lagos - The African Mirror

May

2021

Kings of Lagos: Using chess to escape slums

ANGELA UKOMADU A dozen children crowd around plastic tables in the Majidun neighbourhood of Lagos. Intently focused on plastic mats printed with chess boards, the children thoughtfully move pieces on the board as supervisors observe their moves. The waterside shanty town is just across the lagoon from the mansions and towering office blocks of Nigeria's commercial capital. They hope the cunning and strategy they learn on the chess board will help them make the leap out of their homes in the slum. "To live here is hard," said Michael Omoyele, who at 14 has already dealt with food scarcity and…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Coronavirus pandemic spawns Nigeria banking agent boom

BUSINESS

NNEKA CHILE and ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM WHEN Lagos imposed a lockdown last year, Nigerian civil servant Ruth Oladimeji saw a way to earn extra money. With people unable to visit banks due to the coronavirus pandemic, she became an agent providing local banking services. Oladimeji signed up with Moniepoint, a mobile money platform on whose behalf she helps customers with services such as opening accounts and withdrawing cash. "It has increased my standard of living. It has helped me be able to support people financially," said the mother-of-two, adding that she previously struggled to pay school fees and support elderly relatives…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigerian police beat, arrest protesters

NEWS

ANGELA UKOMADU and SEUN SANNI NIGERIAN police beat and arrested demonstrators yesterday as a small group protested over the reopening of the site where activists denouncing police brutality were shot last year in the commercial capital, Lagos, Reuters witnesses said. Rights group Amnesty International and witnesses have said soldiers opened fire on protesters on Oct. 20, killing at least 12 people at a toll gate in the city's affluent Lekki district and another area. The military has denied shooting live rounds and the police have denied involvement. There was a heavy presence of armed police officers on Saturday at the…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria issues warning on planned protest

NEWS

NIGERIA’S information minister called on activists to drop plans for a protest in the commercial capital Lagos over the reopening of the site where demonstrators against police brutality were shot last year, saying it risked being "hijacked by hoodlums". Protesters were shot on October 20 by people witnesses said were soldiers at the toll gate in the affluent Lekki district of Lagos. Rights group Amnesty International said soldiers and police killed at least 12 protesters in Lekki and another district. The military and police have denied involvement. Nationwide protests against police brutality were largely peaceful until the October 20 shooting, which…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Informal waste management in Lagos is big business: policies need to support the trade

AFRICITIES

THE megacity of Lagos has an estimated population of 24 million. And it’s constantly growing, putting additional strain on a city that already has serious challenges. They include heavy traffic congestion, flooding, air pollution and solid waste generation. CHIDI NZEADIBE, Professor of Environmental Management & Sustainability., University of Nigeria CHINEDU ONYISHI, Lecturer, University of Nigeria CHRISTIAN EZEIBE PH.D, Senior Lecturer, Political Science, University of Nigeria GERALD EZIRIM, Senior Lecturer, political science, University of Nigeria PETER MBAH, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria The waste economy in Lagos is huge. It is well connected with the…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Black Lives Matter co-founder urges Nigeria to free jailed police protesters

NEWS

LIBBY GEORGE A group of activists and celebrities, including a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, have signed an open letter to Nigeria's president demanding that he hold accountable security personnel accused of shooting anti-police brutality protesters. The letter, published in the New York Times on Thursday to mark International Human Rights Day, comes nearly two months after what witnesses and Amnesty International say was a fatal clash in Lagos between peaceful protesters and military and police. The military and police deny shooting protesters. The demonstrators had called for an end to police brutality and a much-hated unit called…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

‘He said Victor was shot’: Brother grapples with loss after Nigeria protest deaths

NEWS

LIBBY GEORGE IT was after midnight in Lagos on October 21 when Elisha Sunday said he got a call from his brother Victor's phone: a stranger told him Victor had been shot dead by soldiers at Lekki Toll Gate. After a sleepless night, he said he went out to find the body but roads towards the upscale neighbourhood were blocked and he heard shooting so turned back. Elisha, 24, said he later saw pictures of his 27-year-old brother on Facebook, draped in a Nigerian flag and covered in blood. After that, the trail went cold. Protesters objecting to police brutality…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigerian general dismisses bloody Lagos protest videos as fake

NEWS

ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM A judicial panel investigating claims that Nigerian soldiers shot dead peaceful protesters in Lagos has viewed videos appearing to show people hurt or saying that they were being fired on, but an army general dismissed the footage. Brigadier General Ahmed Taiwo, who heads the army's 81st Division in Lagos, also said soldiers had been deployed to the protest with both live rounds and blanks, having previously told the panel only blanks were used. The panel is looking into allegations that the army and police last month opened fire on and killed people protesting at the city's Lekki Toll…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigerian minister says it’s unclear who shot protesters in Lagos

NEWS

ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM "HOODLUMS" wearing military uniforms may have shot Nigerian protesters campaigning against police brutality and it was too soon to tell if soldiers were involved, the country's attorney general has said. Demonstrations across the country turned violent on October 20 when witnesses in Lagos said the military opened fire on peaceful protesters in the upmarket Lekki district shortly after local authorities imposed a 24-hour curfew, drawing international condemnation. Soldiers and police killed at least 12 people in two Lagos neighbourhoods on October 20, according to witnesses and rights group Amnesty International. The army and police have denied involvement. Attorney-General…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Amnesty disputes Nigerian army claim it did not shoot Lagos civilians

NEWS

CAMILLUS EBOH and PAUL CARSTEN NIGERIA’S Lagos state government asked the army to intervene to restore order amid anti-police brutality protests, but soldiers did not shoot civilians, the military said, an assertion an Amnesty International investigation disputed on Wednesday. Nigeria has been on edge following one of its biggest social upheavals in 20 years. Demonstrations across the country turned violent on October 20 when witnesses in Lagos said the military opened fire on peaceful protesters shortly after local authorities imposed a 24-hour curfew, drawing international condemnation. The Lagos government asked the army to deploy due to "violence which led to…