Nigeria

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All Girls From One of Nigeria's Mass Abductions Are Rescued

Two dozen who were taken from a school in Kebbi are now safe

(Newser) - All 24 schoolgirls who were abducted by armed assailants from a school earlier this month in northwestern Nigeria have been rescued, the country's president announced Tuesday. Police said 25 girls were abducted in Kebbi on Nov. 17, and one of them escaped afterward . No details were immediately released about...

The Cost of Our Car Batteries: Lead-Poisoned Workers

US carmakers increasingly source toxic metal from loosely regulated Nigerian factories for batteries

(Newser) - A new investigation finds the US auto industry's reliance on cheap recycled lead from Nigeria is poisoning entire communities. With environmental regulations tightening in the US and elsewhere over the last 30 years, the auto industry has turned to recycled lead from countries with looser enforcement, including Nigeria, per...

50 of the Students Abducted in Nigeria Escape
50 Kidnapped Students Escape
Nov 23, 2025 10:22 AM CST

50 Kidnapped Students Escape

Pope calls for release of 253 schoolchildren and 12 teachers still held after abduction in Nigeria

(Newser) - Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in north-central Nigeria's Niger state have escaped captivity and are now with their families, the school authority said Sunday, bringing relief to some of the distraught families after one of the largest school abductions in Nigeria's history. The...

Gunmen Abduct 200 Children, 12 Teachers at Boarding School

Nigerian state government says it had warned of increased threat

(Newser) - Gunmen attacked a Catholic boarding school in a western region of Nigeria and abducted more than 200 schoolchildren on Friday, the Christian Association of Nigeria said, in the latest in a spate of abductions in Africa's most populous country. The attack and abductions took place at St. Mary's...

One of Nigeria's Abducted Schoolgirls Escapes

Search continues for the assailants who killed school's chief security officer

(Newser) - A schoolgirl who was abducted with 24 others from a dormitory in northwestern Nigeria has escaped and is safe, the school's principal told the AP on Tuesday, as hunters joined security forces in the search for the missing students in forests close to the school. The girls were kidnapped...

Gunmen Abduct 25 Girls From School Dorms at 4am

School's principal reportedly killed in Monday's pre-dawn attack in Nigeria

(Newser) - Gunmen attacked a high school in northwestern Nigeria before dawn on Monday and abducted 25 schoolgirls, police said. One staffer at the school was killed and another was wounded in what was the latest incident of school abductions in Nigeria's northern region, per the AP . Reuters reports the school'...

Soccer Coach Accuses Opponent of Voodoo After Loss

Nigeria's Eric Chelle accuses Congo team of some funny business in World Cup qualifier

(Newser) - Sometimes a losing coach blames the refs, his own players, or even himself. But the head coach of Nigeria's soccer team has come up with a novel new scapegoat: voodoo. As ESPN reports, Eric Chelle lobbed the odd accusation at the Congo team after the latter won a huge...

Trump Says Pentagon Will Plan for Possible Attack on Nigeria

President first opened the door to sanctions, claiming the country isn't stopping persecution of Christians

(Newser) - A day after suggesting Nigeria could face sanctions for allegedly failing to rein in the persecution of Christians in the West African country, President Trump returned to social media to up his threat. He posted Saturday that the US "may very well go into that now disgraced country, '...

After Near-Disaster, Chef Takes Record With Huge Rice Dish

The 19.3K-pound pot of jollof rice buckled during weighing

(Newser) - With a record-shattering 19,346-pound pot of jollof rice, Nigerian chef Hilda Baci has cooked her way to another Guinness World Record. The record was confirmed after Baci and her team cooked up the peppery West African staple in Lagos last week—though not without drama. The massive custom-made...

Nigeria Hits Pause on Shea Nut Exports

Move aims to boost local refining and support small farmers

(Newser) - Nigeria has temporarily halted exports of raw shea nuts—the source of shea butter found in many beauty creams—for six months in a bid to expand the country's minute share of the $6.5 billion global market. Though the West African nation grows about 40% of the...

