Nigeria

The Yelwata axis of the Benue–Nasarawa highway was blocked as Internally Displaced Persons staged a protest demanding immediate return to their ancestral homes; protesters, victims of attacks by suspected herdsmen, were chanting “We want to go back home”.

Today has been declared a public holiday in Nigeria to honour former President Muhammadu Buhari, who died aged 82 in a London clinic on Sunday after battling ill health for years

A bus crash in Nigeria’s northern state of Kano killed 22 athletes returning home from a national sports event, according to local governor; the bus, reportedly carrying over 30 passengers, plunged off the Chiromawa Bridge on the Kano-Zaria expressway

A symposium on strengthening aviation security as a critical pillar of national safety has been organized in Lagos by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority; stakeholders called for vigilance and proactive measures to prevent aviation and air space threats

Weeks of intelligence and surveillance brought to the arrest of 120 individuals suspected of engaging in internet fraud and being linked to various forms of cybercrime; coordinated raids were conducted across multiple locations in Lagos State

Killings and destruction are escalating in Borno State, where 26 civilians -men, women, children- were killed by a landmine attack in Kala-Balge area; a passenger vehicle drove over an explosive device for which IS fighters claimed responsibility

Chess master Tunde Onakoya broke the Guinness World Record for the longest ever chess marathon, for a noble cause; at the iconic Times Square in New York, Onakoya hit the extraordinary 60-hour mark of non-stop chess against NM Shawn Martinez on 19 April

18 new Innovation Hubs in all tertiary institutions will be established in 2025 to strengthen Nigeria's research and innovation; plans have been announced by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund

'Dream Count', the latest book by renowned Nigerian-American writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has been included in the official shortlist of the international Women's Prize for Fiction 2025

The headline inflation rate fell by 10,32% to 24,48% in January 2025 from 34,8% in December 2024 after rebasing the Consumer Price Index and the food inflation rate to 26,08% from 39,84 - figures have been released by the National Bureau of Statistics

A trial has begun in London between the British multinational oil company Shell and two Ogoni communities in the Niger delta, who are demanding that the oil company be held responsible for the pollution of the area

Nigeria has been accepted as a BRICS partner country, becoming the ninth country to join it; the Brazilian government, which currently holds the bloc's rotating presidency, made the official announcement