LAGOS OCTOBER 31ST (NEWSRANGERS)-An American citizen abducted last week in Niger has been rescued during a high-risk U.S. military raid in neighboring Nigeria, officials told ABC News early Saturday. The mission was undertaken by elite commandos as part of a major effort to free the U.S. citizen, Philip Walton, 27, before his abductors could get…
LAGOS SEPTEMBER 9TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Neighbouring Niger Republic, which started commercial oil production in 2011, now exports petroleum products to Nigeria, as Egypt and Algeria lead African operations with 13 refineries. Both countries (Egypt and Algeria) have combined capacity of 1.4 million barrels per day. For decades, Nigeria’s three major refineries have been grounded to near-zero capacity…
LAGOS AUGUST 10TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Chad’s President Idriss Deby said Saturday that Boko Haram jihadists would continue to wreak havoc in the Lake Chad region despite a huge military offensive against the group earlier this year. Lake Chad — a marshy region dotted with islands near the border of Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon — has been battered…
LAGOS JULY 23RD (NEWSRANGERS)-West African leaders were in talks in Bamako on Thursday in a fresh push to end an escalating political crisis in the fragile state of Mali. In an exceptional one-day summit, the presidents of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Niger were meeting Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and leaders of a…
LAGOS APRIL 22ND (NEWSRANGERS)-Unknown armed men have kidnapped an about-to-wed couple in Tegina Kabata in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. The couple were undergoing a wedding solemnisation in a church in the community when the gunmen invaded the church and whisked them and others away. This was disclosed at a press conference by…
LAGOS APRIL 15TH (NEWSRANGERS)-The Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday said it nabbed a 28-year-old female member of a kidnap gang infamous for perpetrating crimes in Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna and Niger States. It said Fatima Garba, who was the armourer of the gang, was arrested alongside other members. “Fatima, who confessed of being the gang’s armourer…
LAGOS APRIL 2ND (NEWSRANGERS)-Nigeria on Thursday said it had launched a “massive” joint offensive with troops from Chad and Niger against jihadists waging a decade-long insurgency in the region. The announcement comes after Chad’s defence minister said Tuesday his country had deployed forces across its neighbours’ borders to battle insurgents who killed almost 100 Chadian soldiers last month. Nigeria’s…
LAGOS FEBRUARY 28TH (NEWSRANGRS)-Some Repentant’ Boko Haram members have finally arrived Maiduguri from Niger . The said former Boko Haram members and their wives who recently surrendered to troops in Niger Republic have arrived Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. The former terrorists arrived at Maiduguri airport in a military aircraft in the company of soldiers…