MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Armed assailants on motorbikes killed at least 30 people and burned houses and shops during raids on three villages in northwest Nigeria’s Niger State early on Saturday, residents who escaped the violence told Reuters.
The attacks on villages in the Borgu Local Government Area, near the border with Benin Republic, are part of a surge in attacks blamed on “bandits,” who have carried out deadly assaults, abductions for ransom, and displaced communities across northern Nigeria.
Insecurity is a pressing concern in Nigeria and the government is under mounting pressure to restore stability.
Wasiu Abiodun, Niger State police spokesperson, confirmed the attack in one of the villages.
“Suspected bandits invaded Tunga-Makeri village … six persons lost their lives, some houses were also set ablaze, and a yet-to-be ascertained number of persons were abducted,” Abiodun said.
He added that the assailants had moved on to Konkoso village, while details of other attacks remained unclear.
Jeremiah Timothy, a resident of Konkoso who fled to a nearby locality, said the attack on his village began in the early hours with sporadic gunfire.
“At least 26 people were killed so far in the village after they set the police station ablaze,” said Timothy, adding that the attackers entered Konkoso around 6 a.m. (0500 GMT), shooting indiscriminately.
He said residents heard military jets flying overhead.
Another witness who requested anonymity, said the attackers, riding more than 200 motorbikes, swept through the area targeting the villages.
Auwal Ibrahim, a resident of Tunga-Makeri, recounted the early-morning assault on his village at approximately 0200 GMT.
“The bandits stormed our town around 3:00 a.m. (local time), riding so many motorcycles while shooting sporadically, beheading six people and killing others. They set shops on fire and forced the whole village to flee,” Ibrahim said.
He added that many villagers fear returning as the gunmen remain nearby.
(Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi in Maiduguri and Hamza Ibrahim in Kano Writing by Bate Felix; editing by Barbara Lewis)
If you wake up early enough, visit the beautiful Cathedral Church of Christ in the Lagos Island neighborhood for the early morning service. Ambitious, perhaps, after a big night out, but you won’t be alone: A fact of Lagos life is that both its dance floors and churches are full, and with many of the same people. The trip is worth it alone to see the cathedral’s grand exterior up close, right in the heart of Lagos Island’s bustling business district, which features some of the city’s Afro-Brazilian architecture. As a prominent church, it’s used to welcoming guests, but only go if you’re planning to stay for the whole service, usually about two hours.
12 p.m.Unwind by the sea
Recover from your night out with a day at the beach. Before you go, grab a local favorite snack: a subtly seasoned meat pie with fried minced beef or chicken, potatoes and vegetables, encased in flaky, buttery pastry. Head to your nearest Milk and Honey cafe (there is one in Lekki and one in Ikoyi) and fill a bag with meat or chicken pies (3,520 naira), sausage rolls (2,530 naira), and little doughnut-style bites known as puff puff (1,430 naira). With your goodies, head to Tarkwa Bay Beach, accessible via a 15-minute boat ride (9,000 naira) from a number of jetty locations in Victoria Island and Ikoyi. Stretch out, catch the sun and read the book you bought at Jazzhole while enjoying the vast Lagos coastline.
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The U.S. has dispatched a small team of military officers to Nigeria, the general in charge of U.S. Africa Command told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday.
General Dagvin R.M. Anderson said the move followed his meeting with Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, in Rome late last year.
“That has led to increased collaboration between our nations, to include a small U.S. team that brings some unique capabilities from the United States in order to augment what Nigeria has been doing for several years,” Anderson said.
It is unclear when the team arrived in Nigeria.
The military officers are the latest step since the U.S launched airstrikes against a group affiliated with the Islamic State last year on Dec. 25.
Nigeria has been in the diplomatic crosshairs of the U.S. following threats by President Donald Trump to attack the country, alleging the West African nation is not doing enough to protect its Christian citizens. Following the allegations, the West African country was designated as a Country of Particular Concern, a congressional designation in the U.S. for countries responsible for religious oppression.
The diplomatic dispute has led to increased military cooperation between the two countries. The terms of the cooperation have been unclear. The U.S has supplied Nigeria with military equipment and carried out reconnaissance missions across Nigeria.
Nigeria has been battling several armed groups across the country. The groups include Islamist sects like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province.
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Three police officers were killed and two others wounded when suspected armed gang members ambushed a routine patrol in northwest Nigeria’s Katsina state on Tuesday, the police said on Wednesday.
