Abonnema Wharf Community demolished by the Rivers State government in flagrant disregard of judicial process.

In this podcast, Africa Today talks with Dr. Peter Lewis of the Center for Strategic International Studies at John Hopkins University on contemporary politics in Nigeria and the 4th Republic.

Militant Islam is well known in Nigeria thanks to the atrocities committed by Boko Haram and other radical groups. What is less known, but remains a problem, is the intense conflicts among Muslim sects, which often hurt non-Muslims.

At least 80 people have been killed since Monday 18 June in clashes in northern Nigeria triggered by Islamists waging an insurgency against the government, figures from police and the Red Cross showed on Wednesday. The violence - some of which was sparked by church bombings over the last three Sundays - has heightened sectarian tensions in Africa's most populous country, which is evenly split between Christians and Muslims.

Gunfire and rioting rocked two northern Nigerian cities Tuesday in a fresh round of unrest, prompting authorities to slap curfews on both after weekend violence killed 52 people. The unrest broke out in the cities of Kaduna and Damaturu, adding to fears of spiralling violence in the country's north, where Islamist group Boko Haram's insurgency has been concentrated.

Three blasts have hit churches in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna in the latest apparent attacks targeting Christian worshippers in the region, emergency services and residents said. All of the blasts happened close to the city of Zaria. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties in Sunday's blasts, but residents said they feared many people had been killed.

Nigeria has a war boat, but it raises numerous questions in the minds of the inquisitive.

This book is a compilation of feature stories and news articles by journalists who participated in the media trainings on environmental reporting organised in six states across the Nigerian federation by the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN). The book is an attempt to assess the quality of reports from journalists and to contribute to enhancing the capacity of members of the network and media users to further broaden the environmental discourse by opening new vistas for investigation. It can be downloaded through the link provided.

Gay Biafran activist Joshua Odeke was billed for forced deportation from the UK on 7June 2012.
He fled Nigeria due to his political activities there, namely his involvement with the non-violent Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), which campaigns openly for Igbo tribe freedom and an independent state. Joshua is deeply worried about returning to Nigeria because both his father and brother were killed by authorities because of their involvement with MASSOB.

The 2012 Gender in Nigeria Report launched recently shows that gender inequality is at highly worrying levels. There is a lack of gender balance in the economy, education, politics, health, access to justice and almost all areas of human development. According to the report, 'Nigeria's 80.2 million women and girls have a significantly worse life chances than men and also their sisters in comparable societies; 60-79% of the rural workforce is women but men are five times more likely to own land. '

A Nigerian civil society group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the Nigerian government to prosecute 16 foreign companies involved in bribery in the country. In a statement made available to PANA in Lagos Sunday, SERAP said it would seek leave of court for an order of mandamus to compel the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Mohammed Adoke, to act if the companies are not prosecuted 'within 14 (fourteen) days from the receipt and/or publication of this letter (to the AGF).'

Nigeria was recently approved $4million from the United Nations Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) programme to conserve rainforest trees. Part of this was used to carry out 'REDD readiness', a series of workshops and campaigns aimed at forest communities and oil companies. The aim is to help them get to grips with conservation and the importance of curbing carbon emissions. Most of Nigeria's UN REDD money will be poured into Cross River, a reward for what its officials describe as government’s 'conscientious efforts to save the forests'. In a country that has lost over 90 per cent of its lowland rainforests, Cross River has been recognised as Nigeria's environment capital and contains over 50 per cent of Nigeria’s remaining rainforest. Many on the ground are already aware of the REDD money and expectations are high.

One terrorist attack, one plane crash with the evidence pointing to serious criminal negligence and one ‘accident’ due to an incompetent crane driver or malpractice.

A suicide bomber has driven a car full of explosives into a church in northern Nigeria, killing 12 people in the latest deadly attack on Christians. Security forces at a road block nearby said the bomber forced his car through the checkpoint and drove into the church in Yelwa, on the outskirts of the city of Bauchi, on Sunday. A Reuters reporter at the scene counted 12 bodies being pulled from the building.

The rejection of race discrimination claims brought by a young Nigerian woman who was brought to the United Kingdom illegally by her employers, brutalised and denied wages, gives a green light to racism, says this article from the Institute of Race Relations website. Mary Mounga was probably only 14 when her employer brought her from Nigeria to work in the UK as an au pair, promising to send her to school and to pay her £50 a month on top of her board and lodging. She was told to say that she was 20 and that she was coming to visit her grandmother. Once here, she was beaten, never paid any wages and not given the opportunity to go to school.

The UK Government is facing a series of difficult questions after it surfaced that it has chosen to intervene on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell in a major US court case brought against the oil giant by Nigerian villagers. Kiobel v Shell is the latest incarnation of a long-running legal battle fought by communities in the Niger Delta, who claim that Shell is responsible for serious human rights abuses and environmental damage in the region. The Corporate Responsibility (CORE) Coalition, a group of human rights, development and environmental NGOs, is now determined to find out why the UK Government has chosen to intervene and has submitted a wide range of formal Freedom of Information requests.

The members were jailed for wearing the regalia of the defunct Republic of Biafra.

Just as secessionist leader Odumegwu Ojukwu moved in 1967 to declare the independence of Biafra to protect his people from genocidal killings, the group is asking ICC to intervene on their behalf before they are completely exterminated.

A deadly lead poisoning outbreak that began two years ago in northern Nigeria continues to claim young victims even today, an aid agency official has said. Ivan Gayton of Doctors Without Borders criticised the government of oil-rich Nigeria on Thursday for not taking the threat seriously, despite 4,000 children already being sickened by the outbreak linked to gold mining.

Following World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, Reporters Without Borders has taken a look at the breaches of freedom of news and information in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2012. During the period in question, Reporters Without Borders recorded: the murder of one journalist, the killing of another with no proof that it was linked to the victim’s work, nine assaults, seven arrests, three journalists threatened, four instances of seizure of equipment or deletion of files, three cases of access to information being cut off, three court cases against journalists and news organisations, the closure of a press centre and a media outlet’s premises vandalised.