Kidnapping crisis in Nigeria: more about cash than ideology?

Over a hundred students were taken and one person was shot dead at an Islamic school in Niger State, Nigeria, during the weekend. Dr. Ona Ekhomu is President of Trans-World Security agency in Lagos and author of the book 'Boko Haram: Security considerations and the Rise of an Insurgency'; he thinks that the recent spike of abduction cases in Nigeria is less about ideology or religion, and more about 'making cash';

A Turkish citizen abducted from the streets of Kenya’s capital Nairobi has been flown to Turkey, according to Turkish state media;

Voters in the self-declared republic of Somaliland hope that today's much-delayed parliamentary and municipal elections will boost the breakaway republic's chances of gaining international recognition as an independent state;

Cameroon says it has recovered over 55 million US Dollars in an ongoing headcount of civil servants and state employees. It is an attempt to curb absentee workers from the State's payroll.

Photo: Parents and relatives of students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization in Kaduna who have been abducted, hold placards during a demonstration in Abuja on May 4, 2021 to demand the release of their families who has spent 55 days in captivity. Credit: KOLA SULAIMON/AFP via Getty Images)