Nigeria

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Dividing the Country: Terrorism and Separatism

War with Islamic State and Boko Haram

Since 2009, there have been armed clashes between government forces and radical Islamist groups in Nigeria. Nigeria is the target for terrorist attacks by the Boko Haram group and IS. For the prerequisites for the emergence of the conflict, see Boko Haram.

In 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to IS, forming the Islamic State in West Africa. Due to the inaction of the authorities in the fight against the terrorist threat of IS, it was possible to create a semblance of a quasi-state with a political structure in northeastern Nigeria. The Islamic State fundamentally refuses equal partnership with African groups and, at best, sweeps them under itself or absorbs them. Some of the leaders of Boko Haram did not agree with this and already in 2016 refused the oath. At the beginning of 2023, the two IS and Boko Haram are fighting each other for territory and influence.

At the beginning of 2023, the Islamic State in West Africa is the main terrorist actor in northern Nigeria. In addition to activities in neighboring states, the group is still actively fighting the central government.

Other criminal gangs, which in reality are not radical Islamists, also enjoy chaos from terrorist attacks.

The decentralized nature of crime and the emergence of new groups complicates the task of stabilizing crisis areas.

Biafra Indigenous Insurgency from Oil-Rich Region

As well as radical Islamists, authorities in Abuja have another headache - the Indigenous People of Biafra insurgency has been active in southeastern Nigeria since 2020.

It advocates the separation of part of the southeastern lands, inhabited mainly by the Igbo people, and the formation of an independent state of Biafra. The rhetoric of the group's leaders boils down to the fact that the oil-rich region, which is home to predominantly Igbo Christians, should not "feed the rest of Muslim Nigeria."

As with Boko Haram, the conflict is a product of the colonial era, when the territories of the Igbo, Ijo and others in the southeast were included in Nigeria.

In 1967, southeastern tribes - about 20% of Nigeria's total population - declared independence and formed the Republic of Biafra, which lasted until 1970. During the civil war, government forces forcibly returned the territory back. After that, repression began against the peoples of Biafra.

After the military coup in Nigeria in 1999 and the subsequent "thaw" as a result of democratic elections, the organizations of the peoples of Biafra resumed the struggle.

The protests peaked in 2015, when the leader of one of the largest organizations advocating for the region's autonomy was arrested. This only spurred further radicalization on both sides.

In 2020, various human rights NGOs accused the Nigerian government of killing 21 protesters and arresting 47 people. Law enforcement officers also suffered losses.

In December 2020, the creation of the Eastern Security Network, the paramilitary wing of the Biafra Indigenous Peoples movement, was announced.

Fighting broke out between government forces and the group's militants.

In April 2021, the organization entered into an alliance with some of Ambazonia's factions from Cameroon. As the Rybar channel noted, despite the noise in the information space about the new alliance, supporters of the independence of Biafra and the rebels of Ambazonia in the arsenal lack any resources for active offensives and turning the struggle in their direction. In addition, Nigeria and Cameroon, in response to the creation of the alliance, also joined forces to capture militants who are still successfully hiding in the forests.

At the beginning of 2023, the Nigerian government is forced to conduct several counterterrorism operations in the north and south at once, forming situational coalitions with neighboring states.

All such events are repeatedly limited to temporarily pushing militants to hard-to-reach regions of the country, or the border, after which gangs regroup and launch new attacks.

Population

Main article: Population of Africa

Population

2022:218 million people

2017: 2.6% of the world's population

Migration

2021: Net outflow over 4 years

People

Tuaregs

Main article: Tuaregi

Nomads Fulani

Main article: Fulbe (Fulani)

Approximately 50% of Nigeria's population is Muslim, who since the country's independence in 1961 feel economically and politically marginalized compared to Christians from central and southern Nigeria.

One of the most radical groups is the nomadic Fulani people living in the territories of several countries, mainly in West Africa. Read more here

Marriages

Allowed to have more than one spouse

Overweight

Mortality

Traffic safety

Number of deaths due to poor ecology

Number of deaths from opioid use disorders

Britain's military base

2023

Apart from various PMCs controlled by British companies, military personnel Britain in May 2023 are located in 40 states. Africa The Government of the United Kingdom justifies its presence by training African personnel, peacekeeping missions (in and) Libya , South Sudan as well as the fight against terrorism, which has become especially relevant after the massive spread of IS activities since 2011 and throughout the Al-Qaeda continent.

