The Nigerian army has announced that nearly 6,000 Boko Haram members have surrendered to the authorities in the past two weeks. These are the commanders, the combatants and their families. The army describes the massive surrender of members of the militant group as the result of the intense military offensive …
Read More »Five schoolgirls escape from Nigeria kidnappers
Five girls among dozens of students abducted from a secondary school in the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara have escaped from captivity. Gunmen attacked their school in Kaya-Maradun town on Wednesday and seized more than 70 students, most of them girls and a senior member of staff. Parents of the …
Read More »Nigeria: authorities criticized after the kidnapping of 73 students
In Nigeria, the authorities are very criticized in the aftermath of the kidnapping of 73 students from Kaya high school by armed men. The abduction was the umpteenth targeting schools in a few months. Security has since been stepped up in the village of Kaya and its surroundings to prevent …
Read More »Nigeria: president Buhari fires two ministers in an unusual reshuffle
Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari has sacked two of his ministers in a rare reshuffle. Those affected are the minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Mohammed Sabo Nanono and his counterpart from the Ministry of Power, Sale Mamman. The cause of their removal has not been evoked but a statement from …
Read More »Nigeria: army urges residents of Plateau State not to arm themselves
The Nigerian military has urged residents of Plateau state not to arm themselves, as local politicians advised a few weeks ago. Last week, Plateau’s parliament said as the security forces could no longer guarantee people’s safety, they should take up arms. But the self-arming decision has not been welcomed by …
Read More »“Tens of thousands registered missing in Africa”, ICRC says
In a statement marking the International Day of the Disappeared, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said more than 44,000 people, 45% of them children, are currently declared missing across Africa. About 82% of those missing are said to be from just seven countries with armed conflicts. According …
Read More »Nigerian singer Paul Okoye breaks silence after her wife’s divorce request
After 17 years together and 7 years of marriage, Anita Okoye, wife of famous Nigerian artist Paul Okoye aka Rude Boy, filed for divorce a few days ago. And as one might expect, Paul Okoye was quick to take the floor to comment on this unprecedented situation. Former member of …
Read More »Niger: hundreds of jihadists attack a military post
Hundreds of Islamist fighters have attacked a military post in the southern region of Diffa, the defence ministry in Niger says in a statement. The attack left sixteen soldiers dead and nine other wounded, it said. During the fight, Nigerien army succeeded in killing 50 members of the Boko Haram …
Read More »Nigeria: armed men attack top military academy
An attack on Nigeria’s top military academy left at least two people dead and another abducted, said the Nigerian army in a statement. An army spokesman said unknown gunmen broke into the campus in the northern city of Kaduna in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The Nigerian Defence Academy …
Read More »Nigeria mourns former first lady Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi
Several media in Nigeria are reporting that Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi, the country’s former first lady, has died at the age of 97. Her family has not officially confirmed her death. She is the widow of Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, who seized power after a military coup in Nigeria in 1966. He ruled …
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