Video - Nigerian soldier filmed assaulting driver who overtook his car

A military officer just threatened a colleague's driver after wrongfully overtaking her on their way to Kaduna

He threatened d guy life & promised to deal with him.

In his words: "I will kill you and nothing will happen"

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Cc @AIT_Online @instablog9ja @bellanaija pic.twitter.com/HStyljioEv

— My name is Dare Kuti (@dkuti82) November 10, 2020

An unidentified Nigerian soldier has been caught on camera assaulting a driver for overtaking his car on the Abuja-Kaduna road, North-central Nigeria.

The incident, which happened on November 10, was captured in a video posted on Twitter by a sports journalist, Dare Kuti.

Mr Kuti told PREMIUM TIMES he witnessed the incident and that his colleague was being driven by the victim from Abuja to Kaduna when the incident happened.

“Oga abeg, wetin I do you?” the driver, apparently frightened, is heard in the video speaking in Pidgin to the approaching soldier.

The soldier forcefully opened the car door, stretched his right leg into the car and continually hit the driver. The victim could be heard screaming in pain.

The soldier jumped inside the front seat of the car and kept punching the man who appeared too frightened to fight back.

“You are talking to me? You are talking to me? Are you mad?” the soldier shouted as he kept punching the man who later fell off from the car and was on the ground, writhing.

The soldier kicked him again and then shouted, “God punish you! I will kill you and nothing will happen. You are an idiot!”

Some sympathisers are seen in the video begging the soldier to have mercy on the man, while others tried to help the victim up from the ground.

The soldier entered his maroon colour Honda car and drove away after the incident, the video showed.

PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday spoke with the driver who identified himself as Dauda Mustapha.

Mr Mustapha, a commercial driver who plies the Abuja-Kaduna route, said he overtook the soldier, after the latter drove roughly from a filling station into the road.

He said when they got to an unmotorable spot on the road, the soldier used his car to block his and then came down to assault him.

“My car no even touch him car! Him say why me I overtake-am,” Mr Mustapha said.

Mr Mustapha said the soldier beat him with a timing belt and also broke his car’s windscreen.

“I talk-am for my mind say till I die I no go forgive-am. I no know wetin I do-am. I get wound for my body. As I dey talk with you, headache dey wori me,” the driver said.

A spokesperson for the Nigerian army, Sagir Musa, did not respond to calls and a text message asking for his comment.

Nigeria has a deteriorating human rights record. With a weak criminal justice system, citizens, frequently assaulted by security officials, appear helpless.

“The government took some steps to investigate alleged abuses but there were few public reports of prosecutions of officials who committed violations, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the government,” the U.S. Department of State said in a 2019 report on the human rights situation in Nigeria.

“Impunity remained widespread at all levels of government. No charges were filed in some of the significant allegations of human rights violations by security forces and cases of police or military extortion or other abuse of power,” the report said.

A few days ago, some soldiers in Ibadan, Nigeria’s South-west, were caught on camera flogging one woman in public whom they accused of “indecent dressing”.

In Delta State, Nigeria’s South-south, soldiers last month reportedly forced a medical doctor to swim in the mud for “violating curfew”.

Young people across various states in Nigeria recently protested for days against police brutality in the country.

“This is barbaric. I feel totally disgusted watching this. Scenes like these just fuels so much anger and hatred towards the establishment,” one Twitter user, Isidore Akpaetuk (@IsidoreAkpaetuk), commented on the video showing the soldier assaulting the driver, Mr Mustapha.

By Cletus Ukpong

Premium Times

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Nigeria records over 1,000 road accident deaths in Q3

At least 1,076 people were killed in road accidents in Nigeria in the third quarter of 2020, according to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

According to reports of the official News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday, FRSC spokesperson Bisi Kazeem said a total of 2,656 road crashes were reported between July and September, adding that the road police agency had not relented in its efforts at reducing carnage on the highways.

Also, some 167,783 traffic offenders were arrested within the same period, as most of the offenders were arrested for “overloading, seat belt use violation, riding of a motorcycle without helmets, driving with shattered windscreen, driver’s license violations, among others”.

He attributed most of the road crashes and deaths that occurred along various routes in the country within the period to overspeeding.

Kazeem urged the motoring public to cooperate with the FRSC, saying that it would go a long way in preventing incessant crashes on the roads.

The spokesperson appealed to motorists to desist from buying used or fake tyres and opt for good ones to save lives and properties.

Kazeem encouraged drivers to obey traffic rules, regulations and cooperate with traffic officers, as it was in their best interests and that of other road users.

Deadly road accidents are frequently reported in Nigeria, often caused by overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.

 CGTN

Concerns over polio resurgence in Nigeria

There are concerns over possible resurgence of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) in Nigeria as Pakistan has recorded increase in number of cases due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.

According to a study published online in the journal Public Health, a spike in the number of polio cases in Pakistan, the last refuge of the virus in the world along with neighbouring Afghanistan, is being attributed by health experts to disruption in vaccination services caused by lockdowns and restrictions against spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researcher in molecular biology and immunology at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and lead author of a study, Misbahud Din, said: “The increase in polio cases could result in the global export of infections and healthcare authorities must intensify efforts to track and vaccinate unvaccinated children.”

