Latest news with #OpeAdetayo
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nigerian President Tinubu's pardon of 'Ogoni Nine' draws ethnic group's rejection
By Ope Adetayo LAGOS (Reuters) -Nigeria's Ogoni activists on Friday rejected a posthumous pardon for nine members executed three decades ago by a military dictatorship, criticising President Bola Tinubu's move as inadequate and perpetuating injustice. To commemorate Nigeria's Democracy Day on June 12, Tinubu pardoned the men, known as the "Ogoni Nine", including writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were hanged after being tried by a military tribunal for their protests against Shell's pollution in the oil-rich Niger Delta, which is home to the Ogoni ethnic group. The executions sparked international condemnation against Nigeria's then-military junta and continue to be a contentious issue in the nation's history. "You cannot pardon someone that has not committed an offense; we are demanding total exoneration," said Celestine Akpobari, coordinator of the Ogoni Solidarity Forum. "To say 'pardon', I think it is insulting. If there is any group who needs pardon, it is the Nigerian government that has committed so much crime against the Ogoni people," he told Reuters. Tinubu's spokesperson rejected such criticism. "The president has done what is normal. They can make an argument for exoneration and the president will look into it," Bayo Onanuga told Reuters. Shell, which halted oil drilling in the area in the early 1990s and later sold its assets there, has denied any responsibility or wrongdoing. Tinubu's efforts to resume oil drilling in Ogoniland have drawn fresh criticism from environmental activists. Alagao Morris, deputy executive director of the Environmental Defenders Network, an interest group in the Niger Delta, said the pardon appeared to be an attempt to mollify the Ogoni people in the face of the region's continued environmental devastation. "The pollution that ought to be addressed has not been addressed," Morris said. He said the issue of oil drilling should be decided by the Ogoni people, but the complete exoneration of Saro-Wiwa and other executed activists should come first. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, relies on oil for more than 90% of export earnings and around two-thirds of government earnings, exposing its economy to global price shocks.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Nigeria's defence chief proposes fencing borders to curb insecurity
By Ope Adetayo ABUJA (Reuters) -Nigeria's defence chief on Tuesday called for the country's borders with its four neighbours to be completely fenced to curb the entrance of armed groups amid escalating insecurity. Nigeria's military has been strained by widespread security issues, particularly a 16-year insurgency in the northeast led by Islamist militant group Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province. Security forces and civilians have been attacked and killed and tens of thousands of people have been displaced. Defence Chief of Staff, General Christopher Musa, who spoke at a security conference in the capital Abuja, said "border management is very critical," citing Pakistan's 1,350 km (839 miles) fence with Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia's 1,400 km barrier with Iraq as successful precedents. This is the first time a top Nigerian official has publicly suggested such a measure. "Other countries, because of the level of insecurity they have, had to fence their borders," he said. Nigeria borders Niger Republic, Cameroon, Benin, and Chad, which are all grappling with escalating militant campaigns across the Sahel. Nigerian authorities often attribute its prolonged insurgency, including recent attacks on military stations, to foreign fighter infiltration. Nigeria's longest border (1,975 km) is with Cameroon in the northeast, a Boko Haram hotspot. It also shares 1,500 km with Niger and 85 km with Chad, nations that have lost territory to armed groups. Musa warned Nigeria's perceived wealth makes it a target. "It is Nigeria that everybody is interested in. That is why we need to secure fully and take control of our borders," he said. "It is critical for our survival and sovereignty."
