Category Nigeria News

The top resident UN official was called “persona non grata” by the Burkinabe junta on Monday in response to a UN report that found that armed groups were recruiting children to fight in the nation’s jihadist conflict.

As the Sahel nation struggles with a widespread jihadist insurgency, the Burkinabe junta has increased pressure on international organizations and humanitarian organizations since a coup.

UN resident humanitarian coordinator Carol Flore-Smereczniak must leave, according to a statement from the military government, because of her “responsibility” in creating the March report, which it claimed contained “baseless” allegations that Burkinabe’s army and defense forces were also violating children’s human rights.

The report, which is titled “Children and armed conflict in Burkinabe,” identified violations against minors, including “the recruitment and use of children, the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, attacks on schools, hospitals, and protected persons in relation to schools, hospitals, and the abduction of children, and the denial of humanitarian access.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, or JNIM, was most frequently involved in child recruitment, with the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) group being one of the culprits.

However, the report also discovered that one-fifth of the grave crimes registered by UN investigators were committed by the defense and security forces, as well as its civilian affiliates, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Nation.

 ‘Falsehoods’

The government continued, “This report, which resembles a compilation of baseless assertions and falsehoods, contains no appendices with copies of investigation reports or court rulings to back up the alleged cases of violations against children attributed to the brave Burkinabe fighters.”

The investigation revealed that Volunteers for the Defense of the Nation members were responsible for the kidnapping of 23 children and four of the 20 rape counts that they successfully verified.

In July of this year, Mauritius native Flore-Smereczniak was appointed.

In December 2022, the junta declared one of her predecessors, Italian official Barbara Manzi, a similarly “persona non grata.”

Read more about Junta-Run Burkinabe to remove the electoral commission.

For the past ten years, Islamist fighters have attacked Burkinabe.

Although the junta has vowed to halt the unrest since launching a coup in September 2022, its military leaders have so far failed to do so.

Regularly accused of abusing civilians, the Burkinabe army and its civilian affiliates are they.

More than 26 000 people have died in Burkinabe as a result of the jihadist insurgency, including civilians and soldiers, since it started more than ten years ago.

In the last three years, more than half of those deaths occurred.

Mark Jacob, a former leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has criticised the manner of the by-elections and reruns on August 16, 2025, and compared them to a setback for Nigeria’s democratic process.

Jacob lamented that the country had reverted to “old days,” when elections were decided by the strength of the people in power and how much security agencies were under their control. He made the remarks on Monday on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.

He said, “We are back to the days of the stronger person in government and control of government agencies winning the election, no matter what.”

READ MORE:   Terrorism Tag: Justice Followed Canada’s Criminal Code, PDP, APC Can’t Appeal – Lawyers

A candidate and about 25 of her supporters were allegedly abducted during a strategy meeting in Kaduna State, according to Jacob.

“We witnessed a situation where the candidate and her main supporters, who were strategising, were prevented from participating in the election or from voting until later in the day. And because government agencies held them captive, elections were being held without the candidate’s consent, he claimed.

He added that just before the elections, PDP candidates in other states were purposefully targeted for arrest.

These actions, in his opinion, violate democratic principles.

“The electoral gains made by INEC and Nigeria have all been slowed down. We are now in a place where there was peace.

You are bound to win elections if you have political will and control over the government’s agencies. And that has no impact on the nation. No one should be hysterical when we use our power to win elections. Nobody should condone it because it is not appropriate.

He also expressed disappointment with the judiciary’s role, claiming that electoral law swore to be “a ruling party” in the courts.

He said, “It is a terrible testimony to those of us in the legal profession to declare the court the ruling party in the election.”

Given that the legislature’s ability to regulate its own internal affairs has been weakened, Jacob argued that Nigerians should not anticipate proper checks and balances from the arm.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were labeled as terrorist organizations by a Canadian court, according to a lawyer, Victor Giwa, and this was in line with Canadian law.

Giwa claimed that the Canadian court did not refer to the parties as terrorist organizations but that they resembled them in a statement made on Channels TV’s The Morning Brief on Monday.

The lawyer explained that the PDP is similar to a terrorist organization and not that they have been designated terrorists in June. It needs to be viewed from a different angle.

An act of terrorism is defined as any political, religious, or ideological offense committed with the intention of causing death, serious bodily harm, intimidation, or risk to any life, as defined by Canadian law, Section 83, Subsection 01.