Din told SciDev.Net: “80 cases of wild polio virus (WPV) and 64 cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) have been reported in 2020.”

Africa was on August 25, 2020 declared free from wild polio by the independent body, the Africa Regional Certification Commission. Polio usually affects children under five, sometimes leading to irreversible paralysis. Death can occur when breathing muscles are affected.

Twenty-five years ago thousands of children in Africa, were paralysed by the virus. The disease is now only found in Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is no cure but the polio vaccine protects children for life.

Nigeria is the last African country to be declared free from wild polio, having accounted for more than half of all global cases less than a decade ago.

The vaccination campaign in Nigeria involved a huge effort to reach remote and dangerous places under threat from militant violence and some health workers were killed in the process.

Meanwhile, according to the study, around 40 million children missed polio vaccination after Pakistan, on March 26, suspended a mass vaccination programme being carried out under the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

With support from United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO) and GPEI partners, the Pakistan government resumed polio immunisation late July and conducted the second of two sub-national campaigns in August as COVID-19 cases started declining in the country.

But enforcement of social distancing, vaccine supply disruptions and elevated shipment costs during the four-month break had caused a momentum loss in a concerted drive to make the country polio-free.

Two years ago, with only 12 reported cases, Pakistan had come close to becoming polio-free. But the number of cases rose to 147 in 2019. According to Din, the sharp reversal was due to “illiteracy, vaccine refusal by parents, poverty, conspiracy theories and rejection of vaccination by some local religious scholars”.

Concerted efforts early 2020 led to expectations that the year would see a halt in polio transmission by 2021. But the country was then hit by COVID-19, resulting in massive diversion of public health resources to tackle the new threat.

According to a UNICEF report, the suspension of immunisation activities and disruptions in other health-related interventions due to COVID-19 pandemic from March to mid-July has increased the number of unimmunised children, including close to 700,000 new-born per month, leading to widening immunity gaps.

“It could be concluded that diverting public health funds to fight against other outbreaks disrupted polio eradication plans, which could lead to the spread the of poliovirus in areas of low immunization coverage and immunity,” the new study noted.

Din added that it is “challenging for countries like Pakistan with limited health care facilities to deal with the current pandemic along with other outbreaks liked dengue, malaria and typhoid because COVID-19 overburdened the health care system. Staff already trained to handle polio vaccinations were directed to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic”.

WHO representative in Pakistan, Palitha Mahipala, commented on World Polio Day on October 24 that following the certification of the African region as free of wild poliovirus in August, his organisation is “working hard to ensure that Pakistan can be the next country on the journey to a polio-free world.

“The polio programme with its partners has now been able to ramp up activities with a revitalised resolve to end polio in Pakistan as recently done by Africa.”

The Guardian

Nigeria receives China-made armed reconnaissance drones

The Nigerian air force has reportedly received a batch of China's Wing Loong II armed reconnaissance drones, once again showcasing China's advantages in the international drone market, including mature technologies, combat-proven results and reasonable prices, analysts said.

Citing a senior Nigerian Air Force official on Tuesday, Janes Defense Weekly reported on the same day that Nigeria has received a pair of Wing Loong II drones developed by Chinese state-owned arms firm Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, the Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, was quoted by the report as saying that Nigeria has joined China and the UAE as the only countries operating the Wing Loong II unmanned combat aerial vehicle.

The two Nigerian Air Force Wing Loong IIs, which can stay airborne for 31 hours in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mode and 26 hours in offensive roles, will add significant value to counter-insurgency and anti-banditry operations, the official said.

A Chinese military expert told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that the arms sale will further open up the global military drone market for Chinese defense firms, particularly in Africa.

China's drones have unique advantages on the international arms market, due to mature drone technologies, complete systems for setups, a variety of types and sizes of drones, much lower prices compared to Western products, and complete service chains including training and maintenance, the expert said.

Wang Ya'nan, a military aviation expert and chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Wednesday that China's armed reconnaissance drones have seen real combat in regional conflict.

In small scale conflicts, Chinese drones have carried out accurate reconnaissance and precision strikes on targets even in complicated terrain and weather conditions, Wang said, noting that this makes Chinese drones combat-proven.

Users of Chinese drones can rapidly boost their combat capabilities in domestic security issues and in regional conflicts, Wang said.

Developed by AVIC's Chengdu Aircraft Design & Research Institute, the Wing Loong II drone is a long endurance armed reconnaissance unmanned aerial system capable of firing dozens of weapons including missiles and bombs, the Xinhua News Agency reported. It is often compared to the US-made MQ-9 Reaper drone.

The Wing Long series also includes the original Wing Loong I and the upgraded Wing Loong I-D. As of December 2018, AVIC has exported 100 Wing Loong series drones since 2010, Xinhua said in a separate report at that time. More drones are believed to have been exported over the past two years.

By Liu Xuanzun 

Global Times

Nigeria's First Feature-Length Animated Film for Release Dec 11

To help children and families deal with the challenges of 2020, Hot Ticket Productions, a Nigerian mass media company involved in the production of movies and other forms of entertainment, has announced the date for the premiere of Nigeria's first feature-length animation film, Ladybuckit and the Motley Mopsters (LBMM).

