NAIJAFEED

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Nearly 7 years later, Nigerian army still rescuing Chibok schoolgirls from Boko Haram

Nearly seven years since Islamist militants kidnapped two of his daughters from their school in northeastern Nigeria, a hurried phone call let Ali Maiyanga know that his family's ordeal might soon be over.

The call on Thursday evening was from Maiyanga's daughter Halima, who - along with her sister Maryam - was among more than 200 schoolgirls snatched by Boko Haram insurgents in Chibok in April 2014, sparking a global #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

"I was crying, she was crying," said Maiyanga, who was preparing to get married to his fourth wife when he heard Halima's voice down the line.

"We couldn't talk long because I was surrounded by so many people and the place was noisy. Everybody started jumping up and down when I told them," said Maiyanga, father of 18 children, who was reunited with his other kidnapped daughter in 2016.

Halima, 23, told him she had been rescued by the Nigerian army, but Maiyanga said he did not know her exact whereabouts or if she was alone or with more of her kidnapped former classmates.

An army spokesman said on Monday it did not have any Chibok kidnap victims in its custody and the government has not issued a statement about any of the missing women being found in recent days.

About half of the students who were abducted have escaped or been released so far.

Dozens have appeared in propaganda videos by the militants - showing them pleading for their rescue or pledging allegiance to the group - and some have died from illness, in childbirth or military air strikes, according to freed captives.

Reports by Boko Haram's victims of religious indoctrination and forced marriages have fueled concerns about the remaining women as attacks by Islamist militants gather pace in the northeast of the country.

Maryam, 24, said she and Halima - who were among the few Muslims kidnapped along with their mostly Christian classmates - were held captive together at first before they both married insurgents in 2014 and moved into different parts of the forest.

Maryam's husband decided to help his wife escape because he did not want their son to grow up in the forest, and she was found with their 10-month-old baby by troops in the Gwoza district of Borno State in November 2016.

"I always believed I would see my sister again one day," Maryam told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "When I heard the news, I was jumping up and down. I was very happy. I can't wait to see her."

'I WAS AFRAID'

After the two sisters got married, they saw each other regularly. Halima used to visit Maryam every month, helping her to care for the baby. Maryam said she used to spend a lot of time consoling her sister after she had a stillbirth.

But when her escape was planned, Maryam did not tell her sister.

"I was afraid. I didn't see her before I left," said Maryam, who does not know the whereabouts of her husband since he was arrested by the military at the time of her escape. He had accompanied her out of the forest.

Since then, Maryam and the other freed Chibok girls were enrolled by the government in a special remedial course at the American University of Nigeria in Yola.

After years of mounting criticism about the spread of Islamist violence and attacks by armed gangs, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari appointed a new military high command last week.

Hopes were high after army successes against Boko Haram in 2015 and 2016, but with the rise of Islamic State's West African branch, formerly part of Boko Haram, parts of the northeast have been experiencing more frequent attacks.

While Thursday's phone call put an end to the family's agonizing wait for news, Maiyanga said he still did not know when they would be able to see Halima.

"I'm hoping to hear more news from the military," he said.

By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

Reuters

Boko Haram claims responsibility for kidnapping hundreds of boys in Nigeria

Monday, February 1, 2021

'They were unjust to me,' says teenager freed after blasphemy sentence quashed in Nigeria

Omar Farouq had an argument last year with a colleague that would change his life.
Insults were exchanged in the heat of the moment, he admits, but Farouq, a teenager, thought nothing of the exchange until he was summoned to the police station and charged with blasphemy against God.
When word got out about the nature of his arrest, an angry mob descended on Farouq's family home forcing his mother to flee to a neighboring village, his lawyer said.

Farouq, who was then 16, was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor by a Sharia court, in Kano, northern Nigeria.

However, his conviction was overturned on appeal by the Kano State High Court on January 22 because Farouq did not have legal representation at his first trial, his counsel Kola Alapinni told CNN.
"I'm delighted, I'm in a joyous mood. And I'm grateful to all those who helped and lent support for this outcome with the grace of Allah," Farouq, now 17, told CNN in his first interview following his release.
Alapinni was instrumental in Farouq's release from prison.

