Nigerian police confirm gunmen abducted villagers, after initial denials

Police in Nigeria’s Kaduna State said that armed bandits abducted dozens of villagers over the weekend, after initially dismissing the incident.

In a statement late on Tuesday, Nigeria’s national police spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, said an “abduction” had indeed occurred on Sunday, and that the police had launched security operations “with a clear focus on locating and safely rescuing the victims and restoring calm to the area”.

Hundeyin said the earlier denials by officers and other officials were “intended to prevent unnecessary panic while facts were being confirmed”. The police statement did not say how many people were abducted.

In an interview with The Associated Press news agency, Kaduna State lawmaker Usman Danlami Stingo put the number of missing people at 168.

The head of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the northern part of the country, Reverend John Hayab, told the Reuters news agency by phone on Monday that at least 172 worshippers were kidnapped, and that nine later escaped, leaving 163 still missing.

Sunday’s raid is the latest in a wave of mass kidnappings targeting both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.

Gangs, known in Nigeria as “bandits”, frequently carry out mass kidnappings for ransom, and loot villages, mainly in the northern and central parts of Africa’s most populous country.

Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from Kurmin Wali village in Kaduna State, said dozens of gunmen stormed the village on Sunday as people gathered to pray in three churches and abducted a quarter of the village’s residents.

“Two days after the attack, the community received a demand,” Idris said.

“The bandits want the return of 10 missing motorcycles they hid in the bush. For now, that is the condition for the release of the captives. But Kurmin Wali residents say they don’t know where the bikes are, and they have been robbed to a point where many can hardly afford to feed themselves,” he said.

In November, armed gangs seized more than 300 students and teachers from a Catholic school in the country’s Niger State, with 50 escaping and the rest being released in two batches weeks later.

Roughly evenly split between a mostly Christian south and Muslim-majority north, Nigeria is home to myriad conflicts, which experts say kill both Christians and Muslims, often without distinction.

But United States President Donald Trump has latched onto the security situation in Nigeria, focusing on the killing of Christians and putting Abuja under diplomatic pressure.

In late December, the US launched strikes on what it and the Nigerian government said were armed groups in northwestern Sokoto State.

Nigeria said it approved the strikes.

By Ted Regencia, Al Jazeera

Related story: Nigeria police deny reports of mass church abductions in north

Nigerian troops free 62 hostages, kill two militants in northwest operations

MADUGURI, Nigeria, Jan 21 - Nigerian troops have rescued 62 hostages and killed two militants in separate operations across Kebbi and Zamfara states as part of an ongoing offensive against armed groups in the northwest, the army said on Wednesday.

The northwest has been hit by a surge in mass kidnappings carried out by armed gangs operating from forest hideouts. These groups have attacked villages, schools and places of worship, including the January 18 abduction of more than 160 worshippers from two churches in Kaduna.

Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Olaniyi Osoba said troops stormed a known bandit hideout in Zamfara after receiving reports that captives were being held there.

The army said all 62 hostages were rescued and are in safe custody, with efforts underway to reunite them with their families.

In a separate operation, troops ambushed Lakurawa militants near the border between Kebbi’s Augie district and neighbouring Sokoto after receiving intelligence on the group’s movements, Osoba said.

Nigeria has come under scrutiny from U.S. President Donald Trump, who accused the country of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants operating in the northwest.

U.S. forces launched strikes against Islamic State targets in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day. The Nigerian government denies any systematic persecution of Christians, saying it is targeting Islamist fighters and other armed groups that attack both Christian and Muslim civilians.

The army added that the operations form part of broader efforts to dismantle armed networks responsible for widespread kidnappings and insecurity across the region.

By Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters

Global oil price uncertainty cast shadow over Nigeria’s fiscal outlook

Nigeria has projected an oil price of about $64 per barrel and production of 1.84 million barrels per day. Analysts say those targets may be hard to reach. However, officials are more concerned about volatile global prices, which could come under pressure from a potential supply glut, particularly as the United States eases restrictions on Venezuelan oil sales.

CGTN Africa

NARD Warns Nigeria Could Lose More Doctors In Next Decade After Exit Of 15,000 Doctors

The National President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Mohammad Suleiman, has warned that Nigeria’s health sector is approaching a critical breaking point, revealing that more than 15,000 doctors have left the country since 2014, with 4,700 exiting in 2024 alone.

Speaking on Monday at the opening of a five day training on effective policy-making and strategic leadership for NARD leaders at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Suleiman said the trend, if unchecked, could see Nigeria lose another 15,000 doctors within the next decade.

