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Nigerian president Tinubu under pressure to avoid war with northern neighbor Niger

By Camille Malpat with Aminu Abubakar in Kano, Nigeria: Political leaders in Nigeria are urging President Bola Tinubu to reconsider a threatened military intervention against junta leaders in neighbouring Niger, ahead of a Sunday deadline to reinstate the country's...

Nigeria grapples with end of fuel subsidy

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: Bandits raid six villages in north, kill 30 civilians

Armed men killed 30 people in weekend raids on six villages in Nigeria's north, a region regularly hit by criminal violence and clashes between communities, local police have said. The bloodshed is the latest outbreak of inter-communal violence which the country's...

Nigeria: ISWAP ambushes army unit, kills several soldiers

Several Nigerian soldiers died in an attack on a military convoy in the Lake Chad region by jihadist fighters aligned with the Islamic State group, security forces said Tuesday. The convoy was hit by militants from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)...

Nigeria: Cash-strapped Boko Haram kidnaps herders for ransom

Boko Haram jihadists have kidnapped 30 ethnic Fulani herders near northeast Nigeria's Lake Chad, demanding ransom for their release, fishermen and the head of an anti-jihadist militia told AFP Tuesday. The militants in eight boats stormed the fishing and herding...

Building collapses in Lagos, Nigeria, killing eight

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Posted On 12 October 2020

Emergency services were clearing debris of a collapsed building on Monday in the densely populated city of Lagos in Nigeria that left at least eight people dead. The cause of the incident, which happened on Sunday, remains unknown but building collapses are common in Africa’s most populous country, where millions live in dilapidated properties and construction laws are routinely ignored.

Dozens of people were helping with the clearing operation, with many victims believed to be trapped in the rubble. “When the building started falling down, no one was able to flee. No one,” one witness, Femi Abalenawa, told AFP. “Emergency services didn’t arrive for a while, and so people in the neighbourhood came out to help,” he added. “Unfortunately, eight victims were recovered dead, six adult males and two females,” the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) tweeted on Monday. Ten people were severely injured and taken to hospital, while 10 others were lightly injured, the agency added.

The incident happened at a building under construction in Ikoyi-Obalende, a working-class area of Lagos. “The cause of collapse is yet to be ascertained but efforts are presently ongoing by LASEMA and other responders towards salvaging the situation,” the city’s emergency services said. In March, 20 people died in the collapse of a building housing a nursery and primary school in Lagos, which is Nigeria’s economic hub.

AFP

Nigerian army drone hits village in Kaduna State, kills civilians

By Aminu Abubakar with Laurie Churchman in Abuja: An army drone strike accidentally hit a village in northwestern Nigeria killing dozens of civilians celebrating a Muslim festival, local authorities, the military and residents said on Monday. Nigeria's armed forces...

Nigeria’s election runner-up, Atiku Abubakar, files appeal over election challenge

The runner-up in Nigeria's presidential election in February on Tuesday filed an appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling rejecting a challenge to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's election victory. Opposition parties had claimed various irregularities, from...