October 2021

31 October 2021
Daily Trust
Despite Rising Insecurity, Nigerian Borders Remain Porous, Under-Policed
Open, scarcely policed borderlines, homogeneity of the peoples on both sides, and security officials often willing to look the other way for a few Naira notes: This is the summary of the story of Nigeria’s vast land borders which security experts and policymakers often describe as the gateway for illegal arms fuelling the country’s intractable armed conflicts…

Leadership
IPOB Spreading Fear, Terror To Enforce Sit-at-home Order
The fear of being attacked or victimized by members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is forcing a lethargic compliance with its sit-at-home order in the South East states despite its negative effect on economies of states in the region and residents’ businesses, findings by our correspondents in the region have shown…

28 October 2021
DW
How karate is helping Nigerian women protect themselves
Every October for the last eight years, young women have gathered in Lagos for the Zainab Saleh International Female Open Karate Championship. It is the only time that the Karatekas get to compete at a women-only tournament…

The New Arab
Turkey and Africa’s deepening ties in a multipolar world
At the nexus point between Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, Istanbul often has distinguished guests pass through. Earlier in October, Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel was treated to splendid views of the Bosporus as she worked with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to address bilateral issues…

27 October 2021
Guardian Nigeria
Safe Schools: Over 12m children traumatised, afraid to go to school, says Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that the persistent attacks on educational facilities and abductions of students and teachers have left more than 12 million children currently traumatised and afraid of going to school, especially the girl-child…

Nairametrics
Alleged ₦20 million payment to bandits and what it means for Nigeria’s war against terrorism
Nigeria’s battle against insecurity took a major hit recently when the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Nigerian Government paid the sum of ₦20 million to a bandit leader to secure a 12.7 calibre antiaircraft gun in exchange for President Buhari’s safety as he prepared to fly to his hometown…

Punch
12 million children afraid of attending school, says Buhari
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), has said 12 million children in the country are traumatised and afraid of going to school due to the rate of abduction in the country. The President said this on Tuesday during the opening of the Safe School Programme in Abuja…

The Sun Nigeria
Fear of abduction, trauma forcing children out of school, says Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, said fear of abduction and the attendant trauma on school children who have been victims of kidnapping have forced many children of school age to stay out of school, thereby increasing the country’s out-of-school children cases…

26 October 2021
BusinessDay
EIU says cash-strapped Nigeria will continue to struggle to control insecurity
The Economist Intelligence Unit, EIU says Nigeria’s cash-government will continue to struggle in its battle to contain insurgency in the country after at least 42 people were killed in an attack on a village market in Sokoto…

Nigerian Tribune
Abductions: Over 12 million children traumatized, afraid to go to school ― Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that the persistent attacks on educational facilities and abductions of students and teachers have left more than 12 million children currently traumatized and afraid of going to school especially the girl-child…

Guardian Nigeria
eNaira goes live as CBN floats new scheme to boost economy
At exactly 1:00 p.m., yesterday, Nigeria’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the eNaira, went live after it was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja…

Vanguard
Handling insecurity has been tough, says Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has said handling the nation’s ongoing security challenges has been so tough on his administration. He, however, expressed optimism that with measures being put in place by his administration,the general insecurity would soon be a thing of the past…

Voice of Nigeria
Nigerian Education Sector Requires Total Overhaul- President Buhari
The Nigerian government said to record adequate achievements in the education sector, the system would require a total overhaul in provision of a safe and secured environment for learners and teachers…

25 October 2021
CNBC Africa
Why food prices are surging in Nigeria
A third-quarter Jollof Index report by SBM Intelligence shows that the average cost of making a pot of jollof rice, a local delicacy in Nigeria, rose to ₦8000 in the third quarter of 2021, from the ₦7618 in the second quarter of this year…

The Nation
Old and exorbitant
The Mid-term Ministerial Performance Review, held in Abuja last week, provided yet another occasion to examine Nigeria’s place, both in the domestic and global trade arenas; and why her continuing exertions have remained a non-starter…