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Nigeria detains soldiers, police over weapons sales to armed groups
By Ope Adetayo ABUJA (Reuters) -The Nigerian military has detained over two dozen soldiers and members of the police force over sales of weapons from military stockpiles to armed groups, including Islamist insurgents, a spokesperson said. Africa's most populous country and biggest energy producer, Nigeria is battling insecurity on many fronts, including a long-running insurgency in the northeast and armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest. Captain Reuben Kovangiya, spokesperson for the military's anti-insurgency operation, said the arrests were part of a crackdown on racketeering involving ammunition. Local media reported that 18 soldiers, 15 policemen and eight civilians were taken into custody. "It is part of the counter-arms and ammunition racketeering operation conducted in every theatre of operations," Kovangiya told Reuters. "If any personnel engage in any act that is inimical to the system, they are arrested and tried." Kovangiya did not elaborate on the types and numbers of weapons sold but said the suspects would be prosecuted. Nigeria has this year experienced a surge in attacks by militants from Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, who have overrun some military bases in the northeastern state of Borno. In the course of most of the raids, militants have seized weapons from army bases.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nigeria's Tinubu touts economic gains at mid-term but inflation and insecurity persist
By Ope Adetayo ABUJA (Reuters) -Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday marked his second anniversary in office by declaring that his economic reforms were working, but international bodies have warned of persistent economic and security problems. Since 2023, Tinubu's policies - the removal of a costly petrol price subsidy, cuts to electricity price subsidies, and two currency devaluations - have triggered the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation, fuelled by inflation rates of more than 23%. "Our economic reforms are working. We are on course to building a greater, more economically stable nation," Tinubu said in an anniversary statement. He said the measures were needed to avert a severe fiscal crisis that would have led to "runaway inflation, external debt default, and a plunging Naira and an economy in a free-fall." Tinubu said the fiscal deficit has narrowed sharply to 3.0% of GDP in 2024 from 5.4% in 2023, supported by improved government revenue generation. He claimed inflation had begun to ease, but this is largely because the index was rebased for the first time in more than a decade. The World Bank has said that Nigeria's fiscal position has improved in recent months, but warned that persistently high inflation remains a challenge. Tinubu said security has improved, claiming banditry in Nigeria's northwest has been curbed, highways are safer, and farmers are "back tilling the land". But attacks and kidnappings persist, and insecurity continues across various regions. Amnesty International said in a report on Thursday that at least 10,217 people have been killed in attacks by gunmen in the two years since Tinubu took office. His ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party has endorsed him to run for a second and final term in the next election, due in early 2027. (Additional reporting by Camillus Eboh in Abuja; writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; editing by Giles Elgood)
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nigerian lawmakers probe USAID-funded non-profit groups, others, document shows
By Ope Adetayo ABUJA (Reuters) -Nigerian lawmakers are probing the activities of more than a dozen non-profit organisations and demanded they submit within a week tax and financial statements dating back a decade, a letter seen by Reuters showed, prompting accusations of "bullying". The groups affected include some who were previously funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington's primary humanitarian aid agency whose work has been largely frozen by the Trump administration for 90 days pending assessments of their effectiveness. A committee of Nigeria's House of Representatives sent out letters to groups involved in human rights and accountability work, including Transparency International Nigeria, informing them of the probe "with a view to unravelling their real identities, sources of funding and what they expend their monies on". The letter said the investigation was a response to comments made last month by U.S. Congressman Scott Perry who, without providing evidence, said USAID had funneled money to various Islamist groups worldwide, including Boko Haram in Nigeria. The U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, rejected Perry's assertion regarding Boko Haram. Nigerian lawmakers are demanding audited statements from the civil society groups, their sources of funding and how they spent their money between 2015 and 2024. Some of the groups said the investigation was an excuse to undermine their work and amounted to a clampdown on free speech. "On the basis of hearsay, just an unfounded allegation and lack of any proven evidence from either Nigerian security or Nigerian financial agencies, the national assembly will embark on this walk," Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, head of Transparency International in Nigeria, told Reuters. Abiodun Baiyewu, the executive director of Global Rights, which is also being investigated, said of the investigation: "It is a brazen attempt at bullying the non-profit sector and not done in good faith." House of Representatives spokesperson Akin Rotimi said the probe was not intended to harass non-profit organisations but that the allegations made by the U.S. Congressman were "too weighty to be dismissed". "It is to gain a clearer understanding of how these funds have been managed over the years to determine whether there have been any lapses," he told Reuters. Parliamentary committees in Nigeria can investigate any issue deemed of national interest and their reports if adopted by a majority of lawmakers can lead to the arrest or prosecution of groups or individuals.
