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☆ Nigeria: More than 100 prisoners on the run after heavy rainfall destroys part of prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Nimi Princewill | Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —More than 100 prisoners have escaped from a medium security prison in Nigeria after heavy rainfall destroyed part of the facility, the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) said in a press release on Thursday. In 2022, more than 300 inmates broke free after Boko Haram militants raided a prison in Nigeria’s capital Abuja. Authorities said at the time that some operatives of the jihadist group who had been held in the prison escaped during the raid. A year earlier, over 200 prisoners fled a prison in the neighboring Kogi State after gunmen invaded the correctional facility, killing a policeman. Five months before the invasion, more than 2000 inmates escaped during a similar attack by armed men at another prison in the southeastern Imo State.

Persons: “ Organizations: CNN, Nigerian Correctional Service, NCS, Authorities Locations: Nigeria, Suleja, Niger, Nigeria’s, Abuja, Kogi State, Imo State

☆ Nigeria kidnapping: Chibok girl rescued after 10 years in captivity
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Stephanie Busari | Michael Rios | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Lagos, Nigeria CNN —The Nigerian army says it has rescued one of the missing Chibok schoolgirls abducted by militant Islamic group Boko Haram a decade ago. But the abduction of the Chibok girls remains the highest-profile example of the group’s targeting of schools. A decade later: Chibok kidnapping survivors tell their storiesSurvivors of the Chibok kidnapping recently shared their harrowing experiences in captivity with CNN on the 10th anniversary of their abduction. One of them Amina Ali, 27, was forced to marry a Boko Haram fighter, spending two years in captivity, before escaping. Ishaya was also reunited with her family in 2017 after spending three years as a “slave,” treating injured Boko Haram fighters.

Persons: Chibok schoolgirls, Lydia Simon, Boko Haram, Haram, “, Amina Ali, Boko, Hannatu Stephen, Ishaya, Stephanie Busari, Michael Rios, Nimi Princewill Organizations: Nigeria CNN —, CNN, Amnesty International, West, Human Rights Locations: Lagos, Nigeria, Borno State, Haram, Islamic State, West African Province, Boko Haram, ”, Nigerian, Kuriga, Sokoto, Atlanta

☆ How a Crypto Compliance Officer Ended Up in a Nigerian Prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( David Yaffe-Bellany | Emily Flitter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When he flew to Nigeria for a business trip in late February, Tigran Gambaryan, a top compliance officer at the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, packed a small suitcase with just enough clothes for two days. A former U.S. law enforcement agent, Mr. Gambaryan knew the trip was risky. Only a few weeks earlier, he and a group of colleagues had rushed out of Nigeria, concerned that the local authorities might detain them, five people familiar with that trip said. This time, he assured his wife, he would “get in and get out.”A month and a half later, Mr. Gambaryan is being held at Kuje prison in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, a complex that has housed Islamic State militants and Boko Haram fighters. After meeting with government officials in Abuja on Feb. 26, Mr. Gambaryan, 39, and a Binance colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were abruptly escorted to a guesthouse controlled by Nigerian security officials, where they were held for nearly a month with no formal charges filed against them.

Persons: Tigran Gambaryan, Gambaryan, “, Nadeem Anjarwalla Organizations: Islamic Locations: Nigeria, ”, Abuja

☆ She Was Kidnapped a Decade Ago With 275 Girls. Finally, She Escaped.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Ismail Alfa | Ruth Maclean | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The girls’ boarding school in Chibok, miles behind them, had been set on fire. Then she noticed that some girls were jumping off the back of the truck, she said, some alone, others in pairs, holding hands. They ran and hid in the scrub as the truck trundled on. But before Ms. Dauda could jump, she said, one girl raised the alarm, shouting that others were “dropping and running.” Their abductors stopped, secured the truck and continued toward what, for Ms. Dauda, would prove a life-changing nine years in captivity. “If she hadn’t shouted that, we would have all escaped,” Ms. Dauda said in a series of interviews this past week in the city of Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram’s violent insurgency.

