More than 600 Nigerians, mostly women and children, have crossed into neighboring Cameroon after deadly clashes between farming and herding communities on the Mambilla Plateau in Taraba State. Many arrived without food, shelter, or other basic necessities.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Video - Over 600 Nigerians flee into Cameroon after Taraba violence
More than 600 Nigerians, mostly women and children, have crossed into neighboring Cameroon after deadly clashes between farming and herding communities on the Mambilla Plateau in Taraba State. Many arrived without food, shelter, or other basic necessities.
Video - Nigeria fuel prices fuel cost-of-living concerns ahead of 2027 election
Rising fuel prices and the high cost of living are deepening economic concerns among Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general election. Traders and drivers say higher transport and operating costs are squeezing their incomes and influencing how they view the government's economic record.
Video - Nigeria’s conflict widows struggle to rebuild lives and support families
Years of conflict in northeastern Nigeria have left many women widowed and solely responsible for their families. In Borno State, they are struggling to make ends meet as they rebuild their lives in displacement camps.
Thousands of applicants from Nigeria, Ghana affected as UK blocks direct teaching qualification route
Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana can no longer use England’s direct application service for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), after the UK government tightened eligibility requirements for overseas-trained teachers.
The change took effect on September 9, 2026, when the UK Department for Education (DfE) removed Ghana, Nigeria and India from the countries whose teachers can use the “Apply for QTS in England” service.
QTS is the professional status used in England and is a legal requirement to teach in many schools, although it is not required in every type of school, including some academies, free schools and private schools.
The DfE said the decision followed changes to the requirements for countries participating in the direct recognition service.
According to the UK Department for Education, teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana submitted 2,143 applications for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in the 2024–25 academic year.
Nigeria accounted for 1,076 applications, while Ghana accounted for 1,067. Of these, 560 applications resulted in QTS awards, while 1,348 were declined
The change took effect on September 9, 2026, when the UK Department for Education (DfE) removed Ghana, Nigeria and India from the countries whose teachers can use the “Apply for QTS in England” service.
QTS is the professional status used in England and is a legal requirement to teach in many schools, although it is not required in every type of school, including some academies, free schools and private schools.
The DfE said the decision followed changes to the requirements for countries participating in the direct recognition service.
According to the UK Department for Education, teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana submitted 2,143 applications for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in the 2024–25 academic year.
Nigeria accounted for 1,076 applications, while Ghana accounted for 1,067. Of these, 560 applications resulted in QTS awards, while 1,348 were declined
Why Nigeria and Ghana lost access
The UK government said countries must have a national regulator that can confirm a teacher’s professional standing and must be able to provide employment references that meet its requirements.
For Nigeria and Ghana, the DfE pointed specifically to problems with employment-reference verification.
“More than 70% of applications from teachers in Ghana and Nigeria include work history references that use public email addresses, such as Gmail or Hotmail, rather than a school’s official email domain,” the department said.
The government added that this means its assessors “spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications.”
“We must be confident that the information applicants provide is genuine,” the DfE said. “This helps ensure that overseas teachers awarded qualified teacher status have the skills and experience needed to teach in schools in England.”
The requirement now states that references must confirm an applicant’s work history and use an email address belonging to the school’s domain.
The change does not amount to a ban on Nigerian or Ghanaian teachers working in England.
The UK government says qualified teachers from outside the UK can work in England for up to four years without QTS under its “4-year rule.” After that period, QTS is required to teach in many state schools.
Teachers affected by the change can also pursue alternative routes, including assessment-only QTS, teacher training in England or international qualified teacher status (iQTS).
Under the assessment-only route, experienced teachers with a degree can obtain QTS without completing a teacher-training programme.
The UK government says applicants generally need at least two years of teaching experience, a bachelor’s degree and other specified qualifications. Fees typically range from about £1,500 to £4,000, depending on the provider.
The iQTS route is also open to non-UK citizens and is delivered online by English teacher-training providers in partnership with schools around the world. The qualification follows the same standards as English QTS and leads to QTS.
The DfE said the purpose of the tighter rules is to ensure it can verify the qualifications, professional standing and experience of overseas teachers before awarding them QTS.
The UK government said countries must have a national regulator that can confirm a teacher’s professional standing and must be able to provide employment references that meet its requirements.
For Nigeria and Ghana, the DfE pointed specifically to problems with employment-reference verification.
“More than 70% of applications from teachers in Ghana and Nigeria include work history references that use public email addresses, such as Gmail or Hotmail, rather than a school’s official email domain,” the department said.
