Nigeria

17, February 2026

Murder of 3 Cameroonians: Nigeria police arrest shrine chief priest, 3 others ⁰

The Anambra State Police Command says it has arrested four suspects in connection with the murder of three Cameroonian nationals in the state.

The Public Relations Officer of the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, who made this known in a statement issued on Monday, said security operatives have intensified efforts to arrest the fleeing gang leader and other members of the criminal network involved in the crime.

Ikenga identified the suspects, all male, as 27-year-old Chukwuemeka Emmanuel, popularly known as “Ugoebenajah,” who is alleged to be the Chief Priest of a shrine; 27-year-old Nwabunne Bright; 21-year-old Chinecherem Chiama; and 38-year-old Michael Ekwunife.

The police spokesperson said the operation, which took place on February 13, 2026, led to the recovery of two pump-action guns, one locally made Beretta pistol, a machete, assorted criminal charms, expanded ammunition, 10 live cartridges, and five live 9mm rounds in the Nando community, Anambra East Local Government Area of the state.

According to him, the arrest of the suspects followed the confession of two suspects earlier arrested and currently in custody.

Ikenga said that while acting on the information obtained, operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad in Awkuzu mobilised to a shrine in Nando believed to be linked to the suspects.

“On approaching the shrine, about thirty able-bodied men were observed gathered at the premises,” Ikenga stated.

“Upon sighting the Police, the armed men opened fire on the operatives. The Police operatives responded professionally, engaging the armed men in a gun duel.

“While the prime suspect, Uchenna Mmaduamaka Nicholas, a native of Oroma Etiti Anam, escaped alongside other gang members with bullet wounds.

“Also during the gun battle, one of the arrested armed suspects sustained a bullet injury on the thigh and was immediately taken to a hospital, where he is currently receiving medical treatment.”

The Command said the four suspects are undergoing interrogation, while a manhunt has been launched to track down the fleeing gang leader and other members of the criminal gang.

Reaffirming its commitment to protecting lives and property, the police urged residents to provide credible information to support ongoing investigations, assuring that further developments would be communicated in due course.

Source: Sahara

4, February 2026

Francophone officials tighten controls to curb cocoa exports to Nigeria in the South West ⁰

Cameroon’s National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC) is stepping up efforts to curb illegal cocoa exports to Nigeria, which continue to affect export revenues and sector oversight. On January 13, ONCC Director General Michael Ndoping chaired a high-level consultative meeting in Douala, on the instructions of Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana.

According to the ONCC, the discussions brought together public and private stakeholders, including exporters, customs officials, and administrative authorities. Talks focused on three priorities: strengthening coordination, addressing operational challenges, and improving trade flows between Cameroon and Nigeria. The consultations form part of the implementation of new regulatory texts aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area, aimed at securing cross-border transactions.

The renewed effort comes as Nigeria is accused of siphoning part of Cameroon’s cocoa output, particularly from the Southwest region, through fraudulent imports. Data from Cameroon’s National Institute of Statistics show that Nigeria absorbed CFA41.4 billion worth of informal Cameroonian cocoa in 2024. The issue had already reached a critical level during the 2022–2023 season, when the government officially reported losses of about CFA70 billion due to fraudulent exports to Nigeria.

In response, Mbarga Atangana introduced a precautionary measure during that season, banning cocoa bean exports to the neighboring country. The government then adopted a new marketing system based on tighter controls over land, sea, and air exports, aimed at reducing undeclared outflows and restoring traceability of volumes.

Since then, Nigeria has gradually formalized its purchases. According to the ONCC, it became the leading African importer of Cameroonian cocoa in the 2024–2025 season, buying 2,100 tons. The shift has not eliminated fraud risks but has altered the balance, with part of the flows moving into formal channels while illicit exports persist in border areas.

In this context, the ONCC is accelerating the rollout of the National Unified Cocoa Traceability System. The tool is intended to meet international requirements, including the European Union’s deforestation regulation, while securing volumes exported to neighboring countries.

