UNREST and violence are worsening across Nigeria, where gunmen in the northwest were reported to have kidnapped around 30 students from a forestry college overnight in the fourth mass school abduction since December.
Growing public anger prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to replace his military high command earlier this year.
Here is a summary of the violence:
ARMED GANGS, NORTHWEST/NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA
Armed gangs that rob and kidnap for ransom, commonly described as "bandits", are active across the northwest.
Such groups killed more than 1,100 people in the first half of 2020 alone, according to rights group Amnesty International.
In the latest incident, gunmen kidnapped around 30 students from a forestry college near a military academy on the outskirts of Kaduna city in Kaduna state, the state's security commisioner Samuel Aruwan said. The army rescued 180 other people, he said.
Last month, 279 schoolgirls were freed after being abducted from their boarding school at Jangebe in northwest Nigeria's Zamfara state, and 27 teenage boys were released 10 days after being kidnapped from their school in the north-central state of Niger. One student was shot dead in that attack.
In December, gunmen abducted 344 boys from a boarding school in northwestern Katsina state. They were released roughly a week later. Islamist militants Boko Haram claimed responsibility, but sources later said the abduction was driven by inter-communal feuding.
Amnesty said it had "documented an alarming escalation in attacks and abductions" since January 2020.
The banditry has made it increasingly difficult to farm, travel or tap some states' rich mineral assets, such as gold; the government banned mining in Zamfara following the last kidnapping.
ISLAMIST INSURGENTS, NORTHEAST NIGERIA
Boko Haram and its Islamic State offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, have waged a decade-long insurgency in northeastern Nigeria.
The violence has displaced about 2 million people and killed more than 30,000, according to the United Nations refugee agency and the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank.
In late February, suspected Islamist insurgents pounded the biggest city in the region, Maiduguri, with rocket-propelled grenades, killing at least 10 and injuring dozens in the worst attack in a year on the city. A few days later, suspected Islamist insurgents overran the town of Dikwa in Borno state, a military stronghold and humanitarian hub,
In November, Boko Haram killed scores of farmers, beheading some of them, in Borno state.
FARMER-HERDER CLASHES, MIDDLE BELT
Clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farmers in Nigeria's Middle Belt have killed thousands of people and displaced half a million over the past decade, according to estimates from French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.
In the past, authorities have blamed the violence on religion or ethnic divisions, but locals say the groups are fighting for access to fertile land and water.
Experts fear the conflict will become worse as global warming intensifies competition for scarce resources.
PROTESTS AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY, NATIONWIDE
What began as largely peaceful protests against police brutality turned violent in October after security forces fired on demonstrators, according to witnesses and Amnesty.
At least 10 people were killed in the upscale Lagos neighbourhood of Lekki on Oct. 20, Amnesty said. The army and police denied shooting protesters there and have said their actions during the protests kept the nation safe.
In the days that followed, rioting, looting and lawlessness broke out across the country. It was the worst unrest in Nigeria since the end of military rule in 1999.
PIRACY, VANDALISM AND THEFT IN NIGER DELTA
Turmoil and lack of economic development in the oil-producing Niger Delta region have sparked insecurity on land and at sea.
Attacks by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, most of whom are based in Nigeria, hit a record last year, according to the International Maritime Bureau. It warned that well-armed and violent gangs are marauding further out to sea.
In January, pirates killed one sailor and kidnapped fifteen.
Kidnappings are also common on land, and last year, oil companies stepped up security for their installations.
Reuters
Sat Mar 13 2021
A view shows one of the hostels where gunmen abducted students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, in Kaduna, Nigeria March 12, 2021. REUTERSpic
Kerajaan Pusat peruntuk RM1.59 bilion untuk pembangunan fizikal di Terengganu
Peruntukan tersebut melibatkan 99 projek baharu dan 296 projek sambungan di bawah Rolling Plan 4 (RP4) Rancangan Malaysia ke-12 (RMK12).
Pahang rancang wujudkan zon perindustrian di setiap daerah
Kerajaan Pahang rancang wujudkan zon perindustrian di kesemua 11 daerah di negeri ini bagi menggalakkan kemasukan lebih banyak pelaburan asing khususnya dari China.
Kertas kabinet wujud sektor sukan dibentang dalam tempoh sebulan - Hannah
Hannah berkata dengan data yang lebih menyeluruh melibatkan sektor industri sukan nanti, pihaknya akan mampu merangsang pertumbuhan sukan di negara ini dengan lebih baik.
