Six soldiers killed in Boko Haram attack in Cameroon

An attack by Nigeria's Boko Haram jihadists against a Lake Chad army base manned by an anti-insurgent regional force has left six Cameroonian soldiers dead, a military source said on Tuesday.

"Boko Haram attacked a base of the Mixed Multinational Force on the island of Darak [on Lake Chad] at around 2200" on Monday, said the source, who asked not to be named.

He said six soldiers had been killed.

Boko Haram frequently travel around the many islands of Lake Chad, which borders northeast Nigeria, the far north of Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

A civilian from a vigilante group working with security forces to combat Boko Haram incursions was also killed, another security source said.

The jihadist group, which is seeking to impose strict Islamic sharia law in Nigeria's mainly-Muslim north, has killed at least 20 000 people and left more than 2.6 million homeless in its six-year insurgency. 

Cameroon has battled the extremist group since 2014 and has joined Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Benin in setting up a joint force against Boko Haram.

The regional counter-offensive has helped the Nigerian military retake swathes of territory from the insurgents, but the jihadist group still poses a security threat to civilians. 

Also on Monday evening, a would-be suicide bomber was shot dead before detonating her device as she sped on a motorbike towards a military roadblock near the Cameroonian border town of Kolofata.

Former al-Qaeda-linked leader arrests in Libya

A Libyan anti-terrorism security force says authorities have arrested a wife of the one-eyed militant leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar, once considered the most dangerous man in the Sahara and formerly a top al-Qaeda figure in North Africa.

Tuesday's statement from the force says one of Belmokhtar's wives, Asma Kadousi, was arrested on Saturday along with a female companion en route from the militant stronghold of Darna, an eastern city, where she gave birth to a baby. Kadousi was reportedly heading to the central province of Joufra.

The statement says Belmokhtar is believed to be in southern Libya.

Belmokhtar is linked to the 2013 attack on a Western-owned gas facility in Algeria that killed scores of hostages, including Americans. A US drone strike last year failed to kill him in eastern Libya.

Libya unity forces say closing on Sirte jihadists

 Forces loyal to Libya's government of National Accord said on Monday that they are closing in on the last Islamic State group fighters in the coastal city of Sirte.

The pro-GNA forces said they managed to dislodge ISIS fighters from a fortified school in the Al-Giza Al-Bahriya district that the jihadists had fiercely defended.

Artillery pounded IS positions as pro-GNA fighters mainly from the western town of Misrata advanced house by house, said an AFP correspondent who reported seeing wounded.

But the pro-GNA forces gave no casualty figures.

Sirte, 450km east of the capital Tripoli, had a population of 120 000 before ISIS seized it in June 2015 and residents began to flee.

The pro-government forces announced the launch of the battle for Sirte on May 12 and, within weeks, they recaptured large chunks of the coastal city.

But the pro-GNA forces slowed down the offensive in an effort to avoid losses among their own ranks and to protect civilians trapped in the city.

The fighting has left at least 667 GNA fighters dead and 3 000 wounded. The death toll for the jihadists is not known.

Banking fraud is costing the Nigerian economy dearly

Electronic banking fraud is affecting Nigeria’s banking system and costing the Nigerian economy dearly. It is also holding back the adoption of cashless technologies and has become an obstacle to financial inclusion in Africa’s second largest economy.

Recent data shows that last year electronic fraud in the banking sector accounts for about 16% of total fraud in the industry. 

The implications of rampant e-fraud are enormous. People who already have a bank account are reluctant to adopt e-banking. And it’s an obstacle to drawing those who don’t have bank accounts into the formal financial system. In Nigeria only 53% of the population is in the banking system.

This has broader economic implications because e-banking is known to play a developmental role and because it allows poor people to have access to formal financial services.

Our research shows that pervasive e-fraud is also hampering Nigeria’s drive to encourage electronic transactions in a bid to reduce physical cash in the economy. The logic behind it is that less cash in the system will reduce the risk of cash related crimes, foster transparency, curb corruption and leakages and drive financial inclusion. But Nigeria’s high levels of electronic fraud is threatening the creation of a cashless ecosystem. 