Persons: Saratu Dauda, Dauda, hadn’t, ” Ms Locations: Nigeria, Chibok, Maiduguri

☆ They were kidnapped from a boarding school 10 years ago. Hear their stories
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Stephanie Busari | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Boko Haram has waged a 15-year insurgency battle in northern Nigeria and has kidnapped thousands of people in that time. But the Chibok girls serve as a potent symbol to the world of hope and resilience. Boko Haram robbed her futureOnce an ambitious student with dreams of academic achievement, Hauwa Ishaya was 16 when she was kidnapped. As a result, she instead became a self-described “slave” – attending to her married sisters’ needs and treating wounded Boko Haram fighters. ‘I believe she’s alive’It is not only the girls kidnapped 10 years ago whose lives have been forever changed.

Persons: Nigeria CNN —, Haram, Amina Ali, Amina, Boko, CNN Amina, “, Hauwa Ishaya, CNN Hauwa, ” –, ’, Hauwa, ”, Hannatu Stephen, Hannatu, ‘, Yana Galang, Rifkatu, Yana, CNN Yana, she’s Organizations: Nigeria CNN, Amnesty International, CNN, American University of Nigeria Locations: Yola, Nigeria, Adamawa State, Boko Haram, Chibok

☆ Nigerian Army Hunts for Kidnapped Students, Parents Seek Answers
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( March | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

The source said the army's Kaduna-based One Division was leading the operation and "will soon have the bandits in their sights". "The security agencies and the state government are working tirelessly to ensure the freedom of all the abducted students and pupils. We are making progress," said Muhammad Shehu Lawal, a spokesperson for Kaduna state governor, without giving details. Photos You Should See View All 60 ImagesThe mass kidnapping last Thursday, the first since July 2021, shattered the dusty town of Kuriga, 90 km from Kaduna state capital, with parents waiting for answers from authorities. According to Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence 4,500 people have been kidnapped throughout Nigeria since Tinubu took office last May.

Persons: Garba Muhammad, Hamza Ibrahim, Muhammad Shehu Lawal, Bola Tinubu, Bala Ibrahim, Ibrahim, Tinubu, Ikemesit Effiong, MacDonald Dzirutwe, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Reuters, SBM Intelligence, Security Locations: Hamza Ibrahim KADUNA, Nigeria, Kaduna, Nigerian, Kuriga, Chibok, Borno, Niger, Birnin, Lagos

☆ Nigeria: Suspected insurgents kidnap 50 people in northeastern region
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Reuters —Suspected Islamist insurgents kidnapped 50 people, mostly women, in northeastern Nigeria this week, local officials and a resident said on Wednesday, the latest mass abduction by fighters who have waged an insurgency for more than a decade. They were ambushed by gunmen and made to walk across bushy paths into neighboring Chad, the official said, adding that three of the kidnapped women managed to escape. The Nigerian Army did not respond to a request for comment. Barkindo Saidu, head of Borno’s emergency agency, said he was traveling to the area to assess the situation but was not yet ready to declare the people missing. The agency is in charge of camps housing thousands of Nigerians displaced by the insurgency.

Persons: Reuters —, Boko, Falmata Bukar, Barkindo Saidu Organizations: Reuters, Civilian, Task Force, Nigerian Army Locations: Nigeria, Boko Haram, Islamic, West Africa Province, Borno, Chad, Cameroon, Lake Chad

☆ Suspected Militants Kill Four Nigerian Police Officers
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - At least four police officers were killed in Nigeria's northeast Borno state after a gun battle with suspected Islamist insurgents, a police spokesperson said on Saturday. Borno state police spokesperson Nahum Daso Kenneth said the militants had on Friday night attacked Gajiram town in the Nganzai local government area, some 82 kilometres (51 miles) from Maiduguri, the state capital. "Our men engaged them in a gun battle (and) they denied the terrorists access to the town, and repelled the attack. Unfortunately, four policemen have paid a supreme price," Kenneth said, adding that calm had returned to the town. ISWAP fighters are known to operate in Nganzai, where they carry out sporadic attacks against security forces and residents.

