Regional News
Police raid ‘gay wedding’ in Nigeria, arrest 19. Source-Africanews
The Islamic police have arrested 19 people accused of organizing a gay wedding in the city of Kano, in conservative northern Nigeria, a spokesman said Tuesday (December 20).
Kano is one of 12 northern Nigerian states that introduced sharia law in 2000, where Islamic courts operate alongside the state judicial system.
This is not the first time the Islamic police have made arrests, accusing youths of organizing a gay wedding. Each time, the suspects have denied it, saying th
Globalised Food Systems Are Making Hunger Worse. Source. Dailytrust.
From COVID-19 to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine to climate change, it seems all the calamities afflicting the world are converging to make hunger worse. The latest United Nations report on hunger finds the increase in the number of undernourished people globally this year has eliminated any progress over the past decade.
Yet while the world has not seen hunger at these levels for years, scholars have long warned that a catastrophe was looming. The world’s food system is more interconnected and complex than ever, built upon layers of transnational dependencies. It is why a war in Europe can exacerbate a famine in Somalia — a country which imports most of its wheat and saw its supply of bread all but collapse overnight when exports of Ukrainian wheat ceased.
Gunmen kill over 20 villagers in northern Nigeria. Source- Africanews
More than 20 villagers were killed in two separate attacks by gunmen in the troubled northern state of Kaduna in Africa’s population giant Nigeria, local officials said Monday.
The death toll from Sunday’s violence against the villages of Malagum 1 and Sakwong in Kaura district rose to 28 or 37, according to sources.
Criminal gangs have been attacking villages in the northwest and central parts of the country for years, stealing livestock, kidnapping people for ransom, looting food and burning down homes.
Why I Banned My Ministers From Marring Extra Wives. Source- Gistmania.
The president of Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum has revealed that he banned all his ministers from marrying extra wives. According to him, the reason is because he wants to tackle poverty and birth control in the country. World Bank stated that the country is one of the poorest countries in West Africa with a GDP per capita of $567.7 and population of 25 million. In an interview with VOA Hausa, Mr Bazoum, who is in Washington for the US-Africa summit, blamed the high rate of illiteracy in the country for the population explosion.
2023 Hajji : COVID-19 Test Removed As Nigeria Gets 95,000 Slot. Source- Dailytrust.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced that it will restore the 95,000 slots given to Nigeria before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recall that the holy pilgrimage to the city of Mecca and Medina was suspended for international travellers in 2020 and 2021 while slots for 2022 were reduced.
This led to Nigeria getting 45,000 of its previously allocated slot of 95,000.
The Assistant Director, Information and Publications of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Mousa Ubandawaki, in a statement on Wednesday, stated that the position was made known by the Director General in charge of Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Missions at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Bahauddeen bin Yusuf Alwani.
Bahauddeen during a preparatory meeting for the 2023 Hajj Season via a video conference with the Chairman/CEO of NAHCON, Alhaji Zukrullah Kunle Hassan, added that guidelines released for the 2023 Hajj by the ministry included the removal of the age barrier or limit and cancellation of PCR test.
Mali: Withdrawals, Dearth Trail UN’s Most Dangerous Peacekeeping Mission. Source-Humangle.
Withdrawals by participating countries and persistent attacks have cast a shadow over the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali. On Friday, Dec. 16, two Nigerian peacekeepers, including one woman, were killed, and four others were injured in an ambush on a MINUSMA police patrol in the northern town of Timbuktu.
Boko Haram Attacks Borno Village, Burns Silos, Houses. Source-Dailytrust.
Boko Haram terrorists have invaded Jibwiwi village in Hawul LGA of Borno State and burnt down eight houses and many grains silos.
Daily Trust gathered that the assailants, who rode on several motorcycles, stormed the village around 6pm on Monday.
A vigilante in the town told our correspondent that the terrorists set ablaze the silos containing hundreds of cereal bags without taking anything.
“They burnt eight houses and many silos; most of the stores contained dozens of bags of maize, guinea corn and groundnuts etc.
FG Seeks Investors For 7 Offshore Oil Blocks, 15 Years After. Source- Dailytrust
The federal government has offered seven deep offshore oil blocks for a mini bid round as it shops for investors globally, 15 years after it offered 45 of such blocks.
The Chief Executive, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr Gbenga Komolafe, announced this on Wednesday during a press briefing in Abuja.
He said this is the first time a bid for a deep offshore asset is being held after the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
He said: “In this year’s mini bid round, seven offshore blocks covering an area of 6,700km in water depth of 1,150 metres to 3,100 metres is put on offe
Peace and Security
Two UN Peacekeepers Shot Dead Near Timbuktu in Mali. Source-Al Jazeera.