The movie will start showing in cinemas across Nigeria and internationally on Friday, December 11, 2020.

It will feature the voices of some of Nigeria's finest actors - Kalu Ikeagwu, Patrick Doyle, Bimbo Akintola, Bola Edwards, and others. It will also feature fresh voices of 11 and 13-year-old Jessica and David Edwards. Popular music producer and songwriter, Clement 'DJ Klem' Kponu and versatile film composer, Ava Momoh are the brains behind LBMM's original 14-tracker album.

The CEO/founder of Hot Ticket Productions and the film's Executive Producer and Producer, Blessing Amidu, who reiterated the importance of an exhilarating family-focused entertainment during this moment in history said: "This year has been a tough one for the world. Families have had to deal with a pandemic, economic challenges and civil unrests. As we approach the end of the year, it is important to provide some succour and means of escape and release for children and the entire family. We strongly believe that entertainment is a powerful tool for this.

"We hope the fantastic universe of Ladybuckit and the Motley Mopsters will serve as a source of joy and laughter for Nigerian families and millions of people around the world, during the festive season and for many years to come."

According to her, "it took 30 incredible talents and two years to make this movie. We are truly proud of the production and are privileged to have been able to tell a great Nigerian story."

LBMM is valued at approximately $1 million. Since the release of the first teaser in August 2020, interest for the movie has been steadily growing, especially among fans of animation, cartoons and Nollywood watchers.

"With scenes showing notable Nigerian landmarks and historical places such as Oloibiri, a community in Bayelsa State, where crude oil was first discovered in commercial quantity in 1956, it is expected that parts of the movie will serve as a flashback to Nigeria's early years.

Bisi Adetayo, the movie's Director also served as the lead animator. He referenced the power in the LBMM story, saying, "we want to take everyone's imagination on a ride. It was a thrill to have incredible actors voice a powerful story and just let our creativity run free."

According to PwC, the Nigerian entertainment and media industry will be worth $10 billion by 2023, while Forbes reports that animation is currently fueling the emergence of a creative economy across the African continent.

With the release of Ladybuckit and the Motley Mopsters, Nigeria and its abundant supply of extraordinary talents is taking its rightful place at the forefront of this creative explosion.

All Africa

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Nigerian Billionaire Plans to Dig Platinum Mine in Zimbabwe

Bravura Holdings Ltd., owned by Nigerian billionaire Benedict Peters, has $1 billion available for the development of a platinum mine in Zimbabwe, its country manager said.

The 3,000 hectare (7,413-acre) concession where it plans to dig the mine is in Selous, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare and close to existing platinum mines.

“From where we are now, we will go to resource definition, after that we will go to resource modeling, after mine development and then mine construction,” Lionel Mhlanga, Bravura’s manager in the southern African country, said in an interview at the mine on Nov. 6. “Those are all things that should happen in the next 18 months.”

Bravura is one of a number of little-known companies that have secured platinum concessions in Zimbabwe as the government seeks to kick start its stagnant economy. Still, established platinum miners haven’t announced plans to expand their operations. While Zimbabwe has the world’s third-largest platinum group metal reserves, investors have been deterred by frequent changes to mining laws and currency policies.

In addition to Bravura, Russian and Cypriot companies have announced plans to invest in Zimbabwean platinum mines.

Peters owns Aiteo Eastern E & P Company Ltd., Nigeria’s biggest domestic oil producer, but has little experience in mining.

Still, the group also intends to explore mining lithium, rare earth minerals and tin in Zimbabwe, Mhlanga said.

It’s also seeking to mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, copper in Zambia, gold in Ghana and iron ore in Guinea, he said. Namibia and Botswana could also be options for the company, he said.

BNN

6 Nigerians Sentenced for Funding Boko Haram Terrorist Group

Six Nigerians are facing prison terms of ten years to life after a federal appeals court in the United Arab Emirates upheld their convictions for funding the terrorist group Boko Haram.

According to The Daily Trust newspaper, the accused were initially tried and convicted last year following their arrest in 2017.

The court in Abu Dhabi Monday sentenced Surajo Abubakar Muhammad and Saleh Yusuf Adamu to life in prison. Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, AbdurRahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf and Muhammad Ibrahim Isa were each given a ten-year sentence.

The newspaper said the court judgement said that between 2015 and 2016, the accused transferred $782,000 from Dubai to Nigeria to benefit Boko Haram even as associates defended their actions, saying there was nothing criminal about the transaction. 

VOA

Nigeria says it has killed Boko Haram militants in airstrike

The Nigerian air force has killed several Boko Haram militants in an airstrike in the northeastern state of Borno, an official said Monday.

Some of the militants’ structures, including a suspected fuel depot, were destroyed in the airstrike on Tumbun Allura, a Boko Haram logistics hub on the fringes of Lake Chad in northern Borno, military spokesman John Enenche said in a statement reaching Xinhua.

The air raid was executed Sunday following credible intelligence reports as well as aerial surveillance missions that identified the location, Enenche said.

