Sony Music Entertainment opens office in Nigeria
Sony Music Entertainment today announced it is expanding its operational presence across Africa as part of a long-term strategy to open offices in a number of key markets in the region.
The company has opened an office in Lagos, Nigeria to serve as the new hub of its on-the-ground operations in West Africa, and has named music business entrepreneur Michael Ugwu General Manager for the West African region. It also recently began the process of registering to do business in Nairobi, Kenya, which will anchor the Sony Musics physical operations in East Africa.
In connection with the opening of operations in Lagos, Sony Music recently signed Nigerian superstar Davido to a worldwide deal. In East Africa, SME has partnered with local artists in the region as well, recently signing Redsan amongst others.
Expansion in Africa has been part of our strategy for several years, said Adam Granite, President, Northern & Eastern Europe and Africa, Sony Music International, said Sean Watson, Managing Director of Sony Music Entertainment Africa, We are really keen to partner with African artists to deliver local, African and global success stories. With over 800 million people living in Sub Saharan Africa, the African continent is a market with huge potential for local artists wanting to expand their horizons.
These moves build upon Sony Musics existing business initiatives in Africa, where the company is already a market leader. Sony Music has long had offices in South Africa, in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, and throughout the continent, Sony Music earns revenue from partners including Vevo, YouTube, Apple Music and iTunes. In addition, in West Africa, music content is currently available through MTN Nigerias service via IMI, and in East Africa it currently conducts trade with Kenyas largest mobile network operator, Safaricom, a company that boasts in excess of 10 million CRBT subscribers.
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/lifestyle/2016/02/25/sony-music-entertainment-grows-presence-in-africa-lagos-nigeria/
CNN.com - 8 expats abducted from Nigeria oil rig
Britons, Canadian and U.S. citizen taken from drilling platform
Nigerian workers on an oil rig
LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) -- Armed attackers stormed an oil rig off the coast of Nigeria, kidnapping eight foreign workers and raising new fears over security in Africa's top oil producing nation.
One Canadian, six Britons and a U.S. citizen were abducted in Friday's pre-dawn raid on the Burford Dolphin rig, a spokesman for Norwegian company Fred. Olsen, which controls the oil platform, told CNN.
The Reuters news service said Fred Olsen representatives had made contact with the kidnapped men and their unidentified captors, who were said to be seeking negotiations.
It was not known what their demands were.
There was no immediate indication of any link to a campaign of attacks and abductions by the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which has cut Nigeria's oil exports by a quarter.
MEND has usually claimed its attacks within minutes by sending emails to media, but there was no word from the group on Friday and they did not immediately respond to messages, Reuters said.
CNN journalist Christian Purefoy, speaking from Lagos, said between 20 and 40 attackers were involved in the incident at the rig, which is leased to Nigerian firm Peak Petroleum.
Fred. Olsen said 84 crew were on the paltform at the time of the attack. All but those abducted were safe, and non-essential staff were being evacuated to the oil city of Port Harcourt, Reuters said.
The kidnappings are likely to cause embarrassment to Nigerian authorities and particularly the navy, which was due to celebrate its 50th anniversary with an international fleet review by President Olusegun Obasanjo in Lagos later on Friday, the Reuters news agency reported.
"The timing of the attack comes as things in the Delta seem to be getting worse," Purefoy said.
"No one has owned up to the attack, but it does show increasing lawlessness in the area."
MEND's campaign of attacks and kidnappings in January and February forced oil companies to shut down a quarter of OPEC member Nigeria's 2.4 million barrels per day production of crude.
The attacks contributed to several spikes in world oil prices. Nigeria is the world's eighth-biggest exporter of oil and the fifth largest supplier to the United States, where its sweet, easy-to-refine crude is highly prized.
Reuters contributed to this report.
CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.