“Facts don’t lie. Figures don’t lie. In 2024, 4,700 doctors left the shores of Nigeria. Every year we produce 2,000 to 3,000 doctors, yet we lost far more than we produced. If this continues, Nigeria cannot survive it,” he argued.

Suleiman painted a stark picture of the country’s doctor to patient ratio, noting that Nigeria currently has fewer than 30,000 doctors serving an estimated 240 million people, a ratio of roughly one doctor to over 10,000 citizens.

“This is not sustainable,” he warned. “In 10 to 15 years, Nigerians will walk into hospitals and find no doctors to attend to them,” he said.

He added that the association’s recent engagements with the federal government were driven by the urgency of preventing a total collapse of the health system. “These decisions are not easy. They are tough. But we take them because we know what lies ahead if nothing changes,” he stressed.

Suleiman emphasised that NARD is not presenting new demands to the government, but simply asking for the implementation of previously agreed policies that require no additional financial burden.

“These are agreements that won’t cost the government a penny,” he said. “Issues like membership certificates, employment processes, workload management, and local training policies — these are measures that strengthen the system, not just resident doctors,” he explained.

He expressed optimism that the renewed commitment between NARD and the government could avert future strikes. “If the understanding we have now is sustained, I don’t foresee any strike in the near future.”

Earlier, the Director General of NIPSS, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, commended NARD for prioritising leadership development and policy literacy, describing their presence at the institute as a sign of foresight.

He said the training would equip young medical leaders with the tools needed to engage constructively with policymakers and address the complex challenges facing Nigeria’s health sector.

By Yemi Kosoko, Arise

Related story: Doctors are leaving Nigeria in droves

Nigeria suffering from medical brain drain

Africa’s largest plastic recycler plans $60m mega plant to process 100,000 tonnes of waste in Nigeria

 

Polysmart Packaging Limited, one of Nigeria’s leading plastic recyclers, has announced a $60 million expansion to construct what it describes as the largest and most advanced plastic recycling facility in the country, a move that could reshape West Africa’s circular economy landscape.

The new plant, which will be developed in phases, is expected to begin operations by the end of March 2026, with full commissioning scheduled for July 2026.

Once completed, the facility will significantly scale up Nigeria’s capacity to process post-consumer plastic waste into high-quality recycled materials, including food-grade recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET).

The investment positions Polysmart among Africa’s most ambitious private-sector players in sustainable manufacturing, at a time when governments and multinational brands are under growing pressure to cut plastic pollution and carbon emissions.

According to the company, the facility will be equipped with world-class recycling technologies, including systems from Sorema and Tomra, as well as two Erema Vacunite units. These will enable the processing of multiple polymer streams, producing rPET resin and flakes that meet the standards of the European Food Safety Authority and the United States Food and Drug Administration, as well as non-food-grade HDPE, LDPE, and polypropylene materials.

“This is a transformative moment for Nigeria’s green economy,” said Wasiu Abolaji Balogun, managing director and chief executive of Polysmart Packaging Limited.

He described the $60 million investment as a commitment not only to infrastructure and technology but also to people, adding that the expansion is expected to generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs across waste collection, sorting, technical, and operational segments of the value chain.

At full capacity, the plant will process up to 100,000 tonnes of mixed plastics annually, making it the largest of its kind in the region.

Polysmart’s $60m investment could recycle 5.5 billion plastic bottles a year in Nigeria

Polysmart estimates that the expanded facilities could recover and recycle more than 5.5 billion PET bottles every year, diverting vast volumes of plastic waste from landfills, drainage systems, and waterways.

A major strategic goal of the project is import substitution. By producing certified food-grade rPET locally, Polysmart aims to supply a critical raw material to Nigeria’s food, beverage, and fast-moving consumer goods industries, reducing their reliance on imported virgin plastics and easing pressure on foreign exchange demand.

The company says the expansion will also contribute to a significant reduction in Nigeria’s dependence on virgin plastics derived from crude oil. By replacing them with high-quality recycled alternatives, Polysmart positions the project as a step towards a more sustainable manufacturing ecosystem.

From an environmental, social, and governance perspective, the new plant is projected to deliver carbon savings of up to 170,000 tonnes based on its planned capacity. These gains come from lower energy use, reduced emissions, and the reintegration of plastic waste into the production cycle.

Polysmart said it is working closely with federal and state environmental agencies to ensure the facility meets global safety and environmental protection standards.

Industry observers say the scale of the investment could strengthen Nigeria’s ambition to become a regional hub for green technology and sustainable manufacturing.

As plastic pollution continues to pose a growing challenge across Africa, projects of this scale are increasingly viewed as critical to balancing economic growth with environmental responsibility.

By Segun Adeyemi, Business Insider Africa