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AFRICA>Nigeria
Africa | Nigeria | Corruption

Nigeria police rescue 19 young women, girls from ‘baby factory’

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Nigerian authorities said Monday that 19 girls and young women who were abducted and impregnated by captors who planned to sell their babies have been rescued. Lagos police spokesman Bala Elkana said the victims and four babies were rescued from four locations in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city. The victims, aged between 15 and 28, are mainly from eastern Nigeria. They told police they were tricked into coming to Lagos with the promise of jobs. Nigeria has a high number of syndicates that keep young women to produce babies for sale – a scheme locally termed "baby factories." The p
Africa | Nigeria | Culture

The fallout from a church rape scandal shows the harsh reality of being a woman in Nigeria

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On Sunday, June 30, Nigerian women organized a protest against sexual violence in the church following recent allegations by the wife of a popular singer that the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) general overseer pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo raped her when she was 17 years old. Nigerian women have had a lot to protest lately. In May, there were significant protests after mass arrests of women in clubs and bars at night for alleged prostitution in Abuja, the federal capital city. It’s worth noting none of the men who were apparently being solicited shared the same fate. Soon after their
Africa | Nigeria | Corruption

Nigerian police arrested 65 women in a raid. Some of the women say officers raped them

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In a sparsely decorated room in Nigeria's capital city of Abuja, seven women are seated in a row, their backs turned to the assembled media to remain anonymous. One after the other, the women recount horrific physical and sexual abuse they say they were subjected to following their arrests on April 27 by officers of a special task force that raided hotels and nightclubs in Abuja. The 65 women who were arrested say they were beaten and harassed by officers, who forced them into their vans and drove them to the police station, their lawyers and NGOs told CNN. The seven women in the vid
Africa | Nigeria | Culture

‘Stop Touching Us’: Women Protest Against Harassment At Nigeria’s Street Markets

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In a poll of 105 women from February 2019, The Guardian Nigeria found that three quarters of those surveyed said they had experienced harassment at Nigerian markets. The traders say that's just the way they drum up business. "We are hustlers, so sometimes we need to touch," says Victor Robinson, who sells ladies' trousers at Yaba. But now there's pushback. Last October, Damilola Marcus started the Market March Movement to bring an end to sexual harassment at Yaba and other markets across the country.
Africa | Nigeria | Science

Nigerian female scientist: ‘My brain is what matters’

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Grace Itunuoluwa Akinwande, from Nigeria, is doing a master's degree in mathematics at the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Senegal - one of 12 female scientists in a group of 54. "I love the fact I can interact with people from different fields, like physics and computer science," Ms Itunuoluwa Akinwande says about her placement studying graph theory. "What is in your brain" is what counts when competing with male scientists, she adds. The Nigerian mathematician spoke to the BBC ahead of the Next Einstein Forum, which is under way in Senegal and brings together key f
Africa | Nigeria | Entrepreneurship

THIS NIGERIAN LINGUIST CREATED A MULTILINGUAL KEYBOARD

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Adebunmi Adeniran, a Nigerian linguist based in the United Kingdom has invented a multilingual keyboard which supports and enables writing in at least 12 Nigerian languages correctly as well as the use of correct signs and tones to give instant meaning to the reader. The multilingual keyboard known as “Nailangs” is aimed at ensuring that Nigerian local languages are learned with ease so as to prevent the languages from going into extinction, said Adebunmi. She hopes this invention will go a long way in re-instituting the pride associated with languages in Nigeria and subsequently bec
Africa | Nigeria | Literature

Chimamanda Adichie’s “Half of a Yellow Sun” named ‘Best of the Best’ of Baileys Prize

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Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been named ‘Best of the Best’ of the winners of the second decade of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction. The announcement was made Monday, at a live event in the Piccadilly Theatre in London. The ‘Best of the Best’ was chosen from the ten novels that have won the prize in the past decade. The chairs of the judging panels read from each of the ten prize-winning novels before the ‘Best of the Best’ announcement. Adichie commented; “I have a lot of respect for the books that have won in the past ten years and also fo
Africa | Nigeria | Politics