Tiga Syarikat Semikonduktor umum melabur di Pulau Pinang - Kon Yeow
Tiga syarikat semikonduktor dari China menyatakan komitmen untuk membuat pelaburan baharu di Pulau Pinang.
Pindaan garis panduan lawatan: Sekolah diharap susun semula program - Fadhlina
Semua sekolah diharap dapat menyusun semula program lawatan masing-masing berikutan pindaan Garis Panduan Lawatan Murid Sekolah pada tahun lepas bagi mengukuhkan pembelajaran di luar kelas, kata Menteri Pendidikan, Fadhlina Sidek.
Kebajikan pendidikan anak-anak dijaga sehingga tamat sekolah - KPM
Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia akan memastikan kebajikan pendidikan anak-anak 10 pegawai dan anggota Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia yang terkorban dalam nahas helikopter di Lumut, Perak, terus dijaga sehingga mereka tamat persekolahan.
Chegubard ditahan polis berkaitan hantaran mengenai kasino di Forest City
Chegubard ditahan di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Dang Wangi di sini berkaitan hantaran mengenai pengoperasian kasino di Forest City pada Sabtu.
Zahid minta pihak dalam BN buka "buku baharu"
Ahmad Zahid menegaskan senario politik tanah air sudah berubah dan terdapat banyak video lama dari parti lawan yang meminta pengundi menyokong DAP.
Malaysia kongsi pengalaman dalam usaha berterusan mempertahan Palestin
Delegasi negara akan berkongsikan peranan Malaysia dalam usaha berterusan mempertahankan nasib Palestin dalam Persidangan Liga Parlimen Al-Quds kelima yang berlangsung di Istanbul, Turki pada Sabtu.
Universiti Malaya mohon maaf kepada seluruh rakyat Malaysia
Jabatan Pengajian Antarabangsa dan Strategik, Universiti Malaya memohon maaf kepada seluruh rakyat Malaysia berhubung kenytaaan tidak bertanggungjawab Profesor Dr Bruce Gilley pada 24 April lalu.
Lebih 200 pelajar diculik di Nigeria, kes terbesar sejak 2021
Insiden penculikan ratusan murid di utara Nigeria disifatkan sebagai kes penculikan terbesar yang mensasarkan sebuah sekolah sejak 2021.
Letupan di kilang penapisan minyak haram di Nigeria ragut 37 nyawa
Letupan di kilang penapisan minyak haram di wilayah Delta Niger mengorbankan sekurang-kurangnya 37 nyawa pada Selasa.
Lelaki bersenjata culik 25 ahli koir gereja di Nigeria
Sekurang-kurangnya 25 ahli kumpulan koir gereja diculik oleh lelaki bersenjata di Ondo, Nigeria, kata polis tempatan pada Sabtu, lapor Xinhua.
10 terbunuh dalam serangan Boko Haram
Organisasi pengganas itu menyasarkan pekerja di ladang, dengan sembilan lagi mangsa diculik.
Sekurang-kurangnya 23 pengganas Boko Haram terbunuh di Nigeria
Selain 23 pengganas maut, ramai juga yang melarikan diri dengan kecederaan selain 41 tebusan diselamatkan.
20 maut dalam letupan ketika cedok minyak dari lori tangki
Sekurang-kurangnya 20 orang mati terbakar, dipercayai akibat percikan dari telefon yang dipegang oleh seorang daripada mangsa.
Nigeria lapor 1,629 kes taun, 48 kematian
Sebanyak 1,629 kes disyaki kolera atau taun termasuk 48 kematian telah dilaporkan pada penghujung April tahun ini, umum Pusat Kawalan dan Pencegahan Penyakit Nigeria (NCDC) pada Selasa.
Serangan bersenjata ragut 21 nyawa di Plateau, Nigeria
Sekurang-kurangnya 21 orang terbunuh dalam insiden serangan bersenjata di Plateau, di Nigeria baru-baru ini, kata seorang pegawai pada Selasa, lapor Xinhua.
Bot karam di Nigeria, 17 kanak-kanak terkorban
Sekurang-kurangnya 17 kanak-kanak maut apabila bot yang mereka naiki terbalik di Sungai Dandeji di Nigeri pada Selasa, lapor Anadolu.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Selasa, 18 April 2023.