Source: Sbbc

29, December 2025

Anthony Joshua injured in Nigeria car crash, with two others dead ⁰

British boxer Anthony Joshua has been injured, with two others killed, in a car crash near Lagos in Nigeria.

Local police tell the BBC that Joshua has been taken to hospital – they earlier said he suffered minor injuries but is “fine”

Officials suspect Joshua’s vehicle crashed into a stationary lorry while overtaking at speed – Joshua was pictured in the back of his vehicle

Other pictures, posted by officials, show a badly-damaged car and a dented lorry

Joshua – a two-time world heavyweight champion – has family roots in Sagamu, a town in Ogun State, Nigeria

One relative tells the BBC of their family’s shock – saying Joshua normally visits Nigeria around the New Year.

Source: BBC

26, December 2025

US launches airstrikes on Nigeria ⁰

The United States has launched airstrikes in northwest Nigeria, with President Donald Trump casting the attack as a response to alleged anti-Christian violence—an assertion Nigerian authorities and analysts have long rejected as a misleading pretext for military action.

The strikes, which Trump announced late Thursday, were presented as a blow against an African branch of Daesh, which he said had carried out large-scale violence against Christians in Nigeria.

“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 on social media.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the attacks targeted Sokoto State and were carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities.

“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by airstrikes in the North West,” the ministry said in a post on X, while not confirming Washington’s claim of persecution of Christians.

The US Department of War later released footage showing the launch of the airstrikes.

18, December 2025

Nigeria apologises over Burkina Faso military flight that saw 11 servicemen detained ⁰

Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar has formally apologised to Burkina Faso for the unauthorised entry of a Nigerian military jet into Burkinabè airspace, an incident that led to the detention of 11 Nigerian servicemen.

Tuggar’s spokesperson told the BBC that the detained personnel had been released and were due to return to Nigeria, without saying when.

The plane was flying to Portugal when it developed a technical problem and had to land in Burkina Faso, according to the Nigerian Air Force.

The unauthorised landing sparked a diplomatic row with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) made up of Burkina Faso and its neighbours, Mali, and Niger.

In a statement, AES characterised it as an “unfriendly act” and said member states‘ respective air forces had been put on maximum alert and authorised to “neutralise any aircraft” found to violate the confederation’s airspace.

The three AES states, all run by the military, have withdrawn from the West African regional bloc, Ecowas, and moved closer to Russia, while most Ecowas members remain allied to the West.

Tuggar led a delegation to the Burkinabè capital, Ouagadougou, on Wednesday, to discuss the incident with military leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré.

“There were irregularities concerning the overflight authorisations, which was regrettable, and we apologise for this unfortunate incident,” Tuggar said on national TV.

It remains unclear when the military personnel, said to be in “high spirits”, and the aircraft will return to Nigeria.

According to Nigeria’s foreign ministry, both sides agreed to “sustain regular consultations and pursue practical measures to deepen bilateral cooperation and regional integration”.

Source: BBC

8, December 2025

Nigeria: One hundred abducted schoolchildren released ⁰

About 100 children who were abducted from a Catholic school in central Nigeria last month have been freed, authorities say.

Niger state’s police chief, Adamu Abdullahi Elleman, and Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who is in charge of the school as the local leader of the Catholic community, both told the BBC that they had received confirmation of the students’ release.

They said the news had been confirmed by the president’s national security advisor, but Bishop Yohanna said it was not clear when the children would be reunited with their parents.

More than 250 students and 12 staff were kidnapped from St Mary’s Catholic school in Papiri, the latest in a wave of mass abductions.

Source: BBC

2, December 2025

Nigeria: defense minister resigns amid kidnapping crisis ⁰

Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has resigned from his position with immediate effect for health reasons, the president’s office has said.

The 63-year-old’s departure coincides with a period of heightened security challenges across Nigeria, with the government under pressure to deal with a spate of mass kidnappings.

Last week, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that at least 402 people, mostly schoolchildren, had been kidnapped since mid-November.

A retired general, Christopher Musa, has been nominated by President Bola Tinubu as Abubakar’s replacement.

General Musa, 58, served as Nigeria’s chief of defence staff from June 2023 until October 2025 and is widely regarded as one of the country’s most experienced military strategists.