Reuters
Nigeria launches eNaira amid hope, scepticism – and plenty of uncertainty
Nigeria on Monday became the first African nation to launch a digital currency – the eNaira – a move its leaders said will expand access to banking, enable more remittances and even grow the economy by billions of dollars…

24 October 2021
Nairametrics
IPOB insists Anambra state governorship election won’t hold if Nnamdi Kanu isn’t released
The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has threatened that the November 6, governorship election in Anambra State would not take place if their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is not released from the Department of State Security (DSS) detention before the election…

23 October 2021
The Street Journal
How President Buhari made governance difficult by allowing insurgency, separatism, others to fester
That Nigeria is faced with a mountain of problems ranging from corruption and ethnic strife to a string of military dictatorship to security crises ranging from kidnapping to extremist insurgencies is no longer news…

21 October 2021
New Telegraph
Rising Insecurity As Threat To Governments’ Safe-School Initiative Agenda
These are really tough and challenging times for the education sector in Nigeria. Going to school is fast becoming a nightmare for students as a result of the frequent attacks on schools by bandits. Worse hit are schools in the North-West and North-East region of the country, where the increasing level of insecurity has led to the closure of some schools. For the ones that are still open, learning takes place under an atmosphere of fear…

20 October 2021
BusinessDay
EndSARS Anniversary: Police brutality, harassment not yet over
The EndSARS campaign that started October 5 and climaxed October 20, 2020, with an alleged massacre of Nigerian youths at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, marks its first anniversary today. The EndSARS protest drew worldwide attention to Nigeria as youths took to the streets to challenge police brutality and the disbandment of the country’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit…

#EndSARS: Nigeria yet to pick up from ruins of protest
Businesses are yet to recover and public infrastructure are still ruined after they were razed during nationwide #ENDSARS protests against the unpopular and now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) one year ago…

Culture Custodian
#EndSARS: One year later, where are we now?
2020 was a year of protest globally, Nigeria included. This month marks a year since Nigerians took to the streets to demand the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the country’s largest protests in a generation. 20 October, a date now ingrained in Nigerian history, marked a year since the Nigerian Army opened fire on its own citizens in the midst of protests at the Lekki Toll Gate and Alausa in Lagos–killing at least 12 peaceful protesters, a claim that the government vehemently denies…

Guardian Nigeria
#EndSARS: Uber driver manhandled by policemen
An Uber driver, Adedotun was beaten, brutalized, pepper-sprayed and forcefully dragged into a black maria by operatives of the Nigerian Police Force during the #ENDSARS memorial which took place at the Lekki tollgate today…

News Central
Breakfast Central Special #EndSarsMemorial Episode
SBM Intelligence’s Ikemesit Effiong discusses the track record of the various judicial panels of inquiry and the lessons from the #EndSARS protests a year ago…

Premium Times
#EndSARS Anniversary: One year after, what has happened to protesters’ five-point demand?
It is one year since the historic #ENDSARS protest, a youth-driven anti-police brutality demonstration, shook Nigeria. The protest, which morphed from social media campaigns into street demonstrations in October 2020, was triggered by the excesses of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a now-disbanded police tactical unit notorious for cruelty against crime suspects…

Rest of World
Tech workers supported mass protests against police violence in Nigeria. Then the government targeted them
In September 2020, Kofoworola David-Okesola, a software developer, was riding in an Uber in Yaba, home to Lagos’ thriving tech hub, when a microvan cut off the car and blocked its path. Men with rifles jumped out of the van…

TechCabal
A year after the #EndSARS protests, what has changed?
On a sunny Tuesday afternoon on October 13, 2020, Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, came out to address protesters in front of his office at Alausa, Ikeja. The protesters had been hanging around the governor’s office for almost a week, clamouring for a disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)—a special police unit known to terrorise and extort young Nigerians…