The incident was part of a surge in attacks, including mass kidnappings by armed gangs operating from forest hideouts who have raided villages, schools and places of worship in the predominantly Muslim northwest.
Tuesday’s ambush, the second in a week, highlights the region’s persistent insecurity, where gangs known as bandits continue to hit rural communities and security forces despite ongoing military operations.
Katsina police spokesperson Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu said the officers came under heavy fire at about 1144 GMT along the Guga-Bakori road while on patrol. The team “responded bravely,” repelling the assault, but lost three officers in the shootout, Aliyu said in a statement.
Two wounded officers are being treated at a nearby hospital, he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians. Nigerian authorities say Muslims are targeted as well as Christians and that they are doing their best to stop the violence in difficult circumstances.
(Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi, additional reporting by Hamza Ibrahim in Kano; Writitng by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
At least 30 villagers have been killed while several others were abducted by gunmen who raided a village in northern Nigeria’s Niger state, police said Sunday, the latest in a cycle of deadly violence in the conflict-hit region.
The gunmen stormed the Kasuwan-Daji village in Niger state’s Borgu local government area on Saturday evening and opened fire on residents. They also razed down the local market and several houses, Niger state police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said in a statement.
At least two residents put the death toll at 37 and said it could be much higher, as some people remained missing as of Sunday. Residents also said security forces are yet to arrive in the area, contradicting the police’s claim that they have deployed officers to search for those kidnapped.
Rev. Fr. Stephen Kabirat, spokesman for the Catholic Church of Kontagora Diocese, where the attack happened, told local media that the gunmen killed more than 40 people and that some of those abducted were children.
The gunmen had been lurking around nearby communities for about a week before the attack, according to a resident who asked not to be named for fear of his safety. Now, survivors are too afraid to go recover the bodies.
“The bodies are there (in Kasuwan-Daji village). If we don’t see any security, how can we go there?” the resident said, adding that the attack lasted for up to three hours.
Such attacks are common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where dozens of rogue gangs seeking control often target remote communities with limited security and government presence.
Saturday’s attack in Kasuwan-Daji village happened near the Papiri community, where more than 300 schoolchildren and their teachers were kidnapped from a Catholic school in November.
The attackers who raided Kasuwan-Daji arrived from the National Park Forest along Kabe district, according to the police, pointing to a usual trend where abandoned expansive forest reserves act as hideouts for armed gangs.
The driver of a car that was involved in a fatal crash while carrying British boxer Anthony Joshua has been charged by Nigerian police with “reckless” and “dangerous driving causing death.”
Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, was also charged with “driving without a valid national driver’s licence” and “driving without due care and attention, causing bodily harm and damage to property,” Oluseyi Babaseyi, a spokesman for the police in Ogun state, told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
His bail was set at five million naira, or around $3,500, with two sureties, but he will remain in detention until he meets the bail conditions, the police spokesman said. Kayode’s next court appearance is set for Jan. 20.
Road accidents are common in Nigeria. The West African nation recorded 5,421 deaths in 9,570 road accidents in 2024, according to data from its Federal Road Safety Commission, CBS News previously reported.
Kayode was driving Joshua, a former two-time heavyweight champion, and two friends in a Lexus SUV on a busy highway linking Lagos and Ibadan, in southwest Nigeria, on Dec. 29. The vehicle struck a stationary truck.
The Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency in the Ogun state section of the highway, where the crash occurred, told AFP earlier in the week that its preliminary investigations showed that the vehicle was moving at an excessive speed and had a burst tire before the collision.
Truck being towed at accident site on December 29, 2025 in Sagamu, Nigeria.
Temiloluwa Johnson / Getty Images
Joshua’s friends, identified as Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami, died at the scene, police said. Ghami was Joshua’s long-time strength and conditioning coach, while Ayodele was his personal trainer, according to British media. Joshua and Ayodele had posted videos of themselves playing table tennis on social media just hours before the crash.
Joshua and Kayode sustained minor injuries, officials said. Photos from the aftermath of the crash showed Joshua sitting in the rear of the car without a shirt on and surrounded by broken glass but seemingly uninjured.
Joshua’s promoter said that he was kept under observation at Lagos’ Lagoon Hospital while recovering from minor injuries and was released on New Year’s Eve.
