Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Funmi Ilori once had a dream about creating the biggest library in Africa. Now she drives vans packed with books to poor areas of Lagos to help children discover a love of reading. “Readers are what?” she asks about 15 youngsters, sitting on little plastic …
Read More »Amnesty says Nigerian air force killed 35 people in raids
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian air raids aimed at stopping herdsmen-farmer clashes killed at least 35 people in December, Amnesty International said Tuesday, describing the government’s response as “unlawful”. In a new report, the rights monitor said that on December 4, Nigerian air force planes fired “warning” rockets on villages …
Read More »Drama as Nigeria, Libya reach CHAN semi-finals
Agadir, Morocco | AFP | Nigeria clawed back from the brink of defeat to edge Angola 2-1 after extra time on Sunday in cold, windy Tangiers and book an African Nations Championship (CHAN) semi-final against Sudan. In the last quarter-final, former champions Libya pipped Congo Brazzaville 5-3 on penalties after …
Read More »Boko Haram, farmer-herder violence in Nigeria leaves 6 dead
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Separate outbreaks of violence attributed to a Boko Haram attack and clashes between Muslim herders and Christian farmers left at least six people dead in Nigeria, police and local authorities said Saturday. At least three people were killed late Friday when Boko Haram attacked the …
Read More »#MeToo movement ‘long overdue’ says Nigerian author Adichie
Paris, France | AFP | The great global reckoning with sexual harassment is “long overdue”, says acclaimed Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, but the feminist figurehead in Africa hopes it is not “a passing fad”. As the global #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct continues in the wake of the disgraced …
Read More »Total set to ramp up Nigerian oil output with new ship
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A gigantic oil tanker arrived in Nigeria as part of a multi-billion dollar project that should allow one of Africa’s biggest crude producers to pump out an additional 200,000 barrels a day. The floating production storage and offloading vessel is docked in Lagos after spending …
Read More »Ex-official under Nigerian president is held in corruption probe
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s anti-graft squad said on Thursday it had placed David Babachir Lawal, once a senior official under President Muhammadu Buhari, in custody for alleged corruption. “He was invited to our office yesterday (Wednesday) and since then he has been in our custody,” the acting spokesman …
Read More »Buhari re-election talk ‘a distraction’: Nigerian govt
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s government on Wednesday hit back at claims that President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure had been a failure but refused to say if he would seek re-election. Former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday called for Buhari to step down as he had a poor grasp of economics, …
Read More »Nigeria’s former president says Buhari should not seek re-election
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday called on the country’s current leader not to seek a second term of office. Obasanjo, who headed a military government in the 1970s and was Nigeria’s first president when civilian rule was restored in 1999, said Muhammadu Buhari …
Read More »Nigerian police hold ‘Chibok girls’ activists, says group
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian police on Tuesday briefly detained activists calling for the release of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadists nearly four years ago, campaigners said. Members of the #BringBackOurGirls advocacy group were taken into custody as they held their daily demonstration in the capital, …
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