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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...

Nigeria braces for more Covid-19 cases

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Posted On 11 December 2020

Nigeria’s health minister has warned of a second wave in the coronavirus pandemic following a sudden rise in infections in the vast west African nation, his office said Thursday. Osagie Ehanire said 1,843 cases were recorded last week compared with 1,235 two weeks ago. “We may just be on the verge of a second wave of this pandemic,” the minister said. Rising infections could be blamed on people failing to uphold preventive measures like mask-wearing, hand-washing and physical distancing, Ehanire said. He added that he had directed health authorities to reopen isolation and treatment centres which had been closed as case numbers fell. South Africa, another of the continent’s heavyweight nations, announced Wednesday it had entered a second wave of Covid-19.

Nigeria recorded its highest number of infections in five months on Thursday, with 675 new cases after 550 on Wednesday, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The country had seen a drop in infections since the start of October with a daily average of less than 200 cases. Health authorities feared Nigeria might not be able to cope with a second wave because of its weak health facilities and poorly equipped and ill-motivated personnel.

Ehanire said that when available, Covid-19 vaccines would go to frontline health workers and the most vulnerable first. So far, the virus has infected 71,344 people and claimed 1,190 lives in the nation of 200 million people.

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...