Our website use cookies to improve and personalize your experience and to display advertisements (if any). Our website may also include cookies from third parties like Google Adsense, Google Analytics, and Youtube. By using the website, you consent to the use of cookies.

Nigeria should sanction CNN for report on shooting of protesters – minister

Nigeria should sanction CNN for report on shooting of protesters – minister

FELIX ONUAH NIGERIA should sanction CNN for its report that the country's military shot and killed protesters demonstrating against police brutality, a minister has said. Nigeria Information Minister Lai Mohammed. Picture: Flickr The U.S. broadcaster used "unverified and possibly doctored videos" and "information from questionable sources" in the report, information minister Lai Mohammed told a news conference in Abuja. When asked, Mohammed did not specify how the government might sanction CNN. He said he believes it has internal systems for dealing with erring staff, and that Nigerian authorities would also do what was necessary. CNN did not immediately respond to…
Read More
“The soldiers kept shooting:” witnesses testify in Lagos protest probe

“The soldiers kept shooting:” witnesses testify in Lagos protest probe

LIBBY GEORGE NIGERIAN soldiers shot dead peaceful protesters at a demonstration in Lagos last month, trucking away the bodies, said written witness testimonies submitted to a judicial panel but contradicted by an army general. "The soldiers kept shooting at random, and I saw people falling to the ground, injured or lifeless," said Dabiraoluwa Ayuku in her testimony. Her account was one of three seen by Reuters, and submitted to the Lagos panel investigating allegations that the army and police opened fire on and killed people protesting at the city's Lekki Toll Gate against police brutality. The protests, the worst since…
Read More
Nigerian authorities return police brutality activist’s passport

Nigerian authorities return police brutality activist’s passport

LIBBY GEORGE NIGERIAN immigration officials returned the passport of a prominent activist against police brutality after it was seized when she tried to leave the country last week, the activist said on Monday. Modupe Odele, second from right. Picture: Facebook Thousands of people took to the streets last month in anti-police protests. The demonstrations climaxed on October 20 when security forces opened fire and killed at least 12 protesters in Lagos, according to witnesses and Amnesty International. The army and police have denied the killings. Modupe Odele, a lawyer who has helped arrange legal defence for the protesters, said last…
Read More
Nigeria’s unrest chokes cocoa shipments

Nigeria’s unrest chokes cocoa shipments

CHIJIOKOE OHUOCHA NIGERIAN protests against police brutality, coupled with curfews to quell unrest, have drastically slowed cocoa shipments to the Lagos port, adding to problems for farmers grappling with falling prices, an industry body said. Nigeria, the world's fifth biggest cocoa grower, had barely recovered from the impact of lockdowns to curb the novel coronavirus when violence sparked by the protests erupted last month, forcing several states to restrict movement. The president of the cocoa association, Mufutau Abolarinwa, told Reuters the combination of curfews and traffic gridlock meant it could take up to 30 days for containers to travel within…
Read More
I’ve spent decades working towards Nigerian women’s power. #EndSars is our moment

I’ve spent decades working towards Nigerian women’s power. #EndSars is our moment

BUKOLA ONYISHI The past few months, women in Nigeria have been busy protesting for justice on multiple fronts. Earlier this year, women protested against gender-based violence. Today, young women are leaders in the #EndSARS protests. I have over two decades experience working with marginalized and resilient women in conflict zones and helping them to find their voice and rebuild their lives. As a Nigerian woman, I have seen how COVID-19 has deepened inequities and the economic, social and physical pain it has forced women to endure. The pandemic has also made clear that any sustainable path towards progress for our…
Read More
‘I was going to die there’: Lagos panel begins hearing police brutality claims

‘I was going to die there’: Lagos panel begins hearing police brutality claims

LIBBY GEORGE A judicial panel investigating claims of police brutality and the shooting of protesters began hearing complaints in Lagos on Tuesday in a nation on edge following Nigeria's biggest upheaval in 20 years. Independent investigations were a core demand of protesters who successfully demanded the end of a widely feared police branch called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The demonstrations turned violent on October 20 when witnesses said the military opened fire on peaceful protesters. The army said it was not there. Authorities said at least 13 states have established judicial panels. The Lagos panel has yet to receive…
Read More
Nigeria’s president urges end to street protests as gunfire heard in Lagos after protest crackdown

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

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…
Read More
#EndSARS: What it feels like to be in the shoes of a young Nigerian

#EndSARS: What it feels like to be in the shoes of a young Nigerian

OLUDAYO TADE, Researcher in criminology, victimology, electronic frauds and cybercrime, University of Ibadan FOLLOWING weeks of nationwide protests against police brutality, led by young Nigerians who complain of being targeted by the police, Adejuwon Soyinka asked Oludayo Tade, a sociologist, to help us understand what it feels like being a young Nigerian living in the country today. Why have the protests been driven by young Nigerians? The immediate trigger of the protest has to do with the brutalisation of young Nigerians by the trigger happy and extortionist Special Anti-Robbery Squad, now disbanded. Members of the unit extorted and abused the…
Read More
Lagos imposes 24-hour curfew amid protests against Nigeria’s police

Lagos imposes 24-hour curfew amid protests against Nigeria’s police

ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM and LIBBY GEORGE THE Nigerian state of Lagos has imposed a 24-hour curfew, saying protests against alleged police brutality had turned violent after a police station in the commercial capital was set on fire. A business group said the demonstrations had cost Nigeria $1.8 billion. Thousands of Nigerians demanding an end to alleged police brutality have taken to the streets every day for more than a week across the country, posing a challenge to President Muhammadu Buhari. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the curfew would affect all parts of the state, including Lagos - Africa's largest city with 20…
Read More
Witnesses say 15 people died after Nigerian police opened fire with live ammunition on unarmed protesters

Witnesses say 15 people died after Nigerian police opened fire with live ammunition on unarmed protesters

ALEXIS AKWAGYIRAM and LIBBY GEORGE SOLDIERS opened fire on Nigerians protesting against police brutality in the Lekki district of the commercial capital Lagos on Tuesday, and at least two people were shot, four witnesses told Reuters. Thousands of Nigerians have demonstrated nationwide every day for nearly two weeks against a police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), that rights groups had for years accused of extortion, harassment, torture and murders. The unit was disbanded on October 11 but the protests have persisted with demonstrators calling for a raft of law enforcement reforms. "They started firing ammunition toward the crowd. They…
Read More