British boxer Anthony Joshua gets into an emergency responders’ vehicle after sustaining minor injuries in a car crash, in Ogun State, Nigeria, Dec. 29, 2025, in this screen grab obtained from social media video.
Sodiq Ayo/via REUTERS
Joshua was born in Britain to Nigerian parents and often visits the African nation. The crash occurred nine days after he beat YouTube personality Jake Paul in a non-title bout in Miami.
British boxer Anthony Joshua was released from the hospital, Nigerian authorities said late Wednesday night.
The two-time former heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist was involved in a fatal road crash near Lagos on Monday, which killed two of his close associates and team members.
Joshua had been under observation at Lagoon Hospital in Lagos while recovering from minor injuries, his promoter said Monday.
The Lagos state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotoso, said in a statement on X that Joshua was discharged late Wednesday afternoon after being deemed clinically fit to recuperate from home.
“Anthony and his mother were at the funeral home in Lagos this afternoon to pay their final respects to his two departed friends as they were being prepared for repatriation scheduled for later this evening,” Omotosho said.
Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele were killed in the crash. Ghami was Joshua’s strength and conditioning coach, while Ayodele was a trainer. Just hours before the crash, Joshua and Ayodele posted clips on social media playing table tennis together.
The accident has elicited growing concerns about road safety in Nigeria, where accidents are common.
The West African nation recorded 5,421 deaths in 9,570 road accidents in 2024, according to data from the country’s Federal Road Safety Corps. Its data showed 340 more people were killed in road accidents last year compared to 2023.
(CNN) — Former world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua escaped with minor injuries in a car crash that killed two of his friends and team members on Monday, according to Nigerian authorities and his promoter.
The incident occurred around 11 a.m. (5 a.m. ET) on a busy stretch of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, which connects Ogun to the commercial center of Lagos, local police in Ogun state reported.
Joshua, who has family ties in Ogun, sustained only “minor bruises,” but Babaseyi Boluwatife, a spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, said two other occupants in the vehicle with him, including the driver, were killed.
“Anthony Joshua is well and responding to treatment,” Boluwatife told CNN.
Joshua’s friends Sina Ghami and Kevin Latif Ayodele were killed in the crash, according to Joshua’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing, and Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“I have spoken with AJ to personally convey my condolences over the passing of his two close associates, Kevin Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami in the recent accident,” Tinubu wrote on X. “I wished him a full and speedy recovery, and prayed with him. AJ assured me he is receiving the best possible care.”
Ghami was Joshua’s strength and conditioning coach and frequently traveled with him in Nigeria, according to social media videos. Ayodele was Joshua’s personal trainer and could be seen playing ping pong with him in a video posted to his Instagram story just hours before the accident. Ayodele’s first Instagram photograph features a fresh-faced Joshua in the early stages of his fighting career.
Ghami, who was pictured conditioning training with Joshua recently in Miami ahead of his high-profile fight with Jake Paul, posted a final Instagram story showing a black SUV in Lagos.
He worked with Joshua for ten years as his full time sport and exercise rehabilitation coach. Ghami has also worked with NFL player Le’Veon Bell from the Pittsburgh Steelers and NBA player Draymond Green from the Golden State Warriors.
Eddie Hearn of Matchbox Boxing said in a statement that Ghami and Ayodele were Joshua’s “close friends and team members,” and great men.
Hearn added that Joshua was taken to hospital for “checks and treatment” and will “remain there for observation.”
The fatal crash happened just over a week after he achieved a knockout win against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in their heavyweight bout in Miami on December 19. Joshua broke Paul’s jaw during the fight.
“Life is much more important than boxing,” Paul posted to X. “I am praying for the lost lives, AJ and anyone impacted by today’s unfortunate accident.”
The highway on which the crash occurred has recently been identified as the most dangerous road in Nigeria, with more than 600 fatalities over a period of 27 months, according to statistics reported by local media.
According to a statement from Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Joshua was traveling in a Lexus SUV that collided with a parked truck while attempting to overtake.
It said preliminary findings indicated that the Lexus Jeep, “which was suspected to be traveling beyond the legally prescribed speed limit on the corridor,” lost control while overtaking and crashed into the stationary truck at the side of the road.
The agency added, “The primary causes of the crash being excessive speed and wrongful overtaking constitute serious traffic violations and remain among the leading causes of fatal road crashes on Nigerian highways.”