Parliament: Niger National Assembly

2023: Proportion of women in Parliament - 3.9%

Domestic politics

2023: Presidential and parliamentary elections: Ahmed Tinubu, 70, elected president

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Nigeria from 25 to 26 February 2023. Despite the relatively calm nature of the vote, clashes between supporters of political parties and law enforcement officers took place every now and then in different parts of the country.

As the election approached, the number of militant attacks on local politicians also increased.

What is the importance of elections?

Nigeria is one of the most economically developed nations in Africa. The political situation in the country directly affects the situation in the region.

At the same time, the Nigerian authorities are still unable to cope with separatist movements in the southeast of the country, with attacks by radical Islamists in the north and an ongoing economic crisis.

The economic situation, exacerbated by the recent currency crisis, is expected from the new president and parliament to finally normalize.

Neighboring countries expect the new leadership in Nigeria to take more initiative in the fight against radical Islamic groups operating in the border region.

Election day was preceded by numerous protests, killings of Senate candidates, arrests of politicians, threats from militants in the southeast of the country, and attacks by Islamic extremists.

Therefore, the task of the authorities was to ensure maximum security and convince people to come to the polling stations in order to achieve the necessary turnout.

In 2023, the election commission introduced an electronic verification system for voting participants, which scans fingerprints and faces. The purpose of this innovation was to increase turnout, accelerate vote counts and reduce the number of falsifications.

In the very first hours of the elections, the system began to fail, as a result of which in a number of settlements the work of polling stations was extended for several hours.

Despite all the measures taken to ensure security, riots could not be avoided in places. Scores of polling stations have been attacked by gang and terrorist groups, particularly in northern Nigeria.

The authorities additionally withdrew about 400 thousand law enforcement officers and military personnel, but as a result, they also became targets of attacks.

Separatists from the Biafra Indigenous Peoples movement, under threat of death, banned the population from voting. Several homicides have already been recorded, including by decapitation. The head of the southeastern state of Kogi, under the guise of roadworks, dug up roads to disrupt the vote.

In addition, the paramilitary wing of the movement also carried out armed attacks on polling stations.

Due to the failure of the electronic voter verification system and the growth of banditry, voting in 16 states was extended for another day.

Final results: representatives of the ruling parties lead by a wide margin in the presidential and parliamentary races.

At the same time, the Workers' and People's Democratic Parties are already demanding re-election and accusing the ruling party of forgery, falsification and bribery.

However, the next president will be the ruling General Progressive Congress party candidate Ahmed Tinubu - 7.5% ahead of his closest rival Atiku Abubakar.

Abubakar for the second time in a row acts as an agreed sparring partner of the favorite, in order to draw votes from the opposition, represented this time by Peter Obi.

Tinubu received support from more than 8.8 million people (37%).

The candidate from the opposition People's Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, was supported by about 7 million voters (29%).

In third place with 25% of the vote was Peter Obie, the Labour Party candidate.

Despite the media stories about a difficult political race, the candidate officially supported by President Buhari and his fellow party member Ahmed Tinubu will ensure that the status quo remains in the elite alignment and the economic interests of foreign partners, the main of which is the United States, wrote the Rybar channel.

International politics

2020: Nigerian population backs US President Trump's policies

Kenya, Nigeria and India have more faith in U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a new Pew Research Center poll.

The poll, which aimed to find out what the world thinks about Trump, found that 65% of Kenyans and 58% of Nigerians trust the American leader and support his policies.

The Pew Research Center also notes that sub-Saharan Africa generally speaks positively about the United States.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Nigeria

Health care

2020

Duration of guaranteed paid sick leave less than a month

Part of the population defecates on the street

HIV and AIDS

2020: Nigeria accounts for 5.7% of all new HIV infections worldwide

Maternity leave

in

Living conditions of the population

2020:49% of urban population lives in slums

2019: Housing crisis amid rapid population growth

According to UN figures for September 2019, the country is facing a housing crisis. Conditions for living in Nigeria are among the worst in the world.

Two-thirds of Nigerians live in poor settlements, where there is no water supply, sewerage, electricity and other amenities. Unsanitary conditions are everywhere.

According to experts, by the middle of the century, the population of Nigeria will double, which is 400 million people. Already, the West African country lacks more than 22 million homes for its citizens.

Existing housing programs cannot make a difference, and some make it worse. Developers evict entire communities using force.

