Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped five female students from a university in the northwestern Katsina state on Wednesday, the police said, the second such abduction involving students in the region within a month. Kidnapping for ransom by armed gangs is rife in northwest Nigeria due to high levels of poverty, unemployment and the proliferation of illegal firearms. Katsina police spokesperson Abubakar Sadiq, in a statement, said the incident occurred early on Wednesday at the Federal University in Dutsin-Ma town. The police have "deployed all its tactical and operational assets with a view to rescuing the victims unhurt", he said, adding one…

At least 37 people, including two pregnant women, were burned to death after a blast at an illegal oil refinery in Rivers State, a local security official and community leader said on Tuesday. Illegal refining is common in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria as impoverished locals tap pipelines to make fuel to sell for a profit. The practice, which can be as basic as boiling crude oil in drums to extract fuel, is often deadly. The latest incident happened in the early hours of Monday in the Ibaa community, in Rivers State, Rufus Welekem, the head of security…

A former Nigerian oil minister appeared in court in London on Monday charged with receiving bribes in the form of cash, luxury goods, flights on private jets and the use of high-end properties in Britain in return for awarding oil contracts. Diezani Alison-Madueke was Nigeria's minister for petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015, during the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan. Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, the EFCC, welcomed the British prosecution and said she was also wanted in her home country to face charges of money-laundering. Appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, Alison-Madueke spoke only to give her name, date of birth…

Gunmen in Nigeria killed eight people on Sunday and abducted at least 60 others in two communities of Zamfara state, residents and a local traditional leader said, two days after armed men kidnapped dozens from a university in the state. Elsewhere, in the northeast of the country suspected Islamist insurgents ambushed a convoy of vehicles under military escort, killing two soldiers and four civilians, said a police source and a motorist who witnessed the attack. The attackers set fire to five vehicles and drove off with one truck, the witness said. President Bola Tinubu is yet to spell out how…