Rights
Damasak attack: EU calls for safe passage of people caught in web of violence
The European Union (EU) has called on all parties in the ongoing North-east crisis to allow people caught in violence to move freely to safe places and facilitate unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need. A statement issued on Thursday by the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Mr. Janez Lenarčič, on the latest terror attacks on Damasak, Borno State, said: “The EU is following with deep concern the recurrent violent attacks by non-state armed groups against the people of the town of Damasak, Northeast Nigeria.” The statement lamented that the life and security of civilians is in danger and that humanitarian premises have been destroyed with humanitarian workers deliberately targeted. It said because of the recent increase of violence in North-east Nigeria, hundreds...
Nigeria police deploy SWAT officers to states
The minister of police affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi, says the officers of the special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team have been deployed to state commands. Mohammed Adamu, former inspector-general of police, had constituted the SWAT team, following the disbandment of the special anti-robbery squad in the wake of the October 2020 EndSARS protests. Speaking when he featured on a Channels Television programme on Friday, Dingyadi said the SWAT officers have concluded their training, and have been posted to the states they were drafted from. “They have ended their training, and they have been posted to the state police commands that brought them for training,” he said. “They are there with them and they are performing these functions of the SWAT.” The creation of the new tactical team had receive...
Kaduna governor: Bandits have lost rights to life, must be wiped out
Gov. Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State says bandits terrorising Nigeria have lost their rights to life under the constitution and must be wiped out. El-rufai made this known during a town hall meeting on national security organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture held in Kaduna with theme:”Setting Benchmark for Enhanced and National Unity in Nigeria”. ”The bandits are at war with Nigeria and there is no other way to approach the current insurgency but for security forces to take the war to the bandits and recover forests where they are occupying. “The security agencies mostly react to cases of banditry and abduction, we are in a war with these terrorist challenging the sovereignty of the Nigerian state. “Our security forces must collaborate to take the war to the bandits and terror...
Amnesty: Russia may be ‘slowly’ killing Alexey Navalny
Alexey Navalny, the prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is imprisoned in conditions that amount to torture and may slowly be killing him, human rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday. Navalny, who last year was poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent, was now being subjected to sleep deprivation and did not have access to a doctor he could trust in jail, it said. “Russia, the Russian authorities, may be placing him into a situation of a slow death and seeking to hide what is happening to him,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said ahead of the publication of the group’s annual report. “Clearly the Russian authorities are violating his rights. We have to do more,” she said. “[They] have already attempted to kill him, they are n...
Report: US says ex-Egypt premier had diplomatic immunity from lawsuit
The Biden administration has said a lawsuit seeking to hold former Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi accountable for alleged involvement in torture against an Egyptian-American activist should be thrown out because he held diplomatic immunity, the Washington Post reported on Monday. In a submission to the US District Court in Washington, DC, shared by the Post, lawyers for the US Justice Department said “El Beblawi held diplomatic status at the time when the suit was commenced” and the court should dismiss “claims falling with the scope of his immunity”. El-Beblawi had served as Egypt’s representative to the International Monetary Fund, but quit and left the US in late October, the Post reported. The department said in its court filing that it was not making any judgements on the me...
Court urged to restrain Nigerian government on £4.2 million James Ibori loot
The Federal Government has been sued over its planned use of the £4.2million linked to former Delta State Governor James Ibori. The President, League of Ndokwa Professionals (LNP), Chief Tony Amechi and Legal Adviser, Evans Ufeli, on behalf of the people of Delta State, are challenging the Federal Government’s plan to deploy the funds to projects outside Delta. The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the Minister for Finance are the defendants. In their originating motion, the plaintiffs seek a declaration that the first and second defendants’ decision to deploy the yet to be repatriated sum of £4.2million belonging to Delta State government (when repatriated) for Federal Government’s projects is unconstitutional and repugnant to natural justic...