Proportion of residents without a smartphone

64 cars per 1000 people

Cars per 1,000 people (World Bank, June 2019):

• UNITED STATES: 837
• Australia: 747
• Italy: 695
• Canada: 670
• Japan: 591
• Germany: 589
• Britain: 579
• France: 569
• Malaysia: 433
• Russia: 373
• Brazil: 350
• Mexico: 297
• Saudi Arabia: 209
• Turkey: 199
• Iran: 178
• SOUTH AFRICA: 174
• China: 173
• Indonesia: 87
• Nigeria: 64
• India: 22

Crime

Kidnappings

On February 1, 2024, unknown armed bandits entered the house of a local leader in Kwara State in western Nigeria, kidnapped his wife and two eyewitnesses to the crime, and the leader himself was killed while trying to resist the attackers.

The brother of the deceased said that the kidnappers have already requested 100 million Nigerian naira (approximately 10 million rubles) as a ransom. Raids on farms and periodic abductions of civilians are quite common for all neighboring communities, he said. And statements to the police do not change the situation in any way.

Such killings and abductions of not only local leaders and representatives of the authorities at the grassroots levels, but also the civilian population as a whole, are in some way commonplace.

Two chiefs were killed in neighbouring Ekiti State in the same week alone, and a government official was kidnapped in a suburb of the capital, Abuja.

Overall, at least 230 abductions were officially documented in the first two weeks of January.

It has come to a point where 48 Nigerian civic organisations are calling on the country's president, Bola Tinuba, to declare a state of emergency.

As proof, they give statistics that from May 2023, when President Tinubu took office, to January 26 of this year, more than 2,400 people were killed as a result of mass attacks, and more than 1,850 were abducted.

However, there has been no response from the authorities yet.

Drug mafia

In January 2020, Nigerian journalists from Premium Times presented a large and picturesque panorama of cocaine shipments from South America to West Africa.

Nigerians living in Brazilian São Paulo, mainly from the Christian south, are engaged in the transfer to Africa of cocaine and other drugs through the "mules" courier, recruited among the local Nigerian community, which appeared here relatively recently. This is a dangerous and thankless occupation, but leading businessmen with minimal risk and maximum comfort circulate between São Paulo and Lagos in Nigeria and periodically deliver solid quantities of the drug themselves.

Dubious businesses have reached a new level after Sao Paulo was flooded by Nigerian secret societies. They were formed on the basis of Nigerian student fraternities, created in the 1950s. according to the Oxford model. Gradually, circles of nationalist intellectuals degenerated into sinister international criminal networks with a strong occult bias, establishing ties with Goat Nostroy and Ndragenta. According to the data, FBI USA the Nigerian mafia is already operating in 80 countries of the world, from Moscow to Malaysia, and given the fact that by 2050 Nigeria will become the third largest country in the world with a population of 399 million people, it will not have a shortage of personnel.

In the late 2010s, one of the fraternities - New Black Movement, which appeared back in 1978 - opened the first representative offices in Latin America - "temples" in Brazil and Venezuela. Each such "temple" is responsible for its own site, their activities are coordinated by a "council of elders," and recruiting takes place mainly in Christian churches among emigrant youth. So very soon the Mexican and Guatemalan cartels will have strong Nigerian competitors on both sides of the ocean, ready to establish full control over the alternative route of cocaine traffic.

Prisons

2019: Minimum age of imprisonment for children - 7 years

2018: Number of prisoners per 100 thousand citizens

History

2023: Mass attacks on more than 20 villages in Plateau state. 198 people died

On Catholic Christmas Eve 2023, unknown assailants carried out mass attacks on more than 20 villages in Plateau State in central Nigeria.

Eyewitnesses reported that "well-coordinated" armed gangs robbed and burned houses and churches, and all civilians caught in the way were killed with machetes and firearms.

The riots continued throughout Saturday and Sunday, December 23 and 24. And in remote communities, the shooting was heard until Monday morning. It took more than 12 hours before security responded to their call for help, some witnesses said.

It is known about 198 dead and 300 hospitalized with varying degrees of severity wounds. However, local authorities say the death toll could rise as some people remain missing.

None of the groups have yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, although the culprit for them has already been blamed on Fulani pastoralists (see Nigerian population).

2022: Raid on 'Kuje' prison in Abuja helps escape around 800 prisoners

For many years, the Lake Chad area and northeastern Nigeria have been the zone of influence of radical Islamist groups Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa.

