Tag Archives: Nigeria

Nigerian police confirmed on Monday 27 persons earlier kidnapped by gunmen from a secondary school in the country’s northwestern state of Kaduna had regained their freedom. A group of unidentified gunmen stormed the Bethel Baptist High School in Damishi town, Chikun local government area, in the early hours of Monday, …

Around 150 children are missing after armed men attacked a school in northwest Nigeria’s Kaduna state, a parent and an administrator told Reuters on Monday. Police said gunmen shooting wildly raided the Bethel Baptist High School in southern Kaduna state overnight. “They … overpowered the school’s security guards and made …

Three children have died following a school kidnapping of 94 students and eight staff in northwest Nigeria this week, the establishment’s principal said on Sunday.

A senior cleric with Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram confirmed the death of its leader and urged fighters to stay loyal in its fight against rival Islamic State terrorists, according to a video seen by Reuters on Friday. Bakura Sahalaba, a cleric with the Lake Chad branch of Boko Haram, …

Ten people who had been held captive by terrorists were freed this week in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, three security sources and two close associates of those released told Reuters. The people, including aid workers, had been taken by Boko Haram over the past year, the sources said. They were …

Assailants on motorbikes raided several villages in the northern states, attacking farmers and pursuing those who attempted to flee, police and residents say. Armed assailants have killed 53 people in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state, according to police and local residents, the latest violence to hit the restive region. Many motorcycle-riding …

Men of the Lagos State Police Command on Saturday morning fired tear gas canisters at the protesters gathered at the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Lagos, venue of the June 12 Democracy Day protest, The PUNCH reports. The protesters were demanding an end to bad governance when they were tear-gassed by …

The Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) terrorist group said in an audio recording on Sunday that Abubakar Shekau, leader of rival Nigerian terrorist Islamist group Boko Haram, was dead. Shekau died around May 18 after detonating an explosive device when he was pursued by ISWAP fighters following a battle, …

Nigeria said on Friday it had indefinitely suspended Twitter’s activities, two days after the social media giant removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists. Information Minister Lai Mohammed said the government had acted because of “the persistent use of the platform for activities that …

Gunmen abducted 136 students from an Islamic school in the north-central Nigerian state of Niger on Sunday, a state official said on Wednesday, lower than the estimate of 200 previously offered by the federal government. An armed gang on motorcycles attacked the town of Tegina in the state on Sunday. …

Twitter removed on Wednesday a post by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari threatening punishment for regional secessionists blamed for attacks on government buildings. The social media firm said Buhari’s tweet, referring to the 1967-70 civil war in the southeastern Biafra region that killed 1 million people, violated its “abusive behaviour” policy …

People who promote insurrection in Nigeria face a “rude shock”, its president warned on Tuesday, raising the possibility of a fierce crackdown on rising violence in the southeast that has included arson attacks on police stations and electoral offices. Security forces are already grappling with criminal gangs in the northwest …

Nigerian authorities said on Tuesday that about 200 children had been seized in the latest school kidnapping in its violent north but they ruled out securing their freedom by paying a ransom. Police were trying to track the route the kidnappers had taken with the children, who were seized in …

Kidnappers abducted students in an attack on a school in the north-central Nigerian state of Niger, a state government official said on Sunday. Armed groups carrying out kidnapping for ransom have carried out a series of raids on schools and universities in northern Nigeria in recent months, abducting more than …

Attackers release 14 remaining students abducted from Greenfield University in northwest Nigeria last month. Kidnappers have released the remaining 14 students who had been held captive after being abducted last month from a northern Nigerian university, officials said. Armed groups have repeatedly attacked schools and universities in northwest Nigeria in …

Nigerian authorities have recovered the bodies of more than 70 people after an overloaded boat capsized in the northwestern state of Kebbi on Wednesday, a state spokesman said. “Seventy-six corpses have so far been recovered, while 22 (people) were rescued, divers are still looking for more bodies,” Abubakar Dakingari, spokesman …

A boat ferrying about 200 people capsized in the northwestern Nigerian state of Kebbi on Wednesday, though the number of casualties remains unclear, said a spokesman for the state’s governor. Such incidents are not uncommon in Nigeria, with track records of overloading and poor maintenance and safety, though the number …

For more than a decade, Nigerian security services and their international supporters have struggled to end Boko Haram’s brutal reign of terror over northeastern Nigeria. But few observers of the conflict are celebrating – even though it appears increasingly likely that Abubakar Shekau, the Islamist extremist movement’s notoriously violent leader, …

Nigeria’s economy grew 0.5% in the first quarter, lifted by higher crude production and oil prices, the country’s statistics office said on Sunday, as activities slowly gain momentum after the gradual easing of coronavirus lockdowns. Africa’s largest economy, exited its second recession since 2016 in the fourth quarter, despite a …

The incident occurred as the plane was landing at Kaduna airport ‘due to inclement weather, the army says. Nigeria’s top-ranking army commander Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru and other military officers have been killed when their plane crashed in the country’s north, according to officials. The incident on Friday occurred “due …