Regional News
Catholic Priest Burned Alive in Nigeria’s Hard-Hit North. Source- Africanews.
Gunmen killed a Catholic priest and abducted five worshippers in two separate attacks in central and northwestern Nigeria on Sunday, AFP has learned from police sources.
Around 02:00 GMT in the village of Kafin-Koro (centre), in Niger State, armed individuals locally referred to as “bandits” set fire to the residence of a priest, who was burned to death, said Wasiu Biodun, spokesman for the police in the state.
They set fire to the house of Father Isaac Achi, after failing to gain access. “Unfortunately, the bandits set the house on fire, while the said Reverend Father was burnt alive,” he said.
The assailants shot and wounded another priest as he tried to escape: “The lifeless body of Father Isaac was recovered while Father Collins was rushed to hospital for treatment,” the spokesman added.
Attacks on Electoral Commission Spark Concerns for Nigeria Polls. Lagos, Nigeria
On Sunday, Nigerian policemen repelled an attack by unknown gunmen on the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the southeastern state of Enugu.
The incident has reinforced persistent doubts that Nigeria’s general elections will proceed as planned next month.
Banditry in the North West, secessionists in the South East and violence in the North East by armed groups allied to ISIL (ISIS) have already contributed to an atmosphere of rapidly escalating insecurity.
But the attack on the electoral commission’s offices and recent comments from a top INEC official have amplified growing concerns around the elections.
“If the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of elections results,” said Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, chairman of INEC’s Board of Electoral Institute, at the validation of election security training resources in Abuja last week.
Nigerian Troops Neutralize Bandits, Clear Hideouts in Chikun LGA. Source- PRNigeria.
Nigerian Troops Neutralize bandits, Clear Hideouts in Chikun LGA. Troops of Operation Forest Sanity have neutralized two bandits and cleared several hideouts in Chikun LGA.
According to operational feedback to the Kaduna State Government, the troops achieved these breakthroughs during fighting patrols along the Kaboresha-Rijana Forest-Kuzo-Kujeni-Gwanto-Kachia axis.
The troops set up an ambush position along the Gwanto-Kwasau Road, and thus engaged bandits approaching the location on motorcycles. The troops neutralized two bandits and recovered three motorcycles.
The troops also raided bandits camps in the Kutura-Rijana general area. The bandits fled into the forest on sighting the troops, who then destroyed the camps and recovered three motorcycles.
Other items recovered include several sets of military uniforms and bandoliers.
The onslaught against bandits is in progress and government appeals to the general public to continue to volunteer useful information.
Receiving the report, Governor Nasir El-Rufai expressed satisfaction and commended the troops for their committed efforts which resulted in the latest success.
Young Nigerian Flocks to Get Voting Cards for February Election.
Braving stressful waits, red tape and repeated visits, Nigerians are rushing to pick up their voting cards for next month’s presidential election, where three main candidates are vying to replace President Muhammadu Buhari.
Nearly 10 million new voters have been registered for the February 25 ballot, of whom 84 percent are people under age 34 – a key block of ballots. But the Independent National Electoral Commission, known as INEC, also claimed 1.12 million of those new registrations were invalid.
COVID-19 Mutants and the Need to Decongest Custodial in Nigeria. Source- PRNigeria.
Since the first reported case of the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) aka COVID-19 in December 2019, disease control experts round the world have continued to issue warnings of imminent outbreak of new strains, with each lineage said to be more virulent than their ancestors.
The scare created by the emergence of the Delta variant had hardly dissipated when Omicron BA.4/BA.5 sub-variants surfaced. These variants, we are told, have incredible mutation capability, highly transmissible, causes more health challenges and are immune-evasive. These strains, though taking their toll in some parts of Asia, Europe and America, have luckily not been linked to any increase in death or hospitalization in Nigeria.
The narrative is that China relaxed their Non pharmaceutical interventions (NPis) that is, prevention and control measures such as wearing of facemasks, crowd control, hygiene practices etc and like a bang, an explosion of variants feared to surpass the previous strains now walk the streets. The situation may have been exacerbated by the winter but letting down their guards in a compromised weather condition is certainly playing a role in the insidious health challenge.
Al-Qaeda Claims the Death of the 14 Soldiers in the Centre of Mali. Source. Africanews.
At least 14 Malian soldiers were killed and 11 injured on Tuesday in clashes with jihadists in the centre of the country, according to an army report on Thursday, an attack claimed by Al-Qaeda with different figures.
The previous report communicated by officers of the army and the gendarmerie on condition of anonymity reported the day before at least 12 Malian soldiers were killed during these fights which took place between Mopti and Ségou after several attacks carried out against the army with homemade bombs. “Enemy side”, the Malian army claims to have neutralized “31 terrorists”, in a statement sent to AFP.
2 Monarchs, 5 Others Arrested Over Edo Train Attack. Source-Dailytrust.
The Edo State government has said that two traditional rulers and five other persons have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of 20 passengers from Igueben train station in Edo state on January 7.
The Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, disclosed this yesterday in Benin while briefing journalists shortly after the state executive council meeting.
Kano Shari’ah Court Judges, Others Sent to Prison over N500m ‘Fraud’. Source- Dailytrust
A cashier with the Kano State Sharia Court Division, Hussaina Imam and 14 others, including judges and registrars have been arraigned before a magistrates’ court in the state for allegedly diverting the sum of N500 million meant for orphans.
When the case came up on Wednesday, before Chief Magistrate Mustapha Sa’ad Datti, the defendants were accused of committing an offence bordering on criminal conspiracy, joint act, and criminal breach of trust by public servants, theft and forgery.
Burkina Faso: 50 Women Kidnapped in the North by Suspected Jihadists. Source- Africanews.
The first group of about 40 women was abducted about 10 km southeast of Arbinda and another group of about 20 the next day north of the town, according to the reports of several residents and local officials who wished to remain anonymous. Some were able to escape and return to their villages to bear witnes
“The women got together to go and gather leaves and wild fruits in the bush because there is nothing left to eat,” explained one of the inhabitants, adding that they had left with their carts on Thursday. “On Thursday evening, when they didn’t come back, we thought there had been a problem with their carts. But three survivors came back to tell us what happened,” added another resident.
18 Abducted Burkina Faso Women Flee Gunmen as Attack Spike
Piercing thorns and stones underfoot did not stop the young woman as she charged through thickets, baby strapped to her back, fleeing armed men who kidnapped her with dozens of others in northern Burkina Faso last week.
Now back home in the town of Arbinda along with a few who also managed to escape, the 20-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous for fear over her safety, recounted the ordeal that started when unknown men fired gunshots and then closed in on her as she was scouring the bush for food.
Mali: At least 4 Gendarmes Killed in an Ambush. Source- Africanews.
Four Malian gendarmes were killed and three wounded on Sunday in an ambush in the west of the Sahelian country plagued by jihadist attacks, the gendarmerie said.
Two gendarmerie vehicles were burned and two others, topped with machine guns, were captured by the attackers during this operation carried out in Kouala , she added. Two assailants were killed and others taken prisoner.
The gendarmerie did not specify in its message to whom the attack was attributed. The gendarmes, like the army, the foreign forces and all that represent the State are the targets of the jihadist groups.
Since 2012, Mali has suffered from the spread of jihadism and a deep multidimensional, political, economic and humanitarian crisis. Starting from the north, the violence mainly affects the center and the east and has spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. But it does not spare the west and is gaining south, alarming Mali’s other neighbours such as Senegal.
Nigeria’s First-time Voters Flock to Get Voting Cards Ahead of Election. Source- Africanews.
Braving stressful waits, red tape and repeated visits, Nigerians are rushing to pick up their voting cards for next month’s presidential election, where three main candidates are vying to replace President Muhammadu Buhari.
Nearly 10 million new voters have been registered for the February 25 ballot, of whom 84 percent are young people aged under 34 — a key block of ballots.
The election in Africa’s most populous country is shaping up to be an exceptional event.
For the first time since the end of military dictatorship in 1999, a third party candidate is presenting a real challenge to the dominance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Peace and Security
NGO Trains Qur’anic Students in Brono on Conuntering Violent Extremism. Source. Humangle.
About 10,000 students of Quranic schools in Borno State, Northeast Nigeria, have been trained as peace ambassadors through alternative Quranic teaching to counter narratives of violent extremism.
The initiative is being promoted locally in Borno as one of its homegrown solutions towards halting the menace of the religious extremism that has afflicted the state.
The selected Quranic students who underwent a three weeks intensive coaching in December 2022, were graduated on Monday, Jan. 2, 2023 at an elaborate event in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, northeast Nigeria.
Allamin Foundation, a Borno-based civil society and a nongovernmental organisation known for promoting the rights of women and vulnerable groups in conflict situations, presented certificates and awards to the graduates of the youth-centric peace programme at a brief ceremony held in Maiduguri, the state capital.
Searches Underway to Locate 50 Kidnapped Women in Burkina Faso. Source- Africanews.
A group of women who were abducted on Thursday and Friday in the north of the country by suspected jihadists are being searched for in Burkina Faso, the governor of the Sahel region said in a statement on Monday.
“As soon as their disappearance was reported, searches were undertaken to find all of these innocent victims, safe and sound,” said Lieutenant Colonel Rodolphe Sorgho.
“All means are being implemented, on the ground and air to find these women,” a security source told AFP, assuring that “aircraft are flying over the area to detect any suspicious movement.
Some fifty women were abducted on Thursday and Friday by suspected jihadists in two localities to the north and west of the northern town of Arbinda, Sorgho said.
Mali’s Leader Launches ‘Patriotic Day’ in Bid to Resist External Pressure. Source. Africanews.
