Nigeria's Senate on Monday approved 45 of President Bola Tinubu's nominees to Cabinet positions after individually vetting them in the past week, paving the way for their swearing-in as government ministers.
Among those approved is Olawale Edun, a longtime Tinubu adviser who has long been tipped to become the next finance minister in Africa's biggest economy.
The Senate president said three names were yet to be approved as lawmakers awaited their security clearance.
Nigeria's Senate has the power to stop a president's Cabinet appointments, but Tinubu's ruling party has a majority in the chamber and the nominations were expected to be approved.
It was not immediately clear when the nominees will be allocated their ministerial portfolios.
Under Nigerian law, the president is required to choose at least one Cabinet member from each of the country's 36 states.
The number of Cabinet nominees has led to criticism from opponents who say this will lead to a bloated administration at a time when Tinubu has asked citizens to be patient with his reforms, the removal of a popular but costly petrol subsidy, that has lead to soaring prices.
Tinubu won a disputed February election on promises to reboot the country's flagging economy, deal with a high debt burden and double-digit inflation, and address widespread insecurity.
By MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Monday, August 7, 2023
Video - Nigeria face off against England in Round of 16 of the Women's World Cup
Nigeria's Super Falcons will take on the Lionesses of England for a place in the quarterfinals of the ongoing World Cup at the Brisbane stadium in Australia on Monday. The Falcons were the first African side to qualify for the Round of 16 after playing out a goalless draw with the Republic of Ireland.
Senate in Nigeria rejects president’s demand to send troops to Niger
The head of the Senate in Nigeria, Godswill Akpabio, said Saturday that the chamber rejected military force to reinstate President Bazoum Mohamed in Niger, following a military coup.
The Senate also pleaded with the current head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, to embrace diplomacy in handling the toppling of the democratic government.
The bloc last Sunday gave coup leaders one week to reinstate Bazoum.
Akpabio said parliament leadership agreed to meet Tinubu to discuss the chamber’s resolutions.
Tinubu sought Friday the support of the Senate in official communication sent to the chamber to implement ECOWAS resolutions on the situation in Niger.
“The Senate recognises the fact that President Tinubu by virtue of his correspondence has not asked for the approval of this Senate to go to war as being erroneously suggested in some quarters.
“The Senate calls on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as chairman of ECOWAS to further encourage other leaders of ECOWAS to strengthen the political and diplomatic options and other means with which to resolve the political impasse in Niger Republic,” according to a statement.
Thursday, August 3, 2023
Video - Labour unions in Nigeria begin strike against fuel price hike, cost of living
Nigerian workers across numerous sectors have gone on strike, after the government removed fuel subsidies. Petrol prices and other costs are soaring. Talks with unions have broken down. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports from Abuja, Nigeria.
Related stories: Protest against soaring cost of living under president Tinubu erupts in Nigeria
Black market collapses in Nigeria due to fuel subsidy removal
President Tinubu sends more cabinet nominees to Senate
Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has sent 19 additional names to the Senate to be approved for cabinet positions, a week after submitting 28 names for confirmation, according to a letter read out by the Senate President.
Tinubu is under pressure to quickly revive Africa's largest economy, which is facing a high debt burden, double-digit inflation and widespread insecurity.
His cabinet nominations come nearly two months after he was sworn into office. Tinubu and his ministers have their work cut out for them, including dealing with the fall-out from scrapping a popular fuel subsidy that benefited the rich but cost the government $10 billion last year alone.
The new nominees included former governors and political associates and technocrats. Given Tinubu's party majority in the Senate, his cabinet picks are expected to be confirmed.
On Wednesday, hundreds marched through major Nigerian cities to protest at the removal of the subsidy and demand a new minimum wage after Tinubu axed it in the country's boldest reforms in decades, aiming to help the economy out of slow growth.
Tinubu has sent a total of 47 names to the Senate for approval. Under the constitution, the president must include a member from each of the country's 36 states in his cabinet which includes ministers, ministers of state (junior ministers) and ministers in the presidency.
