Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Clashes between cattle herders and farmers pose a threat to countries across West Africa and the Sahel, the UN warned on Thursday, after Nigeria’s parliament summoned President Muhammadu Buhari over escalating violence. Lawmakers from Nigeria’s lower chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives, called for …
Read More »Nigerian parliament summons Buhari over violence
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s parliament has called for President Muhammadu Buhari to appear before it to explain what his government is doing to stop spiralling violence between herders and farmers in central states. Members of the lower chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives, voted Wednesday to summon Buhari …
Read More »Eighteen killed in Nigerian church by suspected herdsmen
Makurdi, Nigeria | AFP | Two priests were among at least 18 people killed in a dawn attack on a church in central Nigeria, police said Tuesday, in violence condemned by President Muhammadu Buhari as “satanic”. Around 30 suspected herdsmen attacked Mbalom community in the volatile region killing the worshippers …
Read More »Two suicide bombers kill three in north Nigeria mosque
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Two suicide bombers killed three Muslim worshippers in a mosque in a northeast Nigerian town still being rebuilt after virtual destruction by Boko Haram in 2014, sources told AFP Sunday. The bombers, a man and a woman, detonated their explosives inside the mosque during morning …
Read More »Security challenges loom over Buhari’s re-election bid
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Muhammadu Buhari’s pledge to end Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency in northeast Nigeria played a large part in his 2015 presidential election victory. With elections approaching next year and Buhari,75, having declared his intention to seek a second, four-year term, the extent to which he has …
Read More »At least 27 killed in gang violence in northern Nigeria
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | A fresh outbreak of gang violence in northern Nigeria has left at least 27 people dead, locals told AFP on Friday, highlighting the volatile security situation in West Africa’s largest economy. On Thursday suspected cattle thieves launched reprisal attacks on two villages in northern Nigeria’s …
Read More »Nigeria’s Buhari under fire for saying youths want everything free
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari came under fire on Thursday for criticising youths who he said “do nothing” and want everything for “free” in the oil-rich country. Buhari, who declared earlier in April he is seeking re-election in 2019, made the remark on Wednesday at a …
Read More »US urges Nigeria to change tactics against Boko Haram
Gwagwalada, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian forces battling Boko Haram jihadists need a change of mindset to overcome an evolving guerrilla threat, US military officials said this week on the sidelines of an African security summit. Boko Haram’s tactics — from improvised explosive devices to hiding within the local population …
Read More »Calls for ‘proof of life’ after Chibok girls death claims
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria is facing calls to establish how many of the missing Chibok schoolgirls are still alive, after claims that nearly 100 of them may have lost their lives in captivity. Parents of the missing girls and supporters gathered in the small town in remote northeast …
Read More »Nigerian media under scrutiny over herder-farmer conflict
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A photograph of a man with an assault rifle in front of cattle is frequently used to illustrate Nigerian media stories about bloody clashes between farmers and herders. Another shows men armed with machetes on the rampage. The issue with both is they have nothing …
Read More »