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☆ Protesting Hunger, Nigerians Warn, ‘Life Cannot Continue Like This’
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Ruth Maclean | Ismail Alfa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Nigerians struggling to afford food and earn a living have taken to the streets in nationwide protests that have already left at least 13 people killed, according to Amnesty International. Witnesses said that four of those were bystanders — gas station attendants eating lunch at their workplace — killed by security forces. Organizers have called for 10 days of protest in cities across Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, a response to rising inflation and hunger caused by policies that the government argues are necessary to revive what it has called a dead economy. “Life cannot continue like this,” said Usman Abdulhamid, a protester in the northern city of Kano, where many have been unable to afford food, medicine or even bus fares to the hospital. “People cannot survive without eating.”

Persons: Witnesses, ”, Usman Abdulhamid Organizations: Amnesty International, Organizers Locations: Nigeria, Africa’s, Kano

At least 18 people were killed and dozens of others were wounded in a series of suicide bombings on Saturday afternoon in northeastern Nigeria, including at a wedding and a funeral, according to local officials and the police. The victims included children and pregnant women, Mr. Saidu said. Some Nigerian news outlets reported that at least 30 people had been killed. As of Sunday morning, no group had claimed responsibility for the bombings. The blasts resembled previous attacks carried out by Boko Haram, whose fighters have killed tens of thousands in Nigeria and whose aggression in the region has led to the displacement of more than two million people.

Persons: Barkindo Saidu, Haram, Saidu, Boko Haram Locations: Nigeria, Borno, Gwoza, Borno State, Nigerian

☆ 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

When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria took the helm of the West African regional bloc of countries last month, he thundered before a roomful of his presidential peers that he would show no tolerance for military coups in an area that had faced five in less than three years. “We will not allow coup after coup,” he said, drawing a round of applause. Now, the deadline has passed, Niger’s president — Mohamed Bazoum — is still held hostage in his residence and Mr. Tinubu is facing a backlash in his own country. Senators, religious leaders and civil society organizations in northern Nigeria oppose a war with a neighbor that they say would further destabilize both countries, whose militaries were already spread thin fighting off Islamist militants. Nigerian security forces are also combating kidnappers, extortion rings and oil thieves.

Persons: Bola Ahmed Tinubu, “, ”, Mr, Tinubu, — Mohamed Bazoum — Organizations: West African, Economic Locations: Nigeria, Niger, West African States, Nigerian

A teacher in northern Nigeria walks three hours to school every day, no longer able to pay for a ride in a tuk tuk rickshaw. Bakers operate at a loss amid soaring flour prices. Workers in Lagos sleep overnight in their offices to avoid the prohibitive cost of commuting. Now the question is whether Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, with 220 million people, will thrive or just get sicker from the bitter medicine dispensed by its new president. Gas stations tripled their prices overnight.

Persons: Bola Tinubu, Tinubu Organizations: Workers, Gas Locations: Nigeria, Lagos, Africa’s, Africa

☆ Wedding Guests Among at Least 103 Killed in Boat Accident in Nigeria
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Elian Peltier | Ismail Alfa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 100 people died, including many who were returning from a wedding ceremony, after a river boat transporting them capsized in the early hours of Monday in Nigeria, according to residents and the local police. “The boat capsized in complete darkness and it wasn’t until hours later that we were alerted,” Mr. Ajayi said. The death toll stood at 103 as of Tuesday evening and was likely to rise, he added. River boat accidents are a recurring issue in Nigeria, a West African nation where overloading, lax safety regulations, the absence of life jackets and poor maintenance often lead to deadly incidents. Nighttime sailing is outlawed across the country, but the ban remains poorly enforced.

Persons: Okasanmi Ajayi, ” Mr, Ajayi Locations: Nigeria, Niger, Kwara, West African

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