Niamey, Niger | AFP | Ten troops have been killed on Niger’s border with Nigeria in a joint operation by the two countries against “bandits”, Nigerien Defence Minister Kalla Moutari said on Monday. “Five Nigerien and five Nigerian” troops and 11 enemy fighters were killed in the operation, launched against …
Read More »Boko Haram sacks two military bases in northeast Nigeria
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Boko Haram sacked two military bases in northeast Nigeria overnight as the jihadist fighters battle for control of a strategic town on Lake Chad, military sources said Thursday. Jihadists from the IS-supported Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) overran a naval base and a multinational …
Read More »13 Nigerian troops, policeman killed in Boko Haram attack
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Boko Haram jihadists ambushed a military convoy in northeastern Nigeria, killing 13 soldiers and a policeman, the army said Wednesday. But an officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the militants had overrun an army base, and put the death toll at 18. An army …
Read More »MTN pays $53 million penalty, resolves $8 bln Nigeria row
Nigeria resolves $8 bln row with MTN Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria said it has resolved a dispute with Africa’s largest mobile operator over $8.13 billion (6.96 billion euros) which it accused MTN of illegally repatriating to South Africa. Africa’s biggest telecoms market Nigeria shocked MTN and foreign investors …
Read More »Boko Haram mastermind of deadly Nigeria blasts arrested: police
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | A top Boko Haram leader accused of organising deadly twin blasts in the Nigerian capital Abuja that killed 18 people has been arrested, police said Friday. A police statement said Umar Abdulmalik and seven other jihadists were arrested, without giving details. Forty-one people were also …
Read More »Gunmen kill 25 in northern Nigeria village raids
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | At least 25 people were killed when armed men raided two villages in a northern Nigerian state wracked by cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom, witnesses and the police said on Friday. Gunmen on motorcycles on Wednesday invaded the villages of Gidan Halilu and Gidan …
Read More »Boeing lands jet deals with Nigeria, Saudi for $9.3 bn
Paris, France | AFP | US planemaker Boeing on Friday said it had agreed deals worth an overall $9.3 billion to sell 50 jets to Nigeria’s Green Air and 30 to Saudi carrier flyadeal. The company lauded the Nigeria accord, which includes a further 50 options, as the largest signed …
Read More »Nigeria Sharia police arrest 11 women over ‘lesbian wedding’
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Eleven young women were arrested in the northern Nigerian city of Kano for allegedly planning a lesbian wedding, the Islamic law-enforcement agency, the Hisbah, told AFP Thursday. The suspects were arrested on Monday by a team of Hisbah personnel while making last minute preparations for …
Read More »Nigeria’s presidency ‘concerned’ by Amnesty International
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria is “concerned” about Amnesty International’s activities, a spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari said Monday, just days after the government briefly banned UNICEF over claims it was training “spies” sympathetic to Boko Haram. “The federal government is increasingly concerned about the role that Amnesty International …
Read More »Amnesty says over 3,600 killed in Nigeria’s farmer-herder violence
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | More than 3,600 people have been killed in clashes between farmers and herders in Nigeria since 2016, Amnesty International said on Monday, blaming the government’s failure to punish the perpetrators for fuelling the violence. The international human rights organisation said more than 2,000 were killed …
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