Nigeria

ABUJA, July 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 23 soldiers have been killed in an ambush in northwestern Nigeria.

Armed militants opened fire on the soldiers as they walked through a forested part of the Jibia district in Katsina State, security sources said.

So far, the bodies of 23 soldiers have been accounted for while some are still missing. The toll could be higher as a search for missing soldiers is under way.

ABUJA, July 19 (NNN-XINHUA) – Nigerian police rescued 14 women, a few hours after they were kidnapped by gunmen, in the northern state of Katsina on Saturday, according to a spokesman.

One suspect, identified as Amadu Yusuf, a leader of the gunmen, was arrested by the police, said police spokesman, Gambo Isah.

The gunmen, believed to be bandits, attacked Kwantawama village, of the Dutsinma local government area of the state, on motorcycles, Isah told reporters, adding that, the police fought a gunfight with them to rescue the women.

LAGOS, July 12 (NNN-XINHUA) – Death toll from a building which collapsed in Lagos, Nigeria’s business hub, rose to three on Saturday, as authorities suspended search and rescue efforts.

The three-story building collapsed in the early hours of Saturday when the occupants were still asleep on Freeman street, in the Lagos Island area of the state.

KANO (Nigeria), July 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The death toll from an insurgent attack on a military convoy in northeast Nigeria has risen from 23 to 35, while 30 troops are still missing, security sources said.

Militants linked to the so-called Daesh group ambushed the convoy on Tuesday at Bulabulin village, about 40 kilometres from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Twenty-three soldiers were initially thought to have been killed in Tuesday’s attack, and many were listed as missing.

But security sources said more bodies had now been found in nearby bush.

ABUJA, July 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Several gunmen were killed and their camps destroyed, following an air operation in the northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, the nation’s air force chief, Sadique Abubakar, said Tuesday.

The operation was launched on Monday, as part of efforts to rid the Nigerian northwest region of gunmen or bandits, cattle rustlers, kidnappers, and other criminal elements, Abubakar said in a statement.

ABUJA, June 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) –– Nigeria said it was allowing children to go back to school to take exams and permitting cross-country travel despite fears over mounting coronavirus infections.

The head of the presidential task force, Sani Aliyu, gave the go-ahead for the “safe re-opening of schools to allow students in graduating classes (to) resume in-person in preparation for examinations”.

A ban on travel between different regions of the country would also be lifted from the start of July, Aliyu said.

ABUJA, June 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nigerian doctors have ended a nationwide strike that was called to protest against low pay and inadequate protective equipment against the coronavirus pandemic.

The National Association of Resident Doctors (Nard), which represents some 40% of Nigeria’s doctors, said it called off the strike to give the government time to act on its demands.

The week-long strike ends on Monday morning, according to a statement quoted by local media. It had not affected medics treating coronavirus patients.

BAMAKO, June 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — West African regional bloc ECOWAS called on Mali to re-run some of its contested local elections and convene a government of national unity after anti-government protests swept the capital Bamako.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Friday for the second time in a month to demand President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita step down.

Keita, who was re-elected in 2018 for a second five-year term, has struggled with an ongoing security crisis, a strike by teachers and the coronavirus outbreak.

ABUJA, June 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Nigeria and Cameroon to be free of polio, a crippling disease that usually affects children under five.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are now the only countries with cases of the wild polio virus.

The UN health agency is expected to formally present Nigeria with a certificate and also declare Africa free of the wild polio virus.

Nigeria’s head of primary health care agency Dr Faisal Shuaib described the achievement as a “proud moment for us and indeed all Nigerians”.

14 June 2020; AFP: Plunging oil prices and collapsing state revenues have seen Nigerian authorities vow an end to a controversial fuel subsidy scheme long criticised as a graft-ridden drain on public finances.

But there are major doubts that Africa's most populous country is finally ready to wean itself off a system that has helped some in high places syphon billions from government coffers.