Nigeria

ABUJA, April 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to Nigerians to stay at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but the government has still not said whether it will extend a two-week confinement order on three states that ends Monday (April 13).

Residents in Lagos, Ogun and the capital Abuja have been confined to their homes, only allowed to leave for shopping trips, since March 31 in a measure to halt virus infections.

ABUJA, April 12 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Nigeria will cut its oil production by 1.9 million barrels per day, reducing its daily crude oil production to 1,412 million barrels.

Abuja is hoping for a $15 rebound in the price per barrel in the short term. This rebound that could bring at least 2.8 billion dollars to the country, according to its oil minister.

The decision comes after a historic agreement reached by OPEC members on Thursday.

ABUJA, April 4 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — There are now more than over 6,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the continent, with a number of African countries imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic.

According to the latest data by the Africa Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 in Africa, the breakdown remains fluid as countries confirm cases as and when. The whole of Africa has rising cases with a handful of countries holding out.

ABUJA, March 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US is evacuating its nationals from Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos and the capital, Abuja, after the two cities were were placed on a two-week lockdown in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The US embassy has tweeted that multiple emergency flights will leave the two cities this week.

Those to be moved will be contacted directly and the embassy has advised all American nationals in the country to stay put until they are contacted.

LAGOS (Reuters) - Collapsing oil prices have left African producers facing not only lost revenue when they most need it to tackle coronavirus, but also a fall in hard-won market share they may never regain.

The continent’s producers such as Nigeria, Angola and Algeria cannot compete with the lower costs of erstwhile allies Saudi Arabia and Russia, who are flooding the market with oil.

ABUJA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian defense authorities on Monday confirmed a senior commander of the terror group Boko Haram was killed during a recent military operation in the northeastern state of Borno.

In a statement made available to Xinhua, the defense media center in Borno said the Boko Haram commander was identified as Abu Usamah who led the terror group in an encounter with troops on March 22.

Usamah died of gunshot wounds following that encounter with troops in Gorgi, a town in the Damboa local government area of Borno, said the statement.

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria has appealed to private companies to make voluntary contributions toward the 120 billion naira ($330 million) that the government says it needs to fight the coronavirus epidemic.

“So far, the federal government has made giant strides in the fight but it is clear that the private sector needs to step in and support efforts already being made,” Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said.

LAGOS, March 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A gas explosion in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos killed at least 17 people, injured many more and destroyed around 100 buildings, emergency services said.

Houses, lorries, cars and motorbikes were torched in the Sunday blast.

“17 bodies have been recovered now. So many people have been injured,”national emergency services spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye said, adding that around 100 buildings were also destroyed in the explosion which was followed by a fire.

LAGOS, Mar 16 (NNN-XINHUA) – Some school children near an explosion site, which rocked Abule Ado of Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, have been rescued from the collapsed school building, a government official said

Valentine Buraimoh, chairman of Amuwo Odofin local government area, who confirmed this to reporters, said the boarding school collapsed, following the explosion.

The massive explosion rocked neighbouring areas, sparking a massive blaze that destroyed nearby buildings, including a boarding school.

LAGOS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government on Sunday said 15 corpses have been recovered from the scene of Sunday's explosion which occurred at the Abule Ado area of Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub.

Ibrahim Farinloye, acting coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), who confirmed the figure to Xinhua, said the explosion occurred around 9 a.m. local time on Sunday. More than 60 students of Bethlehem Girls College located within the area who sustained various degrees of injuries in the incident were taken to the Nigerian Navy Hospital.