A video showing Joshua being rescued from the wreckage has been circulating on social media. The boxer, born to Nigerian parents in Watford, near London, has stayed connected to his roots.
The Joshuas have a prominent presence in Sagamu town, in Ogun, with their lineage spanning multiple generations. Joshua embraces his Nigerian heritage, which he visibly honors with a tattoo of Africa – specifically highlighting Nigeria – on his right shoulder.
Joshua could not immediately be reached for comment.
Details emerge about U.S. strikes on ISIS targets in Nigeria – CBS News
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Details are emerging about the Christmas Day military strikes in northern Nigeria. The U.S. launched what President Trump called a “powerful and deadly” strike on ISIS targets in the West African nation. Willie Inman has more.
Zelenskyy to meet with Trump in Florida for peace plan talks – CBS News
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with President Trump in Florida this weekend to discuss security guarantees. CBS News’ Leigh Kiniry and Sam Vinograd have the latest.
The U.S. launched strikes on ISIS targets in Nigeria on Thursday, President Trump said.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” Mr. Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.”
Mr. Trump did not provide further details on the strikes, such as how many people were killed, who or what was specifically targeted, and how many strikes were carried out, other than to say they were “numerous perfect strikes.
In early November, Mr. Trump said that he had instructed the Pentagon to “prepare for possible action” in Nigeria after he alleged that Nigeria’s government was not doing enough to combat the persecution of Christians there.
“If we attack, it will be fast, vicious and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!” Mr. Trump wrote at the time.
This also comes about a week after the U.S. conducted a series of strikes on ISIS targets in Syria in response to the killing of two U.S. soldiers and an interpreter.
By Trevor Hunnicutt, Idrees Ali and Simon Lewis
PALM BEACH, Florida, Dec 25 (Reuters) – The United States carried out an airstrike against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria’s government, U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. military said on Thursday, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in the region.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The U.S. military’s Africa Command said on X the strike was conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities and killed multiple ISIS militants.
The strike comes after Trump starting in late October began warning that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.
Reuters reported on Monday the U.S. had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.
Nigeria’s government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and U.S. claims that Christians face persecution do not represent a complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religious freedom. But it has agreed to work with the U.S. to bolster its forces against militant groups.
The country’s population is split between Muslims living primarily in the north and Christians in the south.
The president issued his statement on Christmas Day while he was at his Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago Club, where he has been spending the holiday. He had no public events during the day and was last seen by the reporters traveling with him on Wednesday night.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Trevor Hunnicutt; additional reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; writing by Simon Lewis; Editing by Chris Reese)
Nigerian rapper, actor and social media star Falz released his sixth studio album, The Feast, in 2025.
Few Nigerian popular musicians have shown as much versatility and staying power as the man behind the #ElloBae and #WehDoneSir social media trends. For over a decade now, Falz has been marrying musical skills and social activism with digital savvy and comedy.
His rise to global prominence was solidified with his 2018 song This is Nigeria. But it began in 2014 with Marry Me off his debut album Wazup Guy.
As a young artist known for his video skits, he created an online challenge ahead of releasing the song Ello Bae (Hello Babe). In it he tries to romance a woman who appreciates him and his ambition, but is looking for a man with money. It remains a common hashtag when TikTokers post about love and money.
In 2017 he released Wehdone Sir (Well Done, Sir), a witty takedown of people with fake glamour lifestyles. #WehDoneSir is still used on social media to satirise pretentious individuals.
Falz would become known for his unique blend of hip-hop and Afropop, but what really made him stand out was his skill at infusing humour into his socially conscious, often revolutionary, songs.
It’s oftenargued that Falz is a natural heir to Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. He was the Nigerian music legend and activist who helped create the Afrobeat movement (a precursor to today’s Afrobeats).
Like Fela, Falz packs his music with playfulness and satire while also stirring public consciousness with activist lyrics. Both call for action against the oppressive political class. In 2020, when young Nigerians took to the streets to demand an end to police corruption, Fela and Falz were both part of the inventory of #EndSARSprotest songs.
As a scholar of Nigerian hip-hop, I have published papers on Fela and Falz and how they have shaped protest music that responds to social challenges in Nigeria.
So, who is Falz, and how has he spread his message – and come to be the political voice of his generation, as Fela was to his?
Who is Falz?
Falz (real name Folarin Falana) was born in 1990 in Mushin, Lagos. He is the son of a respected human rights lawyer and activist father, Femi Falana, and lawyer mother, Funmi Falana. In fact, his father was Fela’s lawyer, defending him against charges brought by the state.
