News
UK Newspaper Links Samantha Lewthwaite, White Widow to Abuja Bombing
Samantha Lewthwaite, white widow, may be the terror mastermind behind a horrific attack in Abuja, capital of Nigeria yesterday which left 80 dead and hundreds wounded, according to Daily Star, UK based newspaper.
Lewthwaite, also known as Sherafiyah Lewthwaite, is the widow of 7/7 suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay and one of the world’s most wanted terrorism suspects.
On Monday, a huge explosion ripped through a busy bus station in the capital, Abuja, during the peak rush-hour.
The enormous blast destroyed 40 buses and left a sickening trail of death and destruction as fuel tanks on nearby vehicles also exploded amid the heat of the blast.
According to Daily Star, while nobody has officially claimed responsibility, security sources fear the bombing may have been a revenge attack for the death of al-Shabaab terror chief Makaburi, aka Sheikh Abubakar Shariff Ahmed – Lewthwaite’s mentor – just two weeks ago.
Lewthwaite is an alleged member of the Somali radical Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab.
She has been accused of orchestrating grenade attacks at non-Muslim places of worship, and is believed to have been behind an attack on those watching football in a bar in Mombasa during Euro 2012.
The infamous widow of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay, is on the run in Africa with three children.
The daughter of a British Army soldier, she is already on Interpol’s Most Wanted list in connection with seven murders as well as the siege of the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya in September last year which left 67 dead and nearly 200 injured.
She was known to be ‘extremely close’ to Makaburi, who coordinated the Westgate atrocity.
According to Daily Star, a senior security source said agents across Africa were on high alert after the assassination of Makaburi – reportedly by the UK and US funded Kenyan Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) 14 days ago.
The source said: “Makaburi was always believed to be at the very top of the hierarchy of terror organisation al-Shabaab.
“Intelligence suggests he introduced Samantha Lewthwaite to many influential figures within the al-Shabaab network. He guided her on her path to Jihad.
“His murder was seen as yet another act of war.”
The source added that Lewthwaite and her associates “wanted revenge”.
Lewthwaite, 30, is believed to be in Nigeria, Kenya or Somalia, where Islamist terror networks are closely linked, making it far easier for her to evade detection than in Europe.
The world’s most wanted woman was reportedly caught at a checkpoint in Nigeria just six months ago – but managed to bribe her way to freedom.
It is thought she commands enormous loyalty and power as a white convert, female jihadist, having proved her worth in previous attacks.
As both a mother and widow of a 7/7 bomber, she also provides the groups with invaluable propaganda.
Local police have linked today’s bombing to the Boko Haram terrorist network, which has been threatening to attack the Nigerian capital.
Last year Boko Haram boasted of’merging’ with both al-Shabaab AND Al-Qaeda to form a pan-African terror super-network.
Together, the groups control a vast, arid area known as ‘Sahelistan’ – thousands of miles of sub-Saharan land which stretches from Senegal in west Africa to Somalia in the east.
This ‘ungovernable’ terrain has become a sanctuary for Islamist militants plotting atrocities in Africa and across the world.
The commander of the U.S. military’s Africa Command General Carter Ham said the groups now share money, explosives and even train together.
He said: “Each of those three organisations is by itself a dangerous and worrisome threat.
“What really concerns me is that they are coordinating and synchronising their efforts.
“That is a real problem for us and for African security in general.”
The White Widow, who has been on the run since January 2012, got her grim nickname after husband Germaine Lindsay blew up a London Tube train in the 7/7 bombings in 2005. Fifty six people were killed and more than 700 injured.
Interpol has issued a rare ‘Red Notice’ for the White Widow’s arrest.
Lewthwaite, from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, is believed to have widely used the alias ‘Natalie Webb’ and travelled on a forged South African passport. She is now officially being hunted by 190 countries and is one of the most wanted international fugitives in the world.
Police seized her laptop in 2011 and found detailed plans of how to build bombs and evidence she was planning multiple terrorist attacks both in Africa and the West.
She has also been linked to grenade attacks at non-Muslim places of worship in Africa and a terrorist attack on western football fans watching Euro 2012 in the Jericho bar in Mombasa.
Head of Interpol Ronald Noble said: “There is a global ‘tripwire’ for this fugitive.
“All 190 member countries are aware of the danger posed by this woman, not just across the region but also worldwide.”
INTERPOL’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026 revealed that Artificial intelligence accounts for 55 per cent of reported cybercrimes across Africa and making attacks faster, more sophisticated and increasingly difficult to detect.
The report warns that the continent’s rapid digital transformation, marked by more than 1.1 billion mobile subscribers in 2025, is being matched by an equally rapid evolution in cybercrime, while fragmented legislation and limited AI readiness among law enforcement agencies continue to weaken responses.
The 40-page assessment, based on survey data from 36 African member countries, said cybercrime has shifted from isolated criminal activity to an industrialised, borderless ecosystem powered by AI.
According to the report, East Africa has become a hotspot for mobile money fraud and ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure, while business email compromise (BEC) and romance scams are widespread across Central and West Africa.
Southern Africa, it noted, has become an attractive target for international cybercriminals due to its high level of internet connectivity.
The report also highlighted the growing financial impact of cybercrime across the continent, revealing that losses have more than doubled since 2024, rising from 192 million dollars to 484 million dollars.
It attributed the increase largely to AI-enabled scams, credential harvesting and automated social engineering attacks.