TRT World
In what areas can Nigeria and Turkey further bilateral co-operation?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has wrapped up his visit to Nigeria, the final stop on his Africa tour. The two nations signed deals on mining and energy. Erdogan also spoke about further co-operation in tackling terrorism. Cheta Nwanze from SBM Intelligence weighs in…

19 October 2021
Arise News
Insecurity, unfavourable government policies & climate changes affect food prices – SBM Intelligence
Ikemesit Effiong, the Head of Research at SBM Intelligence on the Global Business Report discussed his company’s Jollof index which says the average, cost of making a pot of Jollof rice for a family of five remains high across the country. SBM blames a hike in food prices on Insecurity, unfavourable government policies and climate changes…

BusinessDay
Dollar sale ban to BDCs shows up in rising cost of cooking Jollof rice
The average cost of cooking a pot of Jollof rice for a family of five has increased to ₦8,000.50 from ₦7,618 within the last three months according to the latest SBM Intelligence Jollof Index report and government policy on foreign exchange is adding to the problem. According to the Africa-focused geopolitical research firm, the suspension of FX sales to BDCs and the closure of websites that offer parallel rates led to information asymmetry and panic-driven price surges as most importers source their FX from the parallel market which in turn relies on information from such web pages, the report said…

The Economist
How kidnappers, zealots and rebels are making Nigeria ungovernable
One evening in March Emmanuel was in bed, about to doze off. The next moment, armed men burst into his college dormitory in north-west Nigeria and dragged him and 38 other panicked, half-dressed students outside and deep into a forest…

Nairametrics
Cost of preparing jollof rice in Nigeria rises by 4.98% in Q3 2021
The cost of making a pot of jollof rice for a family of five has risen by 4.98% to N8007.50 in the 3rd quarter of the year. This was disclosed in the quarterly SBM Jollof index report for Q3 2021, published by SBM Intelligence…

#Endsars protest: Business owners still count losses a year later 
It is exactly one year after some youth across the nation took to the streets of Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Rivers, Abuja, Enugu and Anambra states among others in a protest. They used the protest, which was later hijacked by some hoodlums, to call for the eradication of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)…

18 October 2021
ICIR Nigeria
Buhari wants journalists to report ‘declining insecurity’ amid rising killings in Nigeria
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has charged journalists and media houses to report declining insecurity despite daily evidence of killings in different parts of Nigeria…

Nigeria Info
What Options Does the CBN Have For The Naira?
According to SBM Intelligence, the gap between Naira’s official rate and market rate last month was ₦169. This is the widest gap since February 2017, and the third widest gap since January 2015. What options does the CBN have for the Naira?..

17 October 2021
Nairametrics
Wall Street Journal says FG paid bandits ₦20 million to prevent Buhari’s plane from being shot down
A report by the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Nigerian Government paid the sum of ₦20 million to a bandit leader to secure a 12.7 calibre antiaircraft gun in exchange for the payment as President Buhari prepared to fly to his hometown…

16 October 2021
New Telegraph
Insecurity: Will The Narrative Ever Change?
During the week, on Wednesday to be precise, a national daily splashed the following truly frightening headline on its front page: ‘1,153 civilians, 176 security personnel killed in 3 months – Report’. Yes, this was the number of Nigerians killed just within the space of 90 days in a country that is not at war!..

14 October 2021
Legit
An kashe mutane fiye da 1, 300 yayin da Fadar Shugaban kasa ta ke cewa ana samun tsaro
Mutane akalla 1, 153 aka hallaka, baya ga sojoji 105, ‘yan sanda 67 da jami’an kula da shiga da fice biyu da jami’in kwastam suka mutu a wata uku…

13 October 2021
AFP
Nigeria tax spat reignites federalism debate
A legal battle between Nigeria’s government and states over sales tax is fueling fierce debate about federalism in Africa’s most populous country as politicians jockey for position before 2023 elections…

