Nigeria and Russia Sign Military Cooperation Agreement

The Nigerian Embassy in Moscow announced last week the signing of a legal framework agreement that would provide for Russia to supply Nigeria with military equipment and training. The Agreement on Military-Technical Cooperation also provides for “after-sales services, training of personnel in respective educational establishments, and technology transfer.” Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly raised the possibility of such an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2019.

Media sees the agreement as related to U.S. congressional hesitancy to authorize the sale to Nigeria of certain military equipment because of human rights concerns. Indeed, ​Nigerian desire to buy such materiel—and American reluctance to sell, often on human rights grounds—is a perennial irritant to the bilateral relationship. Nigeria already uses military equipment from Russia and other military suppliers as well as the United States.

The just-signed agreement is a legal framework only; Nigeria has not entered into a new agreement actually to make new purchases. With respect to Nigeria, Russia is likely to be “transactional”—can its companies make money? Any accompanying increase in political influence Moscow will regard as a secondary dividend. 

By John Campbell 

CFR

Video - Nigerian Medics Seek Greener Pastures In Saudi Arabia

Nigerian medics are moving to the Middle East in search of greener pastures amid resident doctors' strike.

Tiger Brands becomes latest SA company to exit Nigeria

South African company Tiger Brands, owner of brands like All Gold, Black Cat and Koo, agreed to sell its 49% minority shareholding in UAC Foods to parent UAC of Nigeria.

The purchase is expected to be completed in September, UAC of Nigeria said in a filing published on the website of the Nigerian Exchange Group. UAC of Nigeria currently owns 51% of UAC Food's shares.

Tiger Brands acquired a minority state in UAC Foods in 2011, following a joint venture agreement with the Nigerian firm to manufacture and distribute some sausage, ice cream and water brands. It is exiting Nigeria about two months after another South African firm, Shoprite Holdings, sold its operations in the West African country to local investors.

Also, Tiger Brands in 2015 sold its shareholding in Dangote Flour to Nigerian parent Dangote Industries, three years after buying it.

By Emele Onu

Bloomberg

Video - Gunmen kill 36 villagers in Nigeria's divided Plateau state

Attackers shot dead at least 36 people and destroyed buildings in a night raid on a village near the central Nigerian city of Jos, officials said, in an area hit by repeated ethnic clashes.

The gunmen went house to house killing residents in Yelwa Zangam late on Tuesday, a military spokesman said. Troops struggled to get to the area as a bridge had been destroyed, he added.
Jos is the capital of Plateau State - part of Nigeria's so-called Middle Belt which has seen regular fighting between the Hausa-Fulani group, who dominate the whole of northern Nigeria, and a number of much smaller local ethnic groups.

Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong described the attack as a "barbaric act", and said security forces had arrested 10 suspects and were pursuing others.
He said he was reinstating a 24-hour curfew on the surrounding area to prevent further loss of life and property. Authorities had only recently relaxed a curfew imposed after attackers killed 22 commuters in the same area on Aug 14.

One local resident said the attackers were Fulanis from a nearby area involved in a feud with the Yelwa Zangam community. Reuters could not independently verify this.
A registrar at a hospital in Jos told Reuters that 36 bodies had been brought in from the village.

Upsurge of violence

The whole of Nigeria has been experiencing an upsurge of violence this year, with abductions for ransom and armed robberies commonplace in several states.

The underlying cause of much of the tension is poverty which intensifies competition for resources and jobs and, in the Middle Belt, exacerbates a complex inter-section of ethnic and religious rivalries.
The Hausa-Fulani, who number tens of millions across Nigeria and are mostly Muslim, are seen as a threat by some of the smaller Middle Belt groups, who are predominantly Christian. 

CNN

Gunmen release some students in northern Nigeria months after kidnapping

Gunmen have released some of the children kidnapped from a school in northern Nigeria back in May, some of whom were as young as five years old, the school's head teacher said late Thursday.

Abubakar Garba Alhassan told The Associated Press that the freed students were on their way to the state capital, Minna, but added he could not confirm the exact number freed.

Authorities have said that 136 children were abducted along with several teachers when gunmen on motorcycles attacked the Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Niger state. Other preschoolers were left behind as they could not keep pace when the gunmen hurriedly moved those abducted into the forest.

Alhassan did not provide details of their release, but parents of the students have over the past weeks struggled to raise ransoms demanded by their abductors. There was no immediate comment from police of the Niger governor's office.

The release, though, came a day after local media quoted one parent as saying six of the children had died in captivity.

More than 1,000 students have been forcibly taken from their schools during those attacks, according to an Associated Press tally of figures previously confirmed by the police. Although most of those kidnapped have been released, at least 200 are still held by their abductors.

The government has been unable to halt the spate of abductions for ransom. As a result, many schools have been forced to close due to the concerns about the kidnapping risk.

After one abduction at a university in Kaduna state earlier this year, gunmen demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom. They killed five other students to compel the students' parents to raise the money, and later released 14 others.

CBC

Related story: Bandits release 15 students after parents pay ransom