A bombing in a bar in Nigeria's northeast has killed at least 14 people and injured another 14 in the second attack targeting football fans in a fortnight.
The blast on Sunday hit the town of Mubi in Adamawa state, one of three in the northeast which has been under a state of emergency for more than a year as Nigeria's military has tried to crush Boko Haram's five-year uprising.
Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idriss said residents in Mubi town had told him dozens were killed in the attack.
"The police are confirming, so far, 14 people have died in the blast but locals are telling us at least 40 people may have died in that attack at the moment," our reporter said from Abuja.
The bomb exploded around 6.30pm (1730 GMT) in Gavan in the Mubi area of Adamawa and reportedly targeted fans who were watching a local club match.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Football fans targeted again
Last week a botched suicide bombing that was meant to target an open air viewing of a football match in the central Nigerian city of Jos killed three people
Adamawa has been hit by far fewer Boko Haram attacks than other parts of the northeast, but the area was the site of a gruesome October 2012 massacre at a post-secondary technical college.
Scores of students were killed in their dorms, including many whose throats were slit.
Mubi is just a few kilometres from Nigeria's border with Cameroon and near the area where two Italian priests and a Canadian nun were seized by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in April.
The three were released earlier on Sunday and flown out on board a military aircraft from the town of Maroua, heading for the Cameroon capital.
Boko Haram has carried out scores of attacks on targets it says are a product of Western influence, including sports venues and schools teaching a secular curriculum.
The group has killed thousands during its battle against the government since 2009, but the conflict has received unprecedented global attention over the last six weeks following the group's mass kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls.
The girls were seized on April 14 from Chibok in Borno state, which shares a border with Adamawa.
Nigeria's response to the kidnapping has been fiercely criticised as inept and the crisis has piled intense pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan's government to do more to end the uprising.
Aljazeera
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Video - President Goodluck Jonathan declares 'total war' on Boko Haram
Nigeria's president says he will crush Boko Haram, and rid the country of what he calls terrorists. In his annual "Democracy Day" address, Goodluck Jonathan insisted his government is doing all it can to rescue more than 200 girls abducted by the group.
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Western Union launches online service in Nigeria
World’s leading money transfer company, Western Union Co. (WU) has initiated its online service – www.WesternUnion.ng – in Nigeria with the debut of its online site.
This is Western Union’s first inward-remittance website across the globe. The service was launched with support from Interswitch Limited.
The website will enable Nigerians to move funds into a bank account with Guaranty Trust Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Wema Bank.
Western Union already has a significant presence in Nigeria and provides mobile money remittance service in the region via eTranzact.
Western Union perceives Nigeria as an attractive market opportunity since the country topped the list of African countries for diaspora remittances due to the huge remittance it receives. As per data from World Bank, Nigeria received $21 billion in funds last year. Going forward, this region is expected to witness further growth in remittance.
Western Union is increasing its investments in high-growth electronic channels to build a world-class customer experience. These efforts are propelling rapid growth in digital, account-based money transfer, and mobile banking. Online, westernunion.com money transfer transactions grew more than 40% in 2013, while transactions for electronic account-based money transfer through banks surged over 50%.
Management is targeting $500 million in revenues from the digital business (westernunion.com/mobile) by 2015, which implies a 60% CAGR revenue growth through 2015.
Another money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc. (MGI) also provides services in Nigeria.
Western Union currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
However, other players such as Xoom Corp. (XOOM) with a Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy) and Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (FIS) with a Zacks Rank # 2 (Buy) are worth considering.
ZACKS
Related story: Bitcoin interest grows in Nigeria
This is Western Union’s first inward-remittance website across the globe. The service was launched with support from Interswitch Limited.
The website will enable Nigerians to move funds into a bank account with Guaranty Trust Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Wema Bank.
Western Union already has a significant presence in Nigeria and provides mobile money remittance service in the region via eTranzact.
Western Union perceives Nigeria as an attractive market opportunity since the country topped the list of African countries for diaspora remittances due to the huge remittance it receives. As per data from World Bank, Nigeria received $21 billion in funds last year. Going forward, this region is expected to witness further growth in remittance.
Western Union is increasing its investments in high-growth electronic channels to build a world-class customer experience. These efforts are propelling rapid growth in digital, account-based money transfer, and mobile banking. Online, westernunion.com money transfer transactions grew more than 40% in 2013, while transactions for electronic account-based money transfer through banks surged over 50%.
Management is targeting $500 million in revenues from the digital business (westernunion.com/mobile) by 2015, which implies a 60% CAGR revenue growth through 2015.
Another money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc. (MGI) also provides services in Nigeria.
Western Union currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
However, other players such as Xoom Corp. (XOOM) with a Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy) and Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (FIS) with a Zacks Rank # 2 (Buy) are worth considering.
ZACKS
Related story: Bitcoin interest grows in Nigeria
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Video - Nigeria Super Eagles putting faith in young squad for 2014 World Cup
Ever since failing to earn a qualifying spot to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations final, Stephen Keshi has worked hard to turn around the Nigerian national team's fortunes. And the Nigerian coach's results seem to speak for themselves. The Super Eagles won their first AFCON title since 1994 and are one of the five African teams heading to Brazil for the World Cup.
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Four kidnapped schoolgirls escape from Boko Haram
Four of the more than 200 Nigerian girls kidnapped by militants in April have escaped their captors, a Nigerian Ministry of Information official confirmed to NBC News.
The schoolgirls have been missing more than a month since they were abducted by Boko Haram, an Islamist terror organization, which first vowed to sell them into slavery and then said it would free them only in exchange for the release of militant prisoners.
Education commissioner Musa Inuwa told Reuters by telephone the four girls had been reunited with their parents, but he declined to provide the wire service with additional details of their escape.
The reports of the kidnapping have sparked global outrage. The United States has deployed surveillance drones, spy planes and roughly 30 civilian and military specialists to aid Nigeria's security forces in the hunt for the missing schoolgirls.
Nigeria has said it knows the whereabouts of the abducted girls. But U.S. military officials were quick to say that they could not confirm the report.
NBC
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Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
The schoolgirls have been missing more than a month since they were abducted by Boko Haram, an Islamist terror organization, which first vowed to sell them into slavery and then said it would free them only in exchange for the release of militant prisoners.
Education commissioner Musa Inuwa told Reuters by telephone the four girls had been reunited with their parents, but he declined to provide the wire service with additional details of their escape.
The reports of the kidnapping have sparked global outrage. The United States has deployed surveillance drones, spy planes and roughly 30 civilian and military specialists to aid Nigeria's security forces in the hunt for the missing schoolgirls.
Nigeria has said it knows the whereabouts of the abducted girls. But U.S. military officials were quick to say that they could not confirm the report.
NBC
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Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
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