La collecte de la TVA ébranle le fédéralisme du Nigéria
La collecte de l’impôt sur la consommation au Nigeria, au cœur d’une querelle entre Abuja et les Etats du Sud, relance un débat aussi sensible qu’ancien dans le pays le plus peuplé d’Afrique : celui du fédéralisme…

Daily Trust
1,153 Civilians, 176 Security Personnel Killed In 3 Months
A total of 1,153 civilians, 105 soldiers, 67 police officers, two immigration officers, one civil defence officer and one customs officer were killed in violent incidents across Nigeria between July and September this year…

The Sun Nigeria
Insecurity: 2,287 killed in 3 months
Not less than 2,287 people were killed in Nigeria between July and September of 2021 during violent incidents involving attacks from Boko Haram, militia herdsmen, abductions, gang clashes and bandits…

ThisDay
Over 2,000 Killed in Q3 2021, 495 in Zamfara, 306 in Niger
Over 2,287 people were killed in numerous violent attacks across the country between July and September 2021, according to a report by SBM Intelligence, a research organisation that compiles and analyses data about happenings in the country…

12 October 2021
BusinessDay
More Nigerians left in poverty as 40% of informal sector workers owed salaries
Forty percent of employees in Nigeria’s informal sector, are owed wages, a situation that is worsening poverty in Africa’s largest economy, according to a new report by SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based geopolitical risk analysis firm. Delayed and unpaid salaries is a recurring problem in Nigeria’s labour market but it has become worse at this time when the Covid-19 pandemic eroded the revenue of businesses leaving millions poorer…

Tekedia
Nigeria to Begin Local Firearms Production
The Nigerian government has depended on foreign arms supply in combating insurgency in the country. But as Nigeria’s insecurity situation escalates with new features such as banditry and Unknown Gun Men (UGM), the government is seeking a reprieve from dependence on foreign arms supply through local production of arms…

The Cable
495 in Zamfara, 306 in Niger — over 2,000 killed in third quarter of 2021
In what appears to be a festival of killings, at least 2,287 people were killed in numerous violent attacks across the country between July and September 2021…

El Pais
La industria del secuestro florece en el Sahel y el norte de Nigeria
La monja colombiana Gloria Cecilia Narváez fue liberada el pasado sábado en Malí tras permanecer secuestrada cuatro años y ocho meses en manos de un grupo yihadista. Pero este no es un caso aislado…

Nairametrics
2,287 media reported killings in Nigeria in Q3 2021 – SBM
At least 2,287 persons were reportedly killed in Nigeria in the third quarter of the year in violent incidents, including attacks by Boko Haram terrorists, militia herdsmen, bandits, abductions and gang clashes…

News Central
More Than 2,000 Nigerians Killed in 3 Months
More than 2,000 Nigerians were killed in several clashes between July and September according to socio-economic intelligence group, SB Morgen (SBM) Intelligence. In a report published on Tuesday, it said the media reported 2,287 deaths across the country in the third quarter of the year…

Sahara Reporters
2,287 Nigerians Lost Their Lives To Insecurity In 2021 Third Quarter
A report by SBM Intelligence and EiE Nigeria has shown that over 2,287 persons were reported killed in Nigeria in the third quarter of the year in violent incidents, including attacks by Boko Haram terrorists, militia herdsmen, bandits, abductions and gang clashes…

8 October 2021
The Cable
40% of Nigerians working in informal sector are owed wages
SBM Intelligence, an Africa-focused geopolitical research firm, says 40 percent of Nigerians working in the informal sector are currently owed wages…

Nairametrics
40 percent of Nigerians working in the informal sector are being owed wages
A report revealed that 40% of Nigerians say in the unregulated informal sector, they are being owed wages…

7 October 2021
BBC
Nigeria’s #EndSars protests: How they failed
Seyilogo Braithwaite has never felt as invigorated as she did a year ago when she was feeding those taking part in mass protests – a movement dubbed Nigeria’s “Arab Spring”…