INTERPOL said online scams remained the most commonly reported form of cybercrime in 2025, with criminals exploiting mobile money platforms, social media and AI-generated content to deceive victims.
It added that 72 per cent of surveyed countries reported the existence of scam centres, with the highest concentration recorded in Southern and West Africa.
The report further identified digital sextortion and online harassment as persistent threats, driven increasingly by AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic media.
According to data from TrendAI, one of INTERPOL’s partners, about 600,000 sextortion incidents were detected during the reporting period.
Business email compromise schemes have also become more sophisticated, with AI being used to generate highly convincing email communications.
The report said Africa-based threat actors are increasingly targeting victims in Europe and North America using cyber infrastructure spread across multiple jurisdictions.
INTERPOL warned that the absence of real-time information sharing between banks, telecommunications companies and law enforcement agencies has created significant vulnerabilities in tackling financial cybercrime.
It said cybercriminals are no longer relying solely on stolen credentials but are now creating AI-generated synthetic identities by combining genuine personal information with fabricated details.
These synthetic identities, the report noted, have been used to bypass biometric verification systems, open bank accounts, obtain mobile loans and register SIM cards under false identities.
Neal Jetton, Director of INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate, described cybercrime as one of the most significant criminal threats facing Africa.
“Cybercrime has emerged as one of the most significant criminal threats to the region. AI is automating every stage of a cyberattack from reconnaissance and phishing to extortion and evasion.
“However, we see that when countries work together, cybercriminal infrastructure can be identified, disrupted and dismantled,” he said.
Despite the growing threat, the report highlighted progress in strengthening cybersecurity across the continent.
It disclosed that 17 African countries enacted or amended cybercrime legislation in 2025, while Senegal launched an online reporting platform to improve responses to online offences affecting children.
The report also noted that regional capacity-building initiatives are helping to improve long-term cyber resilience.
INTERPOL said four major cybercrime operations conducted in 2025, Operation Serengeti 2.0, Operation Contender 3.0, Operation Sentinel and Operation Red Card 2.0, resulted in more than 1,500 arrests, the seizure of hundreds of electronic devices and the recovery of over 100 million dollars.
To address the growing threat, the report recommended the adoption of standardised digital forensic capabilities, stronger cross-border collaboration, greater investment in AI literacy for law enforcement personnel and formal public-private partnerships to improve cybercrime prevention, detection and response.
The African Cyberthreat Assessment 2026 forms part of INTERPOL’s African Joint Operation against Cybercrime initiative, funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with data contributions from Fortinet, Mastercard, the Shadowserver Foundation, S2W and TrendAI.
Nigerian students will soon design, assemble, test and fly drones as part of their university education, following a partnership between Miva Open University and Abuja-based defence technology company Terra Industries.
The collaboration comes as Nigeria intensifies efforts to develop indigenous capabilities in advanced manufacturing and defence technology, with both organisations seeking to strengthen Africa’s pipeline of deep-tech talent.
The partnership will see students gain hands-on experience in drone engineering and related technologies through dedicated labs and industry collaboration.
The partners will establish robotics, drone and virtual reality laboratories across Miva’s study centres, beginning with a pilot facility in Abuja.
Students will also gain access to industry-led workshops, research opportunities, internships and mentorship in artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity and autonomous systems.
According to the partners, Terra’s engineering teams will work alongside Miva faculty to integrate hands-on hardware training into academic programmes, exposing students to real-world engineering challenges and building industry experience before graduation.
Nathan Nwachuku, co-founder and CEO of Terra Industries, said Africa’s technological future depends on developing engineers capable of building solutions for local challenges.
“The engineers who will build Africa’s future must learn by building. This partnership creates opportunities for students to work with the technologies shaping modern security, infrastructure and autonomous systems,” said Nwachuku.
Miva Open University said the initiative forms part of its commitment to experiential learning, adding that students will have the opportunity to “design, test and fly drones as part of their academic experience”.
The partnership builds on Terra’s expanding role in Nigeria’s defence technology sector. Earlier this year, the company signed a joint venture with the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria to localise the production of drones, robotics systems and cybersecurity infrastructure, supporting efforts to strengthen domestic manufacturing and reduce reliance on imports.
Atte Ayodeji, a Nigerian computer scientist,has developed an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of detecting, counting, grouping and generating healthy hair follicles during hair transplant procedures, an innovation that earned him the Best Innovative Technology award.
Atte Ayodeji
Ayodeji also graduated with a Distinction in his Master of Science (MSc) in Computer Science from Birmingham City University on Friday, adding another milestone to an impressive academic year.
Beyond his award-winning hair transplant innovation, the Nigerian researcher developed a system and framework on Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) as a professional responsibility in the diagnosis of lung cancer.
His dissertation received a silver award at the PGXPO2026 Winter, further highlighting the impact of his research in applying artificial intelligence to healthcare.
Sunday Dare, special adviser on Media and Public Communication to President Tinubu, celebrated Ayodeji’s achievements in a post on X, recalling how he first met him in 2019 during his National Youth Service.
“In 2019 when I became a Minister of the Republic, I met a young man of medium height, genteel with penetrating eyes: Atte Ayodeji. His words rarely come out and he could easily be passed by unnoticed. But I noticed him especially when my SA Kemi Areola brought him to me asking my approval for him to do his Youth Service in my office. I approved. From then on he was unstoppable. His brilliance shown and he developed skills beyond his frame.”
Highlighting Ayodeji’s recent accomplishments, Dare congratulated him saying, “Congratulations Atte. I am proud of you!”
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