News
Russia’s African Expendables?
Russia’s African Expendables?
•As another Nigerian is buried in Ukraine, Russia’s denials collapse under the weight of the dead
By Oumarou Sanou
Another Nigerian has been killed in Ukraine, fighting for Russia. Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence identified him as Ayebusiwa Olabode Victor, born in 1992, a son of Ilutitun in Ondo State, who was killed near the settlement of Hrafske in the Kharkiv region. He had signed his mercenary contract in late February, barely a week after Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned citizens against being lured into foreign wars. He did not heed the warning, or perhaps never saw it. Either way, he is now a statistic in a war he had no business dying in.
The death of any African abroad is a tragedy. This one is worse, because it comes amid Moscow’s flat insistence that no such thing is happening. And Victor is neither the first nor, sadly, the last. Before him, the bodies of two Nigerians were recovered in Luhansk. By Ukraine’s count, at least 215 Nigerians have signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defence, with no fewer than 25 already killed or missing. A wider investigation by INPACT, a group that tracks Russian disinformation in Africa, puts the figure at more than 1,400 Africans recruited between 2023 and 2025; Nigerians, Ghanaians, Kenyans, Ugandans and South Africans, of whom at least 316 have died on Ukrainian soil. These are not abstractions. They are sons, brothers and breadwinners.
All of this unfolds against the Kremlin’s denial that it recruits Africans at all. In December, in Accra, a Russian official insisted African students were “safe.” On February 10 this year, the Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Andrey Podyelyshev, dismissed reports of recruitment as “misleading” and unrelated to his government. Yet casualties do not lie, and Moscow’s own propagandists tell a different story. Mikhail Zvinchuk, a pro-war commentator tied to the Russian defence ministry, has openly described the scheme on Kremlin-aligned television: fake job adverts on Facebook and WhatsApp, easy visas, one-way tickets, and employment that evaporates on arrival. Passports are confiscated “for processing.” Within days, the victim is broke, his visa cancelled, and offered a grim menu: deportation with debt, prison, or a contract with the army written in a language he cannot read.
The testimonies make the machinery horrifyingly concrete. Bankole Manchi, a 36-year-old mechanic from Lagos, says he was promised the equivalent of ₦500,000 a month and signed papers he did not understand. Routed through Addis Ababa to Moscow and handed to two strangers, he woke to a military camp filled with men from Nigeria, Ghana, Brazil and China, most of whom were unable to speak to one another. “Once you enter the camp, there is no going back,” he recalled. He left with a gunshot wound to the leg. A Ugandan, promised work in a supermarket, was marched to the front under armed guard before escaping toward Ukrainian lines. Here at home, the names accumulate: Adekunle Adaramola, a former Air Force man; Adam Anas; Akinlawon Tunde Quyuum; Abugu Stanley Onyeka; Balogun Ridwan Adisa, all baited with “security jobs,” all conscripted after three weeks of training, all dead. The details vary; the pattern never does.
This is not migration gone wrong. It is trafficking by design, and it wears the respectable mask of culture and cooperation. Investigators point to the so-called Russian Houses — cultural centres run under the state agency Rossotrudnichestvo — as nodes in this ecosystem. Cultural diplomacy is legitimate; every major power teaches its language and offers scholarships. But unlike the British Council or the Goethe-Institut, the Russian Houses operate under an opaque franchise model that allows private actors, some linked to Russia’s mercenary networks, to act in Moscow’s name while granting Moscow deniability. In Ghana, university partnerships allegedly accompanied the enlistment of 272 nationals, 55 of them now dead. When language classes and scholarships double as recruitment funnels, education itself has been weaponised.
Here lies the deeper hypocrisy. Russia has sold itself across Africa as the anti-imperial alternative to a West weighed down by colonial guilt, and its disinformation ecosystem — the same apparatus that pushed “For eight years they bombed Donbas!” and branded Ukraine’s leaders Nazis — has won real disciples here. But a power that grinds African boys into front-line fodder forfeits any claim to anti-imperialism. It is practising the oldest imperialism of all: treating other men’s lives as cheap and expendable. That the workforce sustaining Russia’s faltering offensive is increasingly African, even as North Korean troops withdraw and casualties mount, is no coincidence. It is procurement.
Yet the deepest vulnerability is ours, and it is not military. It is economic desperation. When legitimate pathways to a decent life are scarce, a promise of overseas work becomes almost impossible to refuse; what looks like hope to a family looks like opportunity to a recruiter. Russia, like every state, pursues its interests, international politics was never charity. The scandal is not that Moscow has interests, but that African lives are treated as expendable within them, and that African governments have largely met the dying with silence. The few official responses have been feeble, mixed and muted.
