Please note that this is just me stating that these are some of the articles I have written and published. Many of the reports here are not recent and should not be interpreted as such. The links to the original publications are provided at the bottom.
One of the reasons given by Russia to justify its invasion of Ukraine is that it is trying to prevent the development of biological weapons by the United States. Somehow, Nigeria has now found its name in this web of controversy. Key takeaways: The laboratories pictured in the graphic shared by the Russian government are …
Read more “Russia Claims U.S. Is Making Bioweapons In Nigeria. True?”
While the police has frameworks in place including approved funding to gather data, the federal statistical agency says it has not been cooperative. The last time Nigeria released a crime statistics report was June 2018 and experts say this is costly for a country wrestling with insecurity across various fronts. The federal agency in charge …
Read more “Nigeria Has Not Released Crime Statistics In Four Years. Why?”
Young people living with HIV in West and Central Africa say they still face abuse, discrimination, and disappointing healthcare services. This reality, in turn, makes ending the epidemic as a public health threat in the next decade a lot more difficult. E.L. found out she was HIV positive eight years ago. When her husband cautioned …
Read more “Poor Treatment Of Young Africans Living With HIV Threatens Global Eradication Plans”
Reconstructing a typical terrorist attack based on interviews with dozens of victims across three states in the region. It all started 11 years ago, or six, or maybe more recently — depending on what community you are from and how soon they got to you. Before that, you had not grown accustomed to the explosive …
Read more “The Anatomy Of A Terror Attack In Northwest Nigeria”
More farmers are downing tools, fearing they may become victims of terror attacks. As a result, food items are scarcer, driving prices through the roof — beyond the reach of the poor. When Esther Maiwada moved to Gusau, capital of the northwestern state of Zamfara, nine years ago, one measure of maize was sold for …
Read more “Food Prices Are Shooting Up In Northwest Nigeria, And There’s One Prime Suspect”
The government insists it is resettling the displaced people for their good, but so far it hasn’t seemed that way. For many of the returnees, almost everything that could go wrong has. When Gambo Muhammad, 72, left his hometown of Sidiya Kari in Kala Balge, Northeast Nigeria, he felt he had no other choice. Rampaging terrorists …
Read more “Death, Starvation, New Terror Recruits … Aftermath Of Borno’s IDP Resettlement”
IDPs should not have to struggle to access basic resources or fear that their rights would be violated — if only the country implemented a better part of its own policy. Since it returned to democratic rule in 1999, Nigeria has faced a steady rise in the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Ethnic fault …
Read more “Nigeria’s Intention For IDPs And How It Treats Them Are Miles Apart”
Likewise, victims of kidnapping in the country were over 5,000 last year — equally the worst rate since 2015 at least. In 2021, Nigeria recorded its worst insecurity-related death toll since 2016, an analysis of data collected by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has shown. At least 10,398 persons were killed across the country between Jan. …
Read more “Nearly 10,400 Killed In Nigeria In 2021, Worst Toll In 6 Years”
It took three to six years of agonising detention and total separation from their families for Mu’azu and Muhammad to be “cleared” as having nothing to do with the notorious terror group, Boko Haram. The people of Andara, a town in Northeast Nigeria, were worried sick when Boko Haram invaded in 2014 and started dictating how …
Read more “Guilty Until Proven Innocent: How Nigeria Further Preyed On Terror Victims”
The Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria’s Northeast is taking a toll on victims’ mental health, and this is not receiving as much attention. Saraya’s life took a turn for the worse when her partner was killed in 2014. She had been happily married to Awaza for three years, and they both lived quietly in Taradan, …
Read more “Her Husband’s Death ‘At The Hands Of Nigerian Soldiers’ Drove Her Crazy — Literally”