NAIJAFEED

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Gunmen abduct 8 children from Nigerian orphanage

Gunmen abducted eight children and two adults from an orphanage in Nigeria's federal capital, Abuja, a spokesman for the orphanage told CNN.

The kidnappers have threatened to "waste" the children if the board fails to pay a ransom of 10 million naira (US$26,230), said board member Alaje Odewu.

They broke into the orphanage, which housed 17 minors, early Saturday.

"(They were) wielding their rifles at the kids, they selected the older ones and took them away along with their matron who was carrying a less than 1-year-old baby and another adult worker," said Odewu.

The matron was subsequently released along with the baby and another girl.

When the abductors called to demand the ransom, they insulted the board for not paying immediately. The orphanage told the abductors it does not have the money and is asking for people to pray for the safe return of the children.

"They told me they knew that the kids were orphans," he said. "I feel so sad that because these are just little innocent kids; the oldest among them is just 16 years old and most of the others are between the ages of 5 and 6,'' said Odewu.

The culprits have not yet been identified, but the police are on their trail, he said, adding that kidnappings like this one are "not new in the community."

Hundreds of students were abducted in December by gunmen in Katsina State in northwestern Nigeria. They were missing for nearly a week before the Nigerian military rescued them from bandits masquerading as the Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram.

While kidnapping for ransom by criminal elements in Katsina State have seen a disturbing increase, an abduction on this scale has not been reported previously. It recalls the kidnapping of 276 girls from Chibok in 2014. More than 100 of those girls never returned home.

By Isaac Abrak

CNN

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Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Nigeria confirms cases of COVID-19 variant discovered in Britain while expecting vaccines

Nigeria recorded four cases of the highly contagious COVID-19 variant B117, first reported in Britain, while still expecting vaccines against the virus, the Nigerian government said on Monday.

Three cases were found in Nigerians who had traveled out of the country and one is a resident, said Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation and chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, at a daily news conference.

Mustapha said that over the last few weeks, the PTF had been closely following the rising number of infections reported daily in Nigeria while scientists were sequencing the variants of the virus.

"When they were tested, this strain was found in them within a week of returning to Nigeria. This was reported to us through the international health regulations and it is most unlikely this strain was acquired in Nigeria," said Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), while shedding more light on the new development at the same news conference on Monday.

Ihekweazu said his agency would keep intensifying genomics surveillance and sequencing in collaboration with its partners, as shutting down international travel would not achieve much so long as the virus was still ravaging in other countries.

Meanwhile, 1,430 new COVID-19 cases were reported late Monday, bringing the total number of infections in the most populous African country to 122,996, according to the NCDC.

The new infections were reported from 18 states, including Lagos, the economic hub, and Abuja, the federal capital territory.

Three additional deaths were recorded, bringing the total to 1,507 nationwide since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in the country on Feb. 27, 2020.

Nigeria has so far tested 1,270,523 people since the onset of the pandemic, the PTF said.

"The management of cases is gradually improving with the availability of medical oxygen. The government is also fast-tracking the rehabilitation of existing plants and construction of new ones as approved by the president," Mustapha told reporters, adding there is currently a review of the guidelines on the implementation of phase three of the eased lockdown which expired on Monday.

Nigeria is expected to receive 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines early next month, with the efforts to deploy them underway, the official said.

"We wish to assure all Nigerians that the vaccines will be safe and effective when eventually it is deployed. We enjoin everyone to join in the campaign to eliminate vaccine hesitancy," he said.

Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said at the news conference on Monday the government is exploring all options to ensure the vaccination of 70 percent of the Nigerian population within two years.

"With an eye on value-for-money, we are negotiating with many parties and planning for flawless execution using recent experience from polio eradication in the face of a global scramble for vaccines," Ehanire added.

By Olatunji Saliu

XINHUANET

Monday, January 25, 2021

Video - Nigeria Plateau COVID-19 Crisis

The CAF Confederations Cup clash between Nigeria's River United and Bloemfontein Celtic from South Africa had to be shifted to the Republic of Benin due to COVID-19 related reasons. But as CGTN's Deji Badmus reports, the decision had serious implications for the teams.

Pirates kidnap 15 sailors in attack on Turkish container ship off coast of Nigeria

Pirates off Nigeria's coast kidnapped 15 sailors from a Turkish container ship on Saturday, in a brazen and violent attack that was farther from shore than usual.

One sailor, an Azerbaijani citizen, was killed in the raid, while those kidnapped are from Turkey, according to the respective governments and a crew list seen by Reuters.

Accounts from crew, family members and security sources described a sophisticated and well-orchestrated attack, in which armed pirates boarded the ship and breached its protective citadel, possibly with explosives.