Falz also qualified as a lawyer, but chose instead to pursue his interests in music and acting. These multiple skills feed into his productions on diverse levels. Beyond his songs, he is also very active on Instagram and Tik-Tok, where he establishes trends, especially around his songs and films.
His character in Ello Bae, for instance, struggles with English, using big formal words in unexpected ways, finding comedy in his faux Yoruba inflections. It would be a trademark of the #ElloBaeChallenge and would enjoy renewed public attention when Falz was cast in the TV series Jenifa’s Diary playing a similar character.
In 2016, Falz won best new international act at the BET Awards in the US. Numerous other awards would follow. His albums have received commercial and critical success. His roles in movies have further solidified his status as a multitalented entertainer.
Activism
Falz does not shy away from living the talk. He took part in the 2020 #EndSARS protests and his work repeatedly tries to steer the government towards addressing socio-economic challenges.
Soon after the protests, he released Moral Instruction. On the album, the track Johnny depicts the everyday experiences of Nigerians. This is Nigeria, a localised version of US rapper Childish Gambino’s This is America, depicts Nigeria as a country struggling with corruption, lawlessness and social injustice. A stark contrast to its potential. The video reflects a breakdown in law and order, corrupt officials, and the struggles of young people facing limited opportunities and resorting to crime.
Falz has used his platform as a celebrity and his background as a lawyer to call for social justice and for young people to make a difference.
There have been a number of pretend heirs to Fela’s throne of musical consciousness. Many of these have either not lived up to the hype or have fizzled out.
However, many popular Nigerian artists leverage Fela’s ethos through sampling his beats and lyrics. This is evident in Falz’s musicography too.
My study on the lyrical and thematic connections between Fela and Falz songs compares a number of tracks. Fela’s No Agreement and Falz’s Talk, for example, both draw attention to social inequality and systemic challenges in Nigeria.
Fela’s song was produced in the context of a military regime while Falz’s was within a democratic dispensation. But both speak of a crisis of leadership in Nigeria, as is the case in many postcolonial societies. What particularly links Fela and Falz is that both are unrelenting in their revolutionary struggles and determination to ensure an equitable Nigerian society.
Religious leaders are not spared criticism. Echoing Fela’s Coffin for Head of State (1980), Falz’s Amen (2019) points to the deceptive practices and complicity of religious leaders in poor political leadership and endemic poverty. Both critique the double standards that have become normal in the country.
Falz’s Follow Follow (2019) addresses current realities in Nigerian society – a lack of personal conviction and independent thought and the mindless following of social media trends. Integrating lyrics from Fela’s Zombie (1976), the song is about asserting one’s identity. It also rehashes Fela’s Follow Follow, mocking those who allow themselves to be led blindly by others.
To make sure his advocacy resonates, Falz co-opts his listeners through a call-and-response strategy. A phrase is sung and the next phrase answers it. This way, along with catchy lyrics, the audience become active participants.
This also echoes the traditional Yorubachant-and-refrain rendition used by musicians, poets and bards to engage their audience. Its possible nod to the indigenous is also at the heart of his faux Yoruba accent, a style that downplays his prestigious upbringing and connects him to ordinary people, much like Pidgin did for Fela.
But echoes of Fela don’t in any way take away from the creative force of Falz’s work. Rather they reinforce his critique of how the postcolonial Nigerian state has failed to live up to its promise.
Into the future
While Fela was unrepentantly anticolonial, Falz is sublimely hybridised. His mixture of talents and views creates a pulsating pan-African consciousness that’s able to exist in a global contemporary world view.
His lyrics and videography are aimed at the masses – especially young people – who have the most to gain from positive social change. In this way Falz can be said to represent a generational conscience. He uses his empowering songs to motivate his fans to take their destinies in their own hands.
A bomb exploded during prayers at a mosque in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri on Wednesday night, killing five people in what police described as a likely suicide attack.
Police said 35 people were also injured in the attack.
People inspect the scene of a deadly bombing in a mosque in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on Dec. 25, 2025.
Jossy Ola / AP
Nahum Daso, spokesperson for police command in the surrounding state of Borno, said in a statement that fragments of a suspected suicide vest were found at the site.
Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum condemned the attack, calling it “barbaric and inhumane,” the Reuters news agency reports. In a statement, he urged heightened vigilance in places of worship and public spaces during the festive season.