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http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/06/02/nigeria.kidnap/index.html?iref=newssearch
Nigeria's Lagos State to meet bondholders on debt repayment | News by Country | Reuters
LAGOS Jan 25 (Reuters) - Nigeria 's Lagos state will askbondholders next month to agree a change to the paymentschedules for 167.5 billion naira ($842 mln) of bonds, the stategovernment said on Monday.
The state wants to pay interest and principal semi-annuallyrather than making a single bullet repayment of the principal atmaturity.
Lagos, a mega-city of 21 million people in the state of thesame name, is the commercial engine of Africa's biggest economyand accounts for about a third of Nigeria 's overall output.
The meeting will be held on February 23.
The state government said the debt in question includes an80 billion naira seven-year bond maturing in 2019 and an 87.5billion naira to be repaid in 2020. Coupons on the bonds wouldremain unchanged at 14.5 percent and 13.5 percent respectively.
The state government did not say why it wants to change thepayment schedule but analysts said Lagos may be hoping to sellnew debt at lower yields to fund infrastructure projects.
Nigeria's government approved a $200 million loan from aWorld Bank agency this month to develop infrastructure in Lagosstate, the minister for works, power and housingsaid. ($1 = 199.00 naira) (Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha andCatherine Evans)
http://af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL8N1591QO
Nigerian splinter terrorist group claims abductions
BAUCHI, NigeriaA little-known Islamic extremist group claimed responsibility Monday for the kidnapping of seven foreign workers from northern Nigeria, threatening their safety if anyone tried to intervene and free them.
The group that calls itself Ansaru issued a short statement, obtained by The Associated Press, in which it said its fighters kidnapped the foreigners Saturday night from a construction company's camp at Jama'are, a town about 125 miles north of Bauchi, the capital of Bauchi state.
Authorities said those kidnapped include one British citizen, one Greek, one Italian, three Lebanese and one Filipino, all employees of a Lebanese construction company called Setraco.
The statement said Ansaru committed the abduction "based on the transgression and atrocities shown to the religion of Allah by the European countries in many places such as Afghanistan and Mali." Currently, the French military is conducting operations with the Malian army to rout Islamic fighters who took over that country's north in the weeks after a military coup there last year.
"It is stressed that any attempt or act contrary to our conditions by the European nations or by the Nigerian government will" endanger the hostages, the statement read. The statement offered no conditions, suggesting the group would later contact authorities to make a ransom demand.
Police and security officials in Nigeria did not immediately respond the statement. Greek and Italian diplomats have confirmed their citizens were abducted.
Italy's Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata told CBS News' Pamela Falk: "We are following the situation in close contact with the Nigerian authorities and the other partners involved, especially UK and Greece Foreign Ministers. The safety of the hostages is an absolute priority for the Italian Government."
Britain's Foreign Office said Monday it is aware of reports that a number of foreign nationals including a British national were abducted. It said the Foreign Office is in contact with the Nigerian authorities.
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, issued a statement earlier Monday saying none of those taken were U.S. citizens.
In January 2012 Ansaru declared itself a breakaway group from Boko Haram, the north's main terrorist group, analysts say. Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege," has launched a guerrilla campaign of bombings and shootings across Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north. Boko Haram is blamed for at least 792 killings last year alone, according to an AP count.
The presence of splinter groups is making it more difficult to find a negotiated solution, reports CBS News' Pamela Falk.
Ansaru's aims are unknown but they have a different message from Boko Haram, according to Raffaello Pantucci, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
"They seem to disagree with some of Boko Haram's strategies in particular, they disagreed with Boko Haram's tendency to kill Muslims," Pantucci said. "They seem to be more internationally focused, they talk a lot more in global jihad terms and they seem very eager to cultivate that side of their image. It makes them more dangerous."
2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nigerian-splinter-terrorist-group-claims-abductions/
Explosion rocks shopping mall in Nigeria's capital
ABUJA, Nigeria - An explosion blamed on Islamic extremists rocked a shopping mall in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, and police said 21 people were killed.
