Thirteen scrap-metal collectors in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state have died after a bomb they excavated blew up, security sources told AFP.
Sixteen metal scavengers from a displaced persons’ camp in Bama found the bomb while digging for scrap on Monday in the bush on the outskirts of town.
“The bomb exploded as they were pushing it in a cart toward the town, killing 13 and seriously injuring three,” Babakura Kolo, a leader in a local militia, said on Tuesday.
Kolo said the ordnance had apparently been dropped in 2015 during military operations to retake Bama from the Boko Haram armed group.
“It was dormant for seven years and buried in the sand but they managed to dig it out, not knowing it was a bomb,” said a second militia leader, Bukar Grema, who gave the same toll.
Nigeria’s military is battling to end a 13-year conflict spearheaded by armed groups like Boko Haram in the country’s northeast. It has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced 2.2 million more.
Boko Haram seized Bama in 2014 when they took over swaths of territory in northern Borno and declared a so-called caliphate.
In March 2015, Nigerian troops aided by Chadian soldiers clawed back most of the territory after months-long intensive ground and aerial operations.
Residents who had fled the town returned three years later, with many of them living in displaced camps as the town was substantially destroyed during the fighting to retake it.
Most of the displaced who live in camps rely on food handouts from aid agencies, forcing many to turn to felling trees in the arid region for firewood and scavenging for metal scraps they sell to buy food.
Armed groups have been targeting scrap collectors, accusing them of spying for troops and the militia fighting them.
Last month, fighters from the ISIL-linked Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group killed 10 scavengers in Goni Kurmi village near Bama where they had gone looking for metal, a week after they killed 23 collectors in nearby Dikwa district.
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Forgotten bomb kills 13 scrap scavengers in northeast Nigeria
Nigeria’s fragile security architecture is collapsing
Earlier this month, attacks that took place within minutes of each other in different parts of Nigeria, and the apparent failure of the security forces to respond to them efficiently and in a timely manner, exposed how big of a threat lawlessness and impunity currently poses to the country and its people.
Late on July 5, heavily armed men on motorcycles raided the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre on the outskirts of Abuja and released more than 900 inmates, including more than 60 Boko Haram members in detention. The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) – an offshoot of Boko Haram now allied with the ISIL (ISIS) group – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Just hours before the Kuje incident, another group of heavily armed men had attacked a convoy carrying an advance security team for President Muhammadu Buhari in his home state of Katsina. A presidential spokesperson said the convoy carrying a team of security guards, as well as protocol and media officers, was on its way to Daura, Buhari’s hometown, to prepare for a visit by him when the attack took place. According to the presidency, two people in the convoy sustained minor injuries before the gunmen were repelled. On the very same day, bandits on motorcycles had also ambushed and gunned down Assistant Commissioner of Police Aminu Umar Dayi in another part of Katsina, not far from where the president’s convoy was attacked.
Nigerian security forces failed to respond effectively to all three attacks, proving yet again that they don’t have the capacity to properly defend themselves, let alone members of the public, against armed fighters.
While some of the inmates who escaped from the Kuje Custodial Centre were recaptured hours or at least days after the attack, many are still on the loose – and those who managed to slip from the grasp of the security forces appear to include some of the most battle-hardened Boko Haram fighters and bomb experts.
The authorities’ response to the attack on President Buhari’s convoy and the ambush of Assistant Commissioner Dayi and his team in Katsina was equally incompetent. Those who attacked the presidential convoy, like those who killed the assistant commissioner, were not captured but simply “repelled” meaning they got away with what they did and are still free to stage further deadly attacks. According to reports, the very same bandits who attacked Buhari’s convoy have already raided a nearby village since.
All this exposes the current state of Nigeria: A country where members of armed groups raid prisons, attack presidential convoys and brutally murder security officers with ease and impunity.
Indeed, the raiding the Kuje prison was only the latest instalment in the escalating attacks on prisons across the country. In 2021 alone, more than 5,000 inmates escaped thanks to such incidents. And “bandits” – the catchall phrase for criminal gangs masterminding frequent bouts of abduction, maiming, sexual violence and killings of citizens – have been staging bloody attacks on rural communities without much meaningful push back from security forces for at least a decade in northern parts of the country.
While the July 5 attacks represented a continuation of existing trends in many ways, they also marked a grim turning point in Nigeria’s fight against armed groups.
For ISWAP, the attack on the Kuje prison was a spectacular success, not only because it helped free several prominent members of the group, but also because it demonstrated that the group is now confident enough to stage a major assault on a supposedly highly protected prison in the capital city. Much of the group’s successes before this year were restricted to the North East, but in recent months, it has moved beyond its traditional influence zone in Borno, left imprints on Taraba, and driven westwards, gaining footholds in Niger, Kogi and even the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). After the Kuje jailbreak, it staged several other attacks on communities around Abuja. Now, there is no debating that even the most important and dearly guarded state institutions in Nigeria’s capital city are facing a very real threat from ISWAP.
The attacks on Buhari’s convoy and the deputy commissioner in Katsina state, meanwhile, clearly showed that Nigeria’s security forces are no longer able to protect themselves – let alone civilians – against bandits in certain areas of the country.
Upon independence, Nigeria inherited a deeply faulty security architecture from the British that was geared towards protecting only the political and economic elites in urban centres and leaving the rest of the population to practically fend for themselves.
Consecutive governments, especially during the military dictatorship between 1966 to 1999, failed to reform this faulty infrastructure which led to the security situation getting worse and worse in the peripheries. In recent years, the country’s economic downturn forced the security forces to further narrow the scope of their operations and put all the resources they have towards protecting the regime and its highest officials. This resulted in even the members of security forces themselves becoming overly vulnerable to attacks by “bandits” and armed groups, and perhaps most importantly, large swaths of Nigerians, especially in urban centres, starting to lose any trust they had in their country’s security forces.
The apparent collapse of Nigeria’s fragile and faulty security architecture may have immediate, and deadly, consequences for the public beyond the emboldening of bandits and armed groups. Namely, the security forces can turn on innocent civilians to protect their dignity and try to regain some respect.