Persons: Borno, Haram, Nahum Daso Kenneth, Kenneth, herder, Ahmed Kingimi, MacDonald Dzirutwe, Mark Potter Organizations: Reuters Locations: MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Nigeria's, Borno, West Africa Province, Gajiram, Maiduguri, Nganzai

In 2019, a non-governmental organization set up the camp's health post where Aliyu's ninth child, Hauwa, was delivered in 2021. "There are no special arrangements for pregnant women in IDP and refugee camps [in Nigeria]. But for most of the 64 women recorded in the camp's birth register this year, these costs are prohibitive. Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health oversees health for the country (including provisions provided by the Commission). He tells CNN: "Women's Health services were prioritized and featured strongly in the programs designed to the needs of internally displaced women."

Persons: Aisha Aliyu, Abba, Aliyu, Aisha, Liyatu Ayuba, Ayuba, Fatima Mahmood Jibirilla, Isa Umar, Umar, they've, doesn't, Dr Charles Nzelu, Dolapo Fasawe, Fasawe, Nzelu, Iko Ibanga, Osagie, Ehanire, Ibanga Organizations: CNN, Walden University, Camp, Camp Management, Aliyu, Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health, Commission for Refugees, Migrants, Commission, antenatal, Capital Territory, Territory's, Environmental Services, FCT Health Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Ministry, Pro Health, Federal Capital Territory, Health, Pro Health International, Union, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Ministry of Health, National Assembly Locations: Abuja, Nigeria, Nigeria's, Wala, Borno State, Maiduguri, Haram, Durumi, Africa, Nigerian, Borno, Adamawa

☆ Nigeria gets refineries investment, forex pledge from Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Felix Onuah | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsABUJA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Nigeria and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to a series of investment and cooperation deals, including a pledge by the Saudi government to invest in the revamp of Nigeria's oil refineries and provide financial support to sustain the government's foreign-exchange reforms. Under Tinubu, Nigeria has embarked on the boldest reforms in decades, scrapping a popular petrol subsidy and unifying the country's multiple exchange rates as part of measures "aimed at improving the ease of doing business." Information Minister Mohammed Idris said the Saudi government pledged to make "a substantial deposit of foreign exchange to boost Nigeria's forex liquidity". "Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have always enjoyed a special relationship at both the bilateral and multilateral levels. The two leaders agreed to work together over the next six months to "develop a comprehensive road map and blueprint" to deliver on the investments, Idris said.

Persons: Bola Tinubu, Temilade, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mohammed Idris, Idris, Tinubu, Ajuri Ngelale, Boko, Felix Onuah, Elisha Bala, Emelia Sithole, Matthew Lewis, David Evans Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Saudi Crown, Saudi Aramco, Thomson Locations: Abuja, Nigeria, Rights ABUJA, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Africa, Riyadh, Tinubu, Africa's

☆ How the Nigerian military fatally shot a young captive
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +19 min

The Nigerian government and military – including the presidency, Ministry of Defence, defence headquarters and army leaders – did not respond to detailed questions for this story. Various entities have accused Nigerian security forces of other abuses in connection with killings of civilians and captives. Two security force members told Reuters they saw multiple prisoners brought out of the barracks and shot after the fighting ceased. Tweets from Nigerian defence headquarters in Abuja show the military declared the hostilities over shortly after 11 a.m. Nine shots fired A uniformed security force member shot nine rounds at the young captive, pulling the trigger at least seven times, according to forensic audio experts who listened to the recording at Reuters’ request.