What has President Buhari delivered for Nigerian women? No change

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When Muhammadu Buhari swept to power in the March elections in Nigeria, he promised change. Almost five months after his inauguration, Nigerians have mixed feelings as to whether his administration is delivering. The biggest gripe has been the delay in appointing ministers. This, at least, is on its way to being rectified. This month Buhari nominated 37 names to the senate for confirmation. However, a glance at #TheList reveals this was not quite the change for which many were hoping. Only six out of 37 ministerial nominees are women, a measly 16%. Many have also complained about the lack o
Africa | Nigeria | Activism

Amina Yusuf: Nigeria’s Malala

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When Amina Yusuf met the world’s most famous education activist, Malala Yousafzai, it had both a huge impact on her and a ripple effect on girls in Nigeria. Amina Yusuf was one of five girls selected to join Malala Yousafzai when she accepted her Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Amina, 18, received a scholarship from the Center for Girls’ Education, Population and Reproductive Health Initiative,  a collaboration between The Bixby Centre, University of California, Berkeley and the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. She’s now a mentor at the centre and is on an unstoppable
Africa | Nigeria | Corruption

Nigeria’s ex-oil minister Alison-Madueke arrested in London – sources

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Nigeria's former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was arrested in London on Friday, a source from Nigeria's presidency circle and another with links to her family said. Alison-Madueke was minister from 2010 until May 2015 under former president Goodluck Jonathan, who was defeated by Muhammadu Buhari at the polls in March. Buhari took office in May promising to root out corruption in Africa's most populous country, where few benefit from the OPEC member's enormous energy resources. A police spokesman in London said he had no record of such an arrest. The National Crime Agency did no
Africa | Nigeria | Activism

Nigeria: Saraki’s Wife Takes Case for IDP Camps Newborn UN General Assembly

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Concerned by the plight of pregnant women, the newborn babies and the risk faced in the internally Displaced Camps across the country, wife of the President of the Senate, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has called for increased philanthropic efforts to salvage the situation. Saraki while addressing the African Philanthropy Forum, (APF) during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly in the United State of America, USA over the weekend said her utmost efforts is to deliver transformative change for African mothers, newborn and children. She noted that maternal health challenges facing
Africa | Nigeria | Crimes

Nigeria: Army frees women and children kidnapped by Boko Haram in northeast

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Nigeria's army says it has rescued dozens of kidnapped women and children held captive by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. In a statement late Tuesday, the army said it had cleared Boko Haram camps in northeastern Borno state. The army did not say where the women and children had been kidnapped from or their condition. Hundreds of hostages have been freed from Boko Haram captivity this year but none of the 219 girls abducted in April 2014 from a school in Chibok were among those rescued.
Africa | Nigeria | Politics

Encomia as Senator Aisha Alhassan hosts women

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It was an event that had a kaleidoscope of representation. It was a ceremony, which its attendance list showed the beauty of politics without bitterness as fe­male politicians from the different political parties freely mingled. Women belonging to profession­al organizations, gen­der activists, those from major NGOs and simply women who greatly ad­mire the hostess for the night thronged the Em­erald Hall, A Class Event Centre venue on Thurs­day July 9 for the thank-you/ Iftar dinner organ­ised by the governorship candidate of the All Peoples Congress (APC) for Taraba State, Senator Aish
Africa | Nigeria | Crimes

Alarming rise in suicide bombings by underage girls

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There has been an alarming spike in the number of suicide attacks carried out by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram using underage female bombers in northeastern Nigeria, according to a new report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The UN agency reported 27 such attacks in the first five months of this year, compared with 26 for the entirety of 2014. At least three-quarters of the attacks in crowded target areas like busy markets and bus stations were carried out by female bombers, some approximately as young as seven.

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