Mali marked its new “National Day of Patriotic Sovereignty” on Saturday, introduced by military leader Colonel Assimi Goïta. The event is intended to be a founding act of popular resistance to external pressure.
Malians earlier protested against retaliatory measures imposed on Mali five days earlier by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to sanction the military’s plan to stay in power for up to five more years.
The colonels have since pledged to hand over to elected civilians in March 2024. But are promoting the date of 14 January 2022 as display of sovereignty.
Humanitarian
UN Appeal for Funds to Save 30 million Malnourished Children. Source- Africanews.
The United Nations on Thursday launched an appeal for funds to come to the aid “before it is too late” of 30 million children suffering from acute malnutrition in countries affected by the food crisis.
“More than 30 million children in the 15 most seriously affected countries suffer from wasting – or acute malnutrition – and eight million of these children suffer from severe wasting, the most deadly form of undernutrition”, underline five agencies of the United Nations in a joint statement.
The 15 countries affected are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Sudan South and Yemen.
CG Audi Prsent Cheques, Employment Offers to Families of Slained NSCDC Personnel in Kaduna. Source- PRNigeria.
CG Audi Present Cheques, Employment Offers to Families of Slained NSCDC Personnel in Kaduna
The Commandant General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, mni, OFR, has condoled with officers and men, families of seven personnel, who were ambushed by bandits in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State, during which seven lost their lives.
Addressing officers and men, as well as bereaved families at the NSCDC Kaduna Command Headquarters, when he personally, visited to pay condolences, the CG stated that the Corps had in the past lost officers in the line of duties, but not as much as compared to the Birnin-Gwari tragic incident.
Audi, who described the killing as colossal, however, charged other personnel not to be deterred by the ugly incident; instead, they should continue to put in their best for a more secured country.
How My Husband Died for Nigeria with Nothing to Show for it. Source- Dailytrust.
Hundreds of young men and women have perished in wars, especially during the Boko Haram insurgency, Biafra War and several peacekeeping mission
Some leave, kissing their family’s goodbye, with high hopes to return to them, but never do, or come back wounded with physical and mental scar of war.
How do the families of these heroes survive?
In this episode of our Daily Podcast, Nigeria Daily, we look at the plight of the families’ fallen heroes and how they are surviving.
HRW: ‘Civilian Have Continued to Bare the Brunt the of Conflict’ in African. Source- Africanews.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on The African Union (AU) and subregional mechanisms to urgently establish systems to ensure rigorous human rights monitoring and reporting in areas of conflict.
In at least 15 armed conflicts, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Mali, Burkina Faso, and South Sudan, government forces or non-state armed groups have been implicated in abuses against civilians according to the report.
“Some of the most egregious human rights violations continue to cascade in the context of conflicts. Civilians have continued to bare the brunt of armed conflict, communal violence, political, and social unrest, as well as government repression against critical and independent voices in several African countries” said Mausi Segun the Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
Mali: Displacement Crisis Deepens as Al-Qaida and Islamic State Groups Drive Insecurity- UN. Source- Africabews.
The security situation in Mali is worsening. The United Nations Secretary-General highlighted key findings of a new report on the Sahelian country that was circulated Monday (Jan.16).
Al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist groups are driving insecurity in central Mali and continue to clash near populated areas in the northern Gao and Menaka regions, the U.N. chief said in a new report.
Antonio Guterres said “the level and frequency of incidents of violence remain exceptionally high,” with attacks by “violent extremist groups” against civilians accounting for the majority of documented human rights abuses.
Stabilization and economic development
Richest 1% Bag Two-Third of $42 Trillion in New Wealth
The world’s top 1 percent grabbed nearly two-thirds of the $42 trillion in new wealth created since 2020, Oxfam says in a new report released to coincide with the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The share was almost twice as much money as the amount obtained by the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population, according to Oxfam’s “Survival of the Richest” report released on Monday.
FEC Approve N1.9trn NNPCL to Build 44 Roads. Source-Dailytrust
The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the recommendation by the Ministry of Works and Housing for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC Ltd) and its subsidiaries to invest the sum of N1.9trn for the reconstruction of 44 selected federal roads across the country.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, announced this Wednesday after the FEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Free Trade Zone Attracted Over $30bn Investment to Nigeria. Source-Dailytrust. President Muhammadu Buhari has said his administration’s designation of Free Trade Zones (FTZs) in the country has attracted investment worth over $30billion into the country.
The president, who spoke through the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Maryam Katagum in Kano, at the inauguration of Kano Free Trade Zone new administrative building and Nigeria Special Economic Zones Institute, said the zones have become the Launchpad for economic development and growth.
He also said the government has designated six special economic zones, four international airports as free trade zones and attracted $30 billion investments expected to increase in the next few years with sustained incentives and aggressive investment drive.
“Incentives in the free trade zones include tax-free operations, free fiscal duty for imported goods, machinery and equipment, exemption from levies.
