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...

Two boat accidents claim 12 lives in Nigeria



Posted On 1 September 2020

Lagos, Sept 1, 2020 – Twelve people have been killed in two separate boat accidents in Nigeria, officials said on Tuesday. In the first incident on Monday, two people died and another went missing after a fishing boat taking mourners to a funeral capsized outside the commercial capital Lagos, a government safety agency said. Four people were rescued. None of the seven people on board were wearing life jackets, it said.

In a separate incident on Monday, 10 wedding guests drowned when their boat capsized in the Jega district of the northwestern Kebbi state, an emergency official said. The victims were heading to a wedding ceremony in a village on the other bank of the river, said Sani Dododo, head of Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency. “The boat capsized due to turbulent waves in the river which is full from heavy rains. All 10 passengers in the boat drowned. Four bodies have been recovered and search for the remaining six is underway,” he told AFP. “It is a difficult operation because the bodies were swept by the currents,” he added.

Boat accidents are common in Nigeria because of overloading, disregard of safety guidelines, lack of maintenance and bad weather.

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...