Tag Archives: Nigeria

Nigerian Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has been seriously wounded after trying to kill himself to avoid capture during clashes with rival ISIS-allied militants in the north of the country, two intelligence sources said on Thursday. Shekau’s Boko Haram faction and fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province had …

Nigeria will reopen its airports for international flights from Aug. 29, its aviation minister said on Monday. The airports have been closed since March 23 to all but essential international flights as part of the country’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said four flights would …

The World Health Organization has warned the coronavirus pandemic could overwhelm strained public health systems in Africa. On Wednesday, the continent was approaching a million infections and around 21,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally. Here are measures some countries are taking to curb the virus. SOUTH AFRICA With more …

Suspected militants from terrorist group Boko Haram killed at least 13 people and wounded eight others in a grenade attack in northern Cameroon on Sunday, a security source and a local official told Reuters. The unidentified assailants threw a grenade into a group of people inside a camp for displaced …

Five aid workers abducted last month in north-east Nigeria’s Borno State have been killed, reportedly by terrorists. The men were working for Action Against Hunger, the International Rescue Committee, Rich International and the country’s State Emergency Management Agency, Nigeria’s president confirmed. Muhammadu Buhari blamed Boko Haram and vowed to bring …

The lawyers of the jailed Muslim religious scholar Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky have called for the dismissal of the case against him and his wife as well as their immediate release from the Nigerian government’s captivity. Shiekh Zakzaky’s lawyers demanded, in a motion presented to the High Court of Justice in …

A blaze has broken out in one of the World Trade Center’s towers in the capital city of Nigeria, Abuja. Footage from the scene shows a large plume of smoke billowing from the building’s top floors. The fire ignited at the massive tower, which is still under construction, on Monday. …

A Nigerian man accused of multimillion-dollar fraud and money laundering by the United States was kidnapped by the FBI from Dubai, his lawyer says. Ramon Olorunwa Abbas – known to his 2.5 million Instagram followers as Ray Hushpuppi – and another cyber-heist suspect Olalekan Jacob Ponle (aka Mr Woodberry) were …

Police in Nigeria have rescued 300 people they say were locked in a rice-processing factory and forced to work throughout a coronavirus lockdown. From the end of March the men were allegedly not allowed to leave the mill in the northern city of Kano. The workers were promised an additional …

Boko Haram gunmen killed at least 69 people and razed a village to the ground in northern Nigeria’s Borno state on Tuesday afternoon, three sources told Reuters. The men attacked the village of Faduma Koloram, in Gubio local government area of Borno state, starting about noon. They arrived in vehicles …

As of June 5, confirmed the COVID-19 case total from 55 African countries has reached 169,645. Reported deaths in Africa have reached 4,756 and recoveries 73,895. South Africa has the most reported cases – 40,792, with deaths numbering 848. Other most-affected countries include Egypt (29,767 cases), Nigeria (11,516), Algeria (9,831), …

Over 800 Nigerian health workers have contracted the novel coronavirus since the first case was confirmed in February, local media reported on Wednesday. “We have had 812 health care workers infected, they are not just numbers, 29 of these work for NCDC, they are people I know, they have families, …

Nigeria will relax coronavirus restrictions on places of worship from Tuesday, the chairman of the presidential task force for COVID-19 said. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country where Christianity and Islam are widely practiced, has recorded 10,162 confirmed cases and 287 deaths. Boss Mustapha, the country’s most senior civil servant, also …

The Nigerien Defense Ministry says army troops from the landlocked West African country and allied forces from neighboring states have killed 75 members of the Takfiri Boko Haram terrorist group during security operations earlier this week in the region, where the borders of Niger, Nigeria and Chad converge. The ministry …

Nigeria began easing restrictions on Monday in its capital Abuja and in largest city Lagos, heralding the reopening of Africa’s biggest economy after more than four weeks of lockdowns imposed to contain the new coronavirus. The government has said a 24-hour, stay-at-home order in place since March 30 in Abuja …

The government in Nigeria’s most populous state Kano has relaxed the total lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus beginning on Monday. Supermarkets and some fruit and vegetable markets are allowed to open from 10:00 to 16:00 on Mondays and Thursdays to allow people to buy food and other …

African nations that lack ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients will receive some from the Jack Ma Foundation, an African Union official said on Thursday, as Nigeria stressed Africa’s dependence on a properly-funded World Health Organization (WHO)to help it fight the pandemic. Africa’s 54 countries have so far reported fewer than …

Nigeria’s Rivers State has freed 22 Exxon Mobil Corp. employees quarantined last week after their arrest for violating an order restricting movement into the state to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the state government said on Sunday. Port Harcourt, the capital of the southern state, is the hub of …

At least five women and children died on Saturday in a stampede when cash and clothes were handed out to thousands of displaced people in northeastern Nigeria, militia and local people told AFP. A large crowd surged forward for the government aid distribution and people were trampled underfoot in the …

The COVID-19 pandemic will likely kill at least 300,000 Africans and risks pushing 29 million into extreme poverty, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) said on Friday, calling for a $100 billion safety net for the continent. Africa’s 54 countries have so far reported fewer than 20,000 confirmed cases …