December 11, 2019
NigeriaOn December 6, the Department of State Security (DSS) stormed into an Abuja courtroom and illegally detained journalist Omoyele Sowore. The episode is deeply disappointing to American friends of Nigeria who are invested in that country’s democratic trajectory. The DSS flagrantly violated the rule of law and the sanctity of a courtroom by violently manhandling Sowore and causing the judge to flee her own chambers. The episode unfurled in full view of national and international media, dragging Nigeria’s international reputation through the mud.
December 10, 2019
NigeriaThe Sultan of Sokoto, Nigeria’s premier Islamic traditional ruler, has banned the #ArewaMeToo campaign in Sokoto state. The movement is a northern Nigeria spinoff of the international #MeToo movement. Following the ban there have been allegations that the police have assaulted two women’s rights activists.
December 9, 2019
NigeriaThis update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from November 30 to December 6, 2019.
December 6, 2019
NigeriaOn October 30, the Nigerian military temporarily lifted its suspensions of Action Against Hunger and Mercy Corps, two international non-government organizations (INGOs) working in northeast Nigeria, where Boko Haram is active. Both organizations were expelled from northeastern Nigeria last September following accusations of aiding and abetting Boko Haram.
December 5, 2019
UkraineThe summit will feature the highest-profile talks in years on the war between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists, but the parties will have to bridge major divides to find a permanent end to the c…
December 4, 2019
UgandaNeil Edwards is the volunteer intern for CFR's Africa Program in Washington, DC. He is a master's candidate at the School of International Service at American University and a returned Peace Corps Rw…
December 2, 2019
NigeriaThis update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from November 23 to 29, 2019.
December 1, 2019
NigeriaThe Council on Foreign Relations's Nigeria Security Tracker is an effort to catalog and map political violence based on a weekly survey of Nigerian and international press. The data presented includes violent incidents related to political, economic, and social grievances directed at the state or other affiliative groups (or conversely the state employing violence to respond to those incidents.)
November 26, 2019
RwandaOn November 10, Rwandan security forces shot dead two Ugandan nationals accused of smuggling tobacco across the border. Smuggling has become more common after Rwanda closed its border with Uganda in late February amidst a dispute between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
November 25, 2019
NigeriaThis update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from November 16 to 22, 2019.