“The Nigerian Air Force attack aircraft, dispatched by the Air Task Force to engage the location, scored accurate hits in the target area, resulting in the destruction of the terrorists’ fuel dump,” he said, adding several Boko Haram militants were also killed.

Since 2009, Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria, extending its attacks to countries in the Lake Chad Basin.

 CGTN

Nigeria Exempts Dangote Cement From Land Border Closure

Nigeria has allowed Dangote Cement to resume exports across its land borders, raising hopes that Africa’s most-populous nation may be opening up trade with neighbors after a year-long blockade.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration gave permission for Africa’s biggest cement producer to export to Niger and Togo in the third quarter for the first time in ten months, Michel Puchercos, chief executive officer, said on an investor call Monday.

The exemption to Dangote Cement is seen as a softening of the government’s position on a border closure that started in August last year, and could open the way for other businesses to fully resume exports across the country’s land barriers.

BUA Group and a gas company have received presidential approval to move goods across the land borders, Joseph Attah, the spokesperson for Nigerian Customs, said by phone from Lagos, without providing details.

Nigerian authorities closed borders with neighboring countries including Benin and Niger to curb smuggling and boost local production. Although the blockade encouraged the consumption of locally grown produce such as rice, it hurt factories across west Africa, which rely on Nigeria’s market of 200 million people.

Dangote Cement resumed land exports with “restricted volumes,” and plans to grow the trade using the sea channels, according to Puchercos. A total of 69 tons were exported through land borders in the period, less than 1% of the 11,741 tons of cement sales in the nine month through September.

Dangote Cement shares were unchanged at 185 naira per share by 11:21 a.m. on Tuesday in Lagos, the commercial capital.

The Lagos-based company’s plan to buy back some of its shares has been delayed by market volatility and low liquidity, which have affected valuation, Guillaume Moyen, acting chief financial officer, said at the same conference call. 

By Emele Onu and Tope Alake

Bloomberg 

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Nigeria IDP camp fire displaces thousands of residents

A fire at an internally displaced persons camp in northern Nigeria left at least 7,200 people without shelter, authorities said early on Wednesday.

A total of 1,200 tents were burned in the fire at the camp in Gajiram village in Borno state, according to Yabawa Kolo, an official from Nigeria’s Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

Officials said the incident, which occurred last week, was the latest in a “series of the annual fire outbreaks” at the camp, reported an online news website called the Premium Times.

The camp includes those who escaped the violence of the Boko Haram armed group.

Kolo said the government sent humanitarian aid to the camp’s residents.

Five children were killed and 7,457 people lost their tents in a fire last year at a refugee camp in Borno state, reported Anadolu Agency.

Armed groups have forced more than two million people to flee their homes since 2009 when Boko Haram began an armed campaign. Some 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict and millions forced from their homes.

Most of the displaced have been housed into squalid camps where they depend on food handouts from international charities.

Scores of civilians are still trapped in remote communities and are unable to flee because of a lack of security on roads.

The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a military response.

Al Jazeera

American rescued in daring SEAL Team 6 raid in Nigeria

“They were all dead before they knew what happened.”
— US counter-terrorism source

Chalk up one successful American rescue mission and six dead captors in northern Nigeria.

US news outlets reported this weekend that the elite SEAL Team Six special forces unit had rescued American hostage Philip Walton, without suffering any casualties.

Officials had feared the gang would sell him to terrorists operating in the region, and decided to act fast.

“US forces conducted a hostage rescue operation during the early hours of 31 October in Northern Nigeria to recover an American citizen held hostage by a group of armed men,” Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.

“This American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the US Department of State. No US military personnel were injured during the operation.

“We appreciate the support of our international partners in conducting this operation.”

Walton had been taken captive in Niger on Oct. 26.

All but one of the seven captors were killed in the pre-dawn commando raid in neighboring Nigeria, ABC News reported.

The operation involved the governments of the US, Niger and Nigeria working together to rescue Walton quickly.

The CIA provided intelligence leading to Walton’s whereabouts and Marine Special Operations elements in Africa helped locate him, ABC News reported.

The operation was carried out under the veil of darkness, as members of Seal Team 6 jumped out of a USAF transport a few kilometres from where Walton was being held.

Members of the rescue team quickly hiked to the captors’ small encampment in a copse of scrubland bushes and trees, The New York Times reported.

In the brief but intense firefight that ensued and with surveillance drones buzzing overhead, all but one of the half-dozen or so kidnappers were killed, the NYT reported.

One captor escaped into the night. Walton was not harmed in the gun battle, and he walked out to a makeshift landing zone, where a US helicopter whisked him to safety.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our military, the support of our intelligence professionals, and our diplomatic efforts, the hostage will be reunited with his family. We will never abandon any American taken hostage.”

ABC News consultant Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and retired CIA officer, said preparations for Walton’s rescue likely started when he was abducted.

“These types of operations are some of the most difficult to execute,” he said.

“Any mistake could easily lead to the death of the hostage. The men and women of JSOC [Joint Special Operations Command], and the CIA should be proud of what they did here. And all Americans should be proud of them. “

Eric Oehlerich, an ABC News consultant and retired Navy SEAL, said Walton was “lucky” that such a mission was possible such as short time after he was abducted, when others have been held for years.

