June 2021

30 June 2021
FIJ
Full names of innocent Nigerians lost to insecurity in the last 10 years
The Feminist Womanifesto Group, a collaborative movement of women civil society organisations, has compiled a detailed list of names of hundreds of ordinary citizens who have been lost to insecurity in the last 10 years…

ICIR Nigeria
Terrorists recruiting through social media platforms in Nigeria – NSA
NATIONAL Security Adviser Babangana Monguno has said that terrorist groups operating in Nigeria, including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), are recruiting new members through social media platforms…

29 June 2021
Nairametrics
Food crisis: Should Nigeria arm farmers to halt food price Inflation?
The food inflation in Nigeria has seen food prices rise to double-digit figures while Nigerians earn less income. The rising cost of food is caused by many factors but most notable among them is the incessant conflict for grazing space between farmers and herders, which has resulted in fewer farmers going to their farms and less food being produced….

The Nation
Effect of small arms, light weapons’ proliferation on national security
There are reports in the media of several violent crimes within the country, crimes involving the attacks of persons and properties, reports of police stations nationwide being looted leaving a significant amount of weapons unaccounted for circulating the country, this portends danger for the country because of the havoc these weapons will be used to perpetuate…

New York Times
Biafra separatist, after years on run, is held in Nigeria
For years he ran an intense and bombastic campaign against the Nigerian government from his hide-out somewhere in exile. But on Tuesday afternoon, Nigeria’s most-wanted fugitive appeared in court in the capital, Abuja, hooded, flanked by security agents and facing charges that included treason…

26 June 2021
ThisDay
What Gov Wike did not tell his guest
I was privileged to read Dele Momodu’s column, the Pendulum, of Saturday, 19 June 2021, to which he gave the title, “My close encounters with Governor Wike”. Over the years, I have painstakingly followed this incisive column, but this is one occasion when I beg to differ with his assertions for reasons you will see in this article…

25 June 2021
Premium Times
The struggles of Nigeria’s unemployed graduates
The efforts of legitimate recruiters have been overshadowed by the fraudulent activities of other companies…

The Cable
How Nigeria’s porous border with Niger fuels attacks in north-west
Sani Umar, like other residents of Batsari in Batsari LGA of Katsina state, has become accustomed to periodic attacks by bandits. To steer clear of the gunmen, he was forced to relocate his family to the bush…

23 June 2021
BusinessDay
Criminalising the payment of kidnap ransoms… A look at the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Bill 2021
The Nigerian Senate is considering the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Bill 2021 (the “Bill”) which seeks to amend the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (the “Terrorism Act”) to criminalise the payment of ransom to secure the release of a kidnapped person…

22 June 2021
Daily Trust
Group releases names of 1,499 killed in 10 years
A coalition of women and civil society groups under #SecureOurLives is compiling the names of the hundreds of Nigerians killed across the country with the idea of building a database for victims of conflict and insecurity in the country…

19 June 2021
Market Research Telecast
The worst recession in 40 years, the collapse of crude, insurgents and the pandemic: how this country’s economy has been ruined in just 6 years
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is suffering from severe economic problems and will grow by just 1.8% in 2021 after experiencing the worst recession in four decades last year, says a report from the World Bank published this Tuesday…

Nairametrics
Boko Haram confirms Shekau’s death
The death of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has been confirmed by the group, after a senior cleric, Bakura Sahalaba, verified it on Friday…

17 June 2021
OWP
Estimated 200 schoolchildren abducted in Nigeria by armed gang
Around 200 schoolchildren have been reportedly abducted by armed men on motorbikes in Central Nigeria on the 30th of May. The pupils, who attended the Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Tegina town, Rafi, in the north-central Nigerian state of Niger, were abducted by men who fired their weapons indiscriminately at those nearby, state police spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun commented…

16 June 2021
Buzzfeed
The Nigerian government banned its citizens from using Twitter, and the consequences are steep
On the morning of June 5, 23-year-old Farida Garba* opened her Twitter app to discover that she, like 39 million other Nigerian Twitter users, was unable to access the platform…

The Cable
MTN warns of possible disruption to its service in Nigeria amid rising insecurity
MTN has warned of a potential disruption to its service in Nigeria amid rising insecurity in different parts of the country. MTN, in a message seen by Reuters, informed its customers of possible delay in service delivery…

14 June 2021
News Central
Democracy Day in Nigeria: Police Fire Teargas to Break up Protests
SBM Intelligence’s Head of Research, Ikemesit Effiong speaks on the state of Nigeria’s democracy as the country marks its 21st Democracy Day.

