Nigerian health authorities have intensified screening and surveillance measures following a confirmed Ebola case in Abuja, as the patient shows signs of recovery. Contacts have been traced and quarantined, while investigations continue into the source of the infection amid efforts to prevent further transmission.
Monday, October 26, 2026
Video - Nigeria tightens Ebola measures as patient recovers
Nigerian health authorities have intensified screening and surveillance measures following a confirmed Ebola case in Abuja, as the patient shows signs of recovery. Contacts have been traced and quarantined, while investigations continue into the source of the infection amid efforts to prevent further transmission.
Honeywell Technologies launches new AI platform at Dangote's Nigeria refinery
Honeywell Technologies said on Monday it was launching a new industrial AI platform, "Forge Plant Cognition", at Nigeria's Dangote refinery to boost the plant's productivity.
The platform, being launched at Dangote's Lekki refinery in Lagos, will use NVIDIA and Dell Technologies' capabilities in a bid to drive up productivity and profitability in complex industrial settings, a statement said.
Based on preliminary data and not guaranteed, Honeywell said its AI platform could deliver operational benefits of more than 29 cents a barrel at Lekki, or around $60 million a year in gross benefits at full-capacity throughput.
Honeywell has also been selected to help Dangote build a new mega-refinery in Kenya's Lamu County.
The platform, being launched at Dangote's Lekki refinery in Lagos, will use NVIDIA and Dell Technologies' capabilities in a bid to drive up productivity and profitability in complex industrial settings, a statement said.
Honeywell is already helping the refinery more than double its nameplate capacity from 650,000 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 million bpd by 2028.
Based on preliminary data and not guaranteed, Honeywell said its AI platform could deliver operational benefits of more than 29 cents a barrel at Lekki, or around $60 million a year in gross benefits at full-capacity throughput.
Honeywell has also been selected to help Dangote build a new mega-refinery in Kenya's Lamu County.
Death toll in Nigeria village raided by gunmen rises to 48
The death toll from Friday's attack on a remote village in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Taraba has risen to at least 48, police have told the BBC.
The police had initially reported 10 deaths after unidentified gunmen on motorcycles raided the village of Binnari, looting shops and setting houses ablaze.
More bodies were discovered on Sunday, according to state police spokesperson Victor Mshelizah, who said some of the victims had drowned while trying to escape the attackers while others were killed in nearby bushes.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International's director for Nigeria said his organisation had confirmed 52 deaths, citing sources on the ground and members of the local community.
The attack happened just after midday Muslim prayers, and the rampage went on for up to four hours.
State police had initially recovered 10 bodies with gunshot wounds after officers responded to a distress call.
The attackers had fled by the time officers arrived - but they continued to patrol the area to restore calm, Taraba's police told the BBC on Saturday.
"We were able to disperse the unknown gunmen though there was no casualty on their side and ours because the terrain is difficult and they're used to the terrain," Assistant Superintendent of Police Victor Mshelizah said.
Community leader Malam Abubakar Saifullahi told news agency AFP that the attackers had arrived on about 50 motorcycles, two men apiece.
"They looted shops and took cash, foodstuffs and other provisions," he said. "They also took motorcycles abandoned by people fleeing the attack."
Isiyaku Musa, who survived the attack, told AFP: "People were running in different directions to escape the attack. Nobody knew where it was safe to go."
Amnesty's Nigeria director Isa Sanusi has called for an impartial investigation into the killings, accusing the authorities of leaving rural communities "at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity".
Parts of north-eastern Nigeria have been affected by years of violence involving jihadist groups and armed gangs, which raid communities, abduct residents and demand ransoms.
Similar armed groups operate in the country's north-west and central regions.
The latest attack comes as Nigeria prepares for elections next year, with insecurity expected to feature prominently in political debates.
Survivors who spoke to AFP said they had counted at least 20 dead.
"People were running in different directions to escape the attack," Binnari resident Isiyaku Musa said. "Nobody knew where it was safe to go."
Another survivor, Sa'idu Nuhu, said that some people were still missing.
Amnesty's Nigeria director, Isa Sanusi, told BBC News on Saturday that the NGO had spoken to some of the bereaved families who said up to 50 people had died.