By Camillus Eboh, Reuters
Nigeria cuts power to Niger
Nigeria has cut its electricity supply to Niger, AFP learned on Wednesday from a source close to the management of the Nigerien Electricity Company (Nigelec), in line with the sanctions decided by the West African neighbors of Niger destabilized by a coup.
"Nigeria disconnected since yesterday (Tuesday) the high voltage line that carries electricity to Niger," the source said. A Nigelec agent for his part indicated that the capital, Niamey, was "supplied thanks to local production".
On Sunday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, decided on sanctions against the putschists who toppled President-elect Mohamed Bazoum a week ago.
In addition to a one-week ultimatum to restore constitutional order and the suspension of financial transactions with Niger, ECOWAS decreed the freezing of "all service transactions, including energy transactions".
According to a report by Nigelec - the country's sole supplier -, in 2022, 70% of Niger's share of electricity came from purchases from the Nigerian company Mainstream. Electricity is produced by the Kainji dam (western Nigeria).
Many neighborhoods in the city of Niamey are normally subject to power cuts and Nigeria's decision will aggravate this situation.
To free itself from its strong energy dependence on neighboring Nigeria, Niger is working to complete its first dam by 2025, on the river of the same name. Some 180 km upstream from Niamey, the Kandadji dam should generate 629 gigawatt hours (GWh) annually.
Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, is dependent on its foreign partners in many areas. "The sanctions will hurt our country very badly," Nigerian Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou said on France 24 on Sunday, as sanctions are increasing internationally.
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Video - Nigeria mobilizes $500 million to boost food production
Africa's most populous nation has been under intense food insecurity exacerbated by growing inflation. The funds are expected to boost agricultural production in the West African nation.
Video - Four stowaways from Nigeria survive 14 days on ship’s rudder before rescue in Brazil
On their 10th day at sea, four Nigerian stowaways crossing the Atlantic in a tiny space above the rudder of a cargo ship ran out of food and drink.
They survived another four days, according to their account, by drinking the seawater crashing just metres below them, before being rescued by the Brazilian federal police in the southeastern port of Vitoria.
Their remarkable, death-defying journey across some 5,600km (3,500 miles) of ocean underlines the risks some migrants are prepared to take for a shot at a better life.
“It was a terrible experience for me,” said 38-year-old Thankgod Opemipo Matthew Yeye, one of the four Nigerians, in an interview at a Sao Paulo church shelter. “On board, it is not easy. I was shaking, so scared. But I’m here.”
Their relief at being rescued soon gave way to surprise.
The four men said they had hoped to reach Europe and were shocked to learn they had in fact landed on the other side of the Atlantic, in Brazil. Two of the men have since been returned to Nigeria upon their request, while Yeye and Roman Ebimene Friday, a 35-year-old from Bayelsa state, has applied for asylum in Brazil.
“I pray the government of Brazil will have pity on me,” said Friday, who had already attempted to flee Nigeria by ship once before but was arrested by authorities there.
Both men said economic hardship, political instability and crime had left them with little option but to abandon their native Nigeria. Africa’s most populous country has longstanding issues of violence and poverty, and kidnappings are endemic.
Yeye, a Pentecostal minister from Lagos State, said his peanut and palm oil farm was destroyed by floods this year, leaving him and his family homeless. He hopes they can now join him in Brazil.
Friday said his journey to Brazil began on June 27, when a fisherman friend rowed him up to the stern of the Liberian-flagged Ken Wave, docked in Lagos, and left him by the rudder.
To his surprise, he found three men already there, waiting for the ship to depart. Friday said he was terrified. He had never met his new shipmates and feared they could toss him into the sea at any moment.
Once the ship was moving, Friday said the four men made every effort not to be discovered by the ship’s crew, who they also worried might offer them a watery grave.
“Maybe if they catch you they will throw you in the water,” he said. “So we taught ourselves never to make a noise.”
Spending two weeks within spitting distance of the Atlantic Ocean was perilous.