Even before the failures experienced on July 5, we have witnessed some examples of this dangerous behaviour. In late June, for example, the soldiers who were sent to Yakurr in Cross River State to restore peace after a communal dispute reportedly turned their guns on the civilian population after one of their colleagues was killed in action. Local media reported that the soldiers shot at anything that moved, killed at least 10 people, and burned down several houses. Several other similar incidents have been reported in recent years.
After their failures on July 5, Nigeria’s security forces are likely feeling more incompetent and under threat than ever before. This could easily lead to many more tragedies where underfunded, underprepared and frustrated members of security forces turn their weapons on those they should be protecting, and collectively punish communities in order to regain respect, power and control.
If Nigeria is to ensure the safety of all its citizens, and effectively counter the threat posed by bandits and armed groups, the government should stop downplaying the failures of the security forces, and focus its efforts on repairing – and perhaps completely reshaping – the country’s faulty security architecture.
By Cheta Nwanze
Related stories: Jihadis Attack Jail in Nigeria's Capital, 600 Inmates Escape
Nigerian State Approves Carrying Guns to Defend Against Bandits
Monday, July 25, 2022
Video - Nigerians might miss out on Bread soon
There is a looming shortage of bread in Nigeria after bakers threatened to shut down operations. This is due to a shortage of raw materials and rising taxation. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam reports from Nigeria.
Nigeria's Amusan wins 100 metres hurdles gold
Amusan broke the world record earlier on Sunday by running 12.12 in the semi-final at Hayward Field.
She recovered from a slightly slower start to put on a pristine performance over the barriers, .17 seconds clear of silver medallist Britany Anderson of Jamaica.
"The goal was to come out and to win this gold," said Amusan.
"I believe in my abilities but I was not expecting a world record at these championships. You know, the goal is always just to execute well and get the win. So the world record is a bonus."
Puerto Rico's Olympic champion Camacho-Quinn accelerated at the midway mark but lost a close battle with Anderson over the final strides after hitting the last hurdle, going home with bronze in her first World Championships.
"I got my nerves to be honest. It kind of showed on my face but I am just glad to come out here," said Camacho-Quinn.
"From this point on, it is only going to be faster ... I think we had the best event of the whole world champs."
Anderson told reporters she was pleased with her performance, despite clipping some hurdles.
"I feel like everyone is so excited now," she said. "I came out here to do what I had to do and I did it."
The final was without 2019 champion Nia Ali and medal contender Alaysha Johnson, both of the United States, after they hit hurdles and crashed out in the opening round. read more
The United States' Olympic silver medallist Kendra Harrison, whose 2016 record Amusan broke in the semi-final, was disqualified.
Amusan’s world record in the semi-final stunned the athletics world.
“Wow” tweeted sprint king Usain Bolt, while 200m champion Noah Lyles tweeted: "Are you kidding me?"
Amusan said she was shocked to have produced the record in the semi-final but knew she had it in her.
"I could not believe it when I saw it on the screen after the semis. But it was just a matter of time," she told reporters.
Monday, July 18, 2022
Video - Defending Champions Nigeria face hosts Morocco in semi-final showdown
Title holders and record winners, the Super Falcons of Nigeria will take on hosts Morocco in the semi-final of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations after they defeated the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon 1-0 in the quarter-finals. Striker Rasheedat Aji-bade scored the winner in the 57th minute for the victory that also automatically qualified Nigeria for a ninth FIFA Women's World Cup, next year.
Nigerian fintech owners bag jail term in US over $167million money laundering
The top executives of a United States-based fintech company, Ping Express have been sentenced to 27 months imprisonment for breaching money laundering rules.
The fintech executives who are Nigerians with the names Anslem Oshionebo and Opeyemi Odeyale pleaded guilty to contravening money laundering rules after sending $167 million to Africa unchecked in less than three years.
While Oshionebo is the chief executive officer, oyedale is chief operating officer and both are suspected to have laundered $160 million out the to Nigeria.
This was revealed by the US Department of Justice at the weekend as it added that the Ping Express failed to seek sufficient details about the sources or motives of the funds involved in the transactions, or the customers initiating the transmissions.
It also said part of the money sent to Nigeria was also suspected to be proceeds of internet fraud.
It went further to state that the company’s Information Technology/Business Development Manager, Aleoghena Okhumale, was said to have also pleaded guilty to knowingly transmitting illegally-derived funds.
Both Oshionebo and Oyedale were sentenced to 27 months in federal prison, but Okhumale bagged a prison sentence of 42 months.
Ping Express also admitted that it conducted money transmission business in states in which it was not licensed to do so, including Nevada, New Jersey, Utah, West Virginia, and Connecticut.
In addition, according to DOJ, one Collins Orogun admitted last week that he accepted a fee in exchange for transferring money for ‘romance scam’ fraudsters and other criminals.
In one instance, an Indiana woman sent $15,000 to ‘Carson Jacks’, a purported oil roughneck in the Gulf of Mexico she fell in love with online, after he told her he’d contracted malaria.
In another, a second Indiana woman sent $6,300 to ‘Thomas Ken,” a purported Irish ship captain she fell in love with online, to fix his ship.
In two years, Orogun received more than $1.3 million in cash, cashier’s checks, and wires into several US bank accounts he controlled and then quickly moved more than $1 million of the funds to Africa through Ping Express.
“He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and is set to be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2023,” the statement said.
Ping Express, the company, now faces five years of probation and a fine of up to $500,000. Sentencing has been set for December 19, 2022.
Monday, July 11, 2022
Nigerian Kemi Badenoch launches bid for UK’s PM
The MP for Saffron Walden said she supported lower taxes “to boost growth and productivity, and accompanied by tight spending discipline.”
Writing in The Times, she also hit out at “identity politics” and said Boris Johnson was “a symptom of the problems we face, not the cause of them.
“People are exhausted by platitudes and empty rhetoric. Loving our country, our people or our party is not enough,” she said.
“What’s missing is an intellectual grasp of what is required to run the country in an era of increased polarization, protectionism and populism amplified by social media.”
