$20bn hoarded in Nigerian bank accounts

Nigeria's central bank says that some wealthy Nigerians are hoarding $20bn in their foreign exchange bank accounts.

The bank's governor Godwin Emefiele told lawmakers that the hoarding threatens the value of Nigeria's currency, the naira.

This warning comes as the government and the central bank try to maintain the currency's value at just under 200 naira to the dollar.

But its black market rate is much lower than that partly due to the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country.

Mr Emefiele also alleged that some individuals were damaging the value of the naira through currency speculation. 

Nigeria is heavily dependent on oil sales for government revenue and foreign exchange. 

The recent fall in the oil price has depleted the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Odion Ighalo up for London Premier League award

Nigerian and Watford striker Odion Ighalo has been nominated for the London Premier League Player of the Year Award to be presented tonight at a ceremony in London.

Ighalo has scored 14 goals in 28 premier league appearances this season.

Others up for the prize are:

• Willian Borges da Silva – Chelsea 
• Harry Kane - Tottenham Hotspurs 
• Mesut Ozil – Arsenal 
• Dimitri Payet - West Ham. 

The London Manager of the Year, Football League Player of the Year, London Young Player of the Year (under 23), London Women’s Player of the Year, London Goalkeeper of the Year and London Community Project of the Year awards will also be given out.

Chelsea captain John Terry will get an award for Outstanding Contribution to London Football.

Egypt student faces deportation from US after Trump 'threat'

An Egyptian student is facing deportation from the US for posting on his Facebook page that he was willing to kill Republican politician Donald Trump - and the world would thank him, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Emadeldin Elsayed, 23, is not facing criminal charges over the message, but was arrested by immigration authorities last month and will now face a hearing to find out whether he will be deported. 

Mr. Elsayed said he wrote the message because he was angered by Mr Trump's comments about Muslims.

He said he immediately regretted it, and he never intended to harm anyone, AP adds. 

Nigeria Lagos market clashes

Police in Lagos have arrived in Lagos’ huge Mile 12 vegetable and fruit market to stop clashes between the Yoruba and Hausa communities in Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Trouble began on Tuesday when unemployed youths, known as “area boys”, began to charge riders of motorcycle taxis a fee to pass by certain roads.

This inflamed tempers and led to clashes involving the bike riders.

Things took a turn for the worse the next day when a Yoruba man was killed in an accident by a Hausa man on a motorbike near the market.

This has led to clashes between the people from the Yoruba  community, who are from the south-west, and Hausa bike riders and business people, who originate from northern Nigeria.

There are are unconfirmed reports of deaths from the violence. One witness at the scene told me by phone that he had heard that seven people had died in the violence.

Mile 12 is a huge wholesale market and vendors come from all over West Africa to sell on fresh produce elsewhere.

Local media is reporting that arrests have been made.

Africa's richest man 'gets richer'

Africa's richest man, Nigeria's Aliko Dangote, has risen up the annual Forbes list of world billionaires, with his fortune increasing to $15.4bn .
Mr Dankoto is ranked 51, compared with 67 in the 2015 list when the magazine put his fortune at $14.7bn.
He is the founder and chairman of Dangote Cement, Africa's largest cement producer.
The second-richest African is another Nigerian, Mike Adenua, who is worth $10bn, while South Africa's diamond mining magnate Nicky Oppenheimer is in third spot with $6.6bn, Forbes says.
The magazine puts Mr Adenua, who built his fortune in the oil and telecom industries, at 103 in the list of world billionaires and Mr Oppenheimer at number 174.
You can read the full Forbes list here.

Nigeria fuel shortages ground flights

Around 200 Arik Air passengers were stranded as domestic and international flights from Nigeria's biggest domestic airline were grounded earlier due to a lack of fuel.
An unknown number of flights were affected with passengers unusually stuck at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport  in the main city, Lagos,  for two to four hours.
The delays affected airports across Nigeria as domestic flights were halted.
Arik Management confirmed the limited supply of JET A1 aviation fuel across Nigeria in the past few days days has led to flight delays and cancellations.
Limited flights between Nigerian cities have resumed.

Nigeria police hunt for schoolgirls' kidnappers

Police in Nigeria are searching for gunmen who abducted three girls from a private boarding school in the south-western state of Lagos.
Several armed men entered Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary school in the outskirts of Lagos city on Monday night and abducted the girls - from local media reports it is not clear if they were in their hostel or in a nearby block studying at the time.
The search for the abductors is still on, Lagos police spokesperson Dolapo Badmus told the BBC's Umar Shehu Elleman.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions and no ransom has been demanded.