In a climate of mounting complaints from e-banking customers and subscribers, we investigated the dimensions of e-fraud in Nigeria. We collected data in three states – Oyo, Ogun and Lagos – and did in-depth interviews with fraud victims, bank officials and fraud investigators at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, an agency that investigates fraud and prosecutes offenders.

Wide ranging fraudulent schemes

In its 2015 report the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation sets out a long list of the different types of e-fraud Nigerians are subjected to. It identified 14 major fraud channels.

The leading source of fraud is automated teller machines (ATMs) where cards are compromised or swapped. Cards are swapped mostly at ATM galleries where illiterate account holders ask for help when trying to make withdrawals. The “helper” may have an expired ATM card and, in the process of offering assistance, swaps the victim’s card with a non-functional card.

ATM fraud is also carried out by people very close to the victim including spouses, boyfriends and friends. 

Then there is the fake job scam. Here job adverts are posted and applicants are told they must open a bank account and submit their ATM card. The cards are then used in mass fund transfer and withdrawal. Account holders are almost always oblivious of the transactions taking place and face arrest for fraudulent transactions on their account.

The list also includes fund transfer fraud and phishing where fake e-mails and websites are used to prompt bank clients to divulge their account security information.

Outsiders and insiders

Our research found that there are three main strategies of electronic fraud in Nigeria:

• Outsider fraud committed by fraudsters external to the banking system that have internet dexterity and sometimes an understanding of the victims’ routine and identity.
• Insider fraud that is executed exclusively by staff members in the banking system. This is determined by the jobs they do and an understanding of the system. Here the banking institution is the victim.
• Collaborative fraud that involves bank staff and fraudsters outside the banking system. Here both the bank and individual account holders are victims.

Outside fraudsters recruit people who have access and occupy sensitive positions within the bank such as cleaners and those in the information communication and technology unit. Not all participants are fully aware of their role or final purpose of their assignment. 

A fraud investigator unpacked one case of fraud which involved moving about Naira 400 million (approximately US$1,268,000) from a bank account. It involved some bank staff in the technology unit and those in the regular banking hall. A woman who cleaned the office of the branch manager was given the means to extract the necessary security information and data from the branch manager’s computer. The fraudsters were then able to access accounts and moved money into about 40 different accounts.

Another way bank staff commit fraud is when a cashier collects a cash deposit, deliberately fails to credit the customer’s account and later diverts the money to their personal account. 

This strategy only works if account holders don’t get alerts about transactions on their account. Fraudsters prey on the fact that not all account holders subscribe to account transaction alerts because they often don’t want to pay the subscription fee for the service.

We also found that weak governance structures are responsible for electronic fraud. This is at the level of both banking institutions and regulating agencies. Our data indicated that there was poor supervision at the branch, regional and zonal levels of some banks where fraud took place. 

The situation is made worse by bank managers trying to cover inefficient supervision rather than reporting the crime. And the fact that the majority of bank staff are not full time also plays a significant role. We found that 64% of fraud was carried out by contract or casual staff.

What can be done

The results of this study point to the need for financial literacy education in Nigeria and improvements in the security infrastructure with a view to building confidence in the formal banking sector as well as e-banking. In addition, banking products and services should be designed with security features that take into consideration the peculiar characteristics and vulnerabilities of their customers.

Oludayo Tade, Lecturer of Criminology, Deviance and Social Problems, University of Ibadan and Oluwatosin Adeniyi, PhD Economics, University of Ibadan

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Nigerian farmers, fishermen sue Shell in UK over pollution

Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of Nigeria's Ogale people, unpacked four bottles of water from his homeland and lined them up on a table to show why his subjects are suing Royal Dutch Shell in a London court.

The Nigerian water is contaminated with oil and cancer-causing compounds such as benzene. It's what his people drink every day.

Britain's High Court will begin hearing lawsuits on Tuesday filed by the Ogale and Bille people alleging that decades of oil spills have fouled the water and destroyed the lives of thousands of fishermen and farmers in the Niger River Delta, where a Shell subsidiary has operated since the 1950s. 

