Nearly 70 people were killed following a military airstrike targeting bandits in Zamfara State on Sunday. Nigerian media reports say the military was responding to bandit attacks in Malele, Ruwan Tofa and Yan-Awake communities. Witnesses say those who died include militants and civilians.
Friday, December 23, 2022
Video - Military operation leaves 70 dead in Nigeria
$15m settlement to be paid by Shell for oil spills in Nigeria
Shell will pay 15 million euros ($15.9m) to communities in Nigeria that were affected by multiple oil pipeline leaks in the Niger Delta, the oil company has announced.
“The settlement is on a no admission of liability basis, and settles all claims and ends all pending litigation related to the spills,” Shell said on Friday in a joint statement with the Dutch division of Friends of the Earth.
The compensation is the result of a Dutch court case brought by Friends of the Earth, in which Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary SPDC was last year found to be responsible for the oil spills and was ordered to pay for damages to farmers.
The money will benefit the communities of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo in Nigeria, which were affected by four oil spills that occurred between 2004 and 2007.
An independent expert had confirmed that SPDC has installed a leak detection system on the KCTL pipeline in compliance with the appeal court’s orders, the company added.
The case was brought in 2008 by four farmers and the environmental group Friends of the Earth, seeking reparations for lost income from contaminated land and waterways in the region, the heart of Nigeria’s oil industry.
In 2020 and 2021, Nigeria’s National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) recorded 822 combined oil spills, totalling 28,003 barrels of oil spewed into the environment. And experts say life expectancy in the Niger Delta is now 41 years, 10 years lower than the national average.
After the appeals court’s final ruling last year, Shell said it continued to believe the spills were caused by sabotage.
But the court said Shell had not proven “beyond reasonable doubt” that sabotage had caused the spill, rather than poor maintenance.
Related stories: Video - Shell due in court over damages the oil company has caused in Nigeria
Video - Chevron oil drilling disaster in Nigeria enters fourth week
Thursday, December 22, 2022
First phase of light rail project by Chinese company completed in Nigeria
Nigeria's southwestern state of Lagos on Wednesday marked the completion of the first phase of a 27-km electric-powered light rail project.
Undertaken by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) since 2010, the completed tracks of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line project span 13 km in the first phase and cover five stations.
The LRMT Blue Line project is the first rail infrastructure traversing Okokomaiko, a densely populated area in the western part of Lagos, and Marina, a business district on Lagos Island.
It is part of an ambitious transport master plan, which aims to meet the demands of the state as Nigeria's commercial and economic hub and one of the world's fastest-growing megacities.
Declaring the completion of construction on the Blue Line project at a ceremony, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, described the moment as "historic," saying Lagos became the first sub-national government in West Africa to fund and deliver a rail system from the state's balance sheet.
Sanwo-Olu said the milestone was a culmination of "impactful reforms" initiated in the state's transport ecosystem.
"Today, we are making history with the completion of the historic rail line, which is the first phase of the Blue Line," Sanwo-Olu said. "Now, we have put the challenges behind us; from now on, we will focus on the benefits of this project for our people."
The governor said the construction of the second phase of the Blue Line rail project, which covers 14 km, will be launched immediately after the inauguration of the first phase next month.
More than 2,000 Chinese and local employees worked together to optimize the construction even in the face of multiple challenges, such as complicated geology and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Chu Maoming, China's consul general in Lagos.
Huge infrastructure projects like the railway construction would continue to energize the Nigerian economy and promote speedy development, Chu said.
Speaking at the event, Zhang Zhichen, chairman of CCECC Nigeria Limited, said the Chinese firm will continue to maintain the enterprise spirit of "diligence, integrity, and tenacity" while building the follow-up projects with high quality and efficiency.
The first phase of the LMRT Blue Line project is expected to carry over 250,000 passengers daily when in full operation.
Related stories: China to invest $40b in Nigeria
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Video - What lies ahead in Nigeria's Presidential Election?