"The initial funeral had 37 people," he said.
Sanusi called for an impartial investigation into the killings, accusing the authorities of leaving rural communities "at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity".
The police had initially reported 10 deaths after unidentified gunmen on motorcycles raided the village of Binnari, looting shops and setting houses ablaze.
More bodies were discovered on Sunday, according to state police spokesperson Victor Mshelizah, who said some of the victims had drowned while trying to escape the attackers while others were killed in nearby bushes.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International's director for Nigeria said his organisation had confirmed 52 deaths, citing sources on the ground and members of the local community.
The attack happened just after midday Muslim prayers, and the rampage went on for up to four hours.
State police had initially recovered 10 bodies with gunshot wounds after officers responded to a distress call.
The attackers had fled by the time officers arrived - but they continued to patrol the area to restore calm, Taraba's police told the BBC on Saturday.
"We were able to disperse the unknown gunmen though there was no casualty on their side and ours because the terrain is difficult and they're used to the terrain," Assistant Superintendent of Police Victor Mshelizah said.
Community leader Malam Abubakar Saifullahi told news agency AFP that the attackers had arrived on about 50 motorcycles, two men apiece.
"They looted shops and took cash, foodstuffs and other provisions," he said. "They also took motorcycles abandoned by people fleeing the attack."
Isiyaku Musa, who survived the attack, told AFP: "People were running in different directions to escape the attack. Nobody knew where it was safe to go."
Amnesty's Nigeria director Isa Sanusi has called for an impartial investigation into the killings, accusing the authorities of leaving rural communities "at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity".
Parts of north-eastern Nigeria have been affected by years of violence involving jihadist groups and armed gangs, which raid communities, abduct residents and demand ransoms.
Similar armed groups operate in the country's north-west and central regions.
The latest attack comes as Nigeria prepares for elections next year, with insecurity expected to feature prominently in political debates.
Survivors who spoke to AFP said they had counted at least 20 dead.
"People were running in different directions to escape the attack," Binnari resident Isiyaku Musa said. "Nobody knew where it was safe to go."
Another survivor, Sa'idu Nuhu, said that some people were still missing.
Amnesty's Nigeria director, Isa Sanusi, told BBC News on Saturday that the NGO had spoken to some of the bereaved families who said up to 50 people had died.
"The initial funeral had 37 people," he said.
Sanusi called for an impartial investigation into the killings, accusing the authorities of leaving rural communities "at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity".
Nigeria's Ebola patient on medical evacuation flight to Switzerland, condition stable
Nigeria's Ebola patient left the country on a medical evacuation flight to Switzerland on Monday morning, the health minister said, adding that her clinical condition was much improved.
The patient, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, is Nigeria's first Ebola case in more than a decade.
The outbreak, which started in Democratic Republic of Congo, has now been reported in four countries in East, Central and West Africa, giving it the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent to date.
The possibility that the Nigerian patient became infected in Uganda, where officials say she spent a two-week holiday before returning to Abuja, has fuelled concerns about undetected transmission in a country where the outbreak had appeared to be under control.
Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said in a post on X that the woman was "stable, conscious, communicating, and her clinical laboratory test results closing towards baseline" before her evacuation flight departed.
Her spouse has remained asymptomatic and left Nigeria on the same flight, Pate added.
The Swiss foreign ministry and Uganda's health ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
SCIENTISTS INVESTIGATING HOW PATIENT CAUGHT RARE STRAIN
A team of leading Ebola scientists will travel to Nigeria to help investigate how the patient caught the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya told Reuters in an interview.
Switzerland said last week that she had not travelled to Congo, contradicting statements from Ugandan officials.
Her travel documents show she had not visited Congo, Kaseya said.
There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo species, which has now caused almost 10,000 cases and more than 4,800 deaths in Congo, and spread to three other countries in Africa – Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda.
Kenya has reported nine cases and two deaths, all linked to a man who had travelled from Congo via Uganda's Entebbe airport.
Uganda reported 20 cases in May and June but has not recorded any since and was declared free of the virus by the World Health Organization in August.