Persons: Melanie O’Brien, –, Ocampo, Christopher Musa, Musa, ” Musa, “, extrajudicially, Michael Oluoha Agi, ’ ”, ”, Boko, ‘ Allahu akbar ’, Yahaya, Haram, Biu, Bellingcat, Belllingcat, Chris Olukolade, Emmanuel Emeka, Emeka, Reade Levinson, David Lewis, Tim Cocks, Carlos Gonzales, Paul Carsten, Daphne Psaledakis, Stephanie van den Berg, Youri van, Adolfo Arranz, Sam Hart, Feilding, Julie Marquis, Alexandra Zavis Organizations: Reuters, International Association of, Nigerian, Ministry of Defence, ICC, Islamic, Human Rights Commission, United Nations, Twitter, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, U.S . State Department, U.S, Boko, Civilian, Task Force, Defence, Facebook, 231, Battalion, 331 Artillery Regiment Locations: Geneva, Nigeria, Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, Nigerian, United States, Britain, U.S, Biu, Boko Haram, Abuja, Largema

☆ Suspected Boko Haram kills at least 40 in Nigeria's Yobe state, police say
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Nov 1 (Reuters) - At least 40 people were killed in Nigeria's Yobe state between Monday and Tuesday after suspected Boko Haram militants shot at villagers and set off a land mine, in the first major attack on the northern eastern state in 18 months, the police said on Wednesday. The attack happened at about 8:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) on Monday, at Gurokayeya village, Gaidam local government in Yobe State, the state's police spokesperson Abdulkarim Dungus said. He said gunmen opened fire on villagers, killing at least 17 people and that on Tuesday a land mine exploded, killing at least 20 villagers who were returning from burying victims of the previous attack. The last time a bomb exploded in Yobe state was in April 2022. Lawan Ahmed, a resident, told Reuters the militants shot at villagers sporadically from motorbikes, killing about 18 people on Monday.

Persons: Boko Haram, Abdulkarim Dungus, Bola Tinubu, Lawan Ahmed, Ahmed, Lanre Ola, Ahmed Kingimi, Chijioke Ohuocha, MacDonald Dzirutwe, Franklin Paul, Jonathan Oatis, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Yobe, Gurokayeya, Yobe State, Borno

☆ The World Is Becoming More African
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Declan Walsh | Hannah Reyes Morales | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +37 min

Old World Young Africa As the world grays, Africa blooms with youth. The World Is Becoming More African Part one of a series on how the youth boom is changing the continent, and beyond. But while a handful of African countries are poised to ride the demographic wave, others risk being swamped by it. In the West, racists and right-wing nationalists stoke fears of African population growth to justify hatred, or even violence. The age gap between geriatric leaders and restless youth is “a major source of tension” in many African countries, said Simon Mulongo, a former African Union diplomat from Uganda.