The lesson is larger than Russia. No external power: not Russia, not China, not Europe, not the United States, courts Africa out of altruism; each must be judged on transparency, reciprocity and tangible benefit. African states are entitled, indeed obliged, to pursue their own interests, beginning with the lives of their citizens. That means auditing these cultural centres, dismantling the recruitment pipelines, summoning Russian envoys to account, warning every job-seeker that Moscow’s “lucrative” offer is too often a death sentence, and, above all, building enough opportunity at home that the bait stops working. To keep looking away as the bodies return is to consent to a second slave trade conducted under a diplomatic flag. By the time we admit it, the denials will no longer matter.
Oumarou Sanou is a social critic, Pan-African observer and researcher focusing on governance, security and political transitions in the Sahel. He writes on geopolitics, regional stability, and African leadership dynamics. Contact: sanououmarou386@gmail.com
Russia’s African Expendables?
North-East Governors Push Regional Energy Agenda, Seek Speedy Completion of Mambila Hydropower
By: Our Reporter
The Northeast Governors’ Forum (NEGF) says it has transformed power supply from a problem that each state handles independently to a shared regional energy agenda for the sub-region.
It also wants member states to take full advantage of the new electricity law and the region’s abundant sunshine to expand solar and mini-grid technologies.
The position was stated in an eleven-point communiqué issued in Maiduguri on Saturday at the end of the Forum’s 13th meeting.
The communiqué, signed by Forum’s chairman and Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, and read by the Vice Chairman of the Forum and Adamawa State Governor, Alhaji Ahmodu Umoru Fintiri.
The governors noted that the Dadinkowa hydropower plant in Gombe State now feeds the national grid.
They described this as one result of their joint efforts to provide power and energise the sub-region.
The Forum restated its long-standing concern over what it called the seeming neglect of the Mambila hydropower plant in Taraba State, urging the Federal Government to use the recent arbitration ruling, which cleared the project’s legal encumbrance, to speed up the plant’s completion and take-off.
The Forum agreed to partner with Green Ville Energy to build more Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) stations across the region to cut transport costs.
The Governors also thanked the Federal Government, through the North East Development Commission (NEDC), for providing 10,000 electric tricycles, 10 electric buses and 300 electric taxis, which are expected to be launched later this month to ease the burden of transportation.
They also resolved to set up a North-East regional air shuttle, which, according to them, would make it faster and easier to move people and goods within the region and to other parts of the country.
The Forum commended President Bola Tinubu for paying renewed attention to the PortHarcourt–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Maiduguri rail corridor, the Akwanga–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Biu–Maiduguri highway, and frontier oil exploration at Kolmani.
However, it called on the Federal Government to revisit oil exploration activities that began but later stalled in Magumeri and Gubio Local Government Areas of Borno State.
On security, the governors acknowledged the appreciable success recorded against the insurgency, commending the courage and sacrifice of the Armed Forces and other security agencies.
The Forum noted that the North-East has one of the youngest populations in the country. It recommitted to providing young people with quality education, vocational and entrepreneurial skills, technology, and meaningful jobs.
On the environment, the Forum condemned the extent of damage caused by deforestation and resolved to partner with the Forestry Research Institute to train forest experts in the region.
The meeting was attended by Governor Zulum, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State and Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State. Bauchi State and Yobe State were represented by their Deputy Governors, Rt. Hon. Mohammed Auwal Jatau, and Alhaji Idi Barde Gubana. The Deputy Governor of Borno State, Umar Usman Kadafur, was also in attendance.
Since its inaugural meeting in Gombe in March 2020, the Forum said its greatest achievement has been its members’ unity, noting that this unity has given the region a collective voice delivering real infrastructural development.
The 14th meeting of the Forum is scheduled to hold in Gombe on December 18 and 19, 2026.
North-East Governors Push Regional Energy Agenda, Seek Speedy Completion of Mambila Hydropower
Army, Police, DSS launch aggressive operation to rescue 20 abducted NYSC members in Imo
By: Zagazola Makama
The Nigerian Army, Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies have intensified search-and-rescue operations to secure the release of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri–Onitsha Road in Imo State.
The victims were reportedly kidnapped on Oct. 1 around Umunoha, with security forces subsequently launching coordinated operations to track down the perpetrators and rescue the abductees.
Security sources told Zagazola Makama that troops of the 34 Artillery Brigade, alongside personnel of the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police Force, DSS, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and local vigilantes, launched an offensive operation in Amakohia Forest at about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3.
The operation followed intelligence gathered during efforts to trace the kidnappers and establish their possible locations.
The sources said the kidnappers had contacted the families of seven victims using telephone numbers belonging to the abducted persons and demanded a ransom of N50 million for each victim.
Operatives of the DSS reportedly geolocated the telephone numbers used for the ransom calls, providing intelligence to support efforts to track the suspects.
