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Nigeria: Questions Mount Over U.S. Airstrikes in Northern Nigeria$

By Leslie Varenne, MondAfrique: The American strikes carried out in Nigeria on Christmas Day raise serious questions. Beyond the confusion surrounding the objectives of the operation, inconsistencies in official statements, and the unclear nature of the targets, the...

Nigeria grapples with end of fuel subsidyF

By Alexandre Martins Lopes: Nigerians are struggling with surging fuel prices after newly elected President Bola Tinubu declared an end to popular subsidies, a move analysts and experts said was long overdue. On his first day in office, Tinubu kept to his campaign...

Nigeria’s southwest’s pig farmers in turmoilF

Posted On 19 June 2020

Lagos, June 19, 2020 (By Joel Olatunde AGOI) – Swine fever has killed thousands of pigs in southwest Nigeria as the region has been hit by the worst outbreak in almost two decades, farmers said Friday.  The disease appears to have first broken out at a major farm housing some 2.5 million pigs outside the nation’s economic hub Lagos. “The destruction is massive. We have lost almost everything. All the pigs… have died of Africa swine fever,” farmer Labake Remi Makinde told AFP. “The outbreak started in early February. The pigs are dying one after the other.”

Adeze Ijenebe, leader of the local farmers association, said the problem was exacerbated by a coronavirus lockdown. Farmers said they were now being forced to sell off their surviving pigs for well below the market rate and risked going out of business unless they received government help. “My fear is that something urgent should be done to avoid a spread,” farmer Femi Kujembola told AFP.  “Pork meat is rich in protein and to avoid scarcity and ensure food security, we have to protect the farmers.”

In the past decade, swine fever has regularly surfaced in several parts of Africa. Between 2016 and 2019, more than 60 outbreaks were reported across the continent. Nigeria has suffered repeated outbreaks but officials say the recent wave of infections is the worst by far.

AFP

Recent News from Nigeria

Nigeria Adjusts Airstrike Strategy Under Expanded U.S. Security Cooperation$

Nigeria is modifying how it conducts air operations against armed groups under a revised security arrangement with the United States. The new framework places greater emphasis on U.S. intelligence and reconnaissance support while shifting operational responsibility to Nigerian forces. The approach reflects Abuja’s effort to balance external assistance with domestic control amid ongoing security challenges in the country’s northwest.

Nigeria: Questions Mount Over U.S. Airstrikes in Northern Nigeria$

The U.S. airstrikes carried out in northern Nigeria on Christmas Day have triggered confusion and skepticism across the region. Conflicting statements from Washington and Abuja, uncertainty over the identity of the targeted groups, and reports from strike locations where no militants were found have raised serious questions about the operation’s objectives. In an already fragile security environment, the lack of clarity risks adding instability rather than addressing Nigeria’s complex security challenges.

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