The blast came as Nigerians were preparing to watch their country's Super Eagles play Argentina at the World Cup in Brazil. Many shops at the mall have TV screens but it was unclear if the explosion was timed to coincide with the match, which started an hour later.
Witnesses said body parts were scattered around the exit to Emab Plaza, in Abuja's upscale Wuse 2 suburb. One witness said he thought the bomb was dropped at the entrance to the mall by a motorcyclist. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
A man with bloodstains on his shirt stands at the scene of a blast in the Wuse 2 neighborhood in Abuja, June 25, 2014.
AFOLABI SOTUNDE, REUTERS
Soldiers shot and killed one suspect as he tried to escape on a power bike and police detained a second suspect, Mike Omeri, the government spokesman for the insurgency, said in a statement.
Billows of black smoke could be seen from a mile away, and police said 17 vehicles were burned in the blast.
"I heard the explosion and (felt) the building shaking," said Shuaibu Baba, who had a narrow escape. He said he rushed downstairs to find that the driver who had dropped him a few minutes earlier was dead. "I asked the driver to come with me, and he said 'No,' he would wait for me in the car."
Police Superintendent Frank Mba said 17 people were wounded and 21 bodies were recovered.
Omeri urged people to be calm and said the government was doing everything possible "to check the activities of insurgents."
It is the latest in a series of violent attacks blamed on Islamic extremists. Nigerian /a> security forces appear incapable of curtailing the near-daily attacks concentrated in the northeast, where Boko Haram extremists have their stronghold.
On Tuesday night, extremists in the northeast attacked a military checkpoint and killed at least 21 soldiers and five civilians, witnesses and a hospital worker said Wednesday.
A soldier who escaped said the militants also abducted several of his colleagues in the attack near Damboa village, 53 miles from Maiduguri, capital of Borno state.
The extremists attacked in a convoy of more than 30 trucks armed with anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers and powerful submachine guns while the soldiers had only AK-47 assault rifles, said the soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to reporters.
He said he saw at least 16 of his colleagues gunned down before he ran away. A worker at Maiduguri's main hospital said he counted the corpses of 21 soldiers brought to the morgue.
A federal intelligence officer also confirmed the attack, saying the soldiers were overrun. He also is not allowed to speak to reporters.
A spokesman for vigilante groups fighting Boko Haram, Muhammed Gava, said the extremists also killed five elderly men in the village that has been deserted by most inhabitants.
Abuja is in the center of Nigeria and the militants have spread their attacks to the capital. Two separate explosions in Abuja in April killed more than 120 people and wounded about 200 at a busy bus station. Both were claimed by Boko Haram, which has threatened further attacks.
A bomb at a medical college in northern Kano killed at least eight people on Monday. Last week, at least 14 died in a bomb blast at a World Cup viewing site in Damaturu, a state capital in the northeast. In May, twin car bombs in the central city of Jos left more than 130 people dead; and a car bomb at a bus station killed 24 people in the Christian quarter of Kano, a Muslim city.
Boko Haram attracted international condemnation for the April mass abductions of more than 200 schoolgirls, and is blamed for this week's abductions of another 91 people - 31 boys and 60 girls and women with toddlers as young as 3.
Nigeria's military and government claim to be winning the war in the 5-year-old insurgency but the tempo and deadliness of attacks has increased this year, killing more than 2,000 people so far compared to an estimated 3,600 killed over the past four years.
Omeri, the government spokesman, said security agencies are "handling the situation" at Wednesday's bombing.
He said that "every step is being taken by the government to check the activities of insurgents in the country and advised Nigerians to remain vigilant and conscious of movement of unidentified people."
Boko Haram wants to install an Islamic state in Nigeria, a West African nation whose 170 million people are almost equally divided between Muslims who are dominant in the north and Christians in the south.