To prevent themselves from falling into the water, Friday said the men rigged up a net around the rudder and tied themselves to it with a rope. When he looked down, he said, he could see “big fish like whales and sharks”. Due to the cramped conditions and the noise of the engine, sleep was rare and risky. “I was very happy when we got rescued,” he said.
Father Paolo Parise, a priest at the Sao Paulo shelter, said he had come across other cases of stowaways, but never one so dangerous. Their journey paid testament to the lengths people go in search of a new start, he said. “People do unimaginable and deeply dangerous things.”
Related story: 3 Stowaways Travel from Nigeria to Canary Islands on Ship's rudder for 11 days
Protest against soaring cost of living under president Tinubu erupts in Nigeria
Labor unions marched across Nigeria on Wednesday to protest the soaring cost of living under the West African nation’s new president, with calls for the government to improve social welfare interventions to reduce hardship.
The unions, made up of government workers, said the economic incentives announced this week by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to ease hardship were not enough. They also accused him of failing to act quickly to cushion the effect of some of his policies, including the suspension of decadeslong, costly subsidies that have more than doubled the price of gas, causing a spike in prices for food and most other commodities.
Tinubu on May 29 scrapped the subsidy that cost the government 4.39 trillion naira ($5.07 billion) while new leadership of the country’s central bank ended the yearslong policy of multiple exchange rates for the local naira currency, allowing the rate to be determined by market forces.
Both moves aimed to boost government finances and woo investors, authorities said. But they have had an immediate impact of further squeezing millions in Nigeria who were already battling surging inflation, which stood at 22.7% in June, and a 63% rate of multidimensional poverty.
“Since the subsidy removal, you can’t move from one place to another,” said Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigerian Labor Congress, the umbrella body of the unions. He was referring to the cost of transportation that has more than doubled in many cities, forcing a growing number of people to walk to work.
Ajaero said the labor unions have proposed an upward review of salaries but “the federal government has refused to inaugurate the committee on the proposal.“
“Mr. President can’t join the league of lamentations; he should come out openly and let us know those people who have cornered our commonwealth … and not to lament that some people have stolen our money,” said Ajaero, adding that the protest could continue for a long time.
One of the protesters, Usman Abdullahi Shagari, said he has been struggling to provide for his family, which includes five children, after the price of food items more than doubled.
“Feeding today is the most important thing,” said Shagari, 45. “Everything has increased, so that has affected the feeding of my family and my salary cannot withstand it.”
By Chinedu Asadu, AP
Related story: Fuel prices triple in Nigeria, squeezing millions already struggling
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
President Tinubu says scrapping fuel subsidy has saved $1.32 billion
Nigeria has saved over 1 trillion naira ($1.32 billion) in just over two months by scrapping a popular but costly subsidy on petrol and moved to unify its multiple exchange rates, President Bola Tinubu said on Monday.
Tinubu is under pressure as prices soar following the country's boldest reforms in decades, which labour unions say have hurt the poor.
A meeting between unions and government to try to avert a planned strike from Wednesday ended without an agreement late on Monday, union officials said.
In a television broadcast, Tinubu defended his decision to scrap the petrol subsidy, which he said benefited a few elites and that the reforms would help boost the economy.
"In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefited smugglers and fraudsters," Tinubu said.
The president said he was aware of the hardship caused by removing the subsidy and was "monitoring the effects of the exchange rate and inflation on gasoline prices," adding that he would intervene if and when necessary.
The World Bank said last month Nigeria could save up to 3.9 trillion naira this year alone after Tinubu's reforms but warned of growing short-term inflationary pressures.
Unions are pressuring Tinubu to offer relief to households and small businesses. Tinubu announced a 500 billion naira package which includes mass transit buses and cheap loans to farmers and small businesses to boost employment.
Earlier on Monday, the government said it had released grains to families, directed authorities in public schools to defer hiking school fees and will provide buses to ease transport costs for students. It also plans to set up a fund from the subsidy savings to build infrastructure.
"Sadly, there was an unavoidable lag between subsidy removal and these plans coming fully online. However, we are swiftly closing the time gap," Tinubu said.