According to the Canadian Criminal Code, an act of intimidation is defined as any act that causes death, serious bodily harm, or can make a person a terrorist. Therefore, it is based on that.

They were offended by the PDP’s activities because the young man claimed to be a PDP member at the time, and that they believed they were involved in intimidation, killing of political opponents’ candidates, and snatching ballot papers.

According to the Canadian criminal court, those actions constitute terrorism in all of this. Therefore, they made that pronouncement because they had to apply the law to him (Douglas) in Canada and it is based on the Canadian criminal code. ”

The PDP and APC could not contest the decision because it complied with Canada’s criminal law, according to the attorney.

The Effect of Electoral Violence on Nigeria’s Image

Giwa added that the judgment demonstrated how well electoral violence had impacted Nigeria’s reputation.

Nigerians should be aware that their activities, the things they do in a bid for political power are known to everyone, that people are watching and people are seeing us, and that this is one of the effects of some of our politicians’ actions. ”

The Federal Government requested on Friday, August 16, 2025, that the designation of  be immediately changed because it was deemed to be incorrect. some of Nigeria’s political parties are considered terrorist organizations.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, warned that the action might be interpreted as supporting politically motivated narratives against Nigeria in a statement released in Abuja.

A Nigerian named Douglas Egharevba, who arrived in Canada in September 2017 and applied for inland refugee status under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada, was the subject of the court’s declaration.

  The Federal Government of Nigeria expressed its deep concern about a recent decision by a Canadian Federal Court incorrectly labeling some political parties as ‘terrorist organizations.

According to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada, Douglas Egharevba, a Nigerian, applied for inland refugee status in September 2017.

A statement that falls under this baseless classification constitutes an unacceptable interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs and democratic processes.

Following airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force on a camp of bandits in the Jigawa Sawai of the state’s Danmusa Local Government Area, at least 62 of the abducted victims have escaped.

According to a statement from the state’s governor, Nasir Mu’azu, the commissioner for internal security and home affairs, 12 of the escaped victims were receiving medical care at Matazu General Hospital.

Additionally, it stated that 16 people waited at Kaiga Malamai’s Army FOB.

Also read:   Troops Kill Seven Terrorists; Folate Attack On Borno Community;

Following a manhunt by the Nigerian Air Force that successfully struck his camp in Jigawa Sawai of Danmusa Local Government Area, the Katsina State Government has confirmed the dramatic elude of 62 kidnapped victims. a town that borders Zamfara State.

The Air Force operation, which took place on Saturday at 05:10 pm, forced the bandits to flee their stronghold, allowing the captive victims to make a mass escape.

It was established during interviews with the rescued victims that the bandits had fled as a result of the airstrike. About 62 people reportedly fled and took off in various directions, according to the statement’s description.

The gang of the suspected bandit, which has terrorized Matazu, Kankia, Dutsinma, and parts of Kano, abducted the majority of the victims from Sayaya village on Monday, August 11, 2025, according to the government.

The state government announced that the state government had deployed the Nigerian Air Force’s Quick Response Wing to end the bandit attacks that continue to target the Matazu and Bakori regions.

The area’s general security was maintained while Nigerian troops were keeping an eye on the situation for further rescue operations.

After the necessary medical examinations, the statement added, “We wish to assure families that the government will reunite the rescued victims with their loved ones.”

“In the same vein, the state government, led by Malam Dikko Radda, applauded the bravery of our security forces and reiterated its commitment to putting an end to banditry in the state.

Bandits have recently attacked Katsina on occasion.

In May, suspected bandits killed 19 people at the Gobirawa Community in the Dutsinma Local Government Area of the state.

Around 9 o’clock, the hoodlums invaded the neighborhood and were armed with dangerous weapons and were from the nearby Danmusa forest.

They randomly shot, causing the deaths of several people at the scene.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the tech companies Lakeba Group and Next Digital (Nigeria), AqlanX (UAE), and Agentic Dynamic (Netherlands) to establish a&nbsp, Joint Venture (named&nbsp), AfricAI.

AfricAI, a pioneering initiative to advance Africa’s AI sovereignty and regional digital infrastructure, focuses on deploying, commercializing, and localizing enterprise-grade AI solutions that are specifically tailored for African markets.