2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/explosion-rocks-shopping-mall-in-nigerias-capital/
2015 CSEAN Conference Holds in Abuja
Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) held its Cyber Secure Nigeria 2015 Conference in Abuja today 29th January 2015. The conference had in attendance major stakeholders involving in the use of cyber and web activities in carrying out their duties, assignments and services.
The main discussion at the conference borders on Nigeria Cyber Threats Landscape: Now and The Future. Guests Speakers from academic institution as such Federal University of Technology, Minna, Government Agencies such as EFCC, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) were present to beam more lights on Cyber Threats Landscape in Nigeria , highlight major challenges militating against information security and Cyber threats, as well as possible solutions and countermeasures for these identified cyber threats.
The Special Guest of Honour, Professor M.S. Audu, Former Vice Chancellor, FUT Minna, during his keynote address recounted the challenges the University encountered in the creation of an independent Department of Cyber Security Science. Federal University of Technology, Minna is currently blazing trail in the area of academic and building capacity on Cyber Security, We now have Courses at the MSC level in Cyber Security, he explained.
IMG_20150129_103655 Prof. Audu
Representative of DG, NITDA gave presentation on its role as the agency whose mandate is to create framework for the planning, research, development, standardisation, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of information technology activities. We at NITDA have not relented on our efforts to ensure sanity, particularly as regards to information and cyber security he remarked.
IMG_20150129_102540(1) NITDA DG, Rep
Mrs Elizabeth, Dean, School of Information and Communication Technology, FUT Minna during her presentation expressed her satisfaction concerning conference that it would help improve the understanding and the awareness on how we can work together in safeguarding our information in the cyber space.
IMG_20150129_120318(1) Mrs Elizabeth
Another professional who delivered excellent paper was Mr Peter, UK based Nigerian and a Professional White Hacker who shared heinous secret of how unknown invader could hijack or destroy on database on cyberspace via backdoor access. SQL injection Attack is one popular system that bad hacker used in stealing, hijacking or destroying data, information and intellectual property on cyber space He posited.
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1210857
At least 44 dead in Nigeria church building collapse
Story highlightsOfficial: At least 130 people rescued from rubble of collapsed guesthouseCasualty toll could climb as officials believe more victims are trapped There's a "high probability" building collapsed due to construction, agency saysAt least 44 people were crushed to death when a guesthouse at a large church that's home to a famous Nigerian preacher collapsed in Lagos, a rescue agency official said Sunday.
In addition to those killed, there were "130 rescued from the rubble of the collapsed guesthouse at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations," Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, told CNN. "The toll may increase as rescue operation is still ongoing because many people are believed to be trapped under the rubble."
The two-story building is located in the expansive compound of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations, run by televangelist T.B. Joshua in the Ikotun area of Lagos, said Farinloye.
The building came down Friday afternoon amid expansion work on three additional floors.
The rescue operation was delayed by the refusal of members of the church to allow emergency workers from NEMA access to the collapsed building.
"The church members were very aggressive and tried attacking emergency responders," Farinloye said.
Reporters covering the incident were attacked by angry church members, who vandalized a TV camera as a cameraman tried to capture footage of the collapsed building, reporters at the scene said.
Joshua told Nigerian newspapers Sunday that a low-flying aircraft had been repeatedly circling the building and may have been responsible for the building collapse.
NEMA's Facebook page acknowledged the sabotage reports but also noted that two stories were being added to the building without fortifying the foundation of the initial structure. There is a "high probability" this is what caused the collapse, NEMA said, adding that an investigation will ultimately determine the cause.
Joshua, dubbed "The Prophet" for his self-acclaimed healing powers and prophesies, has a large following among Nigerians and followers across the world.
His church attracts thousands of followers who attend his church every week to listen to Joshua's sermons, which are also telecast live on the church's television station.
"People travel from around the world to witness and receive from the mighty work that God is doing in the life of Prophet TB Joshua," according to the church's website.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/14/world/africa/ Nigeria -church-collapse/
