British heavyweight and two-time champion of the world Anthony Joshua speaks for the first time since the car crash that killed two of his close friends in Nigeria.
Related story: Police arrest Joshua’s driver after boxer discharged
Friday, January 30, 2026
Emotional Anthony Joshua speaks for the first time since Nigeria crash
British heavyweight and two-time champion of the world Anthony Joshua speaks for the first time since the car crash that killed two of his close friends in Nigeria.
Deadly jihadist attack kills dozens in northeast Nigeria, including soldiers
A jihadist attack blamed on Islamic State-aligned militants killed dozens of people in northeast Nigeria on Thursday, including soldiers, local sources told AFP, in the latest violence in the region.
The attack happened overnight in Sabon Gari in remote Borno state, which has been the epicentre of an Islamist insurgency by Boko Haram and its Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) offshoot rival since 2009.
More than 40,000 people have been killed and nearly two million others forced to flee their homes.
"The death toll runs into dozens," said Ibrahim Liman, a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force militia that helps the Nigerian military against the militants.
"More bodies are still at the base while many soldiers are missing," he added.
Liman said 20 bodies, including those of five soldiers and 15 construction workers, and local hunters were taken to the general hospital in the nearby town of Biu.
Bukar Yamta Ali, secretary of a local hunters' group in Yamarkumi, near Biu, and two nurses at Biu hospital confirmed they had recovered bodies and wounded from Sabon Gari.
The victims were working on a road bridge that was destroyed last year in another jihadist attack, and were returning to their base when they were attacked.
Military and militia sources said on Tuesday that at least nine Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ISWAP ambush near Damasak near the border with Niger last week.
ISWAP emerged from a split with Boko Haram in 2016 and primarily targets Nigerian security forces, although civilians in the region have been caught up in the violence.
The attack happened overnight in Sabon Gari in remote Borno state, which has been the epicentre of an Islamist insurgency by Boko Haram and its Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) offshoot rival since 2009.
More than 40,000 people have been killed and nearly two million others forced to flee their homes.
"The death toll runs into dozens," said Ibrahim Liman, a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force militia that helps the Nigerian military against the militants.
"More bodies are still at the base while many soldiers are missing," he added.
Liman said 20 bodies, including those of five soldiers and 15 construction workers, and local hunters were taken to the general hospital in the nearby town of Biu.
Bukar Yamta Ali, secretary of a local hunters' group in Yamarkumi, near Biu, and two nurses at Biu hospital confirmed they had recovered bodies and wounded from Sabon Gari.
The victims were working on a road bridge that was destroyed last year in another jihadist attack, and were returning to their base when they were attacked.
Military and militia sources said on Tuesday that at least nine Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ISWAP ambush near Damasak near the border with Niger last week.
ISWAP emerged from a split with Boko Haram in 2016 and primarily targets Nigerian security forces, although civilians in the region have been caught up in the violence.
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Makoko demolitions leave thousands displaced as Lagos clears floating settlement
Makoko, one of Africa's largest floating settlements on the lagoons of Lagos, has been demolished, leaving thousands of residents without homes or livelihoods. Families say they received no warning before authorities razed the community, citing environmental and public health concerns and the need for development. Many residents, who depended on fishing, sawmilling and informal trades, now sleep in the open with their children, unable to salvage belongings. Schools have been destroyed, disrupting education, whilst no formal resettlement plan has been announced, echoing past forced evictions criticised by human rights groups.
Related story: The Nigerian Government Destroys Orphanage in Makoko
Nigeria implements measures to reduce maternal deaths
The government says it has recruited about 2,500 community health workers to promote basic prenatal and antenatal care. According to the UN, one in every 100 pregnant women in Nigeria dies during labour or shortly thereafter.
Ex-Nigeria oil minister in bribery trial spent £2m at Harrods, court hears
Diezani Alison-Madueke, 65, is alleged to have been provided with "a life of luxury in the United Kingdom", including the use of multimillion-pound properties, a chauffeur driven car, travel by private jet, and £100,000 in cash.
Other benefits she allegedly received included £4.6m spent on refurbishing properties in London and Buckinghamshire, the trial at Southwark Crown Court was told.
She denies five counts of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Alison-Madueke was minister of petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015 under then-President Goodluck Jonathan.
Jurors were told that over £2m was spent on behalf of Alison-Madueke at Harrods using the payment cards of Nigerian businessman Kolawole Aluko and the debit card of his company Tenka Limited.
The defendant had her own personal shopper at the store, only available to Harrods Rewards Black Tier members who must spend over £10,000 a year, the court heard.
Jurors were also told she lived some of the time in the UK where she was provided with a housekeeper, nanny, gardener and window cleaner.
The salaries and other running costs were paid for by the owners of energy companies who had lucrative contracts with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the court was told.
"This case is about bribery in relation to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria during the period 2011 to 2015," said Alexandra Healy KC, prosecuting.
"During that time those who were interested in the award and retention of lucrative oil and gas contracts with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation or its subsidiaries the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company and the Pipelines Product Marketing Company, provided significant financial or other advantages to Alison-Madueke."
Healy added: "It might seem strange to be dealing here in the UK with a case that concerns bribery in relation to the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
"We live in a global society. Bribery and corruption undermine the proper functioning of the global market.
"There is an important public interest in ensuring that conduct in our country does not further corruption in another country."
Jurors were also shown photographs inside a property called The Falls in Gerrard's Cross, Buckinghamshire, which was bought in 2010 by Nigerian businessman Olajide Omokore, owner of a company called Atlantic Energy.
From late 2011 Alison-Madueke allegedly had exclusive use of the house which has a cinema room. The court heard she stayed there three or four times over two years, and spent six weeks at the property writing a book about the president of Nigeria.
She was assisted by a chef and the driver of car whose role included dropping off shopping for Alison-Madueke, whom he knew as "HM" - short for honourable minister.
It was said that this, along with £300,000 worth of refurbishment, was paid for by Tenka Limited. The court was told Aluko also had contracts with state-owned entities that were in the process of securing new oil contracts.
The court heard that between May 2011 and January 2014, £500,000 was also paid in rent for two flats in a block in central London where Alison-Madueke and her mother lived.
Records seized at the Tenka offices in Nigeria show the company settled the bill, it was claimed.
Alison-Madueke sat in the dock besides oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, who is charged with one count of bribery relating to Alison-Madueke and a separate count of bribery of a foreign public official.
Alison-Madueke's brother, former archbishop Doye Agama, 69, is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and joined the trial by video link for medical reasons.
Ayinde and Agama also deny the charges against them.
The trial – expected to last about 12 weeks - continues.
Oil plays a significant role in Nigeria's economy, but the population at large has not seen the benefits.
It is one of the 13 members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), set up to deal with the worldwide supply of oil and its price.
By Steve Swann, BBC
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