Persons: Lauren Leatherby, ”, Jean, Patrick Niambé, Hilton, Edward Paice, “, Keziah Keya, Keya, Paul R, Ehrlich, stoke, Lauren Leatherby “, Carlos Lopes, Burna, Weeks, “ It’s, Laolu Senbanjo, Tems, Toulaye Sy, Pritzker, Abdulrazak Gurnah, “ Africa’s, ” Long, exotica, Mulendema, Hannah O’Leary, “ We’re, Sipho Dlamini, Dlamini, Moawad, Optimists, Mo Ibrahim, Aubrey Hruby, birthrates, India’s, China’s, Akinwumi Adesina, States —, William Ruto, Paul Biya of, Biya, Wole Soyinka, Paul Kagame of, Nourdine, Nigeriens, Awade, Ali Bongo Ondimba, Simon Mulongo, Nuha Abdelgadir, Abdelgadir, gesturing, “ We’ve, ” Weeks, Abdelgadir’s, Modu Ali, Young, Saidu, Habiba Mohammed, Ms, Ha, Joon Chang, Nobody, Chang, Ibrahim, Touré Organizations: Young, United Nations, Southern, Northern, Western Asia Northern, United, Ivory Coast, African Union, Group, European Union ., Suisse, Africa Research Institute, Nigeria Mozambique Kenya “, Russia Canada Germany United, Russia Canada Germany United States Japan China Iran Egypt India Mexico Nigeria Ethiopia Ethiopia Dem, Russia Germany, China Egypt India Nigeria D.R.C, Russia Canada Germany United States Japan China Iran Egypt India Mexico Nigeria Ethiopia Dem, Bank, Nations, International, Bryn Mawr College, Angola, Angola Ivory Coast, Angola Ivory Coast Cameroon Dem, Africa Middle Africa Southern, Economic Commission, New, Citi, Spotify, Cannes Film, Burkina Faso, UNESCO, Disney, Amazon Prime, Netflix, “, Apple, Cape Town, Microsoft, Google, Infrastructure, McKinsey & Company, Pew Research Center, African Development Bank, Greek Coast Guard, Saudi, Africa Climate, Young Voters, Freedom House, University of Denver, United Arab, Japan Cuba Vatican City, Netherlands South Korea Belgium U.A.E, Islamic, Global, Center for Girls Education, School of Oriental, Studies Locations: grays, Africa, India, China, United States, Southern Asia, Asia, America, Caribbean, Northern America, Western Asia, Western Asia Northern America, Europe, London, New York, West Africa, Ivory, Abidjan, Russia, Turkey, Gulf, Nairobi, Nigeria Mozambique Kenya, Italy, Japan, Russia Canada Germany United States Japan China Iran Egypt India Mexico Nigeria Ethiopia Ethiopia, Congo Indonesia Brazil Australia South Africa Argentina, Russia Germany U.S, China Egypt India Nigeria, Brazil South Africa Australia, Russia Canada Germany United States Japan China Iran Egypt India Mexico Nigeria, Nigeria, Africa’s, Young, South Africa, Somalia, Mozambique, Mali, Gabon, Niger, Mozambique Nigeria Kenya, Kenya, Pennsylvania, Angola Ivory, Angola Ivory Coast Cameroon, Congo Algeria Egypt, Ghana Kenya Madagascar Mozambique Niger Nigeria, Tanzania Uganda South Africa, Northern Africa Eastern Africa, Africa Middle Africa, Africa Middle Africa Southern Africa, Guinea, Bissau, African, Qatar, Nigerian, Brooklyn, Target, French, Senegalese, Paris, Milan, Venice, Burkina, Tanzania, Saharan Africa, Nigeria Kenya Senegal In Lagos, Dakar, Zambia, South Korea, Sotheby’s, Lagos, Zimbabwe, Watford, Cape, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Cairo, Morocco, East Africa, Nigeria Mozambique Morocco, Sudanese, North Africa, East Asia, Thailand, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, States, Namibia, Kenyan, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, United Arab Emirates, United States France Turkey, Germany, Russia India, Brazil, Japan Cuba, Japan Cuba Vatican City Spain Italy Saudi Arabia Qatar, Netherlands South Korea Belgium, Iran Canada, Niger’s, Niamey, Senegal Kenya Kenya, X’s, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Senegal, Uganda, Khartoum, Sudan, Ethiopia, Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Chad, Burkina Faso, Nigeria Nigeria Morocco, hijabs, Zaria, American, Korea, South, England

☆ In Israel and Gaza, Searching for Humanity - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( David Brooks | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The conceptual frames that many people use to organize their understanding of the world are crashing and burning upon contact with Middle Eastern reality. The first paradigm that failed this month was critical race theory or woke-ism. A group of highly educated American progressives cheered on Hamas as anti-colonialist freedom fighters even though Hamas is a theocratic, genocidal terrorist force that oppresses L.G.B.T.Q. American universities exist to give students the conceptual tools to understand the world. It appears that at many universities students are instead being fed simplistic ideological categories that blind them to reality.

