MEA RISK’s SHIELD & ALERT notifications: Access requires installing Shield & Alert mobile application. More info on S&A here or click here to signup and install

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...

Nigeria: Boat capsizes near Shagari, kills at least 13



Posted On 6 June 2021

Thirteen people died in northwest Nigeria‘s Sokoto state when a boat ferrying wedding guests capsized, officials said, a week after 150 people went missing in another boat accident. The boat was conveying 18 people returning from a wedding in Shagari district when it overturned on Friday. “Thirteen people travelling from Dorowa to Ginga village died in the boat mishap,” Sokoto state government spokesman Muhammad Bello said. The passengers were all members of the same family heading home after attending the wedding ceremony, local lawmaker Maidawa Kajiji said. “It was a small boat loaded with 18 passengers but only five survived and were rescued,” Kajiji said.

Overcrowding, weather and lack of maintenance contribute to frequent river boat tragedies on Nigerian waterways. Scores of traders drowned when their overloaded boat split and sank on the Niger River in neighbouring Kebbi state last week. The boat was ferrying 180 passengers but only 20 survived. Rescuers recovered 96 bodies after days of searching before the operation was called off.

The National Inland Waterways Authority has banned night-time sailing on the rivers to stop accidents and says overloading ships is a criminal offence, but skippers and crews often ignore the regulations.

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...