She said governing Britain today requires “a nimble centre-right vision” that “can achieve things despite entrenched opposition from a cultural establishment that will not accept that the world has moved on from Blairism.”
Badenoch’s declaration capped off a day that saw many Tories declaring allegiances in the leadership race.
Rishi Sunak declared his much-anticipated intention to run, enjoying public backing from Commons Leader Mark Spencer, former Tory Party co-chairman Oliver Dowden, former chief whip Mark Harper, ex-ministers Liam Fox and Andrew Murrison, and MPs Sir Bob Neill and Paul Maynard.
Kemi Badenoch’s recollection of her childhood in Nigeria brings tears to her eyes. It is only five months since the death of her father, Femi Adegoke, from a brain tumour.
Little could he have imagined that within three years of entering the government ranks, his daughter would be launching a bid to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
But Badenoch said her father instilled in her a sense of “personal responsibility”. Last week, she quit the government to help force Johnson’s resignation.
In an interview with The Telegraph, she has now set out her reasons for launching a bid to lead the Conservatives. In short, she believes the government has lost its way.
“I think that we have accepted a consensus that is not right – that the Government should get involved in everything and do everything,” she said.
But Badenoch, who quit as equalities and local government minister in a joint move with four friends and colleagues last week, believed that the government is “doing many things badly and doing things in the wrong way.”
Nigeria's Tinubu picks Muslim senator as presidential running mate
Nigeria's presidential frontrunner Bola Tinubu on Sunday picked as his running mate a sitting Muslim senator and former governor of northeastern Borno state, the heartland of an Islamist insurgency that has killed and displaced thousands of people.
The move by Tinubu, who is also Muslim, breaks with past practice where presidential candidates from major political parties have chosen running mates from a different religion in a bid to foster unity in the country.
Tinubu, 70, was last month elected as the ruling All Progressives Congress party's candidate to succeed incumbent Muhammadu Buhari, who will step down next year after completing two terms.
A Yoruba Muslim from southwestern Nigeria, Tinubu told reporters after meeting Buhari in northern Katsina state that he had chosen Kashim Shettima, 55, to be his presidential running mate.
By picking Shettima, Tinubu may also be looking for a deputy broadly acceptable to powerbrokers in the north, which is a large voting block.
"He is competent, capable, reliable and able," Tinubu said.
Atiku Abubakar, the main opposition candidate and Tinubu's main rival, is a northern Muslim who has picked a Christian running mate from the south.
Since the end of military rule in 1999, Nigeria has followed an unwritten rule where power is shared between the largely Muslim north and mainly Christian south.
Growing insecurity will be a major election issue next year. A decade-long Islamist insurgency and attacks and kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs mostly in the northwest are some of the major security challenges.
During Shettima's 2011-2019 governorship, Borno state grabbed global headlines when Boko Haram militants abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok community in April 2014.
Shettima was among those who supported the release of low-risk detainees caught up in the government's fight against insurgents, as a good-will gesture.
By MacDonald Dzirutwe
Friday, July 8, 2022
Nigeria recaptures 27 inmates after jail attack claimed by Islamic State
Nigeria's security forces on Thursday recaptured 27 inmates who fled from a prison in the capital in Abuja following an attack claimed by Islamic State, the correctional service said.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for Tuesday's raid on the Kuje prison, which freed around 440 inmates, among them Islamist militants, raising fears that insurgents are venturing from their enclaves in the northeast.
Three of the attackers were killed in the encounter while several others escaped with bullet wounds, a Nigerian Correctional Service spokesperson said in a statement.
The prison attack has raised questions on the security of Nigeria's correctional facilities, especially those holding suspected militants.
Related story: Jihadis Attack Jail in Nigeria's Capital, 600 Inmates Escape
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
Jihadis Attack Jail in Nigeria's Capital, 600 Inmates Escape
At least 600 inmates escaped in a jailbreak in Nigeria's capital city, officials said Wednesday, blaming the attack on Islamic extremist rebels.
About 300 have been recaptured, authorities said.
The “very determined” rebels attacked the Kuje maximum prison in Abuja on Tuesday night with “very high-grade explosives,” killing one guard on duty, according to Shuaib Belgore, permanent secretary of Nigeria's Ministry of Interior.
Explosions and gunfire were heard at about 10 p.m. in the Kuje area of Abuja when the attackers arrived and forced their way into the prison through a hole created by the explosives.
The Islamic extremist rebels who attacked the prison have waged an insurgency in the country’s northeast for over a decade. Their attack on the detention facility freed many of their members who are inmates, prison officials said.
“We understand they are Boko Haram. They came specifically for their co-conspirators,” said Belgore. “Right now, we have retrieved about 300 out of about 600 that got out of the jail."
Nigeria's jihadi rebels have carried out several jailbreaks in the country's northeast in recent years, but this is the first in the capital city.
Nigeria's extremist insurgency, carried out by Boko Haram and an offshoot known as the Islamic State Central African Province, is blamed for violence that has caused the deaths of more than 35,000 people and displaced more than 2 million people, according to the U.N. The prolonged instability, hunger and lack of health services caused by the insurgency have indirectly caused the deaths of more than 300,000 additional people, says the U.N.
The extremists' violence is the most serious security challenge in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with 206 million people, which also is battling violence in the northwest area by rebellious herdsmen and a separatist movement in the country's south.
By Chinedu Asadu
Nigeria's Barkindo, who led OPEC in turbulent times, dies at 63
Barkindo, 63, a veteran of the oil industry, was due to step down at the end of this month after six years in the top job at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
"We lost our esteemed Dr Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo," NNPC CEO Mele Kyari wrote on Twitter, adding that he died late on Tuesday.
The death is a "great loss to his immediate family, the NNPC, our country Nigeria, the OPEC and the global energy community," Kyari added.
Kyari said Barkindo died hours after meeting Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and giving the main speech at an energy summit in Abuja.
His tenure as the head of OPEC has been marked by global shocks that have battered the industry.
