Nigeria Roundup: Mpox vaccines, money laundering, kidnapping

Nigeria receives Mpox vaccines

Nigeria, with 1% of Africa's confirmed mpox cases, is the first African country to receive a vaccine shipment outside a clinical trial. According to Health Policy Watch, this week, Nigeria received 10,000 doses of Jynneos, donated by the U.S. Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa CDC. The outfit also confirmed Nigeria is one of two African countries to approve the vaccine.

Uganda's Embassy 'involved' in money laundering

Detectives are investigating Uganda’s Embassy in Nigeria, including Ambassador Nelson Ocheger, for money laundering on President Museveni's orders. This follows reports of criminality at Uganda’s consulate in Dubai. As reported by Chim Reports, police have requested files from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. CID's Deputy Director, Jackson Tweheyo, wrote to Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Vincent Bagiire on July 9, 2024, for documentation.

Ethiopian Airlines withdraws national carrier interest

Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew Bekele announced that the airline no longer intends to establish a national carrier for Nigeria. In a Bloomberg Africa interview, Bekele stated that plans with institutional investors and the Nigerian government have concluded. Business Daily reports Bekele said, "We don’t have any intention to partner with any of the Nigerian airlines today because it has been politicised."

Over 7,000 Nigerians kidnapped in a year

Over the past year, 7,568 Nigerians were abducted in 1,130 incidents, with bandits demanding nearly N11 billion in ransoms, according to a report by SB Morgen Intel. The report, titled 'Grim Reaping: Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry,' reveals that kidnappers received N1 billion out of the N10.9 billion demanded, Business Daily reports. “Between July 2023 and June 2024, no fewer than 7,568 people were abducted in 1,130 incidents across the country,” the Africa-focused market and security intelligence firm said.

SIM card fraud uncovered

The NCC uncovered cases of Nigerians registering over 100,000 lines each. This discovery, made with ONSA and NIMC during the NIN-SIM linkage exercise, highlights that individuals can register up to 4 SIM cards per network operator, excluding IoT devices. According to Nairametrics, the NCC warned that individuals with numerous SIM cards pose a security threat and will continue collaborating with security agencies to crack down on pre-registered SIM sales, safeguarding national security and mobile number integrity.