Monday, October 26, 2026

Honeywell Technologies launches new AI platform at Dangote's Nigeria refinery

Honeywell Technologies said on Monday it was launching ​a new industrial AI platform, "Forge ‌Plant Cognition", at Nigeria's Dangote refinery to boost the plant's productivity.

The platform, ​being launched at Dangote's Lekki ​refinery in Lagos, will use NVIDIA and Dell Technologies' capabilities in ​a bid to drive up productivity ​and profitability in complex industrial settings, a statement said.

Honeywell is already helping the ​refinery more than double its nameplate ​capacity from 650,000 million barrels per day (bpd) ‌to ⁠1.4 million bpd by 2028.

Based on preliminary data and not guaranteed, Honeywell said its AI platform ​could deliver ​operational ⁠benefits of more than 29 cents a barrel at ​Lekki, or around $60 million ​a ⁠year in gross benefits at full-capacity throughput.

Honeywell has also been selected to help ⁠Dangote ​build a new mega-refinery ​in Kenya's Lamu County.

Death toll in Nigeria village raided by gunmen rises to 48

The death toll from Friday's attack on a remote village in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Taraba has risen to at least 48, police have told the BBC.

The police had initially reported 10 deaths after unidentified gunmen on motorcycles raided the village of Binnari, looting shops and setting houses ablaze.

More bodies were discovered on Sunday, according to state police spokesperson Victor Mshelizah, who said some of the victims had drowned while trying to escape the attackers while others were killed in nearby bushes.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International's director for Nigeria said his organisation had confirmed 52 deaths, citing sources on the ground and members of the local community.

The attack happened just after midday Muslim prayers, and the rampage went on for up to four hours.

State police had initially recovered 10 bodies with gunshot wounds after officers responded to a distress call.

The attackers had fled by the time officers arrived - but they continued to patrol the area to restore calm, Taraba's police told the BBC on Saturday.

"We were able to disperse the unknown gunmen though there was no casualty on their side and ours because the terrain is difficult and they're used to the terrain," Assistant Superintendent of Police Victor Mshelizah said.

Community leader Malam Abubakar Saifullahi told news agency AFP that the attackers had arrived on about 50 motorcycles, two men apiece.

"They looted shops and took cash, foodstuffs and other provisions," he said. "They also took motorcycles abandoned by people fleeing the attack."

Isiyaku Musa, who survived the attack, told AFP: "People were running in different directions to escape the attack. Nobody knew where it was safe to go."

Amnesty's Nigeria director Isa Sanusi has called for an impartial investigation into the killings, accusing the authorities of leaving rural communities "at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity".

Parts of north-eastern Nigeria have been affected by years of violence involving jihadist groups and armed gangs, which raid communities, abduct residents and demand ransoms.

Similar armed groups operate in the country's north-west and central regions.

The latest attack comes as Nigeria prepares for elections next year, with insecurity expected to feature prominently in political debates.

Survivors who spoke to AFP said they had counted at least 20 dead.

"People were running in different directions to escape the attack," Binnari resident Isiyaku Musa said. "Nobody knew where it was safe to go."

Another survivor, Sa'idu Nuhu, said that some people were still missing.

Amnesty's Nigeria director, Isa Sanusi, told BBC News on Saturday that the NGO had spoken to some of the bereaved families who said up to 50 people had died.

"The initial funeral had 37 people," he said.

Sanusi called for an impartial investigation into the killings, accusing the authorities of leaving rural communities "at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly commit atrocities with impunity".

Nigeria's Ebola patient on medical evacuation flight to Switzerland, condition stable

Nigeria's Ebola patient left the country on a medical evacuation flight to Switzerland on Monday morning, the health minister said, adding that her clinical condition was ​much improved.
The patient, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, is ‌Nigeria's first Ebola case in more than a decade.
The outbreak, which started in Democratic Republic of Congo, has now been reported in four countries in East, Central and West Africa, giving it the widest geographic spread of any Ebola ​outbreak on the continent to date.