During his keynote speech in Abuja hours before his death, Barkindo said the oil and gas industry is "under siege" and still reeling from the enormous investment losses of recent years.
"In a very short timespan, the industry has been hit by two major cycles – the severe market downturn in 2015 and 2016, and the even more far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," Barkindo said.
Barkindo's career in the oil industry began in Nigeria in the early 1980s. He served in various capacities at the NNPC and represented Nigeria on OPEC's Economic Commission Board.
He was acting OPEC secretary general in 2006 before returning to the position 10 years later and has led the organisation through a turbulent oil market period including steering it towards greater cooperation with non-OPEC oil producers.
"Serving as Secretary General of OPEC for two terms has been the honour of a lifetime. Over the past six years, we have witnessed both challenging and historic moments, which have underscored time and again the importance of cooperation and teamwork," Barkindo said in his keynote speech on Tuesday.
Diamantino Azevedo, oil minister for OPEC member Angola, told Reuters that Barkindo was always striving to seek consensus for the good of the organisation.
After leaving OPEC, Barkindo was due to join U.S. think tank the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center as a distinguished fellow, the Council recently announced.
"This tragedy is a shock to the OPEC Family. We express our sorrow and deep gratitude for the over 40 years of selfless service that Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo gave to OPEC. His dedication and leadership will inspire OPEC for many years to come," the OPEC Secretariat said in a Tweet.
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Video - Discarded tyre recycling in Nigeria
Waste management is still one of the biggest concerns in Nigeria. Ifedolapo Runsewe, a banker turned recycler started the Free recycling company and has already recycled nearly 100,000 tyres into eco-friendly interlocking pavers, tiles, and other rubber products.
Interpol confirms arrest of suspected Nigerian cyber criminal in South Africa
The suspect, identified as James Junior Aliyu was arrested at an upmarket estate in Sandton, Johannesburg, after a takedown operation.
Members from the Interpol National Crime Bureau (NCB) in Pretoria with assistance from members of the SAPS Gauteng Highway Patrol Unit raided the upmarket estate at 10:00 on Wednesday, 29 June 2022, where they effected the arrest.
His arrest follows a widespread investigation involving law enforcement authorities from South Africa (SA) and the United States of America (USA).
Confirming his arrest, INTERPOL on its verified Twitter page wrote: ” Last week @SAPoliceService detained a suspected Nigerian cybercriminal allegedly involved in phishing, Internet scamming and MoneyLaundering INTERPOL’s newly-launched Financial Crime centre IFCACC is already following up on intelligence received during the arrest.”
Aliyu is accused of swindling dozens of US citizens millions in USD through email and text messages.
It was reported that Authorities in the USA, where the investigation originated have applied for his extradition.
The suspect’s case will be heard at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on 05 July 2022.
By Fikayo Olowolagba
Related stories: Video - The Fall of the World's Flashiest Scammer Hushpuppi
The Hushpuppis And Nigeria’s Image
Monday, June 27, 2022
Nigerian Lawyer appears in court traditional witch doctor attire
A Nigerian lawyer caused a stir at the country’s Supreme Court on Thursday when he appeared in the full traditional attire of a traditional priest to attend court proceedings. Lawyer Malcolm Omirhobo was protesting the ruling of the Nigerian Supreme Court allowing the use of hijabs, which are headscarves won by Muslims, in public schools in the city of Lagos.
Missing former Nigerian diplomat found dead in US
The Tuckahoe Police Department on June 19 announced in a Facebook post that Etobo was missing and requested information from the public.
The 70-year-old diplomat at the time of his death, served as the Director and Deputy Head, Peacebuilding Support Office at the United Nations headquarters in New York between December 2006 and October 2013.
On June 24, the police announced that Etobo had been found dead and sent condolence message to his family.
A statement by the police said: “The Tuckahoe Police Department regrets to inform members of the community that Mr Ejeviome Otobo was located yesterday afternoon and is deceased.
“We would like to thank those of you who offered tips and tried to assist with the investigation. Our thoughts go out to the Otobo family during this difficult time.”
The Guardian gathered that until his death, he was a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in Peacebuilding and Global Economic Policy at the Global Governance Institute in Brussels, Belgium.
From February to August 2009, Otobo acted as the Assistant Secretary-General at the UN.
By Odita Sunday
Two priests killed in Nigeria in separate incidents
Two priests were killed over the weekend in Nigeria, one in Kaduna state and one in Edo state.
Fr. Vitus Borogo, a priest serving in the Archdiocese of Kaduna, was killed June 25 “at Prison Farm, Kujama, along Kaduna-Kachia Road, after a raid on the farm by Terrorists,” the chancellor of the Kaduna archdiocese said in a statement shared with ACI Africa.
The priest, who was age 50, was the Catholic chaplain at Kaduna State Polytechnic.
In Edo state, Fr. Christopher Odia was kidnapped from his rectory at St. Michael Catholic Church, Ikabigbo, Uzairue, around 6:30 am June 26. He was killed by his abductors, the Diocese of Auchi has announced.
Fr. Odia was 41, and the administrator of St. Michael’s and principal of St. Philip Catholic Secondary School in Jattu.
The Sun, a Nigerian daily, reported that a Mass server and a local vigilante who followed the abductors were shot and killed during Fr. Odia’s kidnapping.
More Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than in any other country worldwide — at least 4,650 in 2021, and nearly 900 in the first three months of 2022 alone.
According to the UK-based human rights foundation Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Kaduna state has become "an epicenter of kidnapping and violence by non-state actors, despite being the most garrisoned state in Nigeria.”
Earlier this month gunmen attacked a Catholic church and a Baptist church in Kaduna state, killing three people and reportedly kidnapping more than 30 worshippers, and more than 40 Christians were killed in an attack on a Catholic church in Ondo state on June 5.
Nigerian State Approves Carrying Guns to Defend Against Bandits
Nigerian northern Zamfara State will allow people to carry guns to protect themselves against armed bandits after authorities failed to curb a rise in kidnappings and killings.