“Men in these top-tier special forces units train their entire adult lives to be ready when called upon, hostage rescue operations are inherently dangerous,” he said. “Those men put someone else’s life above their own, they do so selflessly… it’s an illustration of utter commitment.”

A former US counterterrorism official emphasized generally how long the odds are for rescue in the “highly dangerous” missions — less than 30%. But the official said that it’s crucial to act as quickly as possible so that hostages don’t wind up in the hands of al Qaeda or ISIS.

“The longer a hostage is held the harder it is to find an exact location to be able and conduct a rescue operation,” the official said.

Walton, the son of missionaries, lives with his wife and young daughter on a farm near Massalata, a small village close to the border with Nigeria.

Nigerian and American officials told ABC News that they believed the captors were from an armed group from Nigeria and that it was not considered terror-related. But hostages are often sold to terrorist groups.

This region of northwest Africa is home to multiple factions aligned with both ISIS and Al Qaeda, The War Zone reported.

One of these groups, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), was responsible for the infamous ambush of US and Nigerien forces outside the southwestern village of Tongo Tongo in 2017, which led to the death of four Americans and four Nigerians.

War Zone sources said the raid included the extremely long-distance movement of forces via multiple C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft flights and the employment of a quartet of both CV-22B Osprey tilt-rotors and MC-130 special operations transports, the latter of which pushed through Rota, Spain, before continuing to their target.

AC-130 gunships and a large contingent of aerial refueling tankers also supported this operation.

— Sources: The War Zone, ABC News, New York Times

Asia Times

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Nigeria to push back on U.S. rejection of WTO candidate

Nigeria will lobby for its candidate to head the World Trade Organization, the country’s foreign ministry said in reaction to her last-minute rejection by Washington that threw the regulator’s leadership selection process into confusion.

The United States on Wednesday spurned Nigerian former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala hours after a high-powered WTO panel recommended her to lead the global trade watchdog, teeing her up to become its first African and first woman head.

“Nigeria will continue to engage relevant stakeholders to ensure that the lofty aspiration of her candidate to lead the World Trade Organization is realised,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday evening.

The ministry said the WTO’s 164 member states were expected to adopt Okonjo-Iweala as the watchdog’s director-general by consensus, but the United States was the sole country to oppose her, flouting the organisation’s rules.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office later released a statement officially backing the only other remaining candidate, South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee, praising her as a successful trade negotiator with the skills needed to lead the trade body at a “very difficult time”.

Next steps are uncertain, but a WTO spokesman said there was likely to be “frenzied activity” before a Nov. 9 meeting, less than a week after the U.S. presidential election, to secure the required consensus from all 164 member states for Okonjo-Iweala.

Reuters

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Netflix shines light on Nigerian sex trafficking

Set in the shady underworld of Lagos brothels, Nigerian thriller Òlòtūré gives viewers an inside look at the sex trafficking schemes that ensnare thousands of Nigerian women each year.

The film is fictional but aims for a realistic and gritty picture to raise awareness of what is a persistent and little-discussed problem, said 36-year-old director Kenneth Gyang.

For decades, scores of Nigerian women and girls have been lured to Europe with promises of work, then trapped in debt bondage and forced to sell sex.

The United Nations migration agency estimates that 80% of Nigerian women arriving in Italy - more than 11,000 in 2016 - are potential victims of sex trafficking.

“I know people are not always receptive to documentaries, so sometimes you have to put these things in fiction so that people will see it,” said Gyang, who won international acclaim for his first film, Confusion Na Wa, in 2013.

His thriller debuted on Netflix this month and quickly became the streaming service’s most-watched film in Nigeria, reaching the top-10 list in another 13 countries.

“For me it’s about people watching the film and then trying to push for policies that will protect these young women from getting trafficked,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In the movie, a journalist goes undercover as a sex worker to expose human trafficking and quickly gets in over her head.

It is worlds away from the films that are usually popular in Nollywood, Nigeria’s massive film industry, which favours comedies and light-hearted tales about rich people, said Gyang.

“The producers were not sure how it was going to be received,” he said.

“When the film came out, it was #1 on Netflix in Nigeria and on social media, everybody was talking about it. People were angry. People were talking about the fact that they didn’t know this is what happens when people get trafficked.”

In one scene, sex workers undergo a religious ritual that binds them to their traffickers with black magic - a common practice that renders women too fearful to mount an escape.

Gyang said he sought support from NAPTIP, Nigeria’s anti-trafficking agency, to make sure he got the details right.

Part of his motivation, he said, was seeing Nigerian women on street corners when he travelled in Europe.

Foreign donors have poured money into anti-trafficking programmes in the traditional industry hotspot, Edo State, but experts say sex traffickers are now moving to other parts of Nigeria to avoid detection.