The possibility that the Nigerian patient became infected in Uganda, ​where officials say she spent a two-week holiday before returning to Abuja, has ⁠fuelled concerns about undetected transmission in a country where the outbreak had appeared to be ​under control.
Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said in a post on X that the woman was "stable, conscious, ​communicating, and her clinical laboratory test results closing towards baseline" before her evacuation flight departed.
Her spouse has remained asymptomatic and left Nigeria on the same flight, Pate added.
The Swiss foreign ministry and Uganda's health ministry did not ​immediately respond to requests for comment.


SCIENTISTS INVESTIGATING HOW PATIENT CAUGHT RARE STRAIN

A team of leading Ebola ​scientists will travel to Nigeria to help investigate how the patient caught the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola, Africa ‌CDC ⁠Director-General Jean Kaseya told Reuters in an interview.
Switzerland said last week that she had not travelled to Congo, contradicting statements from Ugandan officials.
Her travel documents show she had not visited Congo, Kaseya said.
There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo species, which has now caused almost 10,000 cases ​and more than 4,800 deaths ​in Congo, and ⁠spread to three other countries in Africa – Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda.
Kenya has reported nine cases and two deaths, all linked to a man who had ​travelled from Congo via Uganda's Entebbe airport.
Uganda reported 20 cases in May ​and June ⁠but has not recorded any since and was declared free of the virus by the World Health Organization in August.

The WHO's Africa director congratulated Nigeria's government and health workers for stabilising the patient's condition, ⁠allowing her ​to be evacuated.
"The Nigerian medical team successfully managed her through ​the acute phase of the illness and stabilized her condition," Mohamed Janabi said on X.

Friday, October 23, 2026

Nigerian actor Francis Duru die at age 57

 

Veteran Nigerian actor Francis Duru has passed away at the age of 57, his family announced on his official Instagram account.

His family made the announcement in the early hours of Friday, October 23, stating that Duru passed away following a brief illness.

"We, the family of Francis Duru, regret to announce his passing following a brief illness. We appreciate your prayers, love, and understanding. May his soul rest in perfect peace. Amen," the family wrote.

His passing comes one month after the death of another iconic actor, Olu Jacobs, who died at the age of 84 following a long battle with Lewy body dementia.

Francis Duru, whose full name was Francis Ogide Duru, was a celebrated Nigerian actor and one of the most recognizable faces in Nollywood.

Born on July 27, 1969, in Cameroon to Nigerian parents from Imo State in southeastern Nigeria, he grew up in Cameroon before moving to Nigeria for his higher education.

He built an acting career that spanned more than 30 years in the Nigerian film industry.

Duru studied Theatre Arts at the University of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, graduating in 1996. His academic background helped prepare him for a professional career in acting and the performing arts. Before establishing himself in Nollywood, he gained experience in stage theater and television, which contributed significantly to his development as an actor.

Duru began his film career with Missing Mark in 1989. His major breakthrough came with the 1995 film Rattlesnake, produced by Amaka Igwe, in which Duru played the character Ahanna. The film established his reputation and opened the door to numerous opportunities in Nollywood.

Over the years, Duru featured in dozens of films, including Blood Money, Nnenda, The Good Husband, Eagle Wings, and Merry Men: The Real Yoruba Demons.

Beyond acting, he also worked as a film director, producer, writer, master of ceremonies, and television personality.

In 2020, he won the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Igbo) at the Best of Nollywood Awards for his performance in Mboputa. He was also honored with the United Nations Ambassador for Peace Award in 2007 for his positive impact on young people.

Duru contributed to the development of Nigeria's entertainment industry through professional leadership and mentorship. In 2010, he served as the interim president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria and held several other roles within industry organizations.

He was married to Adokiye Duru, and they had four children together. In August 2024, the family suffered a tragedy with the loss of their 15-year-old son, Ifeanyi. Speaking publicly about the loss in January 2025, Duru shared that the painful experience had ultimately deepened his faith in God.

BBC    

Woman with Ebola in Nigeria confirmed as wife of Swiss diplomat

Switzerland's foreign ministry has confirmed that the woman who has tested positive for Ebola in Nigeria is the wife of a Swiss diplomat.

The woman, a 42-year-old Ugandan-born national who lives in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, tested positive for the virus on 20 October, becoming the country's first confirmed Ebola patient in more than a decade.