The WHO's Africa director congratulated Nigeria's government and health workers for stabilising the patient's condition, allowing her to be evacuated.
"The Nigerian medical team successfully managed her through the acute phase of the illness and stabilized her condition," Mohamed Janabi said on X.
The patient, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, is Nigeria's first Ebola case in more than a decade.
The outbreak, which started in Democratic Republic of Congo, has now been reported in four countries in East, Central and West Africa, giving it the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent to date.
The possibility that the Nigerian patient became infected in Uganda, where officials say she spent a two-week holiday before returning to Abuja, has fuelled concerns about undetected transmission in a country where the outbreak had appeared to be under control.
Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said in a post on X that the woman was "stable, conscious, communicating, and her clinical laboratory test results closing towards baseline" before her evacuation flight departed.
Her spouse has remained asymptomatic and left Nigeria on the same flight, Pate added.
The Swiss foreign ministry and Uganda's health ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
SCIENTISTS INVESTIGATING HOW PATIENT CAUGHT RARE STRAIN
A team of leading Ebola scientists will travel to Nigeria to help investigate how the patient caught the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya told Reuters in an interview.
Switzerland said last week that she had not travelled to Congo, contradicting statements from Ugandan officials.
Her travel documents show she had not visited Congo, Kaseya said.
There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo species, which has now caused almost 10,000 cases and more than 4,800 deaths in Congo, and spread to three other countries in Africa – Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda.
Kenya has reported nine cases and two deaths, all linked to a man who had travelled from Congo via Uganda's Entebbe airport.
Uganda reported 20 cases in May and June but has not recorded any since and was declared free of the virus by the World Health Organization in August.
The WHO's Africa director congratulated Nigeria's government and health workers for stabilising the patient's condition, allowing her to be evacuated.
"The Nigerian medical team successfully managed her through the acute phase of the illness and stabilized her condition," Mohamed Janabi said on X.
Friday, October 23, 2026
Nigerian actor Francis Duru die at age 57
Veteran Nigerian actor Francis Duru has passed away at the age of 57, his family announced on his official Instagram account.
His family made the announcement in the early hours of Friday, October 23, stating that Duru passed away following a brief illness.
"We, the family of Francis Duru, regret to announce his passing following a brief illness. We appreciate your prayers, love, and understanding. May his soul rest in perfect peace. Amen," the family wrote.
His passing comes one month after the death of another iconic actor, Olu Jacobs, who died at the age of 84 following a long battle with Lewy body dementia.
Francis Duru, whose full name was Francis Ogide Duru, was a celebrated Nigerian actor and one of the most recognizable faces in Nollywood.
Born on July 27, 1969, in Cameroon to Nigerian parents from Imo State in southeastern Nigeria, he grew up in Cameroon before moving to Nigeria for his higher education.
He built an acting career that spanned more than 30 years in the Nigerian film industry.
Duru studied Theatre Arts at the University of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, graduating in 1996. His academic background helped prepare him for a professional career in acting and the performing arts. Before establishing himself in Nollywood, he gained experience in stage theater and television, which contributed significantly to his development as an actor.
Duru began his film career with Missing Mark in 1989. His major breakthrough came with the 1995 film Rattlesnake, produced by Amaka Igwe, in which Duru played the character Ahanna. The film established his reputation and opened the door to numerous opportunities in Nollywood.
Over the years, Duru featured in dozens of films, including Blood Money, Nnenda, The Good Husband, Eagle Wings, and Merry Men: The Real Yoruba Demons.
Beyond acting, he also worked as a film director, producer, writer, master of ceremonies, and television personality.
In 2020, he won the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Igbo) at the Best of Nollywood Awards for his performance in Mboputa. He was also honored with the United Nations Ambassador for Peace Award in 2007 for his positive impact on young people.
Duru contributed to the development of Nigeria's entertainment industry through professional leadership and mentorship. In 2010, he served as the interim president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria and held several other roles within industry organizations.
He was married to Adokiye Duru, and they had four children together. In August 2024, the family suffered a tragedy with the loss of their 15-year-old son, Ifeanyi. Speaking publicly about the loss in January 2025, Duru shared that the painful experience had ultimately deepened his faith in God.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)