltreated in the name of religion," he said.
Prior to this week's raid, hundreds of captives had escaped the centre, police said on Tuesday.
The 67 inmates who were freed by Katsina police were shackled, and many were taken to hospital for treatment, Police Superintendent Isah Gambo told Reuters.
"I tell you they were in very bad condition when we met them," Gambo said.
A freed captive told Reuters on Monday that the instructors beat, raped and even killed some of the men and boys held at the facility, who ranged from seven to 40 years of age. It was not immediately possible to verify his account.
While the institution told parents it was an Islamic teaching centre that would help straighten out wayward family members, the instructors instead brutally abused them and took away any food or money sent by relatives.
Police said they had arrested the owner of the facility and two teachers, and were tracking other suspects.
The more than 200 captives who escaped were still missing, Gambo said. Police were working to reunite the others with family members.
"The inmates are actually from different parts of the country - Kano, Taraba, Adamawa and Plateau States," he said.
"Some of them are not even Nigerians. They come from Niger, Chad and even Burkina Faso and other countries."
Islamic schools, called almajiris, are common in the mostly Muslim north of Nigeria.
Muslim Rights Concern, a local organisation, estimates about 10 million children attend them.
Buhari said the government planned to ban the schools eventually, but he has not yet commented on the Katsina school.
Al Jazeera
Related stories: Police in Nigeria rescue another 67 males from "inhuman' conditions
Hundreds freed from torture house in Nigeria
Survivor recounts torture house experience in Nigeria
Nearly 300 had been held captive at a school in the Daura area of Katsina, the home town of President Muhammadu Buhari, where police said they discovered "inhuman and degrading treatment" following a raid on Monday to free the remaining students.
Late last month, police freed hundreds from similarly degrading conditions in neighbouring Kaduna state.
"Mr President has directed the police to disband all such centres and all the inmates be handed over to their parents," said a presidential spokesman.
"The government cannot allow centres where people, male and female, are maltreated in the name of religion," he said.
Prior to this week's raid, hundreds of captives had escaped the centre, police said on Tuesday.
The 67 inmates who were freed by Katsina police were shackled, and many were taken to hospital for treatment, Police Superintendent Isah Gambo told Reuters.
"I tell you they were in very bad condition when we met them," Gambo said.
A freed captive told Reuters on Monday that the instructors beat, raped and even killed some of the men and boys held at the facility, who ranged from seven to 40 years of age. It was not immediately possible to verify his account.
While the institution told parents it was an Islamic teaching centre that would help straighten out wayward family members, the instructors instead brutally abused them and took away any food or money sent by relatives.
Police said they had arrested the owner of the facility and two teachers, and were tracking other suspects.
The more than 200 captives who escaped were still missing, Gambo said. Police were working to reunite the others with family members.
"The inmates are actually from different parts of the country - Kano, Taraba, Adamawa and Plateau States," he said.
"Some of them are not even Nigerians. They come from Niger, Chad and even Burkina Faso and other countries."
Islamic schools, called almajiris, are common in the mostly Muslim north of Nigeria.
Muslim Rights Concern, a local organisation, estimates about 10 million children attend them.
Buhari said the government planned to ban the schools eventually, but he has not yet commented on the Katsina school.
Al Jazeera
Related stories: Police in Nigeria rescue another 67 males from "inhuman' conditions
Hundreds freed from torture house in Nigeria
Survivor recounts torture house experience in Nigeria
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Video - Nigeria's lost Generation
In April 2014 close to 250 girls were abducted by the Boko Haram from a secondary school in Maiduguri, Borno State in north eastern Nigeria. Bukky Shonibare a "Bring our girls back home" campaigner shares her hopes on the Chibok girls rescue and return four years after their abduction. Fatima Adam, one of the Chibok abductees narrates how she survived a suicide bomb planted on her by the insurgents.
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