They both travelled to Uganda earlier this month. Her husband is currently in isolation but has not developed any symptoms, according to the Swiss foreign ministry.

The ministry told the BBC that all 25 staff at its embassy in Nigeria were in good health and did not need to isolate.

The ministry said the woman had spent about a week at a private clinic in Abuja with symptoms before her diagnosis.

It believes she contracted the virus while travelling in Uganda, although health authorities have yet to establish the source of her infection.

Uganda borders Democratic Republic of Congo, where some 4,600 have died in the country's most deadly outbreak of Ebola. Two people died in Uganda shortly after the outbreak began in May but it has been declared free of Ebola since August.

The ministry said the decision not to isolate the embassy's eight Swiss and 17 local employees was taken in consultation with Nigeria's Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO).

It added that the embassy remained open and operational, with health and safety measures in place.

The woman is receiving treatment in isolation and is showing signs of improvement, according to the WHO.

She returned to Nigeria on 3 October after spending about two and a half weeks in Uganda.

The patient did ​not travel to DR Congo, the Swiss ‌government told Reuters news agency on Friday, contradicting accounts from Uganda.

She developed symptoms four days after arriving in Abuja and sought treatment at two private health facilities before testing positive for Ebola on 20 October.

Health officials are now investigating whether she may have crossed paths with a Kenyan man who died from Ebola and had travelled through Uganda's main airport on the same day.

Investigators are examining whether they could have been exposed through shared equipment or other contact, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday.

Dr Wessam Mankoula, the agency's head of emergency preparedness and response, said this was "one of the possible scenarios", but stressed that no link had been established.

"One of the issues we are currently investigating has been some sort of interaction between the two cases at the airport," he told journalists.

The Kenyan man had travelled from DR Congo through Uganda before arriving in Nairobi on 3 October. He died shortly afterwards, becoming Kenya's first recorded Ebola death.

Kenya has since confirmed nine infections, including the fatal case.

Although both patients passed through Entebbe airport on the same day, health officials have not established whether they met, used the same facilities or had any other contact.

Investigators are also examining whether the two infections could have a common source.

The WHO said it was too early to determine where the woman in Nigeria became infected.

"The source of exposure is still not known. The travel history of the patient is still being pieced together," said Dr Patrick Otim, a WHO emergency response official.

He said investigators had struggled to obtain a complete account of her movements because opportunities to interview her were limited while she remained in hospital.

Nigeria's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said it was carrying out genomic sequencing, which could help establish whether her infection is linked to other cases.

"The investigation is reconstructing the full travel and exposure history. Genomic sequencing is given a high priority," said Dr Pavel Ursu, the WHO's representative in Nigeria.

Ugandan health officials previously said the woman had travelled to eastern DR Congo for business.

However, the WHO, Africa CDC and Nigeria's health ministry said they had not received verified information confirming that she had visited the country.

Uganda has maintained that it has no confirmed active Ebola cases and says the woman's travel through the country does not necessarily mean she contracted the virus there.

Meanwhile, Nigerian authorities are tracing more people who may have been exposed to the woman, beyond the 44 contacts initially identified.

Kenya's Health Director-General Dr Patrick Amoth said all nine confirmed infections were linked to the first patient, with no evidence of wider community transmission.

He urged the public to remain vigilant and not panic but warned: "We are not out of the woods".

He said the remaining eight patients were still in isolation and responding well to treatment.

The developments have renewed concerns about the movement of infected people across international borders, particularly between DR Congo and neighbouring Uganda, where thousands cross daily for trade, work and family visits.

Dr Otim warned that the long and porous border between the two countries made it difficult to screen everyone entering or leaving, as many people used unofficial crossing points.

The WHO's regional director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, called for "regional vigilance" and urged countries to strengthen surveillance, investigate infections and protect frontline health workers.

Ebola is a serious viral disease that spreads through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, or with contaminated objects. It does not spread through the air like flu.

The virus can cause fever, severe weakness, vomiting and diarrhoea, and can be fatal. People are not considered infectious before they develop symptoms.

Health authorities say tracing contacts quickly, isolating suspected cases and providing early treatment are crucial to preventing further transmission.

BBC