By Felix Onuah, Reuters
Related stories: President Tinubu Unveils Broad Plan to Ease Cost of Living Pain
Fuel prices triple in Nigeria, squeezing millions already struggling
President Tinubu Unveils Broad Plan to Ease Cost of Living Pain
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu announced sweeping measures to soften the impact of his move to end gasoline subsidies that has sent prices surging.
The 500 billion-naira ($652 million) package is aimed at improving food supply, ease transportation costs and boost manufacturing. It will also provide conditional grants to at least a million small businesses.
“Our economy is going through a tough patch and you are being hurt by it,” he said Monday in a national address. “I understand the hardship you face. I wish there were other ways. But there is not,” the president told Nigerians in prepared remarks.
Read more: How Nigeria’s Leader Is Shaking Up a Shaky Economy: QuickTake
The cost of living in Africa’s biggest economy has surged since Tinubu announced on May 29 that fuel subsidies have been scrapped, tripling the price of gasoline. A subsequent devaluation of the naira has also fanned inflation, which quickened to 22.8% in the year through June.
Food-price inflation over the same period was more than 25% and frustration turned violent in Adamawa state in northeastern Nigeria on Sunday, where a 24-hour curfew was declared after youths looted a government warehouse where food is stored.
Tinubu, who has declared a state of emergency to tackle food security and supply, asked for patience in his speech.
“Sadly, there was an unavoidable lag between subsidy removal and these plans coming fully on line,” he said. “We are swiftly closing the time gap. I plead with you to please have faith in our ability to deliver.”
The end of the subsidy may help the country save more than 21 trillion naira ($21 billion) in two years, according to the World Bank.
Key Measures:
. 200 billion naira earmarked for agriculture to support the cultivation of 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of land to produce rice, corn, wheat and cassava
. The administration will also provide 225,000 tons of fertilizer, seedlings and other farm inputs and release 200,000 tons of grain from its strategic reserve
. 75 billion naira of concessional lending to fund 75 manufacturers to “kickstart” growth
. 125 billion naira for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, including 50 billion naira of conditional grants to 1 million nano businesses.
. 100 billion naira to purchase a fleet of 3,000 20-seater buses fueled by natural gas.
“I urge you all to look beyond the present temporary pains and aim at the larger picture,” Tinubu said. “All of our good and helpful plans are in the works. More importantly, I know that they will work.”
In addition, he said the administration is working with labor unions to introduce a new minimum wage.
The Nigerian Labour Congress has called for nationwide protests starting Aug. 2 over what it calls “anti-poor” policies. But the action faces a court injunction and the NLC is holding talks with authorities.
Monday, July 31, 2023
Video - Police warn of possible rise in crime across Nigeria
Police in Nigeria are warning of a possible increase in the rate of crime across the country. Law enforcement attributes this to the rising cost of petrol, which is affecting their patrols and other operations.
Related story: Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?
President Tinubu orders investigation of Central Bank of Nigeria
Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has appointed a financial watchdog to investigate the central bank, weeks after he suspended its governor, a copy of a letter from the president showed on Sunday.
Tinubu on June 9 suspended Godwin Emefiele, who was then detained by state security agents for allegedly misappropriating funds and a "criminal breach of trust." Emefiele last week appeared in court to deny illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.
In a letter dated July 28, Tinubu appointed the chief executive of Nigeria's Financial Reporting Council as special investigator of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other government-owned entities.
The letter said the investigator should make weekly reports to the president.
"You are to investigate the CBN and related entities using a suitably experienced, competent and capable team and work with relevant security and anti-corruption agencies to deliver on this assignment," Tinubu said.
The investigator was to "provide a comprehensive report on public wealth currently in the hands of corrupt individuals and establishments."
A presidency source confirmed the authenticity of the letter.
Tinubu's spokesperson Dele Alake did not immediately comment.
Tinubu has embarked on the country's boldest reforms in decades, including removing a popular but costly fuel subsidy and lifting restrictions on foreign exchange trading, a gamble which he hopes will boost growth.
