Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has sent a bill to the National Assembly which seeks the establishment of a National Agency for the Prevention and Control of AIDS (NAPCA), news organisations said.

Nigeria has had an upsurge of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the last 10 years, with more than 200,000 people suffering from the disease every year, its health minister was reported as saying last week.

Authorities in the northern Nigerian city of Kano confirmed at least 18 dead Sunday, after two days of clashes between police and anti-US protesters. Others said hundreds may have died.

A Presidental order on the privatisation of Nigerdock may have prompted the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to redouble its efforts at meeting the October 15 deadline for the receipt of technical and financial bids on the company.

More than 3,000 Muslims on Sunday attended a rally in northern Nigeria's mainly Islamic city of Kano during which organisers expressed support for Osama bin Laden.

The Nigerian Senate's committee on women's affairs and youth has announced that it will hold public hearings to investigate child labour, sex trading and other forms of exploitation to which minors are subjected, AFP reported on Sunday.

Many of the world's largest banks have been ordered by the UK High Court to freeze accounts linked to General Sani Abacha as part of Nigeria's search for more than $3bn looted during the late dictator's rule.

BAIL bond is not a saleable commodity in Nigeria, but the police are known to be collecting varying amount of money from sureties, usually in thousands.

On Thursday, September 27, the Federal Republic of Nigeria ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, thereby becoming the 39th State Party to the treaty.

Life is returning to normal in the central Nigerian city of Jos after bloody clashes earlier this month between Muslims and Christians, but there are fears that the underlying tensions may have wider national and international ramifications.

The Federal Government has approved the establishment of anti-corruption unit in all ministries and parastatals in the federal public service. This was the outcome of the Federal Executive Council meeting held in Abuja yesterday.

More than 200 victims of traffickers of women and children have been sent back to Nigeria from various countries within one month, according to reports received by a presidential committee set up to fight the trafficking of human beings.

Indications of an impending Senate probe into the activities of the Ministry of Defence emerged yesterday following allegations of corruption levelled against one of its ministers in the execution of the 2001 budget.

Environmentalists have warned that many African states are failing to manage their environmental resources properly. Nigeria`s environment is costing Africa`s most populous country over US$5-billion a year in ruined land and lost forests, much of the damage from oil and gas extraction in the Niger Delta region.

At least 50 people have been killed and several thousands forced from their homes in three days of clashes between Hausa-Fulani Muslims and indigenous Christians in Jos, central Nigeria, residents said on Monday.

A bill seeking reward and protection for persons with information leading to the recovery of looted public funds yesterday sailed through the second reading in the House of Representatives.

THE Federal Government and the United Nations yesterday signed an agreement for a joint effort to combat corruption and organised crimes in Nigeria.

For challenging policemen at a check-point who wanted to extort money from the driver of a commuter bus he boarded, Corporal Agboola was shot dead.

More than 280,000 Nigerians have at one time or another been displaced by conflicts or natural disasters over the past two years, according to figures from humanitarian organisations and the media.

Nigerian Information Minister Jerry Gana warned on Wednesday that Mount Cameroon, across the border, could erupt again soon and pose a serious health hazard to Nigerian border communities.