The joint military operations of the states of the region are ineffective and, at best, a belated reaction to another attack by militants. At worst, they are decorative in nature for reporting.

The lack of resources in the basin countries to ensure a state presence in unstable areas and insufficient support for the population living there exacerbates the situation and does not at least stop the growth of the activity of terrorist groups.

For Nigeria, the difficult environment in the Lake Chad area is just one manifestation of numerous security concerns. For several years now, Boko Haram and an IS affiliate, along with local criminals, have regularly attacked government agencies, government troops and communities in the northern states.

Terror spreads south and even reaches the capital region: in July 2022, militants raided the Kuje prison in Abuja and helped about 800 prisoners escape.

At the same time, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari does not particularly seek to publicly recognize the obvious problem. During the first presidential campaign in 2014, the politician promised to defeat Boko Haram, and a year later even declared its "technical defeat."

In fact, the group, 7 years after its "defeat," continues to be active in the Lake Chad basin and carry out new attacks.

Therefore, in November 2022, the leader of Nigeria seeks to smooth the corners and carefully shift the blame for his own failures to external factors. Including - smuggling weapons from the zone of the Ukrainian conflict.

2020

Public protests demanding closure of Anti-Robbery Special Unit

In early October 2020, thousands of young Nigerians took to the streets in major cities to demand the dissolution of the Special Robbery Unit (SARS). Its employees were accused by citizens of extortion, persecution, excessive use of force and killing of civilians. Under pressure from the# EndSARS protests sweeping across the country, Nigerian President Muhammad Buhari has disbanded the police department.

Bank accounts of protesters were blocked in November 2020 for 90 days on suspicion of money laundering.

Nigerian authorities have used a bill freeze to fight protesters. In October 2020, a few days after the start of street actions, the Central Bank instructed private banks to freeze the accounts of several organizations and citizens in order to stop the flow of funds used to provide protesters with water, food, and medical care.

This decision was made in violation of the law. Before blocking the account, the governor of the Central Bank had to provide a court order stating that transactions on the account could involve criminal activity. Instead, the Central Bank arbitrarily froze accounts in the midst of the October protests and belatedly received a court order justifying its actions in November.

In February 2021, the Supreme Court of Nigeria ordered the Central Bank to unblock the accounts of 20 people who participated in the# EndSARS protests in October 2020.

Conflict between Fulbe pastoralists and house farmers

Crisis Group researchers in May 2020 drew attention to the major geopolitical catastrophe of West Africa - an undeclared war of fulbe pastoralists and house farmers, which swept throughout northwestern Nigeria.

Two different ways of life, existing for centuries in a difficult symbiosis, were divorced forever - due to competition for scarce resources and the widespread offensive of the desert. Both communities attract bandits, weapons flow into the region. Kidnappings, robberies, raids, and cattle thefts became common. Similar collisions cracked throughout West and Central Africa: the "social contract" of Fulbe broke up with bambara (in Mali), with mosi and gourma (in Burkina Faso).

The people of the Fulbe people are hostages to their history and the unique code of conduct of pulaaku, reminiscent of the Bedouin hasham. At its heart is modesty, patience and courage. Many Fulbe consider themselves strangers on African soil and the "lost tribe of Israel" - the descendants of Ham, who left the deserts of Libya and Egypt. This is also hinted at by the light skin color, which is related to the Ethiopian race. Colonizers also had a hand in this legend: amazed by the splendor of the now declining Fulbe powers, they nicknamed the people of theologians, warriors and merchants "almost white" (presque blancs). And the Talmuds of the German erudites proved the "Hamite" origin of Fulbe and their lack of something in common with the "real Africans."

The curse of "too white," "too developed" and "too close to the colonizers" overtook the Fulbe with a parade of sovereignty in 1960. "The Year of Africa" became something like the Versailles world for Fulbe. The new authorities of young countries pushed them to the margins of socio-political life, and the advancing desert condemned them to an exodus from environmental niches. The skills of nomadic life threw some in the "pursuit of the clouds," that is, behind the much-desired rains and juicy pastures, others - into the arms of overseas commerce, others - in the network of no less cosmopolitan radical Islam.