AfricAI will immediately concentrate on Nigeria as its main market, leveraging existing national data centers and edge infrastructure to deliver impactful AI applications in the fields of healthcare, digital identity, document automation, public administration, and enterprise services, according to a joint statement.

The joint venture aims to establish Africa as a leading global producer of locally developed, inclusive, and context-aware AI ecosystems built for local needs.

Also read: &nbsp, Passwords Under Threat as Tech Giants Strike for Better Security.

The founding partners stated in the statement that “we are bringing together four complementary pillars: global IP, regional expertise, deployment excellence, and next-gen agentic AI architecture” to create an AI foundation that reflects African realities.

They claimed that AfricAI’s goal was to develop AI within Africa, for Africa, rather than outsourcing it to other countries.

A distributed, interoperable AI network is being developed by AfricAI across Africa. AfricAI uses localized applications in agriculture, urban planning, public services, and education to provide trusted, transparent AI infrastructure for African governments, businesses, and communities, they continued.

The JV intends to expand to Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda by 2026, train more than 100 regional AI professionals, and firmly establish data, deployment, and decision-making on the continent.

The strategic partnership’s goals include creating and deploying sovereign AI applications that are specifically designed for local market requirements in fields like digital identity, document automation, healthcare, education, and enterprise services.

In order to enable adaptable and explainable AI across industries like human resources, CRM, legal, and public policy, the joint venture is also expected to incorporate modular, agent-based AI architecture&nbsp.

To ensure that AI workloads are hosted, processed, and governed locally in accordance with national data residency requirements, it will use existing Nigerian edge and cloud infrastructure.

In addition, it will establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in order to foster a regional talent pool in areas of AI development, cybersecurity, model tuning, and ethical deployment, according to the statement.

Scalable AI solutions that address national development objectives and market opportunities will be prioritized by AfricAI. Agentic AI assistants, multilingual health and citizen services, document intelligence and knowledge automation, and sovereign AI for identity and compliance are the first examples of initial deployments.

Prince Malik Ado-Ibrahim, the chairman of Next Digital, stated that the company was developing AI to reflect “who we are as Nigerians and Africans.”

More than just software, AfricaAI is all about. It’s about bringing our intelligence to the world, creating a future for us, and putting Africa on the map. We are prepared, Ado-Ibrahim continued, “and Nigeria will lead that movement.”

Giuseppe Porcelli, the CEO of Lakeba Group, stated that the company has long been at the forefront of global AI innovation.

“AfricAI represents a courageous next step for sovereign AI’s future, not just for Lakeba.” The ideal starting point for the creation of an authentic African AI ecosystem is Nigeria. We are proud to design the AI infrastructure Africa needs and deserves thanks to our flagship DoxAI platform and extensive capabilities in cybersecurity, automation, and orchestration, Porcelli said.

Localization, multilingual compliance, and digital trust are the foundation of our AI philosophy, according to the founder and CEO of AqlanX, Demetrio Russo.

AqlanX’s strategic intention is to influence Africa’s digital sovereignty agenda while fostering secure, AI-first innovation ecosystems built for scale, ethics, and inclusion, Russo said.

The company’s Chairman and CEO, Eren Sivasli, Sivasli, stated that the company was excited about its contribution to the project.

According to the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency, there have been 2 634 state residents and 1 fatality as a result of recent flash floods.

Additionally, it stated that the disaster had already affected 14 communities.

However, the work was still being done, according to the agency’s Executive Secretary, Mohammed Goje, who made the remarks while responding to the state’s Potiskum Local Government Area’s heavy rainfall in collaboration with NEMA.

 , Yobe SEMA Decries Limited Funds For IDPs

Goje explained that SEMA was currently assisting victims of Potiskum’s most recent floods by providing life-saving assistance and early recovery assistance.

The state government’s intervention, in his opinion, had benefited over 600 displaced people who had sought temporary shelter at Sabon Gari Primary School.

In addition to providing for the immediate household’s immediate needs for shelter and hygiene, the intervention includes daily meal assistance, cash assistance, and the distribution of dignity kits.

Mrs. Zubaida Umar, NEMA’s Director General, reported that the organization had activated the Maiduguri operations office, which immediately sent a rescue team to the affected areas.

According to preliminary assessments, 21 communities in five Potiskum wards have been impacted.