Burkina Faso Denies Paying Russia’s Wagner Group With Mine Rights. Source- Al Jazeera.
Burkina Faso’s mines minister has denied an allegation by the president of Ghana that its northern neighbour had paid Russian mercenaries by giving them the rights to a mine.
“We have not granted any permit to a Russian company in southern Burkina,” Minister of Mines Simon Pierre Boussim told reporters on Tuesday, after a meeting with civil society groups that were concerned about the allegations.
Tensions rise between Burkina Faso and Ghana- Source. Africanews.
Tensions are rising between Burkina Faso and neighbouring Ghana following Ghana’s claim that Ouagadougo had invited Russian mercenaries into the country.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo made the comments last Wednesday sparking a diplomatic row.
“These 48 hours were marked by the words of Ghana’s president Nana Akufo Addo on an alleged contract between the transitional government and a private Russian company. Faced with such a situation, the logical thing to do was to urgently summon the Ghanaian ambassador in Ouagadougou, but also our ambassador in Accra for consultation”, said Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, Burkina Faso’s Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation.
The Good, Bad, and Ugly: West Africa’s Big Issues In 2022. Source-AlJazeera.
Lagos, Nigeria – This year has been a generally turbulent one for West Africa – with a few bright spots.
Just as the region was recovering from the post-COVID-19 economic fallout of 2020, Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Early Warning Signals For 2023 General Elections. Source- Dailytrust.
The 2023 presidential election is about 12 weeks away but the glaring early warning signals and violations of the electoral legal framework are overwhelmingly petrifying that election stakeholders have continued to express concerns over the conduct of a peaceful and credible elections.
The recent report credited to the Nigerian Army saying it is under pressure to manipulate the 2023 general elections may just be one out of the many risks, uncertainties and assumptions that has potential of undermining the process. Thus, there is no better time to build early warning systems and develop mechanisms that will help mitigate the pending challenges associated with the elections.
Nigerian Government Regrets Zamfara Killings- Minister. Source- Premiumtimes.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the government regrets the killing of civilians in the Mutumji Community of Zamfara State during an air strike by the Air Force.
The minister, while addressing State House correspondents, on Wednesday, said lamentably innocent citizens also pay the highest price in the fight against insurgency.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that scores were killed during last weekend’s military operation repelling attacks by non-state actors in the Dansadau District of Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
No fewer than reached 68 persons including soldiers and terrorists lost their lives. Women and children were also among the casualties.
Nigerian Force Recover 7 Abducted Chinese Nationals- Source. Humangle Media.
An elite team of special forces soldiers has rescued seven Chinese nationals abducted six months ago from a mining site in the North-central state of Niger, according to a statement from the country’s Air Force spokesperson.
The search and recovery operation was conducted in the early hours of Saturday, Dec. 17 by members of the Air Force’s Special Operations Forces, assigned to an outpost in the volatile Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna State in the northwest.
Special Report: In Jigawa, Floods Worsened Harder-Farmer Conflict. Source-Premiumtimes.
Another herder, Jabbi Ahmadu, told PREMIUM TIMES that he lost over 30 cows including goats to the flooding disaster, adding that the incident was the worst experience ever in the area in the past few decades.
He said: “My younger brother lost over 20 cows, not to talk of other relatives who are also counting their losses on animals and farm produce. Many times what you can do is just slaughter the animal, afterwards, you call the butcher who surprisingly will come and price the slaughtered goat as low as N500.
INEC Moves Critical Material As Another Office Attacked In Imo. Source. Dailytrust.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that its office in Isu Local Government Area in Imo State was attacked and vandalised.
The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, Festus Okoye, said this on Wednesday night in Abuja.
This is the fourth attack on INEC facilities in Imo State in less than three weeks following previous attacks on Orlu and Oru West Local Government Areas and the state headquarters in Owerri.
Okoye said the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Imo State, Prof. Sylvia Uchenna Agu, reported that the office was attacked and vandalised.
Humanitarian
IDPs In Nigeria’s Adamawa State Anticipate Resettlement- Source. Humangle.
“No one here would tell you they are not tired of staying in this camp,” Naomi Daudu tells HumAngle while seated beside her makeshift tent in Malkohi displacement camp.
In 2014, Naomi, now 27, found her way to Malkohi IDP camp located in Yola, Northeast Nigeria, after terrorists from the Boko Haram terror group attacked her village in Mubi Local Government Area in Adamawa state.