In Guinean Laba - the capital of the ancient Fulba empire of Futa Jallon - young Wahhabis Fulba are already challenging the religious establishment. And in less prosperous countries, banditry and jihadism that do not exclude each other eat away at the social fabric of fulbe stronger than the advancing sands. On the heels of bandits in the northern states of Nigeria, al-Qaeda agents, united in the Ansaru group, make their way to the fulba. And Amadou Kufa - the leader of the Malian Masina Liberation Front, named after the Fulbe empire of the same name - is listed among the world's most wanted terrorists. The famous "triangle of death" on the border of the CAR, Cameroon and Chad has long been known as Zarginaland - after the name of robbery gangs, many of which belong to the Fulbe Bororo.

Culture and language are all that Fulbe have, forced to live and survive in an unfriendly environment. It is the fabric that binds generations, clans and families scattered through the light. As noted by the telegram channel Zangaro Today, it is no coincidence that a special caste of griot storytellers - carriers of a rich poetic fund, saturated with stories about the heroes of the pre-Islamic past - is called the Malian fulbe maabube, or wool squads. The connection is so strong and intimate that in ancient mosques Kano Fulfulde supplanted Arabic as the sacred language, and the prestige of a highly educated people provided Fulfulde with the high status of the language of international communication - it was his USSR that deliberately chose the language of broadcasting in West Africa.

Shepherd's life, and with it - cosmology and ethos, dating back to the pre-Islamic past, will soon be lost forever. But Fulbe - businessmen, politicians, intellectuals, military and religious leaders - are making their way to modernity and still holding on tightly to each other. The "friend or foe" system in their environment still works flawlessly even between a former shepherd and a European engineer.

Detronisation of Kano State Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II

'He protected women from men! He urged them to resist when their husbands beat them! This is against our African culture! He's rude. He is insensitive to the opinion of his people! "

In these words, theology professor Muhammadu Labdo met the overthrow of Muhammadu Sanusi, the authoritative emir of Kano State, who was deprived of the throne on March 9, 2020 on charges of "disrespect for the law." In terms of influence both in Nigeria and abroad, the fourteenth ruler of the ancient Muslim emirate was ahead of many non-hereditary heads of state and spiritual leaders.

The detronization of Muhammadu Sanusi is undoubtedly a major event in the recent history of West African political Islam. Its long-term effects will not be long in coming. In a dysfunctional and disintegrating country torn apart by oil barons, communal carnage and Islamic terrorism, the plagues of anomaly are particularly painful in the impoverished and petrodollar-deprived Muslim north, where Sultan Sokoto, Shehu Borno and, in fact, Emir Kano are much more authoritative than governors.

A flamboyant Islamic reformer and thinker, Muhammadu Sanusi was seen as a defender of the Muslims of the Nigerian North. A supporter of women's education, family planning, a critic of polygamy and early marriage, he considered chronic poverty and socio-property inequality incompatible with the letter and spirit of Islam. A scholar of Quranic theology and Arabic, Sanusi advocated the modernization of school curricula and the rejection of the shameful almajiri, an education system in which parents actually abandon children, bringing them to study at a Muslim school. Children are left unattended, raising great concerns about the future of Nigerian society. Begging is booming among such children. More importantly, he was a supporter of "African," "black" Islam and sarcastically condemned those who looked back at Tehran or Riyadh, for which he gained hatred among fundamentalists and radicals, especially the radical sect Izal, influential in its parts.

An economist, sociologist and banker, Muhammadu Sanusi was Africa's most educated hereditary monarch. Fascinated in his youth by left-wing radical thinkers, especially Ali Shariati, in 2009-2014. Sanusi managed to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria, earning an impeccable reputation and leaving office after accusing the government of embezzlement at the National Oil Corporation of Nigeria. Having inherited the throne from his father, by the way, displaced under similar circumstances, the new emir did not lose his taste for provocations and scandals and did not hesitate to sharply speak out on the widest range of sore points. In 2014, it nearly cost him his life when he nearly fell victim to the Boko Haram suicide bomb attack.

It is not surprising that Sanusi quickly turned against himself not only the Islamic conservatives, but the entire political class, and primarily Governor Abdullahi Ganduzhe. First, his government conceived to divide the emirate into five parts (with Muhammad Sanusi at the head of the emirate council), then initiated an anti-corruption investigation against the emir. Finally, the ruler was removed on charges of "disrespect for the law" and sent under heavy guard to Nasarawa State. They do not need such Islam.

Lassa fever outbreak

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in mid-February 2020 reported that the death toll from the latest Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has already risen to 70.

A total of 472 confirmed cases of fever have been reported, which continues to spread in the most populous country in Africa.