The bombing is the latest in a series of attacks in Nigeria’s troubled northern region, where the country is battling multiple armed groups, including Boko Haram and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province.
People injured in an explosion during prayers at a mosque receive treatment at Borno State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, on Dec. 24, 2025.
Ahmed Kingimi / REUTERS
Several thousand people have been killed, with millions displaced from their homes since 2009, according to the United Nations.
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, but the use of suicide bombers has been heavily attributed to Boko Haram, the Islamic militant group that has claimed responsibility for many such attacks across the northeastern region.
Analysts say the group’s use of suicide bombers has subsided over the past few years but it still has the capacity to launch such attacks. In July 2024, a three-pronged suicide attack on a wedding ceremony in Borno raised the specter of a renewed use of the method by the group.
At least five people have been killed in a bomb explosion in a packed mosque in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state, a police spokesman has said.
Nahum Daso told local media another 35 people were injured in the blast in the Gamboru market of Maiduguri, the state capital, during evening prayers.
Unverified footage on social media appears to show the aftermath of the explosion, with people stood in a market area with dust particles in the air.
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No group has admitted carrying out the attack, but militants have previously targeted mosques and crowded places in the area with suicide attacks and improvised explosive devices (IED).
Maiduguri has been central to an insurgency by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province.
Military operations by Boko Haram to create an Islamic caliphate in Borno state began in 2009.
Security measures against the group have failed to prevent sporadic attacks against civilians in north-east Nigeria.
MINNA, Nigeria, Dec 22 (Reuters) – A final group of 130 kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren freed by the government on Sunday are expected to be reunited with their families in the central Niger state on Monday, ending a month-long ordeal that drew global concern.
The children were among more than 300 pupils and 12 staff seized from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, a hamlet seven hours’ drive from the Niger capital Minna, on November 21 in one of the country’s worst school kidnappings in recent years.
They are due to be taken to Minna later on Monday to meet their relatives in time for Christmas celebrations, President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson said.
One hundred students were released on December 8, while 50 pupils escaped in the immediate hours after they were kidnapped.
The abduction caused outrage over worsening insecurity in northern Nigeria, where armed gangs frequently target schools for ransom. School kidnappings surged after Boko Haram militants abducted 276 girls from Chibok in 2014.
Presidency spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said in a post on X on Sunday that the latest release followed “a military-intelligence-driven operation,” but did not provide details.
It was unclear whether the children were freed through negotiations with their captors – or payments to them – or in a security raid. Details about the kidnapped staff were also not provided.
The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora thanked federal and state authorities, security agencies, and humanitarian partners for their role in securing the children’s freedom.
“We are profoundly grateful… for their efforts and interventions,” Rev. Fr. Jatau Luka Joseph said in a statement.
Mass kidnappings for ransom have become a grim feature of life in northern and central Nigeria, where armed gangs, known locally as bandits, exploit weak security and vast ungoverned rural terrain.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened military action in Nigeria, accusing it of mistreating Christians. The Nigerian government says armed groups target both Muslims and Christians. It has repeatedly vowed to end the scourge, but attacks persist despite military operations and negotiations.
(Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi; additional by Tife Owolabi in Yenagoa; writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Nqobile Dludla; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
(CNN) — The remaining 130 schoolchildren kidnapped by gunmen from a Catholic school in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State in November have been released, a presidential spokesman said on Sunday, confirming that all abducted pupils are now free.
“Another 130 abducted Niger State pupils released, none left in captivity,” spokesman Sunday Dare said in a post on X, accompanied by a photograph showing the smiling children.
The spokesman did not provide details on the circumstances surrounding their release.
The students were taken in November when armed bandits stormed St. Mary’s Private Catholic School, abducting a total of 303 children and 12 teachers, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The victims included both boys and girls, some as young as 10.
A general view of a classroom at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Agwarra local government, Niger state, on November 23. Credit: Ifeanyi Immanuel BakwenyeAFP / Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource
Less than 48 hours after the abduction, 50 students managed to escape and return to their families, CAN said at the time. Earlier this month, the Nigerian government announced that security forces had rescued 100 of the kidnapped victims.
Dare’s post on Sunday put the last students being held at 130 – slightly fewer than were thought to remain in captivity. CNN has reached to the office of Nigerian President for clarification.