The government has told police to issue firearm licenses “to all those who qualify and are wishing to obtain guns to defend themselves,” Hudu Yahaya, a spokesman for governor Bello Matawalle, said on his Facebook page. It’s intended “to deal with the recent escalating attacks, kidnapping and the criminal levies being enforced on our innocent communities,” he said.
Many states in Nigeria’s northern region, including Zamfara, have been targeted by armed militants and bandits who have been carrying out a growing number of kidnappings for ransom and murders. The violence has forced thousands to flee their homes. Crime is growing at the same time authorities are battling Islamist insurgents and facing separatist unrest in various parts of the country.
By Emele Onu
Basketball ban reversal comes too late for Nigeria women's national team, D'Tigress
Six weeks after withdrawing Nigeria from international basketball for two years, president Muhammadu Buhari's government have made a U-turn and reversed the ban. But it came too late for the women's national team, who have seen their place at the FIBA Women's World Cup taken up by Mali.
Ismaila Abubakar, an official at Nigeria's Sports Ministry, said last Thursday that the reversal came after a meeting between Sports Minister Sunday Dare and FIBA, and receiving guarantees from the Nigeria Basketball Federation [NBBF] to include all stakeholders in reconciliatory meetings going forward.
But that peace treaty is of little solace for D'Tigress players, who will not be able to compete at the FIBA showcase in September, after their place was given to Mali, who were the next-ranked team in their qualifying group. Nigeria had, ironically, beaten Mali in order to qualify.
NBBF President Musa Kida described the decision to reverse the ban as a major victory for Nigerian basketball, saying: "I am quite glad to see that this decision is reached, and it is a major victory for basketball. It gladdens our heart that the Federal Government has decided to return basketball to where it rightfully belongs."
But his happy response was certainly not shared by Adaora Elonu, captain of the Nigeria women's team, who told ESPN she'd rather not comment on the situation. Her team had beaten number three-ranked Australia, amongst others, to qualify for the World Cup.
A team member, who did not wish to be named, described the situation as "a nightmare that many of us are still trying to come to terms with," and told ESPN that the players were "distraught and pained" by the actions of the officials costing them a place "after we worked so hard to qualify."
Ike Diogu, captain of the men's national team, said the ban could have been even more devastating for basketball in Nigeria. It would have threatened the men's team's qualification for the 2023 FIBA World Cup and 2024 Paris Olympics, and risked an even longer ban from FIBA for government interference.
"It was very devastating to basketball in Nigeria," Diogu told ESPN of the withdrawal. "The withdrawal was detrimental for us because I don't think people really understand how hard it was for us to get to the point where we are now.
"It took 10, 12 years just to get to the point where we could compete. If we had got a 5-year ban [from FIBA], we would have to start all over again and there is no guarantee it would get right back to where it is now, because there is a whole generation of young guys who would be miss out playing in these tournaments."
Diogu, who most recently played for Zamalek at the Basketball Africa League, has opted to sit out international hoops this season regardless of the ban, and will rather play in the Big3 Tournament for Snoop Dogg's team.
In any case, the convoluted situation in Nigeria is long-simmering, and really comes down to two rival factions who want control of the hoops governing body in the country.
Most recently, Nigeria's Sports Minister Sunday Dare had refused to recognise the election which had returned Musa Kida and his cabinet as the legitimate board of the NBBF.
This, even though the election was held under a Constitution approved by the Ministry, the Nigeria Olympic Committee and FIBA, and the election was held with a FIBA representative as an observer.
FIBA also sent a letter to Nigeria's government recognising the legitimacy of that election and the leadership of Kida. Instead, the government withdrew the country from international basketball and set up an interim committee.
Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri and Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka, both of whom are of Nigerian descent and represented the country internationally, had spoken out against the ban last month.
Ujiri released a letter saying, "Enough is enough.
"The leaders of the basketball ecosystem in Nigeria continue to rob our youth of their present and future while tearing the entire basketball community apart -- this needs to stop."
For his part, Udoka said just before leading his team out to Game 2 of the NBA Finals, that the issues with Nigerian basketball had not changed in the years since he represented the country: "It's a lot of the same stuff I dealt with as a player, which is disappointing."
High-level sources told ESPN that during the recent peace talks, FIBA made it clear that if the withdrawal were to stand, Nigeria would be handed an additional 5-year ban running concurrently with the period of withdrawal and lasting through to 2027.
FIBA's refusal to budge, and pressure from businesses, players, and fans, finally forced the ministry into a retraction. To help the ministry save face, the NBBF agreed to write a letter of apology and also agreed to Constitutional amendments.
"At our last board meeting, we resolved to put machinery in motion to bring every genuine stakeholder to the table," Kida said.
"We have also resolved to maintain a very high level of respect for the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Sports, as we recognise their supervisory role in line with global laws governing sports federations."
The NBBF board led by Kida -- and now recognised by the government as the legitimately elected leadership of basketball in the country -- will now be officially sworn in on July 1.
It is not the first time Nigeria has withdrawn a sports team from international play and then reversed the decision when faced with the dire consequences. In 2010, then-president Goodluck Jonathan announced the withdraw of Nigeria men's football team from international competition, but also made an immediate U-turn barely four days later when FIFA reacted by handing down a provisional ban on the country.
By Colin Udoh
ESPN
Related story: Nigeria withdraws from international basketball over NBBF crisis
Friday, June 24, 2022
Nigerian senator accused of organ harvesting attempt in UK
Two Nigerians, including a serving senator, have been charged with plotting to have a child brought into the United Kingdom to harvest their organs, the London police have said.
“The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation, in May 2022,” the police said in a statement on Thursday.
Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55, and Ike Ekweremadu, 60, were charged with conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
They will appear at Uxbridge Magistrate’s Court in London later on Thursday.
The child has been safeguarded, and work was under way to provide additional support, the police said. No other details were given.
Ekweremadu, a former Nigerian deputy senate president, is from the southeastern state of Enugu.
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Nigeria has 11 million of out-of-school children, highest in world
The World Bank has said that Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children in the world with 11 million pupils recorded in 2020.
The Nigerian out of school children was 15 million in 2003.