His Foundation for Religious Freedom discovered and got involved in Farouq's case while working on an appeal for Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy at the Kano Upper Sharia Court.

"We found out they were convicted on the same day, by the same judge, in the same court, for blasphemy and we found out no one was talking about Omar, so we had to move quickly to file an appeal for him," he said.

"Blasphemy is not recognized by Nigerian law. It is inconsistent with the constitution of Nigeria."
Kano's High Court stated that Farouq's conviction as a minor "was done in error and ... is hereby set aside and the Defendant is hereby discharged and acquitted."

An 'unjust' punishment

Farouq says he feels aggrieved as that the Sharia court was "unjust" to him.
Officials for the Sharia court have not commented on Farouq's case, and efforts to reach them have been unsuccessful. CNN also contacted Kano state government for comment but has yet to receive a response.

In all, Farouq spent more than five months locked up without access to family or lawyers.
His family said they were not informed about the details of his case and did not even know what date his court hearing was held.

"They were not fair to us," his uncle Umar Aliyu told CNN. "When they took this boy to court, they didn't tell us the court they took him to... and they refused to tell us the date slated for the judgment. They kept chasing us away. I went to the Hisbah office pleading with the interrogator, but he told me to leave his office. I left hurt and close to tears, extremely sad."

The family also found out from media reports that Farouq had been convicted and sentenced, Aliyu said.

Aliyu recalls being "enveloped with sadness," every time he thought about his nephew locked up with no contact with his family.

"Everyone... was disturbed very much, we were really sad. We just had to console each other, counseling some to take it as something ordained by Allah... telling them to be patient. This provided some emotional relief.

"For the period he was in prison every time I thought about him, I became worried. Every time I thought about him sadness would envelop me."

'His life is in danger'

Now that Farouq has been freed, he says he is determined to finish his education and has ambitions to enter politics to fight against the kind of injustice he faced.

"I pray Allah will bless me to become governor or President to reform the Sharia and to end the injustice on my fellow citizens and myself since in some court cases the offense doesn't warrant the harsh judgment handed down. This is deprivation of your right, oppression, and abuse," he said.

Although his conviction was overturned, Farouq's life remains in danger from some fanatics who see his release as an affront, according to his lawyer.

Alapinni told CNN how terrified Farouq was when he turned up to meet him outside the prison when he was released.

"He himself knows he is in danger because when we tried to pick him from prison...you could see the fear in his face, he didn't even want to follow us...everybody had told him that if he steps out of the prison walls he will be killed," Alapinni said.

"We now need to arrange safe passage for him. His life is in danger in Kano -- it will never be the same," he said.

By Stephanie Busari

CNN

Nigerian singer sentenced to death for blasphemy in Kano state

Wife of detained Nigerian humanist pleads for 'proof of life'

Unicef condemns jailing of 13 year old for 10 years Nigeria for 'blasphemy'

Video - Nigeria begins modernising oil refineries

For much of the last 30 years, Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, has imported refined petroleum products because its old refineries are unable to produce enough to satisfy local demand. Added to that has been decades of mismanagement and corruption, which left its four plants operating well below capacity and, and times, shut down for months. Now the government has begun a process of modernising three of its refineries. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports from Abuja, Nigeria.

Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote aiming for 50% of Nigeria's crude refined internally by 2021

Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote launches 1.5 million ton cement plant in Cameroon

Video - Aljazeera speaks with Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote

Video - Nigeria gas flaring: Government plans to pass bill to tackle issue

For more than half a century, the practice of gas flaring - the burning of gas produced as a by-product of oil extraction - has affected the lives of thousands of people in Nigeria. Now the government wants to pass a bill to tackle the issue and raise new revenue from the wasted natural gas.

Video - Oil theft in Nigeria on the rise

Video - Nigeria oil union suspends 3 day strike over job cuts at oil companies

Oil spills in Nigeria could potentially kill 16,000 babies a year

China invests $16 billion in oil sector in Nigeria