Nigerian security agencies failed on Monday to produce Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the increasingly radical secessionist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in Federal High Court for his arraignment. While government lawyers cited “logistical problems” for Kanu’s absence, his lawyer told the court that he had been unable to access his client in ten days and that he believed his client’s life was in danger.

Al-Shabaab remains capable of carrying out massive attacks in Somalia and nearby countries despite a long-running African Union offensive against the Islamist terrorist group.

In Nigeria, intruders stabbed the managing director of Maersk Nigeria, Gildas Tohouo, and his wife, Bernadette, following a December 8 holiday party at their home. She was killed on the spot while he remains in the equivalent of intensive care. They have three small children, all of whom have been accounted for and are being cared for, according to Maersk.

Ten people who passed away this year who shaped world affairs for better or worse.