The ongoing conflict between settled farmers and Fulani herdsmen in northern Nigeria exploded into violence again this week in Bauchi state. The clash at Zadawa village left nine dead and several injured on both sides. The village is part of the Misau Local Government Area, a traditional emirate recognized by the state and national authorities. In the aftermath of the communal violence, Bauchi Gov. Bala Mohammed officially suspended the powers of the emir of Misau, Alhaji Ahmed Suleiman, finding that he had taken actions that led to the escalation. At issue were lands owned by the emirate on the periphery of the village that had long been used for grazing by Fulani herders, but which were turned over to local farmers. Restoration of the emirate's powers are pending, based on the findings of a commission called by the governor to investigate the matter. (Sahara Reporters, Vanguard, Lagos, Premium Times, Abuja, July 3)

According to widespread reports in the Nigerian media, aggrieved workers at a Chinese company in the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ), located in Ado-Odo/Ota district of Ogun state, staged a brief uprising at the complex after they were locked within the premises, ostensibly under emergency measures to contain COVID-19. Several vehicles and a sentry box were set ablaze. Local police authorities confirmed to Nigerian news site Punch that the incident ocurred on April 14. The reports include video footage of workers protesting within the complex as smoke billows in the air.

As nations across the globe remain under lockdown, more sweeping powers are being assumed by governments in the name of containing the COVID-19 pandemic. Facing demands for relief from poor barrios running out of resources under his lockdown orders, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to shoot protesters in the streets. Particularly naming the popular organization Kadamay as planning protests, Duterte said April 1: "Remember, you leftists: You are not the government. Do not go around causing trouble and riots because I will order you detained until this COVID [outbreak ends]. I will not hesitate. My orders are to the police and military...that if there is trouble... shoot them dead. Do you understand? Dead. Instead of causing trouble, I'll send you to the grave." (Rappler)

The French-backed military campaign against Islamist militants in Niger is claiming victories against the insurgency that has mounted in the country since 2015. Niger's Defense Ministry said in a statement Feb. 20 that over the past month, "120 terrorists have been neutralized," a presumed euphemism for killed. The statement said there had been no losses among Nigerien or French troops, and that vehicles and bomb-making equipment had been seized. The operation has centered on the Tillabéri region near the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso, where a state of emergency has been in place for two years.

At least 22 people were killed in an attack in Cameroon's Northwest region on Feb. 14, a UN official said—the latest incident in a wave of violence to shake the country's restive English-speaking regions. The attack in Ntumbo village left 14 children dead—including nine under the age of five—according to the official. Opposition groups said the army was responsible, but the military blamed the explosion of fuel containers during a gunfight with separatists. Some 8,000 people have fled anglophone areas in recent weeks for Nigeria, following rising violence involving the army and separatist groups, who called for a boycott of parliamentary and municipal elections earlier this month. 

Traditional rulers in Nigeria's strife-torn north are warning that vigilante militias now forming to fight Boko Haram are a sign of a generalized social breakdown in the region. The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar, told a public meeting in Kaduna that the new paramilitaries could themselves metamorphose into terror groups. "Governors must see that they do more to address insecurity, just imagine that there are over 50,000 orphans. They will be worse than Boko Haram if allowed to grow without proper care," he said. Abubakar is chair of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council, but a youth-led Coalition of Northern Groups has emerged outside control of the traditional rulers, and launched a paramilitary network called Shege Ka Fasa to defend against the Islamist militias. (Sahara Reporters, Feb. 8)

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va., began hearing oral arguments Jan. 29 in International Refugee Assistance Project v. Donald Trump, a case challenging the administration's travel bans. The plaintiffs, led by IRAP, argue that, despite the Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Hawaii, their challenge is not barred. They contend that the high court simply addressed the preliminary injunction, and not the merits of the overall travel ban. The case challenges the proclamation Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, Executive Order 13780. The plaintiffs are asserting that the proclamation is unconstitutional, while the Trump administration argues that Trump v. Hawaii settled the constitutionality of the proclamation.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Sept. 19 that the Nigerian military has been arbitrarily detaining thousands of children, some as young as five years old, for suspected involvement with the Islamist armed group Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, commonly known as Boko Haram. According to HRW, the military often detains children based on little or no actual evidence of involvement with Boko Haram. UN investigators found that between January 2013 and March 2019, Nigerian security forces detained more than 3,600 children, including 1,617 girls. Most were detained at Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri. Some 2,200 children were released without charge last year, but a further 418 were detained. There is no report on the number of children that are being currently detained.