“I have mental fortitude, I am physically stronger, but I cannot undo what was done to me. Why do they do things like this and get away with it?” Aria John’s* voice cracked from the weight of her grief, the realisation that justice was not attainable, and the knowledge that her struggles were seen as …
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From Zaria to Lagos, Yakubu spent three days. Along the way, he hoped, ate, and even stepped aside to relieve himself. Home had become a stronghold of terrorists who rustled cattle, kidnapped residents, and cut farmers off from their harvests. Even children, Yakubu recalled, openly carried weapons in Funtua, the area where he grew up …
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Morning light glints off the water as children in crisp uniforms, polished sandals, and neatly packed schoolbags paddle across the same waters where fights once broke out among young boys. They are heading to Part of Solution Nursery and Primary School, Makoko, in South West Nigeria, a free, floating school that is turning the tide …
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As Yusuf collects plastic from the floating streets of Lagos’ Makoko, memories of his wife bring home back to him. Together, they used to attend wedding parties in Makoda, Kano State, North West Nigeria, where he grew up and worked on his father’s rice farm before kidnappers changed everything. He remembers them as masked, armed …
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Advisory: Some readers might find this story distressing as it details experiences of sexual violence. Mardiyyah Hussein* had not yet learned to roll the word ‘virgin’ on her tongue when speculations started to spread about her purity and worth after she was sexually assaulted. She was six years old, publicly beaten and shamed, while the …
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From his home, Idowu Usu can tell when someone has died in the lagoon. Among fishermen in Ago Egun, a community in the Yaba area of Lagos, South West Nigeria, there is a belief that the dead announce themselves with a sudden wind. Even in the stillness of the dry season, such a wind may …
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That year, the world seemed cursed. Naira was crashing against the dollar, and the price of a 50 kg bag of rice was nearing ₦50,000. Politicians, crisscrossing the country ahead of the general elections, offered no real answers to kidnappings, terrorist killings, and gunmen violence. At Christ High Commission, a church in Ekiti, South West …
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Nigeria’s Hidden Wars: Reporters Speak from the Gr | RSS.com On The Crisis Room, we’re following insecurity trends across Nigeria. Nigeria’s security landscape is a complex and multifaceted one. The dynamics differ according to each region. In Borno State, there is the Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgency, and complications resulting from the government’s resettlement efforts. …
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She lost her pregnancy in prison in what she describes as “a miscarriage of justice”. The experience Ayodele Bukunmi had in detention tore her heart apart and still haunts her to date. Now 23, Bukunmi was only 17 when she was thrown behind bars in Ondo State, South West Nigeria. It was October 2020, during …
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When Azeezat Babatunde gave birth to her daughter, the baby was visibly underweight and lethargic. She was born prematurely. The 20-year-old single mother who lives in Alagbado, a densely populated area of Lagos, South West Nigeria, watched as her daughter was rushed to an incubator at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Now three years …
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Growing up between Ogun State and Lagos State, southwestern Nigeria, Suhayla Yusuf* still remembers the exact moment her Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms started. It was in her first year at the University in 2013- she had just performed the Muslim pre-prayer ablution and was heading to the mosque when a blasphemous thought came to her …
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In the latest data from HumAngle Tracker, no fewer than 533 people reportedly lost their lives in various tragic incidents across Nigeria in February. The incidents, according to our data on conflict and security trends, raise concerns about the safety and security of citizens in the country. HumAngle tracked incidents such as road accidents, building …
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