He is known in particular for commanding major counter-insurgency operations against jihadist groups in north-east of the country.

In the latest sign of the insecurity, gunmen abducted at least 20 people, including a Christian pastor, a Muslim bride and her bridesmaids, in two separate raids in the north on Sunday.

Some 250 schoolchildren and 12 teachers from a Catholic school in central Niger state are still believed to be missing following the biggest mass kidnapping attack in recent weeks.

It is not clear who is behind the kidnappings – most analysts believe they are carried out by criminal gangs seeking ransom payments, however a presidential spokesman has told the BBC the government believes they are the work of jihadist groups.

Source: BBC

15, October 2025

Tinubu, other African leaders to congratulate Issa Tchiroma soonest ⁰

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu will be joining other African leaders to congratulate Issa Tchiroma, who was elected Sunday as the 3rd head of state of the Republic of Cameroon.

In a confidential statement released by Aso Rock to the Nigerian embassy in Yaoundé, President Tinubu is planning to send a message to the Issa Tchiroma campaign and the Cameroonian people congratulating them for electing the former Biya ally as president of the republic.

The Nigerian leader is expected to affirm the valued relations between Nigeria and Cameroon and to acknowledge the rewarding partnership in peace-building including the return of Cameroonian refugees.

Other African leaders are also expected to send in their congratulatory messages to President-elect Issa Tchiroma in the coming days.

Issa Tchiroma said his victory is not that of one man, nor of one party. “It is the victory of a people. It is the victory of Cameroon.”

By James Ekpenyong in Abuja

24, August 2025

More than 30 jihadists killed in air strikes, Nigerian military says ⁰

Nigeria’s military has killed 35 jihadists in a series of air strikes near its north-eastern border with Cameroon, it said in a statement.

The strikes were carried out in four areas to thwart an attempt by the jihadists to attack ground troops, the military added.

Nigeria has been battling jihadist groups for more than a decade, as well as violent criminal gangs, sectarian conflict and widespread kidnappings for ransom.

On Saturday, a group of prominent Nigerians, including ex-government ministers, business persons and civil society activists, issued a statement, raising concern that parts of Nigeria were enduring “war-time levels of slaughter”, while the country was officially at peace.

The group cited a report released in May by rights group Amnesty International, which said that at least 10,217 people had been killed since President Bola Tinubu took office two years ago.

It called for the formation of a Presidential Task Force with wide-ranging powers to end the numerous conflicts – including the resurgence of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram and the breakaway Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) in the north-east.

Last week, the army reported killing nearly 600 militants in eight months in the region. There is no independent confirmation of the claim.

The Nigerian Air Force said it would continue to provide air cover to ground troops dismantling jihadist bases in the north-east.

More than 35,000 people have been killed and two million displaced in the conflict, according to the UN.

The Institute for Security Studies think-tank said that at least 15 jihadist attacks had been recorded so far this year in areas near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon and Niger.

The jihadists were using modified commercial drones to strike at army bases, and were making it difficult for the military to send reinforcements, it added.

Earlier this month, the US State Department approved the sale of weapons worth $346m (£256m) to Nigeria.

Source: BBC

21, August 2025

Buea: Nigeria Consul-General Obasanjo Coker dies ⁰

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the sudden death of Ambassador Taofik Obasanjo Coker, Nigeria’s Consul General in Buea, Republic of Cameroon.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Ministry’s Spokesperson, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, Ambassador Coker passed away on Saturday, August 16, following a brief illness.

Ebienfa described the late envoy as a hardworking and dedicated career diplomat who served Nigeria with distinction and professionalism in different capacities.

“His untimely death, therefore, is a great loss to the diplomatic community and the nation at large,” the statement read.

The Ministry noted that before his appointment as Consul General in Buea, Ambassador Coker had served Nigeria meritoriously in the country’s Missions in Conakry, Guinea, and Shanghai, China.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs extends its heartfelt condolences to his immediate family, colleagues and friends at this difficult time and prays for the peaceful repose of his soul,” the statement added.

Source: Vanguard News