With elections set for January, President Tinubu seeks to clamp down on kidnapping trend in northern Nigeria.Nigeria has launched a hunt for hundreds of people kidnapped from mosques in the north of the country.The military and other security services began the operation on Wednesday after President Bola Tinubu ordered a major rescue mission to find an estimated 600 worshippers who were abducted from an area around Dekera village in north-central Niger State last week.“I have directed the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, and all relevant security and intelligence agencies to launch a coordinated rescue operation immediately for the victims of the recent mass abduction in Niger State,” the Nigerian president wrote on social media late on Tuesday.Mass kidnappings for ransom have been on the rise in northern Nigeria since the start of the year. The issue has become politically sensitive before a presidential election in January with security likely to be a major campaign issue.On Sunday, kidnappers released a video of what appears to be a large group of people being held captive by armed men in a forested area.In the footage posted on Facebook and WhatsApp and circulating widely, children can be heard crying. A gunman can be heard speaking in the Hausa language directly to families of the captives, telling them to identify their relatives.News agencies could not verify the exact date or location where the video was filmed, but no version of the video has been found posted before Sunday.An official from the district where Friday’s attacks happened, told the Reuters news agency that 30 people were killed and they were buried on Sunday.Amnesty International urged Nigerian authorities to secure the release of the worshippers, warning of the growing threat posed by mass abductions in northern Nigeria.In its first public statement on the incident, the Nigerian presidency condemned the “cowardly attack on defenceless Nigerians” and pledged that those responsible would be brought to justice.“You are not alone,” Tinubu wrote, addressing the families of those killed and kidnapped. “The entire nation shares your anguish. We will not rest until your sons, daughters, mothers and fathers are brought back safely to you.”Abubakar Umar, head of the Dekera community, told Reuters that at least 2,000 people fled into neighbouring Benin after the attacks.Northwest Nigeria has long been a transit zone for arms and gunmen crossing through West Africa. Alongside neighbouring Niger, Chad and Benin, the area is increasingly the site of Boko Haram and ISIL (ISIS) attacks.Kabir Adamu, an Abuja-based security expert, told Reuters it was not possible to say who was responsible for the mass abductions but he expected the gunmen who released the video to reach out and demand a ransom.The kidnapping, which took place in broad daylight, showed how ineffective security operations in Nigeria have been, he said.“We will defend our people, protect our communities, and uphold the sanctity of human life,” Tinubu said, noting he had directed the country’s security chiefs to give him regular briefings on the rescue operation’s progress “until all those abducted are accounted for”.
Read briefing The Syrian Democratic Forces announces its dissolution after merging with Syria’s army.Founded in 2015 at the height of the Syrian war, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has officially dissolved.But after the regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed in December 2024, the army launched an offensive in the region.The SDF lost much of its territory – and agreed to merge with the national armed forces.So, what does the deal between Damascus and the SDF mean for Syria after the fall of al-Assad?
Read briefing A debt ceiling would trigger automatic spending cuts, which conservatives could use to pare back social programmes.An economic adviser for the campaign of Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has said that the candidate will institute a debt ceiling if he wins Brazil’s presidency in October.Adolfo Sachsida, a lawyer and economist who joined Bolsonaro’s economic team last week, said in a social media post on Wednesday that the measure would help improve Brazil’s fiscal reputation and rein in spending.“We will approve a ceiling for public debt. If debt is too high, a spending cap is triggered, putting the fiscal trajectory on a sustainable path,” Sachsida said in a video shared on X.Senator Bolsonaro, the son of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, is the main challenger facing off against leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in this year’s presidential election.Should the two men advance to a run-off, the poll found that Lula would eke out a victory of 46 percent to Bolsonaro’s 45 percent. Other polls have shown Lula with a slight advantage over his rival.The economy is slated to be a key factor in the race. While inflation has slowed and unemployment has fallen to record lows in recent months, the Bolsonaro campaign has warned that another Lula victory would lead to a recession.While conservatives have promoted debt ceilings as a means of promoting fiscal constraint, critics have pointed out that they limit government spending during periods of crisis.Conservatives often favour such caps as a path to cutting government social programmes.Brazil’s public debt is about 82 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), an increase of more than 10 percent since Lula returned to office in 2023.Last week, Bolsonaro added new economic advisers to his campaign team, including Sachsida, who was appointed as the minister of mines and energy in 2022, under his father Jair Bolsonaro.In a Substack post before joining the Bolsonaro campaign, Sachsida said that a debt ceiling could be “similar to the one adopted in Brazil in the recent past”, with cuts automatically occurring whenever gross public debt rose past 65 percent of GDP.In 2016, under the presidency of pro-market politician Michel Temer, Brazil’s legislature passed a constitutional amendment to allow for a spending cap.That measure limited federal spending increases to the inflation rate of the previous year, essentially barring the government from expanding its budget.That rule was weakened several times before being replaced by a new fiscal framework implemented by Lula in 2023, which combines primary balance targets with increases in real expenditure between 0.6 percent and 2.5 percent per year.Lula, a former trade union leader, has used his time in office to undertake significant poverty-reduction programmes, including through investment in social welfare programmes.His campaign for re-election has pointed to successes under his administration, including an uptick in the value of Brazil’s currency and lower unemployment figures.But with interest rates relatively high, Lula’s economic platform has been a target for criticism from the right wing.Like many recent elections in Latin America, Brazil’s presidential race is also playing out under the threat of interference from United States President Donald Trump, who has previously used threats and economic leverage to boost his preferred candidates.Trump is considered to be close to the Bolsonaro campaign. But it is unclear how Trump’s tariffs against Brazil might shape public sentiment in the election season.Last year, for instance, Trump imposed heavy tariffs on certain Brazilian exports as a means of pressuring the country to end its prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro.The elder Bolsonaro was accused of leading a coup attempt after his re-election loss to Lula in 2022. He is now serving 27 years in prison.In December, he endorsed his son Flavio Bolsonaro to represent the right-wing Liberal Party in this year’s presidential race.
Read briefing Residents of Tunisia’s coastal town of Ben Guerdane on Wednesday attended the funerals of eight young migrants who drowned after their boat sank. They were among 15 people aboard a small vessel attempting to reach Europe.
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