Three sailors remain on the Mozart ship, which by Sunday evening was receiving assistance in Gabonese waters off central Africa.

"The ship is in our waters and our sailors are assisting a few nautical miles from Port Gentil," said Gabon's presidency spokesman Jessye Ella Ekogha, without providing further detail.

The Liberian-flagged vessel was headed to Cape Town from Lagos when it was attacked in the Gulf of Guinea, 160 kilometers (100 miles) off Sao Tome island on Saturday, maritime reports showed.
The ship's fourth captain, Furkan Yaren, had been "cruising blindly" toward Gabon with damage to the ship's controls and only the radar working, according to state-run news agency Anadolu. The pirates beat crew members, and left him with an injured leg while another still aboard the ship had shrapnel wounds, Yaren said.
Turkish media cited Istanbul-based ship owner Boden company as saying the owners and operators of the vessel were abducted at gunpoint. Boden was not immediately available.
Ambrey, a security company, said four armed men boarded the Mozart and entered the citadel -- where crew are advised to hide in any attack -- from a deck atop the cabin.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's office said on Sunday he was orchestrating officials in the "rescue of kidnapped ship personnel." Erdogan spoke twice by phone with Yaren, who remained aboard after the attack, his office said.
Edward Yeibo, a Nigerian Navy commander, said he was not aware of the attack and was seeking details. The Lagos naval command office and a spokesman for Nigeria's maritime regulator were not immediately available.

Game changer

Pirates in the Gulf, which borders more than a dozen countries, kidnapped 130 sailors in 22 incidents last year, accounting for all but five of those seized worldwide, according to an International Maritime Bureau report.

The attack on the Mozart could raise international pressure on Nigeria to do more to protect shippers, which have called for tougher action in recent weeks, analysts said.

"The fact that someone died, the number of people taken and the apparent use of explosives to breach the ship's citadel means it is a potential game-changer," said David Johnson, CEO of the UK-based EOS Risk Group.

"It's clearly quite sophisticated and if pirates have decided to use munitions it's a big move," he said. There is "no doubt" those kidnapped will be taken back to Nigeria's Delta and Turkey will have little hope stopping it, he added.

Turkey's foreign ministry said the pirates had not made any contact with Ankara.

Seyit Kaya, brother of the ship's kidnapped 42-year-old captain Mustafa Kaya, a father of two, said in an interview he awaited details from the ship's owner on any possible ransom.

"Since that area is where many attacks take place, they take cautions against pirates," said Kaya, who is also a sailor.

Reuters

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Nigerian Catholic priest killed after abduction

Fr. John Gbakaan’s lifeless body was discovered on Saturday, a day after armed men kidnapped him.

Nigeria's Fr. John Gbakaan, parish priest of the Saint Anthony Church in Gulu, in the Diocese of Minna, was kidnapped on 15 January along the Lambata road to Lapai in the state of Niger, reports the Catholic wire service, Agenzia Fides.

The parish priest of St. Theresa in Madala, Fr. John Jatau, confirmed that Fr. Gbakaan, together with his brother and another priest, had gone to Makurdi in the state of Benue on 14 January to visit his mother.

Demand for ransom

On 15 January, the priest and his brother were ambushed by gunmen. The attack took place around 9 p.m. near the village of Tufa. The two brothers were abducted by armed men who then sought ransom from the Diocese of Minna. Initially, the kidnappers demanded a sum of thirty million naira, which they later reduced to five million naira.

The priest’s body was found near the site of the kidnapping. Father Gbakaan was executed with a machete in such a brutal and horrific manner that identification was hardly possible. The vehicle that the priest was travelling in was found in a nearby bush. There is still no news of the priest’s brother, who is said to be still in the hands of the kidnappers.

Shocking and painful

The Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN), has asked the Federal Government to end the abductions and killing of religious persons by bandits in the country. CAN’s Vice Chairman (Northern region), Rev. John Hayab, made the call when he spoke to the Lagos-based daily, Vanguard. Rev. Hayab described the Catholic priest’s killing as “shocking and painful,” stating that insecurity in the North of Nigeria had assumed a much more alarming dimension.

Pleading with the Federal Government

“Today in Northern Nigeria, many people live in fear, and many young people are afraid to become pastors because pastors’ lives are in great danger,” said Rev. Hayab. He continued, “When Bandits or Kidnappers realise that their victim is a priest or pastor it seems a violent spirit takes over their hearts to demand more ransom and, in some cases, go to the extent of killing the victim. We are simply pleading with the Federal Government and all security agencies to do whatever it will take to bring this evil to a stop,” the CAN representative said.

Vatican News