By Felix Onuah, Reuters
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Video - Supreme court suspends currency swap deadline in Nigeria
Friday, July 28, 2023
Squeeze on Europe's refiners due to end of fuel subsidy in Nigeria
One of Europe's main markets for gasoline has shrunk, threatening to squeeze European refiners, after Nigeria removed fuel subsidies, which destroyed much of the country's domestic demand and a regional market for smuggled fuel.
North America and West Africa (WAF), with Nigeria at the helm, historically have been the top two destinations for petrol exports from Europe, which produces more gasoline than it uses, meaning its refiners rely on exports to support profit margins.
A steady decline in European refining margins in recent years, as competition from the Middle East, the United States and Asia grew, was reversed when fears of fuel supply shortages boosted profits after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
So far, benchmark profit margins for gasoline in northwestern Europe have held firm at around $27 a barrel, Refinitiv Eikon data shows.
They have been supported by demand from North America, a shortage of high quality blending materials, disruption caused by low water levels inland and local refinery outages.
But analysts say the reduction of flows following the upheaval in Nigeria will increase pressure on European refiners, and any winners are likely to be newer Middle Eastern refineries.
At the end of May, Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu scrapped a popular but expensive subsidy on the fuel, which cost the cash-strapped government $10 billion last year. Petrol demand in response fell by 28%, official data showed.
Symptomatic of the fall in demand, onshore gasoline stocks in Nigeria have climbed to 960,000 tonnes from an average 613,000 tonnes between January and June, said Jeremy Parker at the CITAC consultancy which focuses on Africa's downstream energy market.
Meanwhile, the black market for smuggled subsidised Nigerian fuel in Togo and neighbouring Benin and Cameroon has collapsed, further reducing demand for shipments via Nigeria.
There is no reliable data on how much fuel was smuggled out of Nigeria under the subsidy regime, but a comparison of estimates from official and independent sources indicate more than a third of petrol could have left state oil firm NNPC's depots every day to be sold illegally abroad.
Without the subsidy, the financial incentive for smuggling disappears.
Average monthly West African (WAF) gasoline imports fell by 56% in the second quarter compared with the first, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.
"The key point is demand from West Africa is drying up," said Refinitiv Lead Oil Analyst Raj Rajendran.
Seasonally, June loadings from the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub to West Africa fell to 629,000 tonnes this year from 895,000 tonnes last year and 1.2 million tonnes in 2021, Refinitiv data showed.
Loadings dropped to 627,000 tonnes in July so far this year from 1.5 million tonnes last year and 1.4 million tonnes at the same time in 2021.
By contrast ARA exports to the United States rose to reach 695,000 tonnes so far this year in July, compared with 449,000 tonnes last year, although they were down from 791,000 tonnes in 2021.
Gasoline stockpiles in the ARA hub are higher seasonally than they have been at least since 2003, according to Insights Global data, as U.S. exports from the region did not fully compensate for the lower WAF exports.
Nigeria, Africa's largest crude oil producer, relies heavily on imports because of its inadequate domestic refining capacity.
Imports, however, are increasingly unaffordable as Nigeria's naira has weakened to record lows since the central bank removed currency restrictions in June. At the same time, inflation is near two-decade highs.
The huge, much-delayed Dangote refinery was designed to address the domestic supply shortfall, but full 650,000 barrel per day production is unlikely before the second quarter of 2025, CITAC estimates.
Analysts said it was possible demand would not fully recover.
"Demand for barrels into WAF may be lower at the moment as the market sorts itself out again post-subsidies. There may simply be a baseline decrease in demand," said Sparta Commodities gasoline market analyst Philip Jones-Lux.
For alternative supplies that are cheaper and therefore more palatable for Nigerian buyers, Jones-Lux points to imports from the Mideast Gulf and Russia. "The volumes appear small still, but not insignificant," he said.
Sparta estimates that fuel from the Mideast Gulf is around $35-$50 per tonne cheaper than ARA imports, around triple last week's spread, which could mean increased volumes into West Africa of Middle Eastern fuel.