The November abduction was the latest in a wave of attacks by armed groups targeting vulnerable civilian populations, particularly schools, and carrying out mass kidnappings for ransom. Violence in the country has repeatedly erupted from communal and ethnic tensions, as well as from disputes between farmers and herders over limited access to land and water resources.
A Nigerian romance scammer was found guilty last month of money laundering. His victims include a Triangle area man trying to buy a home in Apex.
A Nigerian romance scammer was found guilty by a federal jury of laundering more than $120,000 from a Triangle area man, officials announced Wednesday.
Saheed Sunday Owolabi, 34, was convicted Oct. 16 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, court records show. He was arrested in July 2024, about four months after he arrived in the United States on a spousal visa, according to court documents.
Owolabi was indicted in June 2022, along with another Nigerian man and two American men, court documents show. He and Stephen Ojo, the other Nigerian, posed as women online and convinced men to send and receive money for them, the indictment states.
“Investigators recovered chat messages in which Owolabi admitted he was running a romance scam until he realized he was actually communicating with another fraudster,” a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice states. “That individual mocked Owolabi’s efforts and told him to ‘learn how to do a cleaner job.’”
One of those victims was Derrick Donahue Davis of Concord, according to court documents. Davis fell for Ojo, who was allegedly going by the name “Kyra Carter,” after meeting the fake woman on a dating app in 2018, court documents state.
Davis ultimately played a crucial role in an April 2020 scam where the men sent a Triangle area man identified as “KCN” an email pretending to be KCN’s attorney. KCN was closing on a home in Apex, and the fake email used the COVID-19 pandemic as a ploy to get KCN to wire $120,768.17 to Davis’ bank account to avoid a delayed closing, court documents allege.
Davis then sent the money to several other people, and at least $1,500 made its way back to Owolabi, according to court documents. The victim didn’t realize he’d been scammed until he arrived at the closing appointment. Law enforcement noticed the large transaction and told Davis he was participating in criminal activity, but he allegedly continued to move money for Ojo and Owolabi nonetheless, court documents state.
Davis pleaded guilty in April 2023, and was sentenced to four years and six months in prison, court documents state. Ojo, who lived in Turkey during much of the criminal activity, has yet to be arrested, according to court records.
Owolabi is scheduled to be sentenced in January. He faces up to 40 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release, according to federal officials.
Lexi Solomon joined The News & Observer in August 2024 as the emerging news reporter. She previously worked in Fayetteville at The Fayetteville Observer and CityView, reporting on crime, education and local government. She is a 2022 graduate of Virginia Tech with degrees in Russian and National Security & Foreign Affairs.
AGWARA, Nigeria (Reuters) -Martha Mathias, her husband and two children were asleep at home when gunmen arrived at St Mary’s Catholic School campus, in central Nigeria, in the early hours of Friday.
“They asked my husband to come out, when he went out, they tied him,” said Mathias, a teacher at the school where more than 300 children and staff were abducted in one of the country’s worst school kidnappings in a decade.
The commotion terrified their youngest daughter who saw her father lying on the ground and started crying.
“They told my daughter if she does not keep quiet, they will shoot her. They put the gun in her mouth telling her to keep quiet.”
Mathias’ husband was taken by the gunmen and is among the 12 staff members and around 253 students still in captivity since the November 21 attack on the school.
The Christian Association of Nigeria said on Sunday that 50 students managed to escape from their captors.
Nigeria’s government says security forces are searching for the missing children and staff.
Emmanuel Bala, chairman of the school’s parent-teacher association, said he had not seen any of the children that escaped.
Another parent, who gave her name as Njinkonye and whose 10-year-old son was among the missing, said she went to the school on Monday.
“I came to the school, I am here, searching and looking whether I will see any child that returned, but I have not seen any child,” she said. The attack happened during the same week that 25 girls were abducted from a boarding school in northwest Kebbi State and 38 people were taken by gunmen during a church service in Kwara, central Nigeria.
President Bola Tinubu announced on Sunday that the 38 people taken in Kwara had been released, as he vowed not to relent in efforts to rescue students still held by their captors.
Tinubu has ordered the hiring of 30,000 more police officers to improve security in the country. Mass abductions for ransom have plagued Nigeria since Islamist militants kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014. Criminal gangs now target remote schools, forcing closures across several states in northern Nigeria.
(Writing by Ben Ezeamalu; Editing by Alex Richardson)