In a related development, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, has deployed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, DIG Shehu Umar Nadada, to Imo State to provide operational direction for the rescue mission.
The DIG arrived in the state with two commissioners of police and conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the incident and ongoing search-and-rescue efforts by the Imo State Police Command.
The assessment involved the Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command, CP Audu Garba Bosso; Commissioner of Police, Federal Operations, CP Akpan Anifiok; the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Police Mobile Force; and other service commanders and members of the command’s management team.
The police delegation reviewed operational strategies, personnel deployment and available operational assets, while issuing additional directives to strengthen the coordinated response.
The Police said tactical teams and operational assets had been deployed across identified areas, with intelligence-led tracking efforts being intensified in collaboration with other security agencies.
DIG Nadada assured the public that the Police would sustain the operation until the abducted persons were safely rescued and the perpetrators apprehended.
He urged residents to remain calm and vigilant, while encouraging anyone with credible information that could assist the operation to contact the Police or the nearest security formation. He added that information received would be treated confidentially.
As of the time of filing this report, the joint operation was ongoing, with security agencies yet to announce the rescue of the 20 abducted prospective corps members.
The authorities have urged the public to avoid spreading unverified information that could undermine ongoing operations.
Army, Police, DSS launch aggressive operation to rescue 20 abducted NYSC members in Imo
News
Zulum commends Tinubu for reviving Kolmani oil exploration, urges Borno’s oil field work revived
Zulum commends Tinubu for reviving Kolmani oil exploration, urges Borno’s oil field work revived
By: Our Reporter
Borno State Governor and Chairman of North-East Governors’ Forum, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for reviving oil exploration activities at the Kolmani wells while urging that work on Borno State’s own oil fields be similarly revived.
Zulum made the commendation on Saturday at the 13th regular meeting of North-East Governors’ Forum, held at the Multipurpose Hall of the Government House in Maiduguri.
The two-day meeting, which began on October 2 and ends on October 3, 2026, brought together governors from the six northeastern states to deliberate on regional development, security, and economic cooperation.
Other governors in attendance were Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa, and Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe. The Governors of Bauchi and Yobe states were represented at the meeting by their deputies.
In his address, Zulum noted that the resumption of oil exploration in the northeast, particularly Kolmani and the Lake Chad basin, was a critical component of the region’s economic revival strategy.
He said, “Distinguished colleagues, I wish to begin by expressing our sincere appreciation to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for the Federal Government’s continued commitment to the development of the North-East.”
“We particularly welcome the renewed efforts towards reviving exploration activities at the Kolmani Oil Field in Bauchi State. The revival of this important project represents more than an investment in the oil and gas sector; it offers an opportunity to unlock new economic possibilities, create employment, stimulate infrastructure development and broaden the revenue base of our states and communities.”
The Forum Chairman, however, urged that the momentum be extended to Borno State’s oil fields, stressing that reviving exploration activities there would complement military operations and accelerate development across the sub-region. He emphasised that renewed federal support for oil exploration in Kolmani and Lake Chad would help diversify the region’s economy and create much-needed jobs.
“In the same spirit, we respectfully urge the Federal Government to revisit the exploration activities earlier commenced but subsequently stalled in Magumeri and Gubio Local Government Areas of Borno State.”
“Responsible exploration and development of our natural resources can complement ongoing reconstruction efforts, strengthen local economies, restore livelihoods and create sustainable opportunities for our rapidly growing population,” Zulum stated.
Also speaking, Gombe State Governor, Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya, listed achievements since the forum’s creation, including establishing the North-East Education Council.
He said, “Our states are addressing the Almajiri and out-of-school children challenge through practical models, from Borno’s Tsangaya Commission to Taraba’s Almajiri Model Education Centres and our own Integrated Almajiri Education Centres in Gombe. Our Commissioners of Health also came together in 2024 to form a regional health platform to increase intra-regional responsiveness and share best practices.”
The 13th North-East Governors’ Forum meeting is expected to issue a communiqué outlining measures on security, economic integration, and infrastructure development.
Dignitaries present include the Deputy Governor of Borno, Umar Usman Kadafur; APC Gubernatorial Candidate Mustapha Gubio; his deputy, Ali Isa Abdullahi; APC Deputy National Chairman Ali Bukar Dalori; and APC State Chairman Bello Ayuba.
Also in attendance were members of the traditional councils of the states in the region, led by the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Garbai Elakanemi.
Zulum commends Tinubu for reviving Kolmani oil exploration, urges Borno’s oil field work revived
North-East Governors Push Regional Energy Agenda, Seek Speedy Completion of Mambila Hydropower
Army, Police, DSS launch aggressive operation to rescue 20 abducted NYSC members in Imo
Zulum commends Tinubu for reviving Kolmani oil exploration, urges Borno’s oil field work revived
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