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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...

Another fuel tanker explosion along Benin-Sapele expresswayF

Posted On 23 July 2020

Lagos, July 22, 2020 – An explosion killed at least three people Wednesday after a fuel truck overturned and spilt its load across a road in southern Nigeria, police said. “Three persons were burnt to beyond recognition, four vehicles and three motorcycles were burnt to ashes,” Delta State police spokesman Onome Onowakpoyeya told AFP. “An unspecified number of persons sustained various degrees of burns as a result of the fire.” People from the surrounding area gathered by the tanker to collect fuel after it overturned, said an eyewitness, Mamus Okpogode.

“A spark from a vehicle conveying traders to the local market ignited the inferno that engulfed the tanker,” he said. Okpogode said he counted at least seven dead at the scene and that 18 wounded people were taken to hospital.

Such blasts are common in Nigeria, where many people live in poverty even though the country is the biggest oil producer on the continent, with around two million barrels per day. Incidents regularly occur when residents try to siphon off oil or petrol from pipelines or when tanker drivers have accidents on the country’s ill-maintained roads.

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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