BBC Hausa
Waiwaye kan zanga-zangar EndSars bayan shekara daya, yadda fafutukar ta gaza
Seyilogo Braithwaite ba ta taɓa jin karfin gwiwa kamar yadda ta samu shekara daya da ta gabata ba lokacin da take ciyar da wadanda suka halarci gagarumar zanga-zangar EndSars- wacce ta karaɗe Najeriya, da aka dinga kallo tamkar juyin juya halin ƙasashen Larabawa “Arab Spring”…

Foundation for Investigative Journalism
Nigerians Owed up to 20 Months Salaries Keep Working for Fear of Job Loss
Working in Nigeria’s unregulated informal sector is just as bad as working in the formal sector, SBM Intelligence, an Africa-focused geopolitical research and strategic communications consulting firm, has found…

The Nation
Equity, fairness and justice as imperative to national security
Today, it appears that there is more than meets the eye concerning the unceasingly growing insecurity in every part of Nigeria. This is particularly disheartening because of the speculations, and/or striking naked facts, flying around, in the public domain…

5 October 2021
Naija News
12, 14 Year Old Boys Kidnap 3 Year Old, Demand Ransom
The Nigerian Police Force has arrested two young boys aged 12 and 14 for kidnapping a 3-year-old in Potiskum, Yobe State…

Nigeria Info
Why Food Prices Are Skyrocketing
An Analyst at SBM Intelligence has blamed insecurity, the ban on some food items and forex restrictions for skyrocketing food prices…

4 October 2021
CAJ News
Scores of Nigerians freed from bandits
Police have rescued more than 200 kidnapped civilians in northwestern Nigeria in recent weeks. Some 21 suspected bandits have been arrested during operations in the volatile Zamfara State…

HumAngle
Nigerians Are One Friend, Family Member Away From A Kidnapping
Data shows that one is more likely to be kidnapped in Niger state although Kaduna is fast rising to claim the top spot…

3 October 2021
Daily Trust
Curbing Proliferation Of Small Arms, Light Weapons
Nigeria’s former Head of State, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar, recently expressed concern over the proliferation of all calibre of weapons in the country, which he estimated at six million…

Legit
Bincike: Gida mai yawan mutum 4 na bukatar kashe N10k don dafa shinkafa jollof 
Bincike ya bayyana cewa, ana bukatar makudan kudaden da suka haura N10,000 don girka shinkafa jollof da mutane hudu za su ci. Wannan yasa wani bincike da NBS ta gudanar ya fitar bayanin yadda kayayyaki suka tashi a Najeriya…

Pulse
How a misleading video sparked the final downfall of SARS
On October 3, 2020, Prince Nicholas Makolomi was driving from Ughelli to a wedding party in Warri when he saw a young man tossed out of a moving police vehicle…

2 October 2021
BusinessDay
Nigeria’s abduction epidemic in 5 charts
The Kidnap-for-ransom business is fuelling an abduction epidemic in Nigeria with many persons killed and kidnapped in the first half of 2021…

Premium Times
Inside Nigeria’s worsening kidnap-for-ransom scourge
Tears dropped down the cheeks of Catherine Ukpekpi as she narrated her family’s ordeal. It was April and her husband, Ben, the leader of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in Cross River State, had been kidnapped four weeks earlier. It was the second time in 16 months that he had been kidnapped…

1 October 2021
The Nigerian Voice
Nigeria At 61: A Confluence Of Colossal Insecurity And Mass Exodus
According to the 2021 Global Peace Index rankings, Nigeria is listed as the 6th least peaceful country in Africa and 10th in the world. In July, an article on Yahoo! Finance ranked Nigeria as the 12th most dangerous country in the world with a political stability score of –1.93 (on a scale of -2.5 to 2.5) and a crime rate of 63.27 (on a scale of 0 to 100). These rankings are evident in the high level of insecurity and continuous banditry which has plagued the sub-Saharan nation in 2021…