Warri, Nigeria | AFP | Twelve worshippers were shot dead at a church in southeast Nigeria on Sunday, with authorities suggesting the bloodshed was due to a local feud. At around 6:00 am (0500 GMT), five gunmen opened fire at St. Philip’s church in Ozubulu, near the city of Onitsha, …
Read More »Nigerian military ordered to boost response to Boko Haram
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s military has been ordered to strengthen its response to Boko Haram after 69 people were killed in an ambush earlier this week, the government said on Sunday. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo held emergency talks with top brass to discuss Tuesday’s attack, which targeted an oil exploration …
Read More »Boko Haram ambush death toll hits 69
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | At least 69 people died in a Boko Haram ambush of an oil exploration team in northeast Nigeria, as three men kidnapped by the jihadists made a video appeal. Experts said the attack — Boko Haram’s bloodiest this year — underscored the persistent threat it …
Read More »Case dropped against Nigerian who named his dog ‘Buhari’
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A Nigerian court has struck out a criminal case against a man who named his dog after President Muhammadu Buhari, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Joachim Iroko Chinakwe has been standing trial since August last year in Ota, southwest Nigeria, and admitted naming his pet …
Read More »Shell shuts down key supply pipeline in Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell said Tuesday it has shut down a key crude supply pipeline in Nigeria’s restive south because of a leak. Shell subsidiary the Shell Petroleum Development Corporation of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) said the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) was shut on July 21 …
Read More »Young Nigerians push for removal of political age limits
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Hundreds of young Nigerians marched on the country’s parliament on Tuesday, calling for lawmakers to remove age barriers on political posts, including the presidency. Nigeria’s 1999 constitution stipulates that the president has to be at least 40, while senators and state governors have to be …
Read More »Ill Nigerian president Buhari appears in rare photo
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | An apparent photo of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was posted on Twitter Sunday, offering a rare glimpse of the ill leader since his departure for London for medical treatment in May. Posted from the official Twitter account of the Nigerian presidency, the picture shows the …
Read More »Nigeria’s ex-oil minister battles slew of graft cases
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s former oil minister faces charges only at home but her name crops up in a growing number of international cases that lift the lid on the scale of alleged corruption in the country’s oil sector. Since leaving office in 2015, Diezani Alison-Madueke has been implicated …
Read More »Malala meets her Chibok ‘heroes’ in Nigeria
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai on Monday called for a “state of emergency for education” in Nigeria, as she visited the country and met some of the Chibok schoolgirls whose cause she championed. The 20-year-old global education campaigner made the suggestion at a meeting …
Read More »Nigeria’s acting president meets ailing Buhari in London
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the acting head of government, was in London on Tuesday to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been receiving unspecified medical treatment there since May 7. No date has been set for the 74-year-old leader’s return and he has …
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