"I hope what will happen is that the right people in the right places will see the film, and then the relevant bodies will push for policies to try to help these young women," said Gyang. (Reporting by Nellie Peyton, editing by Lyndsay Griffiths; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit news.trust.org)

By Nellie Peyton

Reuters

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Nigerian woman creates country's first mental health helpline

In February of 2016, Hauwa Ojeifo considered taking her own life. She had spent a significant part of her teenage and early adult life years battling symptoms such as mood swings, bouts of exhaustion, fainting spells and difficulty recollecting daily events.

She told CNN that growing up, there were days she could not get out of bed to carry out mundane activities like brushing her teeth.

At the time, she did not realize she was experiencing symptoms of bipolar disorder, a mental health condition where a person's mood swings from high and overactive to low and dull.

"There were a lot of things leading to that moment where I thought about dying. I had an abusive relationship -- well, I can't call it a relationship now because I was like 14 or 15 at the time. But he used to punch me, beat me and gaslight me," Ojeifo explained.

She added that she was sexually abused in 2014 and did not know how to express being raped by a trusted partner to the people around her.

Her experiences, she said, piled up till she eventually snapped and started nursing suicidal notions.

"Trying to explain what was going on in my head was difficult. I looked fine physically, but it started to affect me mentally. I could go a day without being able to construct sentences, and I was a research analyst at the time which meant I had to write daily reports but I couldn't," she said.

After expressing her suicidal thoughts to a friend, she was encouraged to see a psychiatrist at a psychiatric hospital in Lagos, one of Nigeria's largest cities.

She was diagnosed with Bipolar and post traumatic stress disorder with mild psychosis. "I poured out my heart, got some tests done and eventually got a diagnosis."

Creating awareness

Two months after Ojeifo's diagnosis, she said she decided to turn her difficult experiences around. She started to create awareness on the far-reaching impacts of mental health in Nigeria.

In April 2016, she created She Writes Woman, a non-profit organization focused on providing mental health support for those who may need it in the west African nation.

There is minimal mental health awareness and there are not enough mental health professionals in Nigeria.

In a country of more than 200 million people, there are only 250 practicing psychiatrists, according to the Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria.

Ojeifo told CNN that She Writes Woman started as a blog but she realized she could do more with it, "At first, I was just using it as an outlet to share my experiences and that of other women," she explained.

Eventually, it morphed into a support community for people with mental health conditions.

The 28-year-old got trained as a mental health coach so that she could start a helpline to talk to people experiencing overwhelming mental health symptoms.

"From sharing stories on the blog and social media, She Writes Woman blew up into a helpline which was run by me for a while, and then to a support group for people in vulnerable conditions," she said.

24-hour mental health helpline

She Writes Woman provides a 24-hour mental health helpline for anyone within Nigeria.

The helpline serves as a first point of contact for people in distress or those who just want to talk about their mental health and symptoms.

"People call the helpline to get what we call a first-aid treatment. On the call you don't get immediate professional counseling, what happens is you get a first response communication where someone listens to you and what you have to say," Ojeifo explained.

She added that after the first responders, callers can be referred to mental health professionals for therapy or a diagnosis if needed, "depending on what the issue is we que people in to either a therapist or a psychiatrist."

Data on mental health in Nigeria is hard to find, but according to a 2016 report in the Annals of Nigerian Medicine journal, an estimated 20-30% of the country's population is suffering from mental disorders.

And in 2017, a World Health Organization report found that Nigerians have the highest incidences of depression in Africa, with more than 7 million people in the country suffering from depression.

Despite the numbers, there is an absence of effective mental health legislation setting standards for psychiatric treatment or encouraging mental health awareness in the country.

In February, following deliberations by legislators to pass a proposed mental health bill, Ojeifo became the first person to testify before the Nigerian parliament on the rights of persons with mental health conditions in the country.

The bill has yet to be implemented.

To close the mental health gap in Nigeria, Ojeifo's organization also offers a support group for women and girls called Safe Place in six Nigerian states.

"Safe Space provides a community of shared experiences for women and girls. It provides a space for women to connect and share their experiences on whatever topic, to be there for one another and understand that they are not alone in their journeys," she explained, estimating that there have been over 50 meetings of the support group since the inception of the organization.

In the beginning, Ojeifo, a former investment banker, self-funded the organization.

But now, with donations and grants from organizations such as One Young World, Airtel Nigeria and Disability Rights Advocacy Fund, it is able to expand and carry out more activities in Nigeria's mental health space.

In 2018, the activist received a Queen's Young Leaders Award in in recognition of her work with the 24-hour mental health helpline and Safe Space support group.

Changemaker Award Winner

On Tuesday, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation named Ojeifo as its Changemaker Award winner for 2020 for her work with She Writes Woman.

The Changemaker Award is one of the Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards pushed yearly by the foundation. It celebrates individuals who have inspired change from a position of leadership or using their personal experience.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said it recognized the activist for her work in promoting Gender Equality, the fifth global goal for sustainable development prescribed by the United Nations.

Ojeifo said that she was in "disbelief" when she first received the email alerting her that she was a recipient of the award.

"It was so unexpected and it came as a surprise because I was not expecting it. It's like an added validation to the work She Writes Woman does," she said.

"During one of the meetings with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation I asked them how I was selected because I was just so blown away. I was told that it was because I had used my personal experience to build hope for people and to drive change," she added.