13 June 2021
Blueprint
Insecurity, abnormality turned new normal
The level of insecurity in Nigeria, the giant of Africa, has been on the rise daily. Insecurity is a state of being open to threat and danger. This has been a hindrance not only to the improvement of quality of life and material development of Nigerians, but also has affected the economy of the nation. The result is clearly seen on Gross Democratic Product (GDP), Gross National Product (GNP) and Per Capita Income (CPI)…

10 June 2021
Nairametrics
What would an internet firewall mean for Nigeria?
In the aftermath of the recent Twitter ban in Nigeria, which saw prompt compliance by Nigerian telcos, a report emerged from the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), stating that the Federal Government and China’s Cyberspace Administration office had discussed plans of building a Nigerian internet firewall…

Sahara Reporters
How Shell’s onshore divestments may cause insecurity, environmental pollution
Insecurity and job loss are two of several negative outcomes for the Niger Delta from a potential series of onshore divestments…

Vanguard
These premeditated killings in Alaigbo must stop
My column last week titled, “Is another war for ‘Biafra’ inevitable?” elicited a lot of responses. Ndigbo are unanimous in their rejection of war. They are also unequivocal in their condemnation of the senseless violence in the Southeast…

9 June 2021
Leadership
State govts’ healthcare spending grew by 11% in 2020
The 36 states in Nigeria spent over 11 per cent of their budgets on healthcare in 2020, compared to an average of 8.26 per cent spent in 2019, a report has shown…

8 June 2021
Nairametrics
#TwitterBan: Suspension stands on questionable legal grounds – SBM
The recent ban of Twitter by the Nigerian Government, and plans to order Social media and OTT services to obtain licenses from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is not backed by any known law, policy, regulation or administrative directive, according to a recent report…

Premium Times
Inside Nigeria’s lucrative employment racketeering where applicants pay for no jobs
Nigeria’s huge unemployment problem has left millions of graduates at the mercy of unscrupulous recruitment firms who charge applicants money but hardly give jobs…

Kidnappers demand ₦10 million ransom for Abuja tailor
Kidnappers are demanding a ₦10 million ransom after abducting a tailor, Mary Adi, in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)…

7 June 2021
Al Jazeera
How Nigeria’s Twitter ban stands to impact people, businesses
Emmanuel Alumona, a Lagos-based front-end developer, realised early on Saturday that he could not access Twitter on his phone…

News Central TV
Economic impact of Twitter ban in Nigeria
While there are many questions about the constitutionality and legality of the ban, the economic ramifications of the ban are now taking center stage…

NewsWireNG
#TwitterBan is social media regulation through the backdoor – SBM Intelligence
Nigeria’s geopolitical intelligence platform, SBM Intelligence says the ongoing suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria by the Federal Government is ill-advised and serves as a sinister plot of the government to enforce social media regulations through the backdoor…

Sahara Reporters
Buhari government’s recklessness could cost Nigeria over ₦350billion in one week
An Africa-focused research organisation, SB Morgen Intelligence says one day of the Internet shutdown can cause Nigeria an economic upset of ₦51.1 billion…

The Times
Boko Haram leader ‘blows himself up after rivals close in’
The shadowy leader of the Islamist group Boko Haram, who became notorious for kidnapping hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls, has died…

6 June 2021
Daily Trust
Insecurity: An abnormality to normality
The level of insecurity in Nigeria, the giant of Africa, has been on the rising daily…

Nairametrics
Health Preparedness: Lagos, Ondo, Cross River, Ogun rank high
A recent report on the health preparedness of states in Nigeria saw Lagos, Ondo, Cross River, Ogun and Kwara state emerge as the top five most prepared states in Nigeria…

Punch
Experts forecast better recovery in real estate sector
Real estate experts have said increase in activities in the sector will help to boost the sectors development. They spoke while making comments on the recent Gross Domestic Product report for first quarter of 2021, which was released by the National Bureau of Statistics…

4 June 2021
Blueprint
Arms proliferation: Nigerians alarmed as insecurity heightens
Despite the efforts being made by security agencies to tackle the myriads of security challenges confronting the country, insecurity is on the increase and experts have attributed it to the proliferation of weapons…

3 June 2021
Humangle
Buhari’s bad handling, Kanu’s fame, and rising tension in Southeast Nigeria
In 1967, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a 33-year-old Lieutenant-Colonel in the Nigerian Army, announced the secession of Nigeria’s Southeast region from the rest of the country, following a pogrom that killed about 30,000 Southeastern Nigerians living in Northern Nigeria with about a million of them fleeing back to the then eastern region…

The Cable
Borno better prepared for health emergencies than 50% of states
Borno is better prepared for health emergencies than over 50 percent of Nigerian states — according to SBM Intelligence, Nigeria’s geopolitical intelligence platform. The SBM, in the second edition of its Health Preparedness Index (HPI), ranked Borno as the 17th most prepared state…

2 June 2021
Plus TV
South-East Unrest: President Buhari threatens to pull down perpetrators
President Muhammadu Buhari threatens to deal with perpetrators of violence in South-eastern Nigeria with military might; his words causing a divide among Nigerians…

Plus TV
SouthEast Unrest: IPOB – How do you turn your homeland into a war zone?
President Muhammadu Buhari threatens to deal with perpetrators of violence in South-eastern Nigeria with military might; his words causing a divide among Nigerians…

1 June 2021
Al Jazeera
Nigerian parents urge more action to get kidnapped children back
Parents have converged on an Islamic school in Nigeria’s Niger state, pleading to authorities to step up efforts to save tens of students kidnapped by gunmen…