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...
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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: Human Rights Watch accuses Nigeria army over civilian drone strike victims
A leading rights group urged Nigeria's army on Tuesday to take responsibility for a drone strike that killed 39 civilians in January, calling for compensation for the victims and their families. The army eventually admitted ordering the strike near the town of Rukubi,...
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 seizes British plane for flouting virus flight ban
Posted On 18 May 2020
Lagos, May 17, 2020 – Nigeria has seized a British plane for flouting a travel ban imposed as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the aviation minister said Sunday. Flair Aviation, the airline involved, was authorised to conduct humanitarian flights but was caught operating commercial flights, Hadi Sirika said on his Twitter account.
“This is callous!” he wrote. “The craft is impounded, the crew being interrogated. There shall be maximum penalty. Wrong time to try our resolve.” There was no immediate reaction on Sunday from either the company or the British embassy on the matter.
Nigeria has shut its airports and airspace since March to contain COVID-19, which has so far infected 5,621 people and claimed 176 lives there.
AFP
Recent News from Nigeria
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: Two dead after fire sweeps though displaced camp of Muna Alamdari in Borno
At least two children died when fire swept through an informal camp for displaced people in northeast Nigeria, destroying more than a thousand tents, emergency officials said on Wednesday. The fire broke out at the Muna Alamdari camp near the Borno State capital...
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...