Through the 2020 Changemaker Award, Ojeifo is hoping to gather a network that will help amplify the work She Writes Woman does even more.

"The Changemaker award means I am part of this network that is dedicated to amplifying my cause and giving me visibility," she said.

By Aisha Salaudeen

CNN 

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Nigeria's army admits its soldiers were at Lagos shootings

Nigeria's army has admitted its soldiers were deployed at the Lekki Toll Plaza in Lagos where live rounds were fired last week, killing several peaceful protesters prompting global outrage.

At least 10 protesters were killed in the Lekki plaza shooting on Oct. 20, according to Amnesty International, which charged Wednesday that army troops opened fire on protesters without provocation.

The army had previously maintained that its troops were not at the site of the shooting, but Tuesday night a military spokesman, Maj. Osoba Olaniyi, reversed that position, saying soldiers had been deployed there to enforce a curfew. However, he denied that the troops shot at the protesters.

"At no time did soldiers of the Nigerian army open fire on any civilian," Olaniyi said in a statement.

The military's admission of its presence at the plaza came after Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said security camera footage showed Nigerian soldiers firing at the peaceful protesters at Lekki plaza.

Olaniyi said soldiers were deployed on orders from the Lagos state government, but the governor has said the state has no authority over the national army. Many Nigerians question why the soldiers were deployed at the peaceful protest, in which thousands had gathered at the Lekki plaza.

Amnesty International issued a report Wednesday, citing security camera footage that it said shows army vehicles leaving the Bonny Camp barracks and arriving at Lekki plaza shortly before shots were fired.

"What happened at Lekki Toll Gate has all the traits of the Nigerian authorities' pattern of a coverup whenever their defence and security forces commit unlawful killings," said Osai Ojigho, Amnesty's Nigeria country director.

"Nigerian authorities still have many questions to answer: Who ordered the use of lethal force on peaceful protesters? Why were CCTV cameras on the scene dismantled in advance? And who ordered electricity to be turned off minutes before the military opened fire on protesters?" Ojibho asked.

"Many people are still missing since the day of the incident, and credible evidence shows that the military prevented ambulances from reaching the severely injured in the aftermath," he said.

A judicial panel has begun investigating the shooting. The panel is also investigating allegations of abuse against the police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, known as SARS.

A widespread .EndSARS campaign erupted in Nigeria in early October after a video circulated showing a man being beaten, apparently by SARS officers. The peaceful, organized protests disrupted traffic in Lagos and many other Nigerian cities. President Muhammadu Buhari's government agreed to disband the SARS unit, but the protests continued with participants demanding sweeping reforms of police and action against corruption.

Although the protests were largely peaceful, at least 56 people have died across the country since the protests began, according to Amnesty, which accused security forces of using unnecessary force. On Oct. 20 the government imposed a curfew, ordering everyone to stay at home and that evening the shootings occurred at Lekki plaza. For two days after that Lagos saw widespread rioting. In order to restore order in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city with more than 14 million people, officials have imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m.

By Sam Olukoya

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Nigeria considers social media regulation in wake of deadly shooting

Nigeria’s information minister said “some form of regulation” could be imposed on social media just a week after protesters spread images and videos of a deadly shooting using Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Images, video and an Instagram live feed from a popular DJ spread news of shootings in Lagos on Oct. 20, when witnesses and rights groups said the military fired on peaceful protesters.

The protesters had been demonstrating for nearly two weeks to demand an end to police brutality. The army denied its soldiers were there.

Social media helped spread word of the shootings worldwide, and international celebrities from Beyonce and Lewis Hamilton to Pope Francis since called on the country to resolve the conflict peacefully.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed told a panel at the National Assembly on Tuesday that “fake news” is one of the biggest challenges facing Nigeria.

A spokesman for the minister confirmed the comments, and said “the use of the social media to spread fake news and disinformation means there is the need to do something about it.”

Officials have said some videos and photos posted during the protests were fake news but have not said that about the shootings.

In the weeks before the shootings, protesters had also used social media to organise, raise money and share what they said was proof of police harassment, which increased pressure on authorities to respond to their demands.

Twitter Inc TWTR.N CEO Jack Dorsey Tweeted to encouraged his followers to contribute, and the hashtag #EndSARS was trending for several days, referencing the widely feared Special Anti-Robbery Squad that they successfully demanded be abolished.

Reuters

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Judge Dismisses Case Against 47 Men Charged Under Nigeria’s Anti-Gay Law

A Nigerian court on Tuesday threw out a case against 47 men charged with public displays of affection with members of same sex because of what the judge called the failure of prosecutors to appear in court and call witnesses.

The trial, heard in Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city and commercial capital, was widely seen as a test case for a law introduced in 2014 that bans same-sex “amorous relationships.” The law carries a jail term of up to 10 years.

The men were arrested in a police raid on a Lagos hotel in the city’s Egbeda district in 2018. Police officers said the men were being initiated into a gay club, but the defendants said they were attending a birthday party.

Prosecutors failed to attend a hearing at the Federal High Court in Lagos, having previously failed to present witnesses in a case that had been adjourned on several occasions.