Jordan arrests ex-top aide, royal family member in crackdown
Jordanian security forces have arrested a former adviser to King Abdullah and others on “security related” grounds, the Petra state news agency said. Bassem Awadallah, a long-time confidant of the king who later became minister of finance, and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a former royal envoy, were detained along with other unnamed figures, Petra said. It gave no further details and said an investigation was under way. اعتقال الشريف حسن بن زيد وباسم عوض الله وآخرين لأسباب أمنيةhttps://t.co/3SzKcWHzln#بترا — Jordan News Agency (@Petranews) April 3, 2021 Arrests of top officials close to royal family members are rare in Jordan. Awadallah, who was a driving force behind economic reforms before he resigned as chief of the royal court in 2008, has long faced stiff resistance from an old guard and an...
Lagos PDP: Yinka Odumakin lived fulfilled life, fought for downtrodden
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State has mourned the death of the Spokesman of a pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin. The PDP Publicity Secretary in the state, Taofik Gani, told newsmen on Saturday in Lagos that Odumakin spoke and fought for the masses. “Yinka Odumakin lived a fulfilled life, fighting and speaking for the downtrodden, devalued ethnic groups and the nation at large. “We cannot forget his outspokenness on national issues and fight for equal rights amongst ethnic nationalities. He spoke truth to power,” he said. The PDP spokesman added that Odumakin surprised the party when he was invited as a speaker at a Democracy Day symposium. He honoured the invitation and spoke the truth to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and PDP. “A rar...
Rivers 2023: Ogoni begs PDP, APC for governorship slot
People of Ogoni ethnic nationality in Rivers State, have appealed to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), to cede the 2023 governorship slot to their area. KAGOTE, the apex socio-cultural organization in Ogoni, made this call yesterday, saying that it was for the sake of political equity. President of KAGOTE, Emmanuel Deeyah, stated that no person from Ogoni has governed Rivers since the creation of the state. Deeyah, in a statement signed by the Acting Publicity Secretary of the organization, Mr. Obele Chu, in Port Harcourt, explained that the move would enhance equity and political justice in favour of Ogoni. Deeyah’s reaction followed a recent comment credited to the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, that the chances of qualified and i...
US accuses Nigeria of significant human rights abuses
US Embassy in South Africa The United States has accusesd Nigeria of significant human rights abuses in its latest ‘’Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020’’, released Wednesday by the Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour. In the report titled ‘’’Nigeria 2020 Human Rights Report, Executive Summary’’, the US accused Nigeria of ‘’significant’’ human rights abuses, which include: unlawful and arbitrary killings by both government and non-state actors; forced disappearances by the government, terrorists, and criminal groups; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government and terrorist groups; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions. The 102-page report also accused the federal government of ‘’arbitrary d...
Court declares SEC sanctions against Oando management null, void
Wikipedia Oando shareholders in the persons of Alhaji Yakubu Gumel; Alhaji Kabiru Tambari, suing for himself and on behalf of the Sokoto Zone Shareholders Association; Tunde Badmus, suing for himself and for the benefits of Pacesetters Shareholders Association, bagged yet another win at the Federal High Court (FHC) Kano, in a suit filed against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for overreaching its powers. Justice A. Lewis Allagoa presiding over the ruling dismissed the regulators preliminary objection and granted all the reliefs sought by the Oando Shareholders. The FHC Kano dismissed SEC’s objection on the basis that the shareholders’ claims fall under their rights as shareholders according to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and is therefore not a capital markets i...
Feminist group tackles Pete Edochie over ‘misogynistic rants’
The Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF) has described as unreasonable the comments allegedly made by celebrated thespian, Chief Pete Edochie during an interview he granted to BBC IGBO. In a statement by its Communications Officer, Angela Nkwo, NFF said Edochie in the interview “furthered his misogynistic rants concerning his views on Nigerian women in general.” NFF, therefore, called on Edochie to immediately retract the comments, which it said grossly misrepresented his pedigree as an elder in the Nollywood community. The women group also asked him to issue an apology for the gross misrepresentation and cause for concern he had provided for women to experience, tolerate and accept violence meted out to them by their husbands and partners. The statement read in part: “The Nigerian Feminist Forum...