At least 23 out of 36 states in Nigeria were affected by the epidemic, most cases were recorded in Ebony, Edo and Ondo states in the south of the country.

The death rate from the outbreak this year was 14.8%, which is below the level of last year - 18.7%.

Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease that affects internal organs and destroys blood vessels.

2019

ISIS beheads Christians in Nigeria in retaliation for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death

At the end of December 2019, the group released a video showing the execution of several people. Terrorists report that this is revenge for the death of the ISIS leader in October.

One captive is shot dead, the other 10 are beheaded.

There are no details about the victims, other than that they were "captured in recent weeks" in the northeastern part of Borno state in Nigeria.

The video was released on December 26, during the Christmas holidays.

Release of 200 prisoners from the mosque

Police in Nigeria's Oyo State found an illegal rehabilitation centre at a mosque in Ibadana city and rescued more than 200 prisoners who had been tortured.

Less than 72 hours have passed since the discovery of a similar centre in Lagos.

At the initiative of President Buhari, the country is undergoing a campaign to close Islamic schools and Muslim centers where abuse of people is practiced.

Jail washed out by flooding, 150 inmates escape

In October 2019, more than 150 prisoners escaped from the prison, whose building collapsed during heavy rain.

The prison is located next to the city of Lokoja in Kogi State, where two rivers meet. The area is frequently hit by flooding.

Abduction of girls - rape - sale of newborns

At the end of September 2019, Nigerian police released 19 women and girls from a "children's factory."

The girls, aged between 15 and 28, were brought to Lagos from all over Nigeria, allegedly for a job, Lagos police said. Slave traders raped them to get pregnant. The criminals then sold newborn children - boys for $1630, and girls for $980.

So-called "baby factories" are common in eastern Nigeria.

Islamists kill 18 Nigerian soldiers

On September 30, 2019, it was reported that Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the killing of 18 Nigerian Army soldiers in the northeastern state of Borno.

Militants attacked a military barracks in the city of Gubio, killed soldiers, took their weapons and fled in captured vehicles.

Reuters sources said the shootout began at around 4.30pm local time and lasted until 9pm.

IS claimed responsibility for killing 14 soldiers

Igil news agency Amaq reported that in September 2019, militants killed 14 Nigerian soldiers in the northeastern state of Borno.

The military convoy was ambushed.

Islamists attack military base: 9 soldiers killed, 27 missing

Nigerian authorities reported that on September 10, militants attacked a military base in Gudumbali, a city in Borno state.

Nine soldiers were killed in the attack and 27 were missing.

Yellow fever outbreak

In August 2019, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed an outbreak of yellow fever in two states.

The disease was confirmed in Ebony state, several deaths were reported.

Later, outbreaks were also recorded in Bauchi State.

Retaliatory pogroms of shops of immigrants from South Africa

In early September 2019, at night, Nigerians began trashing South African retail stores in at least three Nigerian states in response to violence against Nigerians in South Africa.

Police fought attacks on PEP and Shoprite clothing stores in Lagos and Ibadan in the south-western region. Oil-rich Akwa Ibom state has also seen an attack on facilities of South African telecommunications giant MTN.

More than 50 villagers abducted

In August 2019, unknown assailants attacked the village of Wurma in the northwestern state of Katsina. They took a minimum of 53 people with them, including pregnant women and children, as well as livestock.

The attack took place overnight, with police claiming 15 abducted. However, several residents who were able to escape reported that there were more abductees. They also said that there were more than 100 attackers.

Some relatives have already received information about the ransom from criminals.

However, police in the region said in a statement that of the 15 women abducted, 10 were released unharmed.

Military killed three police officers and released crime boss

In August 2019, the Nigerian military killed three police officers transporting the famous crime boss Alhaji Hamisa to the regional police department.

Soldiers justify themselves by mistaking police officers for kidnappers (this is not uncommon in these parts).

They released the criminal.

65 people died in fighting with jihadists

In early August 2019, there were further clashes between the army and jihadists in northeastern Nigeria. 25 soldiers and more than 40 Islamist militants were killed.

Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) militants arrived in pickup trucks in the city of Baga, which is located on the shores of Lake Chad. They opened fire on the military, a shootout began.

Since July 2018, ISWAP has become more likely to attack military bases in the northeast. The victims of these attacks number in the hundreds.

Government bans Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN)

In July 2019, the Nigerian authorities made such a decision after the riots caused by Shiites from the IMN, who are demanding the release of their leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaki.