Persons: Mounk, It’s, Israel, —, Boko Haram Locations: American, Nigeria

☆ Boko Haram frees 49 women kidnapped in Nigeria's Borno state
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Ahmed Kingimi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Bukar Isa, from the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), shows displaced victims of the Boko Haram insurgence how to identify marked objects of danger on the street, during a safety training at the Gubio camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria May 6, 2022. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Forty-nine women kidnapped by Boko Haram earlier in the week near Maiduguri, in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, regained their freedom early on Friday after a state official paid a ransom for their release, two of the victims and a local leader said. "We were all released at midnight after Boko Haram said our families secured our release after meeting their demands," one of the victims said. Borno commissioner for youth and police spokesman Sani Kamilu Shatambaya didn't immediately respond to calls for comment. ($1 = 770.8400 naira)Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi; Editing Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bukar Isa, Afolabi, Boko Haram, wasn't, Sani Kamilu Shatambaya didn't, Ahmed Kingimi, Elisha Bala, Gbogbo, Sandra Maler Organizations: Mines Advisory, REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Maiduguri, Nigeria, Nigeria's, Borno, Shuwaei Kawuri, Chad, Niger, Cameroon

☆ Factbox: What you need to know about Niger's ousted president
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum participates in a Peace, Security and Governance Forum during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit 2022 in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/PoolAug 14 (Reuters) - Niger's ousted president Mohamed Bazoum was toppled by a military junta on July 26. Bazoum's victory in the 2021 election led to Niger's first transition from one democratically elected leader to another. Niger strengthened its alliances with Western powers under Bazoum, becoming a hub for French, U.S., German and Italian forces. Days before Bazoum was sworn in as president in 2021, a military unit tried to seize the presidential palace in an attempted coup.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, Evelyn Hockstein, Niger's, Bazoum, Mahamadou Issoufou, Abdourahamane Tiani, Alessandra Prentice, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Security, Governance, Africa, REUTERS, Islamic, Nigerien, International Crisis, West, United Nations, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington , U.S, France, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Nigeria, West Africa's, United States

☆ Opinion | The Wagner Group Is Always Ready for a Coup
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Colin P. Clarke | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But the nation’s successive elected governments were at least willing to cooperate with Washington, allowing the U.S. military to conduct regional counterterrorism activities. Washington has stopped short of calling the crisis a coup — a move that would require the United States to halt security and economic assistance. Wagner will be ready. Their operations have frequently resulted in the deaths of civilians, with credible accusations of sexual violence, torture and extrajudicial killings. Within days of Wagner’s aborted advance on Moscow, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said that Wagner’s African footprint would remain.

Persons: Jama’at Nusrat al, Barkhane, jihadists, Wagner, —, Al Qaeda, Bazoum, Prigozhin’s, Wagner’s, Sergei Lavrov, Prigozhin, Putin Organizations: U.S, United, Nigerien, Islamic, West, Central African, Kremlin Locations: Sahel, Africa, Islamic State, Greater Sahara, Haram, Islam, Niger, Washington, United States, America, Mali, Libya, Central African Republic, Sudan, Moscow, St . Petersburg

☆ Niger coup leaders blamed insecurity; conflict data paints a different picture
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Edward Mcallister | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

In Burkina Faso, where there were two coups last year, deaths rose 80% to more than 4,000 in 2022. Military spokespeople in Mali and Burkina Faso did not respond to requests for comment. Military leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso kicked out French forces after their coups. Niger army operations could falter, he said. "You saw it in Burkina Faso after the second coup.

Persons: Abdourahmane Tiani, Balima, Mohamed Bazoum, Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, Wagner, Leonardo Santos Simao, Tiani, Simao, Bazoum, Ulf Laessing, Konrad Adenauer, Edward McAllister, Michelle Nichols, Alexandra Zavis, Giles Elgood Organizations: REUTERS, Security, Islamic, Crisis, Wagner Group, Reuters, spokespeople, United Nations, Economic, West, Sunday, Local, Military, Burkina Faso, European Union, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Thomson Locations: Niger, Niamey, DAKAR, U.S, Mali, Burkina Faso, al Qaeda, Islamic State, West Africa's, Brussels, Boko, Nigeria, West Africa, West African States, Burkina, French, France, New York