Justice Rilwan Aikawa said he was dismissing the case because of the “lack of diligent prosecution.”

The Nigerian law banning gay marriage, punishable by a 14-year prison term, and same-sex “amorous relationships,” stoked an international outcry when it came into force under Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s former president, in 2014.

Before the court’s judgment, prosecution and defense lawyers in the case told Reuters that nobody had yet been convicted under the law. Some of the men previously told Reuters they had been stigmatized because of the hotel raid and a televised news conference held by the police in which they were identified the day after their arrest.

Homosexuality is outlawed in many socially conservative African societies where some religious groups regard it a corrupting Western import. Gay sex is a crime in countries across the continent, with punishments ranging from imprisonment to death.

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Nigeria looting hits capital

Huge crowds ransacked food warehouses in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Monday in the latest looting to hit the country during a wave of unrest.

Lines of residents could be seen carrying away sacks of supplies meant for distribution during coronavirus lockdowns as authorities struggled to halt the pillaging.

"We are hungry, you understand," a man with a package of noodles in his hand told AFP.

"There is plenty of food in this country but people are suffering. The government is cheating us by parking away this food."

"We are not stealing, it's our food and our right."

The minister for the federal capital, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, told local media that a number of government and private warehouses were vandalised.

The looting comes after days of violent rioting in Nigeria following the shooting of unarmed protesters in largest city Lagos on Tuesday.

The situation has calmed in Lagos and elsewhere but widespread pillaging of government supplies has been reported across the country.

Authorities have slapped round-the-clock curfews on a string of regions and the police chief has ordered the mobilisation of all forces.

Fuelling the anger are accusations officials have horded much-needed food supposed to have been handed out to the poor during lockdowns earlier this year.

A coalition of state governors has denied allegations of graft and said the supplies were held back as a "strategic reserve" in case of a second wave of the virus.

But activists said that authorities needed to be more transparent.

"It's now vital that the federal and state government clarify why the palliatives had not been disbursed, investigate and prosecute anyone implicated in corruption," said Anietie Ewang of Human Rights Watch.

Peaceful protests against police brutality erupted on October 8 and quickly turned into one of the biggest challenges to Nigeria's ruling elite in years.

Chaos spiralled after peaceful protesters were gunned down in central Lagos on Tuesday, sparking international outrage and violent rioting.

Amnesty International said the army and police killed 12 protesters in that incident, and 56 people have died overall since the demonstrations started.

The chief of army staff on Monday insisted soldiers have "continued to exercise restraint" and blamed a "smokescreen of falsehood and deliberate misrepresentation of facts being orchestrated by enemies of Nigeria".

"We will not allow any force, elements or destabilising agents in or outside our country to set our beloved country on fire," General Tukur Yusufu Buratai said in a statement.

AFP

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Nigerian Citizens Justify Massive Looting of COVID-19 Supplies

Amid the ongoing protests in Nigeria over police brutality, mobs of citizens have overrun several government-owned warehouses and looted food meant to be distributed during this year’s coronavirus lockdowns. In the latest incident, a mob looted packages of rice, sugar, salt and noodles Monday from a facility in the Nigerian capital.On Saturday, security officials dispersed mobs at another storage facility under attack in Abuja.

Some protesters were demonstrating in front of a facility in Garki, Abuja, as military and police vans barricaded the entrance to the facility.

Earlier, mobs of people trying to attack the facility and make away with some food items were dispersed after security officials fired their guns into the air.

But many, like David Ojo, remained adamant and said they wouldn't leave until they got some food.

"We need our palliatives. It is our right. My neighbor almost died of hunger because of COVID-19," said Ojo. "He used to work as security guard at a government institution, but he was sacked. What do you want him to do? I gave him beans and rice, he almost died of hunger."

Storage facilities holding tons of relief materials have been burglarized and looted in nine states across Nigeria over the last few days.

A private sector coalition against the coronavirus, known as CA-COVID, had collected tens of millions of dollars' worth of aid for coronavirus victims and given it to the government.

But many state authorities have halted distribution of the aid since the easing of lockdowns.

Some Nigerians accuse authorities of hoarding items while millions of people experience hunger.

Abuja residents like Sunday Chukwu say they didn't receive any government assistance during lockdowns.

"They didn't share anything here," said Chukwu. "Maybe they shared for themselves. But they didn't share for everybody and these ones now they are hiding it so that people may leave it, they'll now gather them, they'll be selling it to the people."

The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated hunger for many of the country’s extremely poor, who number some 83 million, about 40 percent of the population, according to the country’s statistics bureau.

Vivian Bellonwu, the head of Social Action Nigeria, says the amount of food kept in storage is an indication of “systemic failure.”

"To think that certain persons could lock down this quantum of food and materials as we are seeing them in their premises, in their custody and watching while people wallow in poverty and difficulty, is really unthinkable," said Bellonwu. "I think that it is quite mean, I think it's highly insensitive and I think that this is a betrayal of trust of the people.”

The Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) on Monday said the looted items in warehouses in some states were being held for vulnerable people, not hoarded.

As security officials monitor facilities across Nigeria more closely, various state authorities are making plans to commence distribution.

By Timothy Obiezu

VOA

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