"Ukraine is a crime scene," the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said on a visit to the town of Bucha west of Kyiv.
A mission of experts set up by Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) nations has found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, an initial report by the mission said on Wednesday, CGTN reports.
 
The mission was set up last month by 45 of the OSCE's 57 participating countries to look into possible offences, including war crimes in Ukraine, and to pass on information to bodies such as international tribunals, a move that was opposed by Russia.
 
"The mission found clear patterns of international humanitarian law violations by the Russian forces," the report said, citing failures to take necessary precautions, act proportionately or spare sites like schools and hospitals. It said it had also found some violations by Ukraine, particularly in its treatment of prisoners of war, but it said Russia's violations "are by far larger in nature and scale".
 
Despite Russian denials, the report said a March 9 attack on the Mariupol Maternity House and Children's Hospital was carried out by Russia and those responsible had committed a war crime.
 
It also said the attack on Mariupol's Drama Theater on March 16, in which local Ukrainian officials say as many as 300 people may have been killed, was a war crime.
 
"The Mission is not able to conclude whether the Russian attack on Ukraine per se may qualify as a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population," it said, referring to the context in which crimes like murder and rape constitute crimes against humanity.
 
"It however holds that some patterns of violent acts violating International Human Rights Law, which have been repeatedly documented in the course of the conflict, such as targeted killing, enforced disappearance or abductions of civilians... are likely to meet this qualification," it said.
 
"Any single violent act of this type, committed as part of such an attack and with the knowledge of it, would then constitute a crime against humanity."
Britain and the European Union (EU) announced coordinated sanctions against pro-Russian separatists, as well as more oligarchs and their relatives, on Wednesday.
 
The UK government said that in coordination with the EU, it is sanctioning "178 Russian separatists" in eastern Ukraine, in addition to six more oligarchs and their families and employees.
 
"This comes after multiple reports last week that Russia was barbarically targeting civilians in those regions," Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement.
 
The latest sanctions include Alexander Ananchenko and Sergey Kozlov, who are described by the UK Foreign Office as "self-styled" leaders of the Russia-backed so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.
 
"In the wake of horrific rocket attacks on civilians in Eastern Ukraine, we are today sanctioning those who prop up the illegal breakaway regions and are complicit in atrocities against the Ukrainian people," said UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
 
"We will continue to target all those who aid and abet Putin's war."
 
Britain is taking part in an international effort to punish Russia with asset freezes, travel bans and sanctions, after President Valdimir Putin ordered the assault on Ukraine on February 24.
 
Those sanctions have so far targeted Russian defense, trade and transport companies.
 
Truss said the latest package would include extending a UK import ban on Russian goods, to include iron and steel from Thursday.
 
"We will not rest in our mission to stop Putin's war machine in its tracks," Truss said.
 
London has sanctioned more than 1,400 individuals and businesses linked to Russia – including more than 100 oligarchs and their family members – since Moscow's military campaign began.
 
 
Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday that more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered in Mariupol, the strategic eastern port that has been besieged by Moscow's troops for over a month.
 
"In the city of Mariupol... 1,026 Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th marine brigade voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered," the ministry said in a statement.
 
Among the troops were 162 officers and 47 were women, the ministry added. More than 100 were wounded.
 
If the Russians seize the Azovstal industrial district, where the marines have been holed up, they will be in full control of Mariupol, the lynchpin between Russian-held areas to the west and east providing a land corridor for troops and supplies.
 
It would be the first major city to fall to Russian forces since the conflict started on February 24.
 
Ukraine's general staff said that Russian forces were proceeding with attacks on Azovstal and the port. However, Ukraine's defense ministry spokesman said he had no information about any surrender.
 
Thousands of civilians are believed to have died in the city, which has seen some of the most intense fightings in the conflict.

CRIME News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

The Internet Poverty Index by the World Data Lab has revealed that Nigeria has the largest number of Internet poor people in the world.
 
It was gathered that no fewer than 169 countries were ranked on the index.
 
It was reported that 1.39 billion people were suffering from Internet poverty in the world in 2022. 47.39 per cent (103.02 million people) of Nigeria’s 217.37 million population suffer from Internet poverty.
 
It was also said that 51.43 per cent (714.79 million) of those living in Internet poverty in the world live in Nigeria, India, China, Congo (DRC), Brazil, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Indonesia, and South Africa, The Punch reports.
 
The data enterprise disclosed that Internet access is increasingly being viewed as a basic requirement, alongside access to food, clothing, housing, and energy, noting that the ability to measure Internet poverty could raise awareness and identify the most vulnerable groups.
 
It said, “Internet poverty is measured by how many people can or cannot afford a minimum package of mobile internet.
 
“Moreover, it is based on three assumed pillars: affordability, quantity, and quality.  Affordability, where up to 10 per cent of total individual spending is assumed. Quantity, where 1GB per month is assumed. Quality, where 10Mbps download speed is assumed.
 
“The hedonic pricing method is used to assess prices of mobile internet around the world, based on Internet quality and a set of socioeconomic variables. The variable of internet quality is fixed to project the cost of 1GB of mobile internet at that quality globally.
 
“These numbers are then combined with individual spending distributions to calculate the number of people who have the ability to afford that package of mobile internet (including up to 10 per cent of total individual spending).”
 
