Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | The lagoon waters at the port entrance to Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, are usually teeming with small fishing boats. But the bustling waterfront slums of Lagos are now quiet after the navy evicted tens of thousands of residents from their homes in recent weeks. The evictions …
Read More »Nigeria remands former Justice Minister in custody over oil scandal
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A Nigerian court on Thursday remanded a former justice minister accused of corruption in custody pending a bail hearing. Mohammed Adoke who appeared in the high court in the nation’s capital Abuja has been charged over a $1.3 billion dollar oil scandal involving international majors …
Read More »MTN says Nigeria has withdrawn $2bn tax demand
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Mobile giant MTN has said that Nigeria’s attorney general had withdrawn a demand for around $2 billion in back taxes in the latest step towards resolving its legal woes with the authorities. The South African telecommunications firm has already battled back a string of financial …
Read More »Hundreds flee fearing Boko Haram after Chad army leaves Nigeria
N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | Chad has ended a months-long mission fighting Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria and withdrawn its 1,200-strong force across their common border, an army spokesman told AFP on Saturday. “It’s our troops who went to aid Nigerian soldiers months ago returning home. They have finished their mission,” …
Read More »Nigerian pastor accused of abusing children who fled Boko Haram
Benin City, Nigeria | AFP | Deep in the tropical forest in southern Nigeria, an evangelical pastor runs a sprawling camp billed as a refuge for thousands of children who fled the Boko Haram jihadist insurgency in the north. Solomon Folorunsho, known as Pastor Solomon, says he is on a self-proclaimed …
Read More »Southern Niger reels after Nigeria closes borders
Dan Issa, Niger | AFP | Nothing crosses into Nigeria and nothing comes out. It’s hermetically sealed,” said Amadou Idi, sitting in a makeshift shelter to keep out of the rain, and reflecting on the downturn in his luck. “We twiddle our thumbs and pray.” Idi’s job is a transiting agent …
Read More »The Nigerian town that claims it is ‘twins capital’ of world
Yams are believed to contain gonadotropins, a chemical substance that helps women to produce twins Igbo-Ora, Nigeria | AFP | The sign greeting visitors at the entrance of Igbo-Ora in southwest Nigeria welcomes people to a place unlike anywhere on the planet: “TWINS CAPITAL OF THE WORLD”. The rather sleepy-looking …
Read More »Nigeria’s Buhari unveils record $33.8 billion budget
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday unveiled a record budget plan to lawmakers, ramping up ambitious spending goals for his second term in charge. The draft budget increased more than 13 percent from last year at 10.33 trillion naira — around $33.8 billion (30.8 billion …
Read More »Nigeria’s Buhari says anti-migrant attacks ’embarrassment’ for Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday denounced recent xenophobic violence in South Africa as an “embarrassment” for the continent, as he wrapped up a state visit. Buhari’s trip was overshadowed by a spate of recent attacks against foreign workers in South Africa, where …
Read More »Nigeria, S.Africa pledge ‘early warning systems’ to stop xenophobic attacks
Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | The presidents of Nigeria and South Africa on Thursday agreed to share intelligence and set up “early warning mechanisms” to prevent attacks on foreign nationals, weeks after xenophobic violence in Johannesburg stirred tensions between the continent’s largest economies. Muhammadu Buhari and South African counterpart Cyril …
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