"The IMN ban has nothing to do with law-abiding Shiites in the country. The ban should discourage senseless violence, killings and the deliberate destruction of public and private property, "President Mohammad Buhari said.

At least six protesters, a journalist and a senior police officer have been killed during clashes in recent weeks.

The IMN, which emerged as a student movement in the late 1970s, was inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran and has close ties to that country.

In August 2019, a Nigerian court granted bail to Shiite leader Ibrahim Zakzaky.

The defense of the sheikh in custody since 2015 managed to convince the court that Zakzaky needs medical care provided in India.

Snake prevents Ondo state MPs from holding session

In July 2019, the reptile literally fell from the ceiling and quickly crawled to the exit. None of the deputies were injured. The guards of the local parliament killed the snake and burned it.

Four Turkish citizens kidnapped in Nigeria

In July 2019, Turkish construction workers were captured by armed men at a bar in Kwara state in western Nigeria.

So far, no group has declared involvement in the abduction. Police are investigating.

Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria.

Later in July, four Turkish nationals were rescued a week after being kidnapped by militants in Nigeria's western Kwara state.

The kidnappers demanded a ransom of $1 million, but the police refused to pay the money, and... the hostages were released "unconditionally."

Pirates seize Turkish vessel

In July 2019, pirates seized a Turkish ship and took 10 sailors hostage off the coast of Nigeria.

The ship "Paksoy-1" was heading from Cameroon to Kot-D. Pirates intercepted him in the Gulf of Guinea.

A ship from Ghana's navy is sailing alongside the stolen vessel. The military is trying to contact the pirates to negotiate the terms of the team's release.

50 people died while collecting fuel from an overturned fuel truck

About 50 people were killed and 100 injured in a fuel truck explosion in southeastern Nigeria. The incident occurred on July 1, 2019 in Benue State. According to eyewitnesses, the fuel truck drove off the road and overturned. After that, local residents ran up to him to collect fuel from the fuel truck. The victims were taken to hospitals.

Exactly the same thing happened in early May in Niger.

Nigerian authorities shut down opposition media

African Independent Television (AIT) and Ray Power FM radio lost their licenses.

The National Broadcasting Commission said in a statement that these media outlets "published inflammatory, divisive material and also engaged in anti-government propaganda." They will remain without air "until further notice."

Both media are owned by tycoon Raymond Dokpesi, who is also a member of the opposition People's Democratic Party. In 1994, he founded one of the first private radio stations in the country - Ray Power FM, and in 1998 - AIT.

1999: The expansion of the rights of Muslims does not deprive them of their feelings of belittlement compared to Christians

Although Muslim rights have expanded significantly since 1999 - 12 Muslim states have officially allowed sharia law to be used - residents of northern Nigeria feel economically and politically marginalized compared to Christians from central and southern Nigeria.

The most severe unrest took place in the northeastern states, where the same Sharia laws extended exclusively to everyday issues.

1967: Biafra secession and bloody conflict

In 1967, Chukwemeka Odumwegu-Ojukwa, the military governor of Nigeria's mainly Igbo region, accused the government of killing thousands of ethnic Igbo living in the north. In May of that year, he declared the east a sovereign and independent republic called Biafra, which was clearly not approved by the authorities.

So, a bloody conflict began. The commander of the government army, Colonel Hassan Katsina, planned to suppress the rebellion "within 48 hours." However, he underestimated the rebel forces. The advancing troops faced the tough defense of Biafra, the battles dragged on. Government forces blocked all road arteries to the region, the food crisis began, the people of the east did not receive any help.

The blockade of Biafra and killings by government soldiers provoked a massive famine. Nigerian troops carved out entire villages. This situation was widely publicized only in the summer of 1968. Around the world, they began to talk about the genocide of Igbo Christians. News from European TV channels began with reports on the horrors of the war.

The unity of Nigeria was advocated by Great Britain, the USSR and the Arab countries. For Igbo - France, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, China, Israel. The UN refused to recognize Biafra. In September 1968, the Organization of African Unity called on Biafra to abandon the idea of ​ ​ independence.

The final Nigerian offensive began on January 7, 1970, two days later the city of Owerri fell. General Odumwegu-Ojukwa fled to Kot-d with his family and several members of the Biafran government on the night of January 10-11. His successor Philip Efiong signed an act of unconditional surrender on January 15. The civil war ended.