According to the global financial institution, the number of school children under review who are between 6-15years increased by 100% between 2003 and 2020.
This was disclosed in the World Bank document titled “Nigeria Development Update (June 2020): The Continuing Urgency of Business Unusual.”
It revealed that the number of in-school children in 2003 was 20 million and has increased to 40 million in 2020, stating that the population of Nigerian children aged 6-15years in 2003 was 35 million and 51 million in 2020.
It, however, stated that more efforts need to be made to ensure Nigeria’s children are back to school.
The Bank said, “Although Nigeria has experienced a significant expansion in access to education during the last few decades, it still has the highest number of out-of-school (OOS) children in the world.”
The bank continued, “Nigeria’s more than 11 million OOS children between the ages of 6 and 15 represent 1 in 12 OOS children globally. The OOS children phenomenon in Nigeria is multi-causal and will require a combination of interventions. On the demand side, reducing the cost of education by eliminating school fees, providing cash transfers, and shifting socio-cultural norms that prevent school enrollment are critical steps.”
Reacting to the report, Statisense disclosed that the number, “represents 1 in 12 of all out-of-school children globally and 22% of all children in this age group in Nigeria.”
By Biodun Busari
Two kidnapped Chibok girls freed in Nigeria after eight years
Nigerian troops have found two former schoolgirls who were abducted by Boko Haram jihadists eight years ago, the military said Tuesday, freeing some of the last victims of the 2014 Chibok abduction.
The two women each carried babies on their laps as they were presented by the military, after captivity with militants who stormed their school in April, 2014 in northeast Nigeria in a mass kidnapping that sparked international outrage.
Major-General Christopher Musa, the military commander of troops in the region, told reporters the girls were found on June 12 and 14 in two different locations by troops.
"We are very lucky to have been able to recover two of the Chibok girls," Musa said.
Dozens of Boko Haram militants stormed the Chibok girls' boarding school in 2014 and packed 276 pupils, aged 12-17, at the time into trucks in the jihadist group's first mass school abduction.
Fifty-seven of the girls managed to escape by jumping from the trucks shortly after their abduction while 80 were released in exchange for some detained Boko Haram commanders following negotiations with the Nigerian government.
In the recent releases, one of the women, Hauwa Joseph, was found along with other civilians on June 12 around Bama after troops dislodged a Boko Haram camp, while the other, Mary Dauda, was found later outside Ngoshe village in Gwoza district, near the border with Cameroon.
On June 15 the military said on Twitter that they had found one of the Chibok girls named Mary Ngoshe. She turned out to be Mary Dauda.
"I was nine when we were kidnapped from our school in Chibok and I was married off not long ago and had this child," Joseph told reporters at the military headquarters.
Joseph's husband and father-in-law were killed in a military raid and she was left to fend for herself and her 14-month-old son.
"We were abandoned, no one cared to look after us. We were not being fed," she said.
Thousands of Boko Haram fighters and families have been surrendering over the last year, fleeing government bombardments and infighting with the rival group Islamic State West Africa Province.
The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced 2.2 million more since 2009.
Dauda, who was 18 when she was kidnapped was married at different times to Boko Haram fighters in the group's enclave in the Sambisa forest.
"They would starve and beat you if you refused to pray," Dauda said about life under Boko Haram.
She decided to flee and told her husband she was visiting another Chibok girl in Dutse village near Ngoshe, close to the border with Cameroon.
With the help of an old man who lived outside the village with his family, Dauda trekked all night to Ngoshe where she surrendered to troops in the morning.
"All the remaining Chibok girls have been married with children. I left more than 20 of them in Sambisa, she said. "I'm so happy I'm back."
After the Chibok school mass abduction jihadists carried out several mass abductions and deadly attacks on schools in the northeast.
In 2018, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters kidnapped 110 schoolgirls aged 11–19 years from Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC) Dapchi in neighbouring Yobe state.
All the schoolgirls were released a month later except Leah Sharibu, the only Christian among the girls, who was held by the group for refusing to renounce her faith.
Related stories: Boko Haram attacks the same town it kidnapped the schoolgirls from
Video - Aljazeera speaks with Nigerian military about kidnapped schoolgirls
Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Millions in Nigeria Face Food and Nutrition Crisis
A senior U.N. official warns of catastrophic consequences for millions of people in northeast Nigeria facing a food and nutrition crisis if the U.N. does not receive the funds needed to assist them.
U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator for Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, says he is ringing the alarm bell now because the United Nations has received less than 20 percent of its $350 million appeal for Nigeria.
He says people in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states are struggling to survive after 12 years of conflict. Of the 8.4 million people who need humanitarian assistance, he says the U.N. plans to support at least 5.5 million of the most vulnerable. He says nearly 600,000 people are starving and go for days without food.
Malnourished children, he says, are of particular concern.
“Approximately, overall, 1.74 million children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition across the northeast this year. Of these, over 300,000 … are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and are, indeed, at high risk of death," said Schmale.
He says about 80 percent of U.N. aid will be used to assist women and children who often suffer the most in conflict zones. He says they are subject to violence, to abductions, to rape, and other forms of abuse.
Trond Jensen is Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria. He says much of the northeast lacks adequate protection for civilians. He says people who venture outside the fortified military garrison towns are in danger of being killed.
“It is a serious crisis in the sense that there is no freedom of movement, in the sense that much of the countryside is under the control then or the influence of the various different factions of Boko Haram," said Jensen. "So, that there are indiscriminate killings of civilians.”
U.N. officials recognize Nigeria’s crisis is overshadowed by the disastrous war in Ukraine and is in danger of being forgotten. However, they warn ignoring the humanitarian needs of Nigeria would have far reaching consequences in further destabilizing the region.
Monday, June 20, 2022
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan sets new record at Paris Diamond League
The sprint hurdler on Saturday set a new African record as she finished in pole position in the 100m hurdles, in 12.41 seconds, at the Diamond League meet in Paris, France.
Amusan before Saturday’s race was already the African record holder having erased the previous long-standing record held by her compatriot, Gloria Alozie.
