StrangeSights: Seagull screeching champions; playing chess for 60 hours; and Russians give toads a helping hand…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Nigeria: Kidnaps break up families, keep children out of school
GARBA MOHAMMAD, ABRAHAM ACHIRGA and GIULIA PARAVICINI, of Reuters, report…
Nigerian kidnappers demand $US620,000 for release of school hostages, local authorities say
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Gunmen who kidnapped 286 students and staff from a school in northern Nigeria last week have demanded a total of one billion naira ($US620,432) for their release, a spokesman for the families of the hostages and a local councillor told Reuters. The school children, some older students and members of the school […]
Nigerian army hunts for kidnapped students, parents seek answers
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Nigerian soldiers were on Monday hunting for armed kidnappers who seized nearly 300 school pupils in Kaduna state last week, a security source said, as distraught parents sought answers on when they would be reunited with their children. The source said the army’s Kaduna-based One Division was leading the operation and “will […]
“I forced her to go to school”, Nigerian mother cries after mass school abduction
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Seven-year-old Safiya Kuriga complained she was feeling feverish but her mother still made her attend class on Thursday. Within two hours, gunmen entered her school and kidnapped Safiya and some 300 other students in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state. “I forced her to go to school that morning despite her complaining to me […]
West African bloc lifts sanctions on junta-led Niger
Abuja, Nigeria Reuters The West African regional bloc said on the weekend it would lift strict sanctions on Niger as it seeks a new strategy to dissuade three junta-led states from withdrawing from the political and economic union – a move that threatens regional integration. Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States met […]
Suspected Boko Haram kills at least 40 in Nigeria’s Yobe state, police say
Maiduguri Nigeria Reuters At least 40 people were killed in Nigeria’s Yobe state between Monday and Tuesday after suspected Boko Haram militants shot at villagers and set off a land mine, in the first major attack on the north-eastern state in 18 months, the police said on Wednesday. The attack happened at about 8:30pm on […]
Gunmen kill 14, kidnap 60 in attacks in northern Nigeria
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters Gunmen in Nigeria killed eight people on Sunday and abducted at least 60 others in two communities of north-west Zamfara state, residents and a local traditional leader said, two days after armed men kidnapped dozens from a university in the state. Elsewhere, in the north-east of the country suspected Islamist insurgents ambushed […]
Nigerian election tribunal upholds Tinubu’s presidential win
Abuja, Nigeria Reuters Nigeria’s presidential election tribunal on Wednesday rejected challenges by opposition rivals to Bola Tinubu’s win in February’s disputed vote, following a pattern seen in previous election years in Africa’s most populous country. No legal challenge to the outcome of a presidential election has succeeded in Nigeria, which returned to democracy in 1999 […]
West African bloc activates standby force for possible Niger intervention
Abuja, NigeriaReuters The West African bloc ECOWAS on Thursday ordered the activation of a standby force for possible use against the junta that took power in Niger in July, saying it wanted a peaceful restoration of democracy but all options including force were on the table. The threat of an invasion, though not specific, will […]