During the first three years of her displacement, Naomi tells HumAngle, donations by aid organisations and the state’s emergency management agency (ADSEMA) were frequent. In the past two years, however, the distribution of relief supplies has become a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence.
SEMA Records Over 200 Births In Benue IDP Camps in 2022. Source- Dailytrust.
Women in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Benue were delivered of 200 babies in 2022.
The Executive Secretary of Benue Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr Emmanuel Shior, made the declaration on Wednesday in Makurdi during the agency’s monthly distribution of relief materials to the IDPs.
“We have more than 200 births known to the agency in 2022,’’ he said.
Shior said the 200 babies were the ones whose births were registered officially and attributed the figure to the fact that most of the internally displaced persons stayed with their partners in the camps.
He added that more than two million people were staying in various IDP camps in the state.
Residents Injured In Stampede As Terrorists Arrive In Kebbi Community- Source. Humangle
Residents of a village in Zamfara abandoned their homes in panic as terrorists on motorcycles approached their community. In the resulting stampede to get away, people were injured, witnesses said.
The group of raiders arrived in Shengel community, in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area (LGA) of Kebbi State in Northwest Nigeria on Dec 15, HumAngle learned.
The gang passed through Shengel after rustling cattle from the neighbouring villages between 2:30 p.m. and 4:25 p.m. Locals were in mosques for their afternoon (Zuhr) prayer when the terrorists approached. This caused a stampede with people sustaining a variety of injuries. It is not thought that anyone is in a critical condition after the incident.
Reps Propose 5-Year Jail For Female Genital Mutilation Offenders. Source- Dailytust
The House of Representatives has begun moves to criminalise the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) with the proposal of a five-year jail term for offenders.
A Bill to that effect scaled through the second reading at the lower chamber on Wednesday.
The Bill which is sponsored by Rep Ganiyu Johnson is intended to amend the Violence Against Persons (VAP) Prohibition Act, 2015 to increase the penalty for the offence of female genital mutilation.
The Bill proposed an imprisonment term of five years or a fine not exceeding N1m for any person who performs female genital mutilation or engages another to carry out such acts.
Stabilization and economic development
German Minister Expresses Commitment to Peace And Stabilisation Process In Borno- Source. Humangle.
The German Foreign Affairs Minister, Annalena Baerbock, today, Dec. 19, visited communities in Borno state, Northeast Nigeria.
Ms Baerbock went to Mafa, a village 54 km northwest of Maiduguri, where she inspected about 1000 units of low-cost housing projects built by the state government with the support of the German government.
The host governor of Borno state, Babagana Zulum, who led her to the site of the project at Ngaragam village in Mafa, noted that Germany was the highest donor when the €50 million Lake Chad Regional Stabilization Facility fund was raised recently.
Biden Backs African Union Becoming Parment G20 Member. Source- Al Jazeera.
An unidentified gunman has shot and killed two officers from the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali while they were on patrol near the city of Timbuktu, according to mission head El-Ghassim Wane.
“I condemn this heinous act and wish a speedy recovery to the four other injured peacekeepers,” Wane tweeted on Friday.
President Joe Biden has announced support for the African Union joining the Group of 20 (G20), a global forum for major economies, as the United States seeks to build stronger relations with African nation.
CBN Raises Individual Cash Withdrawal Limit To N500,000 Weekly. Source-Dailytrust
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made an upward review of its cash withdrawal limit directive 15 days after issuing the policy as individuals can now withdraw N500,000 cash weekly and up to N5 million for corporate entities from 9th January, 2023.
In a circular issued on Wednesday and signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna B. Mustafa, the apex bank said: “The maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawal across all channels by individuals and corporate organizations shall be N500,000.00 and N5,000,000.00 respectively.
Federal Government to Reimburse Borno N9.43BN For Road, Flyover Construction. Source- Dailytrust
The federal government said it would reimburse N9.43 billion to the Borno government for federal road and flyover bridge projects that were constructed by the state.
The five-kilometre road and flyover bridge projects constructed in the state capital, Maiduguri, cost the state N5 billion and N4.34 billion respectively.
The Minister of State for Works, Umar El-Yakub, who disclosed this during his visit yesterday in Maiduguri, said the two projects must be assessed before the National Assembly can approve the reimbursement.
Nigeria Gets $100,000 Grant To Support Flood Victims. Source- Dailytrust.
The GE Foundation has donated $100,000 to provide immediate relief to victims of flooding in Nigeria.
The donation will fund the international humanitarian agency CARE to support local emergency response authorities and volunteers, it said.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Foundation said the donation will specifically help address the immediate food security and hygiene needs in the region for approximately 800 households, including up to 2,500 individuals.