However, while the initial record achieved at the Diamond League in Zurich nine months ago was12.42s, the 25-year-old has lowered it to a new lifetime best time of 12.41 seconds.
This is the 3rd fastest time in the world in 2022 behind Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the reigning Olympic champion who ran 12.37 seconds early this month in Rome, Italy, and Alaysha Johnson of the USA who ran 12.40 seconds seven days ago in New York.
Going into the Paris leg of the money-spinning Diamond League, Amusan had widely been tipped to emerge tops and the Nigerian star did not disappoint; not just winning but in record-breaking fashion.
The eight maximum points she secured have moved her top of the event’s standing with 15 points. Amusan is also expected to pocket $10,000 in prize money.
Amusan’s latest win is coming a few days after she also won the 100 Hurdles event at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland.
Before her exploit in Finland, Amusan had also successfully defended her African title at the Senior Athletics Championship in Mauritius where she also helped Team Nigeria to gold in the 4x100m Women’s relay event.
Amusan will now shift focus to the Nigerian Athletics Championships which will take place between June 24 and 26 in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion is the favourite to retain the Nigerian 100m hurdles title she won last year at the Yaba College of Technology Sports complex.
By Tunde Eludini
Three worshippers killed, others abducted in new church attacks in Nigeria
Gunmen attacked two churches in rural northwestern Nigeria on Sunday, killing three people, witnesses and a state official said, weeks after a similar attack in the West African nation left 40 worshippers dead.
The attack in Kajuru area of Kaduna State targeted four villages, resulting in the abduction of unspecified number of residents and the destruction of houses before the assailants managed to escape, locals said.
It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the attack on the Kaduna churches. Much of Nigeria has struggled with security issues, with Kaduna as one of the worst-hit states. At least 32 people were killed in the Kajuru area last week in an attack that lasted for hours across four villages.
Worshippers were attending the church service at the Maranatha Baptist Church and at St. Moses Catholic Church in Rubu community of Kaduna on Sunday morning when “they (the assailants) just came and surrounded the churches,” both located in the same area, said Usman Danladi, who lives nearby.
“Before they (worshippers) noticed, they were already terrorizing them; some began attacking inside the church then others proceeded to other areas,” Danladi said. He added that “most of the victims kidnapped are from the Baptist (church) while the three killed were Catholics.”
The Kaduna state government confirmed the three deaths by bandits who “stormed the villages on motorcycles, beginning from Ungwan Fada, and moving into Ungwan Turawa, before Ungwan Makama and then Rubu.” Security patrols are being conducted in the general area” as investigations proceed, according to Samuel Aruwan, Kaduna commissioner for security.
The Christian Association of Nigeria condemned Sunday’s attacks and said churches in Nigeria have become “targets” of armed groups.
“It is very unfortunate that when we are yet to come out of the mourning of those killed in Owo two Sundays ago, another one has happened in Kaduna,” Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, the association’s spokesman, told The Associated Press. “It has become a recurring decimal.”
Many of the attacks targeting rural areas in Nigeria’s troubled northern region are similar. The motorcycle-riding gunmen often arrive in hundreds in areas where Nigeria’s security forces are outnumbered and outgunned. It usually takes months for the police to make arrests and authorities have identified the attackers as mostly young herdsmen from the Fulani tribe caught up in Nigeria’s pastoral conflict between host communities and herdsmen over limited access to water and land.
Chinedu Asadu
Related stories: Video - Nigeria church attack: Survivors face grief, trauma
Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?
‘The Devil’s Music’ No More: Inside Nigeria’s Rock Resurgence
In 2013, Bianca Okorocha, a Nigerian artist who performs as ClayRocksU, received a DM from one of her Twitter followers. It was an invitation to Metal and Romance, a party in Lagos focusing on rock music — a genre long plagued by negative stereotypes in Nigeria. When she got there, she couldn’t believe what she saw: a whole community of fellow rock fans. “It was one of the happiest moments of my life,” she recalls.
Okorocha grew up listening to her father’s rock records, mostly by foreign bands. Through her teenage years and early adulthood, she immersed herself in punk fashion. But she noticed that people were always wary of her. “In church, I was always called to the pastor’s office for one complaint or the other,” she says. “People always gave me the side-eye and refused to approach me. So I didn’t expect to see so many people in tune with rock music.”
During Metal and Romance, she was shocked to hear Danjuma, lead singer of the metal band 1 Last Autograph, growl — something she’d never seen a Nigerian do. “When I saw them perform, I said to myself, ‘No way I’m not going to collaborate with these guys,’” she says. She’d later become friends with Danjuma, and perform and release music together with 1 Last Autograph, including the metal single “Down” in 2014. These days, they’re still playing together anywhere rock music can be found in Lagos and elsewhere in the country.
And they’re not the only artists leading a new wave of Nigerian rock. For the Love of Woman and Country, the latest album by Lagos’ Oma Mahmud, features both Afrobeats and punk-rock songs, along with songs that blend both genres. “There’s a lot of people that actually want to listen to [rock] songs like this,” Mahmud says. “Every single time I perform my music, it’s usually one of the highlights of the night. Mostly because most rock songs are people just venting their frustrations, and living in Nigeria, [it’s] a country where almost everybody’s frustrated.” His music speaks to Nigeria’s everyday problems, such as corruption, poor government, and a failing economy. Mahmud’s high-energy performances make his audiences feel connected to his music. “They immediately lock on to the music and feel like I’m their best friend,” he says, “like I’m telling their story.”
With artists like Burna Boy selling out Madison Square Garden and Wizkid and Davido doing the same at the 02 Arena, Nigerian music is becoming part of the Western pop mainstream. Could Nigerian rock be the next breakout sound? Okorocha thinks so. “If we can combine the rock that we love with Afrobeats, it may go a long way,” she says.
While rock music is often aligned with non-conformity and resistance, in a hyper-religious society like Nigeria, the genre is also branded as evil — or even associated with the occult. “Most people just think rock fans are listening to something demonic,” says Deoye Falade, who started listening to rock and metal in the mid-Nineties and now attends rock festivals and meetups in Lagos. “The kindest reactions I often get is that this is noise.” But, he says, he no longer cares. “When you like something and you understand it, you just enjoy it.”