The government added that this means its assessors “spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications.”
“We must be confident that the information applicants provide is genuine,” the DfE said. “This helps ensure that overseas teachers awarded qualified teacher status have the skills and experience needed to teach in schools in England.”
The requirement now states that references must confirm an applicant’s work history and use an email address belonging to the school’s domain.
The change does not amount to a ban on Nigerian or Ghanaian teachers working in England.
The UK government says qualified teachers from outside the UK can work in England for up to four years without QTS under its “4-year rule.” After that period, QTS is required to teach in many state schools.
Teachers affected by the change can also pursue alternative routes, including assessment-only QTS, teacher training in England or international qualified teacher status (iQTS).
Under the assessment-only route, experienced teachers with a degree can obtain QTS without completing a teacher-training programme.
The UK government says applicants generally need at least two years of teaching experience, a bachelor’s degree and other specified qualifications. Fees typically range from about £1,500 to £4,000, depending on the provider.
The iQTS route is also open to non-UK citizens and is delivered online by English teacher-training providers in partnership with schools around the world. The qualification follows the same standards as English QTS and leads to QTS.
The DfE said the purpose of the tighter rules is to ensure it can verify the qualifications, professional standing and experience of overseas teachers before awarding them QTS.
By Solomon Ekanem, Business Insider Africa
Overcrowded and Stifling: Inside the Nigerian Cell Where 33 Inmates Lost Their Lives
The day before he had been trapped inside the stifling room, measuring roughly 6m (19.7ft) by 3m (9.8ft), with more than 50 other prisoners.
Thirty-three of his cellmates died in the cramped conditions in the prison in Minna, the capital of Nigeria's Niger state - and four died later in hospital.
The mass deaths caused an outcry and sparked protests, including attacks on public buildings, as relatives and locals demanded answers.
Federal officials had initially blamed the deaths on a diphtheria outbreak but exactly what happened is now the subject of an investigation.
"I have never felt heat like that in my life. When we touched each other's bodies, it felt like fire burning," Muhammad tells the BBC once he is able to gather his thoughts.
When he was locked inside, there was standing room only amid humidity levels of more than 90%, which in some circumstances can be dangerous to human health as it prevents the natural cooling mechanism of sweat drying on the skin.
The temperature outside was above 25C and the only ventilation came from a small, high-up window.
"One of us fainted and we started knocking at the [cell] door. When [a guard] came we asked him for water. He looked at the guy that fainted and closed the door. That's how they started dying one after the other," Muhammad says.
Like the others who had been detained, the young man, in his 20s, is an artisanal miner, eking out a living searching for precious metals at mine sites.
The federal government has tried to crack down on this alleged illegal activity as it says it costs the country revenue, damages the environment and can be linked to wider criminal activity.
Officers from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had arrested a large group of miners near Minna last Tuesday and Wednesday.
The prisoners were held at its detention centre in the city, but the NSCDC has not shared either the names or the number of those it was holding.
As the hours inside the cell wore on, the heat and dehydration became unbearable and Muhammad says some of the detainees began drinking their own urine and collecting sweat from their bodies to try to stay alive.
He describes seeing people in distress and struggling to breathe.
"People were calling for help, some were already very weak."
But no-one came to help, he and others allege.
"While in the cell, we were shouting and telling them that people were dying," another survivor Adamu Isah told the Reuters news agency.
"We tried to break down the door when they refused to open it… At one point, a security officer came to the door.
"We were shouting and telling him that people were dying, but he said it wasn't his problem if people died."
Finally, on Thursday, the cell door was opened and the guards saw the dead bodies.
The NSCDC has not directly responded to the accusations of neglect and maltreatment but has said that 24 of its personnel are now in custody in connection with the deaths, including its suspended Niger state commandant Suberu Aniviye.
"The people who were killed are not flies. How can this go unlooked? We will get to the bottom of this," Niger state Governor Umaru Bago told the BBC.
As the organisation involved is a federal body rather than a force under his jurisdiction, such as the police, the governor is unable to exert direct influence but he welcomes the investigation that has been ordered by the government in capital, Abuja.
A 10-member committee has now been set-up to determine exactly what happened.
It has two weeks to establish the causes of the deaths and identify who was responsible and can recommend legal action against anyone found culpable.
No officer, regardless of rank, would be protected and any attempt to obstruct the investigation would be taken seriously, Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said.
As he leaves the cell after talking to the BBC, Muhammad says he hopes that by speaking out he can help find justice and bring some closure to this traumatic event.
By Madina Maishanu, BBC
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