Muhammadu Buhari - The African Mirror

Dec

2020

Chaos and jubilation as freed Nigerian schoolboys reunite with family

AFOLABI SOTUNDE PARENTS sobbed, mobbed their children in hugs and even kissed the ground in gratitude as they reunited with scores of schoolboys who had been kidnapped a week earlier in northwest Nigeria. Hundreds of adults jostled to find their offspring among the 344 dusty and dazed looking children who had arrived by bus in Katsina state on Friday morning. Those who succeeded cheered and grabbed their children, but scores more were still waiting by early evening. "I feel like God has granted me paradise because I am so happy," said an ebullient Hamza Kankara after she found her son,…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Threats, detentions and frozen assets: Nigeria’s protesters depict pattern of intimidation

NEWS

LIBBY GEORGE and PAUL CARSTEN AT 7 a.m. on a recent Saturday, Onomene Adene received a call from a man whose voice she did not recognise. The man said he knew her from church and asked for help getting a package to their pastor. She agreed to meet him at a bank near her home in the Nigerian city of Lagos. But shortly after she arrived, according to Adene, three trucks pulled up filled with police armed with rifles and tear gas demanding that she take them to her brother. Terrified, she complied. "It was like they were coming for…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria buries scores of farmers killed by militants, some beheaded

NEWS

LANRE OLA and MAIDUGURI NEWSROOM VILLAGERS in northeast Nigeria's Borno state buried 43 farmers killed in an attack by suspected Islamist militants while security forces searched for dozens of people who are still missing. Roughly 30 of the men killed were also beheaded in the attack, which began on Saturday morning in Zabarmari village in northeast Borno state. Residents said a total of 70 people are feared dead. While no group claimed responsibility, such massacres have been carried out in the past by Boko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). They are both active in the region,…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria’s president urges end to street protests as gunfire heard in Lagos after protest crackdown

NEWS

FELIX ONUAH and LIBBY GEORGE NIGERIAN President Muhammadu Buhari has called for an end to street protests in the country, as authorities in the commercial capital Lagos struggled to enforce a curfew imposed to contain anger over a crackdown on anti-police protesters. Gunshots rang out and smoke rose from at least two fires in the commercial capital's affluent Ikoyi neighbourhood, witnesses said. A fire broke out in the district's prison, the state government said. Video footage showed a blaze in a shopping mall in another part of Lagos. Violence in Lagos, Africa's biggest city - where witnesses on Thursday reported…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

NIGERIAN SHOOTINGS: Denials of fatalities, an appeal for calm and a 24-hour curfew

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER NIGERIA’S Lagos state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has denied that there were fatalities after the army opened fire on unarmed protestors in the suburb of Lekki. The governor described the shooting as people protested against police brutality on Tuesday night as among the "darkest hours from our history as a people." Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed for understanding and calm, a day after soldiers opened fire on protesters in the city of Lagos. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari Photo: European Union 2015 - European Parliament He did not directly address the shootings, but called on Nigerians to have…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigerian calls on anti-police protesters to enter into a dialogue

NEWS

PAUL CARSTEN NIGERIANS protesting against what they condemn as police brutality must end their daily demonstrations and enter into dialogue with the government on law enforcement reforms, the youth minister has said. Thousands of Nigerians calling for an end to alleged brutality and for law enforcement reforms have taken to the streets every day for more than a week across the country, posing a major challenge to President Muhammadu Buhari. Protests have continued despite the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit on Oct. 11 following accusations of human rights abuses against the unit. Sunday Dare, Minister of…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria’s police to stop using force against protesters – presidency

NEWS

TIFE OWOLABI and FELIX ONUAH NIGERIA’S police have agreed to stop using force against protesters, the presidency has announced, a day after law enforcement agents shot live fire at demonstrators in Lagos where an official said two people were killed. Demonstrators have been calling for almost a week for law enforcement to halt the use of force against them, but marches demanding the end of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit have been met with beatings, tear gas and gunfire. Protesters continued to demand a police overhaul despite President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday vowing "extensive police reforms". On Sunday…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria’s Buhari promises police reform; one protester killed

NEWS

FELIX ONUAH and ANGELA UKOMADU NIGERIAN President Muhammadu Buhari promised that the government would bring police officers responsible for misconduct to justice, after nearly a week of sustained protests against police brutality that were met by a harsh response. Police opened fire with live ammunition on Monday against anti-police demonstrators in the Surulere district of Lagos, marchers said. Video posted on Twitter showed dozens of chanting protesters running and ducking behind cars and trucks for cover as shots rang out. Tolu Ogunlesi, an aide to Buhari, said at least one person had been killed by police gunfire. "There is no…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

President Buhari orders the police to address claims of police brutality

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER STUNG by protests against police brutality, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the country's police leadership to address citizens' concerns and ensure that rogue officers are brought to book. On the day that police fired teargas to disperse dozens of protesters, Buhari summoned Nigeria’s inspector general of the police. “The Inspector General has my firm instructions to conclusively address concerns of Nigerians regarding excesses and ensuring erring personnel are brought to justice. I appeal for patience and calm, even as Nigerians freely exercise their right to peacefully make their views known,” Buhari said. He said the Nigerian…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria says Mali transition govt yet to satisfy regional demands

NEWS

WEST African states are not ready to lift sanctions on Mali because the leaders of an August 18 coup have not yet satisfied all the demands for a handover of power to a fully civilian government, according to Nigeria's president. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said it would lift sanctions, which have caused imports to the landlocked country to slump 30%, once a civilian prime minister was named, as was the case on Sunday, among other demands. President Bah Ndaw, a retired colonel appointed president of the transition, named veteran diplomat Moctar Ouane as interim prime minister. But…