Valentine Benjamin

Valentine Benjamin (@theValentineBen) is a Nigerian travel journalist and photographer who reports on global health, social justice, politics and development in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.

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Janada Markus works on a clothing project at the skill acquisition department of the Salama Centre in Maiduguri.

Nigerian priest heals scars of war to curtail its spread

As Nigeria seeks to recover and rebuild amid terror activities from the jihadist rebel group Boko Haram, a priest from the Maiduguri Diocese in the northeastern part of the country has emerged as a key figure caring for survivors.

Elementary school pupils of John Bosco Academy, formerly St. Peter's Catholic School, in Ogoja, Cross River State, Nigeria, pose for a photo with Fr. Peter Abue, founder of the Children of Rural Africa initiative. (Valentine Benjamin)

Catholic-run CORAfrica aims to fill learning gap fueled by poverty in Nigeria

Fr. Peter Abue, a priest in Ogoja in Nigeria's southern Cross River State, is trying to improve the lives of children in marginalized communities through education with the Children of Rural Africa initiative.

An anti-human trafficking billboard in Lagos, Nigeria, warns the public about fake job offers used by traffickers to lure members of the public into human trafficking. (Valentine Benjamin)

Catholic groups partner to fight human trafficking in Nigeria

Catholic organizations have partnered in Nigeria to educate would-be migrants about the dangers of human trafficking. They say they have empowered and saved hundreds of young lives.

Fr. Zachariah Fufeyin tends to animals at Our Lady of the Waters farm in Bayelsa, Nigeria's oil-rich region. He raises pigs, rabbits, goats and sheep, with the primary goal of helping low-income women and families to increase their protein consumption. (Valentine Benjamin)

With farming initiative, Nigerian priest aims to increase local protein consumption

After celebrating morning Mass in Nigeria, Fr. Zachariah Fufeyin heads to Our Lady of the Waters Farm, where he rears pigs, rabbits, goats, and sheep to try and help increase local protein consumption. 

A canopy of mangrove trees is seen at the Lekki Conservation Centre in Lagos, Nigeria. Mangrove is among the tree varieties being seeded and planted on Catholic Church properties as part of a new church campaign that aims to plant 5.5 million trees over the next five years to prevent flooding and mitigate climate change. (Dreamstime/Matthew Omojola)

Nigerian Catholic Church launches campaign to plant 5.5 million trees

Catholic institutions and parishioners in Nigeria are working to prevent future floods. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria on Feb. 15 launched a tree-planting campaign in partnership with Caritas Nigeria.

A demonstrator holds a sign during protest in Lagos, Nigeria, Oct. 17, 2020, over alleged police brutality by SARS, or Special Anti-Robbery Squad. The police unit, created in 1992, had long been accused of harassing and physically abusing civilians. It was disbanded in October 2020. (CNS photo/Reuters/Temilade Adelaja)

Catholic nonprofit supports Nigerian inmates and advocates for police reform

Since 1992 the Carmelite Prisoners' Interest Organization, or Capio, has responded to inmates' practical and material needs while pushing for criminal justice reform in Nigeria.

People walk through floodwaters following several days of downpours in Kogi, Nigeria, Oct. 6. Officials in Nigeria have called the floods the country's worst in more than a decade, blaming the disaster on heavy rainfall and the release of excess water from the Lagdo Dam in neighboring Cameroon. (AP/Fatai Campbell)

Nigerians call out government failures as Catholic nonprofits aid flood victims

"The entire community is underwater and my people are in dire need of serious interventions with relief materials," says one local leader. "But unfortunately, it seems as though the government doesn't care about us."

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