Suspected Boko Haram kills 15 farmers in northeast Nigeria

At least 15 rice farmers were killed and several others feared abducted in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state after suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked three villages, a local farmers' leader said on Monday.

The attack occurred in the villages of Koshebe, Karkut, and Bulabulin in the Mafa local government area in the state, about 15 kilometres from the capital Maiduguri, Mohammed Haruna, secretary of the Zabarmari Rice Farmers Association, told Reuters.

The Borno police spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the attack, which happened on Sunday.

Haruna said the Islamists stormed the villages on motorcycles and attacked the farmers who were harvesting crops from their rice fields.

"They did not use guns to kill them, instead they used cutlasses and knives to stab them to death, while others were beheaded," Haruna said.

He said 15 farmers were confirmed killed in the attack, adding that some managed to escape. The number of those missing is still unknown.

The attack is the latest in a series of assaults by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria. The group has been waging a 14-year insurgency in the region aimed at establishing an Islamic caliphate there.

At least 40 people were killed in the northeastern Yobe state last week, the first major Boko Haram attack in the state in 18 months.

Last week, Nigerian lawmakers approved a supplementary budget that includes provisions for defence and security.

President Bola Tinubu, preoccupied with fixing the economy, has yet to outline how he plans to tackle insurgency in the north and widespread insecurity across the country.

By Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters

Peter Obi slams court ruling confirming Tinubu election win

Nigeria's opposition Labour Party leader Peter Obi on Monday criticised the Supreme Court's ruling affirming President Bola Tinubu's victory in February's elections and vowed to continue to fight for a "New Nigeria".

The country's top court on Oct. 26 rejected an attempt to overturn the election result by the main opposition leader Atiku Abubakar and Obi, who came second and third in the vote, slamming the door on any legal challenge against Tinubu, who says he won fairly.

The Supreme Court judgment followed a pattern seen in previous presidential elections that have been challenged in court. None of the attempts to overturn results through the courts has been successful.

Speaking for the first time since the ruling, Obi, a former two-term governor who campaigned as an outsider, told reporters the judgment was a disappointment and contradicted overwhelming evidence of election rigging, false claims of technical glitches, and other irregularities.

He said the ruling was a "total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in our judiciary" and a "show of unreasonable force against the very Nigerian people from whom the power of the Constitution derives".

Despite the setback, Obi vowed to remain in the opposition and continue fighting for a "New Nigeria", pledging to remain committed to good governance to ensure the country was led away from what he called its current waste and consumption orientation to a production-driven economy.

"We will offer the checks and balances required in a functional democracy and vie robustly in forthcoming elections to elect those who share our vision of a new Nigeria," Obi said.

Obi's supporters, known as the "Obidients", have been vocal in their criticism of the Supreme Court ruling. They have accused the court of being biased and of protecting the interests of the ruling party.

Obi's rejection of the Supreme Court ruling is likely to resonate with his supporters, mostly young Nigerians who were attracted by his message of hope and change and see him as a break from the old guard.

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

Related stories: Atiku says court ruling will erode trust in elections in Nigeria

Supreme Court of Nigeria affirms President Tinubu's election win

Explosion, fire at Canadian High Commission in Nigeria kills 2

An explosion at the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria's capital of Abuja killed two people and sent another two to hospital, according to the fire service that responded to the call.

"A tanker that was inside the generator building exploded ... killing two men who worked for the company managing the generator," Mercy Douglas of the FCT Fire Service told CBC News.

"Two people outside the building were injured by the explosion," she added. "They are in hospital having treatment."

An eyewitness who tweeted a video of the fire captured large plumes of black smoke billowing up from behind the building.

In a social media post, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said that officials were working to "shed light on what caused this situation."

"I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of the two people killed in this tragedy," Joly said.

Douglas said the fire service got a call at 11:55 a.m. Monday reporting the tanker explosion inside the generator building on Diplomatic Drive in the city's central business district.

Firefighters in Abuja subdued the fire and were back at the station by 1 p.m., Douglas said.

Douglas was unable to confirm whether any of the people killed or hospitalized held Canadian citizenship.

In a statement issued Monday afternoon, Global Affairs Canada said one of the two people killed was a "locally engaged employee."

"Global Affairs Canada extends its sympathies to the families of those killed and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured," the statement said. "We can confirm all other staff at the High Commission are safe and unharmed."

Global Affairs said it's working with local authorities to determine the cause of the explosion and the High Commission will be closed until further notice.

"An investigation will be carried out, but at this point everything points to an accident rather than a deliberate act," the department said.

By Peter Zimonjic, CBC

Video - Nigeria aims to boost revenues with shrimp

In an attempt to diversify Nigeria’s economy away from oil, the government wants to position the country to reap the gains from shrimp exports. However, local fishermen and experts say the country’s industry needs to overcome several challenges, including high fuel costs, technical issues, and a significant knowledge gap.

CGTN

House of Representatives in Nigeria reject plan to buy presidential yacht

Nigeria's lower chamber of parliament has rejected the government's plan to buy a presidential yacht for $6m (£5m), a senior lawmaker has said.

Nigerians had criticised the plan as a waste of money on luxuries during an economic crisis.

Lawmakers instead moved the $6m to the student loan budget, doubling its allocation, Abubakar Bichi said.

President Bola Tinubu took office in May with a promise to cut waste, and ease people's financial hardship.

But he triggered an outcry after he tabled a supplementary budget in the National Assembly for approval, with the planned purchase of the yacht listed under the Nigerian Navy's proposed capital expenditure of $53m.

Human rights activist and former lawmaker Shehu Sani reacted by saying that "the poor can't be struggling for survival in a canoe while their leader is yachting".

Mr Tinubu's spokesman Temitope Ajayi distanced the president from plans to buy the yacht.

"From what I know, the request for a yacht, however it is named or couched in the budget is from the navy and they must have operational reasons for why it is required," he said.

The budget was approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday.

But Mr Bichi, chairman of the influential House Committee on Appropriation and a member of Mr Tinubu's ruling party, told local journalists that lawmakers had declined to approve the allocation for a presidential yacht.

The budget also earmarks $36m for State House expenditure, including the purchase of luxury vehicles and the construction of a presidential office complex.

The government is also planning to spend $15m (£13m) on the presidential air fleet.

The controversy comes at a time when Mr Tinubu is under intense pressure over the cost-of-living crisis, and a massive fall in the value of Nigeria's currency, the naira, against the dollar.

Nigeria's annual inflation rose to 26.7% in September, according to official statistics.

A leading advocacy group in Nigeria, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (Serap), said the purchase of a yacht could not be justified when "137 million Nigerians live in extreme poverty".

It added that their plight worsened after Mr Tinubu scrapped a fuel subsidy in his inaugural speech as president, causing the price of fuel and other basic commodities to rise.

Activist Omoyele Sowore accused the government of spending on luxuries while it "maintains the miseries of the Nigerian populace".

Mr Ajayi said the president and his vice-president were not planning to add new vehicles to their fleet, and were using "inherited vehicles" from the previous administration.

He said the budget for vehicles was for hundreds of civil servants and political aides working at State House.

By Farouk Chothia & Wycliffe Muia, BBC

Related story: SUVs and Yachts in Nigeria Budget During Economic Hardship