An increase in direct Russian gasoline flows into West Africa started in January, but cumulative volumes, while growing from virtually non-existent in recent years to around 800,000 tonnes year-to-date, are still small, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.
"It’s not like (Russia is) capturing a bigger share of that market from European refiners. The challenge is coming from the new refineries in the Middle East that are expanding from their traditional East Africa market to now include West Africa and beyond even to the Americas," Rajendran said.
By Shadia Nasralla, Reuters
Related stories: President Tinubu fuel subsidy remarks causes chaos in Nigeria
Petrol use in Nigeria down 28% after subsidy scrapped
Black market collapses in Nigeria due to fuel subsidy removal
Thursday, July 27, 2023
Video - Guinness world records pursued with gusto in Nigeria
At least 40 Nigerians have previously been recognized by the Guinness World Records. The newfound pursuit of Guinness glory is a surprise for many.
Video - Parents face tough times as public universities hike fees in Nigeria
Many Nigerian students, and their parents, are worried they won't be able to complete their education following a decision by public universities to raise fees by 200 percent. The universities say the hike is necessary due to the surge in the cost of living raising the cost of operations.
Video - Nigeria continues to record surge in adoption of cryptocurrencies
Africa's most populous country is still reporting a boom in the use of cryptocurrencies despite warnings from authorities. Nigerians say bottlenecks around banking transactions, a scarcity of foreign exchange, and the belief that cryptocurrencies are an easy and quick means to make money, contribute to crypto's popularity.
Related stories: Nigeria’s crackdown on Bitcoin echoes global crypto conundrum
Video - Nigeria becomes first African nation to roll out digital currency
Video - Central bank of Nigeria raises key lending rate by 25 basis points
Samson Owolabi, an associate in research and portfolio management at Zedcrest Wealth, says there were several key reasons behind the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) increasing the interest rate, including persistent inflation and record levels of money supply. Owolabi, however, added that the CBN needs to find alternative methods of addressing such issues rather than simply resorting to interest hikes.
25 killed by suspected ISWAP militants in Nigeria
Islamist militants killed at least 25 people and wounded others in attacks on two villages in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, a hotbed for insurgency, a police source and two residents said on Wednesday.
The militants killed 18 herders grazing their livestock in one village and seven other people in another village, both in Kukawa district of the state that borders neighbouring Chad on Tuesday, the police source said.
Habibu Ardo, a herder in the area, said "ISWAP fighters (riding) on more than 15 motorcycles attacked our people while grazing in Kukawa and beheaded 18 of them without firing a single bullet on them in order to avoid the attention of security forces.”
Bakura Mustapha, a local vigilante who helped bury the dead, said “about 18 of the corpses were recovered in the bush and they have been buried today according to Islamic rites.”
A police spokesperson did not immediately respond to calls to confirm the incident.
Borno state is at the heart of a 14-year Islamist insurgency in Nigeria, which has spilled into neighbouring Chad and Cameroon. The conflict was launched by Boko Haram and later joined by its offshoot ISWAP, a regional affiliate of the Islamic state.
The United Nations estimates that the conflict had killed some 350,000 people by the end of 2020 and has left millions dependent on aid.
By Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters
Security agency to probe clash between officers and prison officials in Nigeria
Nigeria's Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday said it is investigating an "unfortunate" clash between its officers and prison officials on court premises after a bail ruling for the suspended central bank governor Godwin Emefiele.
Emefiele, who was granted bail on Tuesday, was forcefully re-arrested by DSS officers after openly clashing with prison officials who attempted to take him into custody in line with the court's ruling. He has been held by the DSS since June 10.
The DSS has "initiated detailed investigations into the matter. This is with a view to identifying the role played by specific persons as well as undertaking disciplinary actions if necessary," Peter Afunanya, a spokesman for agency, said in a statement.
The agency, which notes the "undue overzealousness" by everyone involved in the incident, "has tremendous respect for the judiciary" and will not deliberately undermine it, he added.
By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo, Reuters
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
34 killed by armed gang in Nigeria
At least 34 people, including seven soldiers, were killed in an attack by a gang of armed men in Nigeria's northwest Zamfara state, the head of a vigilante group and residents said.
