Author: David Great

Gunmen have freed five sisters abducted six months ago from their boarding school in northwest Nigeria after their parents paid ransom money to secure their release, police and relatives said. The bandits kidnapped 11 schoolgirls, including the sisters, from a secondary school in Zamfara state in March and later released six of them. The sisters were detained because the kidnappers found out their father had previously worked as a senior government official in the state. Kidnapping has become endemic as roving gangs of armed men abduct people from schools, hospitals, roads and farms and demand ransom money from their relatives.…

A Nigerian priest was kidnapped from his home in northern Kaduna state, the local Roman Catholic diocese said in a statement on Tuesday, in the first such reported abduction of a clergyman in the state since July. Armed gangs are rife across northern Nigeria where they rob or kidnap for ransom, and violence has been increasing, where thinly stretched security forces often fail to stop the attacks. Father Christian Okewu Emmanuel, the chancellor for Kaduna Catholic diocese, said Reverend Father Abraham Kunat, a parish priest in Idon Gida village, was abducted from a home he was staying in in another…

Senegal striker Sadio Mane was forced off with an injury in Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga fixture against Werder Bremen, 13 days before his country are due to play their World Cup opener. The 30-year-old left the field after 20 minutes – with Bayern leading 2-1 – and headed down the tunnel. Senegal face the Netherlands on 21 November, one day after the World Cup begins in Qatar. League leaders Bayern pushed on to a 4-1 half-time lead in the Senegalese absence.

Three civil servants on Monday appeared in a Magistrates’ Court in Birnin Kebbi for allegedly assaulting Chief Magistrate Umar Salihu-Kokani. The police in a charge sheet accused Aliyu Shehu, Yahyah Badare, Surajo Shehu all staff members of the Kebbi Ministry of Higher Education of criminal conspiracy, criminal false, assault, and defamation contrary to section 373 of Kebbi State Penal code law of 2021. The case was marked BK/358c’/2022 . The prosecution counsel, Malam Jibril Abba, told the court that the three men assaulted Chief Magistrate Kokani when he was performing ablution in the mosque. He said they were arrested by…

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a “mistake”. Blatter, 86, was president of world football’s governing body when Qatar was awarded the tournament in 2010. The Gulf state has been criticised for its stance on same-sex relationships, human rights record and treatment of migrant workers. Qatar World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman has said that homosexuality is “damage in the mind”. The former Qatar international told German broadcaster ZDF that LGBTQ+ people attending the tournament should “accept our rules”. There is concern about how LGBTQ+ people are treated in Qatar,…

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of a Lagos Federal High Court has convicted a drug dealer, Musa Abdul, in absentia. Justice Lewis-Allagoa also issued a Bench warrant against him. The drug dealer, was arraigned before the court by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on a count-charge of unlawful exportation of 117 grams of cocaine, sometimes in February 2022. During his trial, the prosecutor, Mr. Abu Ibrahim, told the court that the defendant (Musa Abdul) was arrested with the banned substance, on January 8, 2021, during the outward clearance of Cargo to India at SACHO Export Shed of the Murtala Mohammed…

The Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the Labour Party (LP) says Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the party, will no longer attend debates where other candidates are not present. Doyin Okupe, Director-General, PCC, LP, said this at a news conference in Abuja on Monday. He said that the absence of presidential candidates in debates has become a growing trend in the 2023 electioneering campaign. Chronicle NG reports that Bola Tinubu of the APC and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP both did not attend the presidential debate organised by Arise TV over the weekend. “Let us make it clear today, that…

Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped at least 80 people and killed 11 others in separate attacks in the northwest, traditional leaders and residents said on Monday, in the latest attacks by armed gangs that have been preying on villages, schools, and, highways. Zamfara state is one of the worst hit by the armed gangs, known locally as bandits, who terrorise and abduct for ransom, adding to growing insecurity ahead of a presidential vote in February. In the remote village of Masu, in Bukkuyum local government area, bandits kidnapped 50 people, mostly women, families of the victims told Reuters. Ismail Jinjiri, whose…

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused China of attempting to interfere in the country’s elections. Mr Trudeau accused Beijing of playing “aggressive games” with democracies and of targeting Canadian institutions. It comes as local media report that Canadian intelligence identified a “clandestine network” of Beijing-backed candidates at recent elections. At least 11 candidates were supported by China in the 2019 federal elections, officials reportedly told Mr Trudeau. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said it has “no interest” in Canada’s internal affairs. Citing unnamed intelligence officials, local broadcaster Global News reported that Beijing had directed funds to the candidates and…

An Instagram influencer popularly known as Hushpuppi from Nigeria has been jailed for more than 11 years in the US for his role in an international fraud syndicate. Hushpuppi, whose real name is Ramon Abbas, was also ordered to pay $1,732,841 (£1,516,182) in restitution to two victims. The influencer rose to fame flaunting his wealthy lifestyle on his page, which boasted 2.8 million followers. But it all came crashing down when he was arrested in Dubai two years ago. According to Don Alway, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, Abbas had – behind the…