This war is said to have "no winner and no defeated." Even fifty years later, the scars have yet to heal for many. Igbo leaders from the southeast are calling on the Nigerian government to increase support for the people affected in the war.

In 2017, a regional court ordered the Nigerian government to pay $138 million in compensation to victims of the civil war. The Economic Community of West African States Court also ruled that $105 million should be used to dispose of abandoned deadly weapons that still prevent the region's agriculture from developing normally^[1] the^[1].

1961: Muslim northern Cameroon votes to join Nigeria

In 1961, Muslim northern Cameroon voted to join Nigeria.

1960

1923: Colonial period

1914

Beginning of the 20th century: the British annexed the northern territories with a Muslim population to Nigeria

At the beginning of the 20th century, the British annexed the northern territories to Nigeria, in which the Muslim population mainly lived.

Hunger

Education

2022: 14.4K Nigerian students study in US

52% of all international students in the United States come from only two countries: China (290 thousand students as of 2022) and India (199 thousand)

The third place with a lag of almost 5 times from the second is occupied by South Korea: a little more than 40 thousand residents of this country at that time studied in the United States.

Only 4.8 thousand people left Russia for the United States to study, 14.4 thousand from Nigeria, 5 thousand from Thailand, 5.3 from Venezuela.

2020: Almajiri. Features of religious education in northern Nigeria

Nigeria is in catastrophic need of teachers in 2020. The shortage of teachers in primary and secondary schools, according to the latest data from the country's Ministry of Education, has reached a record 277 thousand people. There are over 13 million children outside the education system, mainly from northern - Muslim - states.

Therefore, seven million small Nigerians study in the Almajiri network (from ar. "Al-Muhajir," who set off) - Islamic schools where from the age of six children study only and exclusively the Koran. Similar schools operate in other countries of West Africa, where children up to the third dozen study in daaras - analogues of madrassas.

According to Zangaro Today, almajiri are real houses of horror, where it is not uncommon for Malams to assault and abuse wards, up to and including keeping the naughty on the chain. Children do not receive there not only the foundations of modern religious education, but also a minimum amount of knowledge about the world, because in the hours free from learning the Koran, they are forced to engage in theft and begging.

All because the almajiri system, ancient as the world - a forge of personnel for the brilliant courtyards of pre-colonial caliphs and emirs - now does not receive any external funding. Teachers have to engage in self-sufficiency and encourage wards to collect alms, steal and beg. It is no coincidence that in the Hausa language, "almajiri" has become synonymous with "beggar" and "beggar."

The demand for such schools is explained by different circumstances. The advantages of secular education are far from obvious - with formal free pay for everything - for textbooks, notebooks, crayons. In addition, teaching in such schools is extremely bad, and in crowded and extremely noisy classrooms, educational material is absorbed even worse - most graduates never open books again in their lives.

In northern Nigeria, prejudice against boko (from the English book), that is, "Western education," is still alive. In addition, some parents seriously see almajiri as a kind of "school of life." Finally, contrary to Islamic orders, Hausa women, on average, divorce 3-4 times a life, but try to stir the children far away before joining a new partner and entering a new family, which usually does not welcome adopted children. And if the child after the divorce wants to stay with his father, then his future stepmother will do everything to turn his life into a nightmare. In general, almajiri is the best fit here.

Some Nigerian scholars and publicists see incubators for Boko Haram in almajiri. But for any radical choice, you need a minimum outlook, an understanding of your goals and interests - not marginals are fighting in the ranks of this group. These same children are simply thrown to the margins of peace and life and, in general, neither Boko Haram, nor the country, nor their native villages, nor even their families need much.

2019: Percentage of people who can read

2018: Literacy rate

Culture

Language

2022: Number of English speakers - 114.2 million

Cinema

Main article: Nollywood (Nollywood)

Painting

Artist Ben Enwonwu rose to prominence after he was commissioned to create a bronze sculpture of Queen Elizabeth during her 1956 visit to Nigeria.

He also painted the painting "Tutu," which was nicknamed "African Mona Lisa."

In October 2019, his painting "Christina" was bought for $1.4 million at an auction in London.

A portrait of Christina Elizabeth Davis was painted by Enwonwu in 1971. The painting was commissioned by Christina's husband, who met the artist in 1969 - at that time the married couple moved to live in the Nigerian city of Lagos.

Religion

• Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN)

Sport

2022: The most popular sport is football

in

Calendar

See also

• Africa

Notes