The attack in the remote Dan Gulbi district of the Maru local government area of the state occurred on Monday afternoon, Ismail Magaji, the head of the local vigilante group, told Reuters.
Lawali Zonai, a resident, said, "27 villagers were killed in the attack while seven military personnel were ambushed on their way to aid the community from the gruesome attack."
A spokesperson for the Zamfara state police did not immediately respond to calls seeking to confirm the incident.
Gangs of heavily armed men, locally referred to as bandits, have wreaked havoc across Nigeria's northwest in the past three years, kidnapping thousands, killing hundreds and making it unsafe to travel by road or farm in some areas.
The attacks have confounded Nigeria's security forces that are overstretched combating a 14-year Islamist insurgency in the northeast, violent farmer-herder and sectarian clashes in the central region and rising attacks by a separatist group in the southeast.
By Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters
Suspended central bank governor of Nigeria denies firearm charges
Suspended Nigerian central bank governor Godwin Emefiele appeared in court on Tuesday to deny illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition, the first time he has been seen in public in more than a month.
Emefiele was detained by the Department State Services (DSS) on June 10, a day after new President Bola Tinubu suspended him. A judge this month ordered the agency to file charges or release him.
Emefiele, dressed in a white kaftan and looking frail, pleaded not guilty to two counts of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, a Reuters reporter said.
The court granted Emefiele bail on condition of paying 20 million naira ($25,500) and said he should be remanded in custody in prison until the bail conditions are met or until Nov. 14, when next his case next comes up for hearing.
Emefiele was re-arrested by DSS officers after clashing with prison officials who attempted to take him into custody in line with the court's ruling.
Government lawyers had asked the courts in June to authorise Emefiele's detention for allegedly misappropriating funds and "criminal breach of trust", charges that carry lengthy jail terms if proved.
They secured a court order to hold Emefiele pending further investigations.
Emefiele was known for using unorthodox policies to keep the country's naira currency artificially strong and lending directly to businesses to try to boost growth.
Tinubu, who is embarking on the boldest reforms in Africa's biggest economy in more than a decade, criticised the central bank's policies under Emefiele at his inauguration in May, saying they needed "thorough house-cleaning", without providing details.
The central bank is due later on Tuesday to announce its first interest rate decision since Emefiele's suspension. One of Emefiele's deputies, Folashodun Shonubi, is acting central bank governor.
By Chijioke Ohuocha and Seun Sanni, Reuters
Related stories: Former Central Bank Chief of Nigeria charged with Illegal Firearm Possession
Critical mistakes made by central bank of Nigeria in cash swap
Video - Supreme court suspends currency swap deadline in Nigeria
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Nigeria Raises $500 Million to Boost Agriculture Industry
Nigeria’s government has raised more than $500 million to transform food production in Africa’s most-populous nation.
The funds come from sources including multilateral development banks and international financial institutions, Vice President Kashim Shettima said in a statement on Tuesday. The money will be used for “innovation finance for food system transformation, development of Nigeria’s agro value chain and special agro-industrial processing zones programmes,” he said.
President Bola Tinubu’s administration declared a state of emergency last week to allow the state to take exceptional steps to boost food security and supply, as the country of more than 200 million people grapples with inflation accelerating at the fastest pace in two decades. Measures being considered include clearing forests for farmland to boost agricultural output and ease food costs.
Read more: Surging Food Prices Spur Nigeria to Declare an Emergency
The government is also taking steps to improve security in the country, where a decade-long insurgency by Islamist militants and attacks by bandits have curbed farm output.
“The president has already approved the infusion of a huge quantum of funds towards repositioning of our security architecture,” Shettima said. “We are repositioning our security architecture to provide support for farms and farmers.”
Monday, July 24, 2023
Video - Nigeria hosts largest gathering of sports personalities
Nigeria hosted the largest gathering of the country's best sports personalities, including local and foreign-based Olympians at a summit to recognize heroes who have put the nation on the global map. At the core of the discussion was returning the country to its glory days.
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