He recalls a video of a Nigerian wedding that trended on Twitter in 2018, which featured the couple and their guests headbanging to System of a Down’s “Toxicity.” Some viewers couldn’t understand why Nigerians were partying to rock while dressed in agbada. “But you don’t have to paint your faces or rock the fashion before you like rock music,” Falade says.
A 26-year-old Lagos-based graphic artist going by the name of Queen, who has loved punk and metal since she was 13, says she felt shunned by her peers for listening to music from her favorite bands Bring Me the Horizon and Asking Alexandria. “People were wary of talking to me, and I struggled to make friends,” she recalls. “Once I started rocking and nodding my head, my roommates would say ‘the spirit’ had possessed me, which is weird because even the Christian music they listened to is pretty much rock music — just a softer kind.”
But rock music wasn’t always perceived like this in Nigeria. In the 1970s, after the Nigerian Civil War, and as the country was experiencing an economic boom fueled by the discovery of crude oil, rock bands like Ofo and the Black Company, War-Head Constriction, the Hykkers, the Funkees, and the Lijadu Sisters graced the airwaves with psychedelic rock and funk that captured a distinctly Nigerian sound. These artists chronicled the evils of the civil war, and Nigerians reveled in a renewed sense of optimism that turbocharged the growth of the nation’s music industry. But leftover war trauma and unresolved tensions got swept under the rug — along with Nigerian rock.
Music historian and researcher Uchenna Ikonne, who spearheaded the two-volume compilation Wake Up You! The Rise and Fall of Nigerian Rock 1972-1977, says that rock’s youth appeal in Nigeria — which set it apart from the then more popular genre of juju — ultimately hurt the genre. “In Nigeria, [young people] have the least amount of disposable income, compared with the West where teenagers have jobs and can spend money on entertainment, buy records, and support artists,” he explains. “Teenagers [have never really had] jobs in Nigeria, and the ones that do are doing it to help support family. So rock music had a niche culture that had a hard time sustaining itself, as opposed to juju artists like King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey who would make entire albums praising the richest aristocrats in the society. Those social elites would in turn attend their performances and shower these musicians with their money. … So while juju artists were making money hand over fists, rock artists were struggling.”
Ikonne also draws distinctions between Nigerian rock artists and the country’s most recognizable musical icon, Fela Kuti. On one hand, Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat sound shares stylistic similarities with Nigerian rock: percussive rhythms, and grungy electric guitar and organ work. (Compare the solos in “Ije Udo,” a track by Seventies Nigerian rockers Magnificent Zenians, for example, with Fela Kuti’s “Shakara.”) But, Ikonne says, “coming from a middle-class background, Fela was able to sidestep the struggles of rock artists at the time, as he had more resources.” In the end, his experimentation with Afrobeat, highlife, and rock, coupled with his larger-than-life personality, attracted more attention than his rock peers. “When [Fela] perfected his sound, it kind of upstaged and cannibalized the Nigerian rock scene,” says Ikonne.
By the Eighties, an era that saw a growth of Christian revivalism in Nigeria, heavily influenced by the Moral Majority movement in the United States, rock music gained a bad rep in the country. Those prejudices have lingered for decades. Even in the 2000s, Dammy Lawal, who grew up listening to foreign rock artists and would go on to found the Metal and Romance fest, faced criticism for his taste in music. “Most of what I was hearing was that it’s the devil’s music,” he recalls.
In 2013, Lawal started a BlackBerry Messenger group where he and his friends could share rock playlists. “We had people sharing songs from Disturbed to Linkin Park, AC/DC to Creed, and so much more,” Lawal says.
The collective grew and transferred to WhatsApp. As each group reached its member limits on the app, newer offshoots were formed: RockazWorld, Rock Republik, Rock Haven. Eventually, Dammy decided to host an in-person event: Metal and Romance, where he also met ClayRocksU. “It was meant to be a meetup for sharing music playlists and dancing to our favorite songs, but by the next year, members started demanding that we include performances,” he says. “That was when we knew we had to host an actual show with a bigger venue. We were on to something.”
In October 2015, Rocktober Fest was born. Rock bands and artists visited from all over Africa to attend the show. More than 700 tickets were sold, and 15 performers delighted fans. The numbers grew exponentially over the next two years.
Lawal believes that African rock artists need to embrace their culture, rather than simply emulating Western sounds. “The best rock songs are the ones that have local flavor,” he says.
Oma Mahmud agrees, saying that Nigerian rock artists have to make rock music “native” to the country. “I can perform regular punk-rock songs, but I know who I expect to listen,” he says. “But to scale, the rock has to sound [more] Nigerian.” He says that his friends often play his songs in front of random people, “to see if it’ll draw a reaction.” It always does. “When you hear rock music that sounds like it comes from here,” he says, pointing to his heart, “it catches people’s attention.” In 2021, Afrofolk artist Johnny Drille featured a punk-rock song on his album Before We Fall Asleep — a politically satirical rock song in pidgin that involves growling — to positive reception.
ClayRocksU excels at something similar, fusing Igbo language and local pidgin folk elements with punk rock. In February 2021, she released “Amin” with her band, the Misfits, creating a subgenre of sorts: “Afro-rock.” With the song — a feel-good tune sung in Nigerian pidgin and blending punk rock, Afrobeats, and folk — Okorocha and Co. are also attempting to challenge the negative stereotypes attached to rock music in this part of the world. The singer recalls performances where audience members were shocked to learn that what they were listening to was rock music. “Sometimes, people don’t care about genre,” she says. “They just like what they like.” The lyric video for “Amin” now has 12,000 views on YouTube, a feat she’s achieved organically.
“Not bad for a rock artist in a country where no one listens to rock, eh?” she asks.
By Ama Udofa
Related stories: Universal Music Group strikes partnership with Nigeria-based Aristokrat group
Nigeria's Burna Boy says Grammy win marks 'big moment' for African music