After a year where countries in Africa faced the impact of climate change, navigated political and social challenges, and celebrated sporting achievements, people across the continent are now looking ahead to the new year. In this episode of The Stream, we'll look at three stories in Africa that will be headline news in 2023.
Nigeria decides Africa's most populous country is preparing to hold a general election in February that will decide who succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari at the end of his second and final term. Bola Tinubu, the nominee of the ruling All Progressives Congress, is expected to face a strong challenge from People’s Democratic Party nominee Atiku Abubakar, who lost to Buhari in the 2019 election. Peter Obi of the Labour Party is also expected to be firmly in the running.
Eligible voters across the country of 211 million people will also choose members of the Senate and House of Representatives in the election. But as economic and security issues weigh on the minds of the electorate, there are concerns that recent attacks on election commission offices could undermine the free and fair running of the landmark vote.
We'll look at the issues at stake in the final stretch of campaigning. Sudan in transition? Sudan’s military coup leaders and a coalition of civilian pro-democracy parties reached a framework deal on December 5 that proponents hope will lead to a transitional civilian government and a new constitution.
But while members of the Forces of Freedom and Change say the internationally-brokered agreement provides a fresh chance for lasting political reform after the failure of previous deals, it does not have universal support.
Protesters allied with neighbourhood resistance committees say the deal grants too much undue power to the military and paramilitary groups and is a betrayal of those killed and injured in protests in the wake of the military takeover in October 2021. We'll ask what lies ahead for Sudan in 2023.
Zimbabwe’s election season Presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe are expected to go ahead in 2023, in what is widely expected to be a tightly-fought race between the ruling ZANU-PF of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change, led by Nelson Chamisa.
Millions of people across the country have long endured economic hardship and now daily power cuts have made day-to-day life even harder. And in an increasingly fractious political environment journalists covering political events have faced harassment and assaults by party supporters, raising fears of widespread violence at the time of the election. We'll look at the challenges people in Zimbabwe are facing in the run-up to what could be a critical vote in the country’s history.
Gay Wedding Raided in Nigeria - 19 Arrested
The Islamic police have arrested 19 people accused of organizing a gay wedding in the city of Kano, in conservative northern Nigeria, a spokesman said Tuesday (December 20).
Kano is one of 12 northern Nigerian states that introduced sharia law in 2000, where Islamic courts operate alongside the state judicial system.
This is not the first time the Islamic police have made arrests, accusing youths of organizing a gay wedding. Each time, the suspects have denied it, saying they had gathered to celebrate.
Homosexuality is punishable by death under Islamic law, but no execution has ever been carried out.
The 19 people, 15 women and four men in their 20s were arrested Sunday in a multipurpose hall, Lawan Ibrahim Fagge, a spokesman for the Islamic police, told AFP.
"Our men broke into the venue where a gay couple was holding a wedding and arrested 19 men and women, including the wedding planner," he said.
However, Fagge said the alleged couple managed to escape and police are looking for them.
The suspects, meanwhile, have been taken into custody pending further investigation, the spokesman said.
In 2014, Africa's most populous country - which is very religious - passed a law against same-sex marriage. Since then, homosexuality has been punishable by 10 to 14 years in prison.
The Islamic police, the "Hisbah" in Kano, have in the past arrested several people accused of planning gay and lesbian marriages, without any convictions.
In 2018, the Hisbah arrested 11 young women on charges of planning a lesbian wedding.
They had refuted the charge, stating that they belonged to a dance club and wanted to celebrate the appointment of their club's president.
In January 2015, the Hisbah arrested 12 young men at a hotel in the suburbs of Kano on suspicion of planning a gay wedding. The youth had also denied it, saying they were planning a friend's birthday party.
Related stories: Dozens arrested in Nigeria after anti-gay law passes
Wole Soyinka advises anti-gay bill legislators to go back to school
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