They brought their fight to Shell's home base because they say the Nigerian courts are too corrupt.

"Let the shareholders of Shell who are residents of the advanced world, like Britain, let them see a representative of a kingdom that is being destroyed for them to have money," he told The Associated Press on the eve of the hearing. "That's blood money."

London law firm Leigh Day is handling the cases after it won a landmark agreement from Shell to pay $83.5m in compensation to the Bodo community for damage caused by oil spills in 2008 and 2009. Shell originally offered $50 000 before the Bodo took their case to the same UK court.

The new lawsuits were brought by two communities located in Ogoniland, part of the oil-rich southern Niger River Delta. 

They want to hold Shell, incorporated in the UK, responsible for the actions of its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd., or SPDC.

The subsidiary said it has produced no oil or gas in the region since 1993.

The area is heavily affected by crude oil theft, pipeline sabotage and illegal refining. It is arguing in court that the legal challenge is speculative and full of "legal and evidential weaknesses."

SPDC, the operator of a joint venture between the Nigerian government, Shell and two other oil companies, said it will challenge the jurisdiction of the UK courts in this case - arguing that it concerned Nigerian plaintiffs, in dispute with a Nigerian company over issues in Nigeria.

"If the Claimants' lawyers are correct as to the existence of this novel duty of care, [Shell] and many other parents of multinational groups will be liable to the many hundreds of millions of people around the world with whom their subsidiaries come into contact in the ordinary course of their various operations," the company said in its court argument. "That would constitute a radical if not historic expansion of the law and open the floodgates to litigation on an unprecedented scale."

The Ogale and Bille communities account for only a small portion of the millions of Nigerians that human rights activists say have been injured by contamination they say would never have been allowed in the home countries of the multinational oil companies that operate in partnership with the Nigerian government.

Shell was the first oil company to operate in Nigeria, starting production in 1958. In the 1990s, the military government sent armed troops to put down protests by the Ogoni people, turning the oil-producing south into a war zone.

One of the leaders of those protests was Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and environmental activist whose opposition helped stop Shell's production in Ogoniland. 

He and eight others were hanged by the government of military dictator Sani Abacha in November 1995 in a case the US condemned.

President Muhammadu Buhari has promised a cleanup of Ogoniland, which was supposed to start in June but has been delayed.

The new lawsuits come at a time when Shell is pivoting toward other areas, like Brazil. 

It recently bought BG Group Plc for $52.4bln , increasing its proven reserves of oil and gas by 25%. And like other oil companies, it is also slashing jobs and postponing investments to adjust to lower oil prices.

But Shell is still seen as having deep pockets, said David Elmes, course director of the Warwick Business School's Global Energy Research Network. While Shell would argue that its settlement with the Bodo community shows its willingness to provide compensation for problems it caused, the new cases involve damage arising from what Shell says is sabotage and theft, Elmes said.

And as Shell looks to move to other countries, "people who feel they have a case against the company are looking to take action now," he said.

In a 2011 report, the UN said that in at least 10 communities in Ogoniland, public health was "seriously threatened" by drinking water contaminated with hydrocarbons.

In one area, the water contained the carcinogen benzene at levels 900 times higher than what the World Health Organization says is safe.

While the report recognised that oil production in the region had ceased, it criticised Shell's oversight of the remaining facilities.

The report recommended emergency measures to provide adequate drinking water. But so far nothing has been done, said Okpabi who describes himself as the paramount ruler of the Ogale people.

He brought the bottles of water to his lawyer's office in London just to make the point.

Removing his hat and leaning forward, he argues his people have been made poorer by the destruction of an ecosystem. 

He is angry at Shell, arguing that it called the shots for its Nigerian subsidiary and so should be held accountable in Britain.

"My system cannot give me justice," Okpabi said. "There is only one place that can give me justice. That is why I am here.

Trevor Noah Opens Up About Love for His Mom, Childhood in S.A

Trevor Noah has become an open book—fairly literally. Or at least literarily.

