Author: Vardiafrica

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), in partnership with Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited and First Exploration & Petroleum Development Company Limited (First E&P) recently launched the Nigerian Engineering Olympiad (NEO), an engineering competition aimed at addressing at inspiring engineering students to develop innovative projects that will solve societal problems. The project is championed by Enactus Nigeria and has the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) as key partner. Explaining the concept, Country Director of Enactus Nigeria, Michael Ajayi, stated that the Nigerian Engineering Olympiad will inspire final-year, and postgraduate engineering students to envision and build a self-reliant Nigeria…

Fifty of the more than 300 children abducted by bandits from the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri, in Niger State, have escaped their captors. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, adding that they escaped between Friday and Saturday. “We have received some good news as fifty pupils escaped and have reunited with their parents,” said Daniel Atori, the media aide to CAN Chairman in Niger State, Most. Rev. Bulus Yohanna, who is also the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese. “The pupils escaped between Friday and Saturday and have reunited with…

Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago has ordered the immediate closure of all schools across the state following the abduction of students and teachers from St Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area. Bago announced the directive on Saturday, during a press briefing after an expanded security meeting in Minna, describing the attack as both “unfortunate and avoidable.” “This incident could have been avoided; however, it is not a time for a blame game,” the governor said. “Our mission today is to see how we can rescue these children and all those kidnapped alongside.” He called…

The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, has met with President Bola Tinubu to brief him on the country’s security situation following recent abductions and attacks, especially in the northern region of the country.  Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed the meeting in a post on Saturday, noting that Ajayi met with the President at the Presidential Villa on Friday night. Photos released showed the DSS Chief in the President’s office. Although no further details of the briefing’s outcome were provided, officials said it focused on the current security situation. “The…

The total number of victims abducted by suspected terrorists from the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri in the Agwarra local government area of Niger state is now 315 from the 227 earlier reported. Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State chapter, Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who is also the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese, gave the update after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out. A breakdown of newly released data showed that 303 students and 12 teachers were affected. Yohanna said, “After we left the school at Papiri, we decided to…

Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni has called on the Federal Government to prosecute those found guilty of violence against Christians in Nigeria. She also called for the tightening of security apparatus in Nigerian Christian communities across the country. In a statement on Friday, Meloni condemned attacks on Christians, saying that religious freedom was the right of every human being. “We strongly condemn the renewed violence against Christian communities in Nigeria today. Religious freedom is an inalienable right: we call on the Nigerian government to strengthen the protection of Christian communities and all religious communities and prosecute those responsible for this…

The United States, US, Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, met with Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, in Washington, D.C., following threats by former US President Donald Trump regarding Nigeria’s security situation. “Yesterday, I met with Nigeria’s National Security Advisor and his team to discuss the horrific violence against Christians in their country,” Hegseth wrote on his official X account on Friday, sharing photos of the meeting. “Under @POTUS leadership, DOW is working aggressively with Nigeria to end the persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists,” he added. Trump had earlier warned that he might instruct the Department of War to deploy troops into…

Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba State has instructed all secondary schools, both private and public, to promptly send their boarding students home in light of the increasing security concerns throughout the nation. The instruction was communicated through a statement signed by the State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Augustina Godwin. The statement highlights that the growing security issues nationwide have put boarding students in both public and private secondary schools at risk of being targeted by bandits. It references the recent student abductions in Kebbi and Niger states as examples of this threat. Dr. Godwin communicated that, in light of the…

The President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government has transferred the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, from the Department of State Services (DSS) facility in Abuja to a correctional centre in Sokoto State. The development was made public on Friday by Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, who announced the transfer in a post on X. Ejimakor wrote: “Breaking: MAZI NNAMDI KANU has just been moved from DSS Abuja to the correctional facility (prison) in Sokoto; so far away from his lawyers, family, loved ones and wellwishers.” Nnamdi Kanu’s legal team had condemned the judgment of the Federal…

Vice President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja to represent the President at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, says this follows the decision of President Bola Tinubu to stay back in Nigeria and attend to security concerns in the country, The President had postponed his earlier scheduled trip to Johannesburg, South Africa to await further security briefings on the recent security incidents in Kebbi and Kwara States. The G20 Summit, scheduled to take place from Saturday, November 22nd, to Sunday, November…