Children Among Hostages Released After Airstrikes

Some of them had been taken during fatal attack on mosque

(Newser) - At least 76 hostages, including children, have been freed after Nigeria's military targeted militants with precision airstrikes in the country's northwest, authorities said. The airstrikes were launched on targets around Pauwa Hill, located in the Kankara area of Katsina state, in the early hours of Saturday, Nasir Mu'azu,...

The Ransom Was Paid, but Dozens Died Anyway

Brutal killings in northern Nigeria highlight ongoing issue with 'bandits'

(Newser) - Kidnappers killed 38 villagers abducted from northern Nigeria even after receiving ransom payments for their release, according to local officials. The victims were among 56 people taken from Banga village in the Kauran Namoda area of Zamfara state back in March, with abductors demanding roughly $655 per captive. Local...

Nigerian Official Quotes Rap Lyric in Rebuffing US

'I can't do nothin' for you, man' says foreign minister Yusuf Tuggar, channeling Flava Flav

(Newser) - The US has been pressing Nigeria to accept deported migrants, but Nigeria's foreign minister says his country has enough problems. In a TV interview, Yusuf Tuggar quoted a rap lyric to make his point, reports the BBC :
  • "In the words of the famous US rap group Public Enemy—
...

Ken Saro-Wiwa Receives Pardon 30 Years After Hanging

After Nigerian president praises oil pollution protesters, families ask for more

(Newser) - Three decades after his execution by Nigeria's military regime, Ken Saro-Wiwa has been pardoned. President Bola Tinubu conferred national honors Thursday on Saro-Wiwa, who had been convicted of murder, and the eight activists he was hanged with in 1995. There were suspicions that the Ogoni Nine were killed for...

In Just Hours, the Waters Rose to Roof Level

Flooding from excessive rain in Nigerian market town of Mokwa leaves at least 151 dead

(Newser) - The death toll from devastating flooding in a market town in Nigeria's north-central state of Niger rose to at least 151 on Saturday, the local emergency service said, amid efforts to find more victims. Torrents of predawn rainfall early Thursday unleashed the flood on Mokwa, nearly 240 miles west...

Stolen Benin Bronzes Are Headed Home

Netherlands to return 119 artifacts to Nigeria in 'redress of a historical injustice'

(Newser) - The Netherlands says it will return more than 100 artifacts looted from the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now southern Nigeria, more than a century ago. The Benin Bronzes, plaques and sculptures of metal and ivory that decorated the kingdom's royal palace, were looted by British troops who...

In Nigeria, Another Deadly Stampede at Holiday Event

At least 10 are dead, including 4 children, after tragedy in capital city of Abuja

(Newser) - Ten people, including four children, were killed in a stampede in Nigeria's capital city as a large crowd gathered to collect food and clothing items distributed by a local church at an annual Christmas event, the police said Saturday. It's the second such stampede in a week in...

At Holiday Fair, Stampede Kills Dozens of Kids

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu expresses 'profound sadness' at Wednesday tragedy

(Newser) - At least 35 children have died and six others were injured during a stampede on Wednesday at a holiday fair in southwestern Nigeria, authorities said, per the Guardian . The incident happened at the Islamic High School in Ibadan, in Oyo state, near the economic hub of Lagos. Security forces attended...

For These Kids, Toiling in Illegal Mines Is 'Only Option'

Lithium demand creates 'new frontier for mining' in Nigeria, with children doing much of the work

(Newser) - Dressed in a faded pink dress, 6-year-old Juliet Samaniya squats under scorching skies to chip at a jagged white rock with a stone tool. Dust coats her tiny hands and her hair as she works hour after hour, for less than a dollar a day in Nasarawa, Nigeria. The landscape...

Dozens Dead, Hundreds Missing After Boat Capsizes

Vessel on Nigeria's Niger River was headed to food market when it tipped

(Newser) - More than two dozen people died and upward of 100 people, mostly women, were missing on Friday, after a boat transporting them to a food market capsized along the Niger River in northern Nigeria, authorities said. About 200 passengers were on the boat that was going from the state of...

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