The South African comedian may have achieved a whole new level of success as host of The Daily Show that he couldn't have imagined when he got his start doing stand-up and television in his native country, but he hasn't forgotten his roots. Far from it, in fact.

In his new memoir, Born A Crime, available now in stores and online, Noah opens up about his life story, from growing up in poverty to dating as a teen and then rising to stardom on late-night TV. But first, it all started with being born to a black mother and white father whose coupling was considered a crime in apartheid-era South Africa.

"I want to share [my] story [because] I know so many of us are judged on face value," Noah explained to E! News. "So many of us have lived lives where there's a history we want to forget. There's a period you go, 'I wouldn't mind forgetting about this,' but when you can share the fact that you also have that then maybe people go, 'Oh, I can relate.' We like to know we share something in common with other human beings. It's how we build our communities."

As for why felt it was so important to write this book, he says that it helped him remember how exactly he got to where he his today.

Random House

"I think writing the book made me appreciate everything even more because sometimes you forget where you've come from, sometimes you forget how far you've come and you get caught up in literal first world problems," Noah, 32, explained. "I've come so far in my life that I can almost take a moment to breathe and go, 'I appreciate all of this.'"

And as mentioned, the book's title isn't an exaggeration.

"I was born in South Africa during a time known as apartheid, and apartheid was a system of laws that restricted the movement of people people, but more importantly the associating of different races," he explained. "My mother is a black woman who is from South Africa and my father is Swiss from Switzerland and they broke these laws and had me during that time and so I was born a crime."

And as much as this is Noah's story, he doesn't feel that the book is about him, but rather his mother, Patricia, who, as he explains in the book, went through a great deal of hardship after he was born—including being jailed for violating the oppressive race relation laws.

"This is a story that is, if anything, a love letter to my mom," he said. "I don't think I truly knew how much I should have appreciated her."

"I always thought that I was going to be the hero of my own journey, but once I was done writing the book I was like, 'Oh no, I'm just a lucky sidekick that got to come along for the ride.'"

We have a feeling someone has made his mother quite proud.

Born a Crime is on sale now, and The Daily Show With Trevor Noahairs Monday-Thursday at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central.

Kanye West is Hospitalised in L.A

Less than a day after cancelling the remainder of his Saint Pablo tour, Kanye West has been hospitalized.

News has learned that the Grammy-winning rapper admitted himself into a Los Angeles area hospital Monday evening. A source tells us that "he is exhausted."

According to NBC News' sources, no criminal activity was involved and the decision to hospitalize the "Fade" rapper was for "his own health and safety."

We've also learned that the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call at 1:20 p.m. and upon the authorities' arrival, "the disturbance call became a medical emergency" only.

The news comes on the heels of Yeezy's controversial rant mid-concert about his recent rift between longtime friends Jay Z and Beyoncé as well as his comments on Hillary Clinton and President-Elect Donald Trump.

"The remaining dates on the Saint Pablo Tour have been canceled," a rep for West told E! News in a statement. "Tickets will be fully refunded at point of purchase."

After arriving 90 minutes late to his show in Sacramento Saturday, West ranted about his new feud with the music power couple—then left after three songs, shouting, "I'm on my Trump s--t tonight."

"Beyoncé, I was hurt 'cause I heard that you said you wouldn't perform unless you won Video of the Year over me and over 'Hotline Bling.' Now, don't go trying to diss Beyoncé. She is great. Taylor Swift is great. We are all great people. We are all people. But sometimes we be playing the politics too much and forgetting who we are just to win. F--k winning. F--k looking cool. F--k being cool," the 39-year-old rapper explained during his show.

"I've been sent here to give y'all my truth even at the risk of my own life, even at the risk of my own success, my own career. I've been sent here to give y'all the truth. Jay Z—call me, bruh. You still ain't called me. Jay Z, call me, Jay Z; I know you got killers. Please don't send them at my head. Just call me. Talk to me like a man."

This wasn't the first bump in the road for West's Saint Pablo tour, however, as back in October he stopped the show early due to a family emergency.

Moments later, it was revealed that Kim Kardashian had been robbed at gunpoint in Paris.