Daily Watch – 40 abducted in Kaduna church, Explosion kills 7 Nigerien soldiers

About 40 people were abducted during a church service at Bege Baptist Church, Madala, along Buruku Baringi road, in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, Kaduna Chapter, Reverend John Joseph Hayab, told journalists that “the worshippers were in the Sunday service around 9:30 am when they heard gunshots very close to the church. The gunmen attacked the church and went away with 40 worshippers.” He added, “Along the way, somehow, 15 of the kidnapped persons returned, with no word on the remaining 25 who are in captivity.” In a related development, three of the remaining seven abducted girls from the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi have been released. The chairman of the abducted girls’ parents forum, Malam Salim Kaoje, said the girls arrived at Kebbi on Monday afternoon.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it will sanction banks assisting the operations of unlicensed foreign firms in its “guidelines for the regulation of representative offices of foreign banks in Nigeria.” According to the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation, Muhammad Musa, “any CBN-regulated entity found to be assisting, supporting, harbouring or facilitating the presence and/or operations of an unlicensed international financial institution in Nigeria shall be liable to severe sanctions including suspension or revocation of their banking licence.” The CBN says the guidelines applied to banks licensed under any foreign law, whose registered head office is outside Nigeria and whose primary business includes the receipt of deposits, granting of loans and/or provision of current and savings accounts among others.

The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) says it will embark on an indefinite strike if President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo does not approve and implement their salaries and arrears from January 2023. JUSAG, in a letter signed by its General Secretary, Mr Abdulai Yakubu, and addressed to the Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission, said: “We have given the President of Ghana up to Friday, 12 May 2023, to approve and implement reviewed salaries with all the arrears from January 2023.” The letter said members had been patient for the past four months despite the country’s adverse economic situation coupled with the withdrawal of the Cost of Living Allowance in December 2022. JUSAG said if it did not receive approval by the stated date, members would wear red armbands to work from 15 May for one week and “if no approval is received, by 19 May 2023, we shall embark on indefinite strike.”

The Nigerien National Guard (GNN) says seven Nigerien soldiers were killed when their vehicle exploded on a mine in Tillabéri West, where jihadist groups regularly operate. “A vehicle of the weekly supply escort mission hit a mine, about 6km from the village of Samira, in the department of Gothèye, near the border with Burkina Faso, said a statement from the GNN, which is attached to the Interior Ministry and is at the forefront of the anti-jihadist fight. The Nigerien government has been fighting jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) there since February 2022. Niger is also facing deadly actions by Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) in its southeast. Last week, the army killed “six terrorists” and captured 19 in the Ayorou area (Tillabéri region).