☆ More women describe having forced abortions in Nigerian Army programme
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +20 min

And both lost their pregnancies after they were taken into custody by Nigerian soldiers and given unidentified pills and injections. Nigerian military leaders previously have adamantly denied the existence of the abortion programme and the deliberate killing of unarmed children. We respect every living soul.”Asked about the military’s comments on the programme, Yau replied: “This happened to me, and they are denying it. After she was put into a room with three other pregnant women, Yau said, army personnel gave her pills and more injections. Reuters was unable to determine if this tally overlapped with others cited in its December story about the abortion programme.

☆ 'Unpredictable' election in Africa's largest economy is set to resonate around the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

After 24 years of uninterrupted democracy since ending military dictatorship in 1999, Africa's most populous nation and largest economy is conducting its seventh election. Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's president, speaks during the U.S.-Africa Business Forum in New York. Leena Koni Hoffmann, associate fellow of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, told CNBC on Monday that the presidential election will be the "most unpredictable" since the transition to civilian rule. Alongside the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, Koni Hoffmann noted "missed opportunities" and "self-inflicted crises" under Buhari's regime. Economists panned the decision, which Koni Hoffmann suggested rendered Nigeria and its neighbors more vulnerable to the damage of the pandemic.

☆ Nigeria’s Election Puts a Troubled Democracy to the Test
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Nic Cheeseman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

On Feb. 25, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and largest oil producer is due to elect a new president. Criminal activity, such as thefts and kidnappings for ransom, is on the rise. Now a major currency crisis that erupted in January has resulted in protests, fights and attacks on banks. Under the circumstances, the last thing Nigeria’s 220 million people need is an election marred by manipulation or violence. But this prospect is becoming increasingly likely as the political temperature rises and cash shortages threaten to undermine the capacity of the country’s electoral commission to administer the vote.

☆ Nigerian rights panel, underfunded and overmatched, begins probe of powerful military
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja/File PhotoFeb 7 (Reuters) - A special panel named by Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission launched an investigation Tuesday into recent Reuters reports on rights abuses by the country’s army. Nigerian military leaders said the abortion program did not exist and that children were never targeted for killing. The U.S. defense and state departments, the United Nations Secretary-General, the German foreign minister, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch all called for Nigeria to investigate the Reuters findings. In a 2002 paper, two Nigerian scholars called the body "a red herring” to distract from human rights violations. In 2013, the military allegedly killed as many as 200 civilians in the town of Baga, in northeastern Borno state.

☆ West backs Nigeria's war on extremists, and backs off on human rights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +21 min

“While respect for human rights is unquestionably a high priority, we have many other equities at stake,” McCulley wrote. He said the focus on human rights had sent relations between the two countries into the “lowest ebb” in his three years there. Nigeria’s human rights record wasn’t only a moral issue – it was a legal one. Working under these laws provided “openings to incentivise and institutionalise” human rights protections within the Nigerian military, the State Department said. The pact also noted that London and Abuja had agreed on an “enhanced human rights dialogue” to ensure compliance with international rights standards.

☆ Nightmare in Nigeria: The army’s secret campaigns to crush Boko Haram
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Reuters reveals secrets behind the Nigerian military's long campaign to crush the nation's Islamist insurgency: a mass abortion programme aimed at women and girls impregnated by Boko Haram fighters, and targeted killings of children vilified as offspring or allies of the enemy.

☆ In Nigeria's long war, a young woman is brutalised by both sides
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

It was a pleasant evening in the summer of 2014, in her Nigerian village near the Cameroon border. Reuters could not reach representatives of Boko Haram or its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, for comment. But by October 2014, the militants were enforcing extreme sharia law in her village, Aisha said. Boko Haram men often came looking for them, knocking on their door and forcing them to hide. But she did not believe she could do so with Bana, as boys were particularly valued in the Boko Haram community.

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