The nation’s broadband penetration was 40.91 per cent (78.08 million) in February 2022, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission.
 
In its ‘A Better Future for All Nigerians: 2022 Nigeria Poverty Assessment’ report, the World Bank disclosed that the number of poor Nigerians is projected to hit 95.1 million in 2022.
 
“Given the effects of the crisis, however, the poverty headcount rate is instead projected to jump from 40.1 per cent in 2018/19 to 42.0 per cent in 2020 and 42.6 per cent in 2022, implying that the number of poor people was 89.0 million in 2020 and would be 95.1 million in 2022.
 
“Taking the difference between these two scenarios, the crisis alone is projected to have driven an additional 3.8 million Nigerians into poverty in 2020, with an additional 5.1 million living in poverty by 2022,” it said.

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

Senate

The Senate will Thursday, pass the revised 2022 fiscal framework before adjourning on the Easter break.
 
The hint was given by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, after the report of the Committee on Finance was stepped down today for consideration, a statement on Wednesday signed Dr. Ezrel Tabiowo, Special Assistant (Press) to the Senate President, said.  

Senate
Among other requests, President Muhammadu Buhari had asked the chamber to approve an increase in the estimated provision for 2022 subsidy for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also called petrol, by N3.557 trillion, from N442.72 billion to N4 trillion.
The request was contained in a letter dated April 5, 2022.
The Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, who moved a motion for the report to be stepped down, explained that its deferred consideration till Thursday, April 14, 2022, would allow lawmakers to make their inputs.
President Buhari had in the letter dated April 5, 2022, requested the Senate to adjust the 2022 fiscal framework.
 
He said doing so became necessary in view of new developments in both the global and domestic economies.
According to him, the developments were occasioned by spikes in the market price of crude oil, which were a fallout of the Russian-Ukraine war.
 
He, therefore, requested the upper chamber to approve an increase in the oil benchmark by US$11 per barrel, from US$62 per barrel to US$73 per barrel.
 
The President also sought a reduction in the projected oil production volume by 283,000 barrels per day, from 1.883 million barrels per day to 1.600 million barrels per day.
President Buhari underscored the need for a cut in the provision for Federally-funded upstream projects being implemented by N200 billion, from N352.80 billion to N152.80 billion.
  
He proposed an increase in the projection for Nigerian Government Independent Revenue by N400 billion; and an additional provision of N182.45 billion to cater for the needs of the Nigeria Police Force.
In a related development, the Senate also stepped down consideration of a bill to amend the 2022 Appropriation Act.
The chamber, however, considered three bills that scaled second reading during plenary on Wednesday.
 
The bills seek to provide for the establishment of the Federal University of Health Sciences Azare, Bauchi; Federal College of Education Jama’re, Bauchi State; and to repeal the Immigrations and Prisons Services Board Act and to Enact the Internal Affairs Services Board Act.
The bills were sponsored by Senators Jibrin Barau (Kano North) and George Thompson Sekibo (Rivers East).
The bills after consideration were referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Committees on Health (Secondary and a Tertiary); Tertiary Institutions and TETfund; and Interior, respectively.
The Committees were all given four weeks to report back to the chamber in plenary.
 
 
 
 

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

The Adamawa State House of Assembly has created 22 new districts.
This followed the passage of a bill for the creation of 22 new districts out of 97 requests submitted in November 2021.
 
SaharaReporters had on December 25, 2021, reported that the State House of Assembly was condemned by a group of concerned Christians for commencing a public hearing on the creation of new districts a day before Christmas.
 
The new districts created include Nassarawo-Abba and Karewa in the Yola North Local Government Area; Lamorde, Nasarawo and Yadafa in the Mubi South LGA; Mildu (Mildu Shalmi) in the Madagali LGA; Garum (Tapare), Serkum (Gurum-Nongvan) in the Ganye LGA; Gangzamanu, Mayo Duken and Kogin Baba in the Toungo LGA.
 
Others are Vomni, Kilbawo and Mbangan Tiren in the Jada LGA; Numan and Wayam in the Numan LGA; Kawon Dowaya, Mbula Penda (Kulasala) Dili, Bilachi and Sabon Pegi in the Demsa LGA and Zakawon (Boshikiri) in the Guyuk LGA.
 
The assembly during its sitting on Tuesday, adopted the committee's report entitled, "The report of the Ad-hoc committee on a bill for a law to create districts for Adamawa State of Nigeria and to repeal the Adamawa State creation of districts law 1992."
The group had described the legislative arm's action as being insensitive to the religious concerns of Christians in the state.
The group on December 24, 2021, staged a protest at the venue of the public hearing, demanding that the process should be put on hold until Christmas festivities were over.
 
Leading the protest, Prof Caleb Wunisari accused the lawmakers of an attempt to shortchange stakeholders through exclusion occasioned by the short notice.
 
Wunisari, who represented no fewer than 40 groups under the auspices of Gongola Peace Initiative, said, "We were only given one day notice for the event.
 
"We are here for the new districts’ creation but we must say the date is not feasible and the timing is wrong because it is convened on the eve of Christmas.
 
"If the conveners want to succeed, there must be proper timetable and they must consult widely.
 
"Arranging it on the eve of Christmas and on a short day like Friday is apparently an attempt to shortchange the people."
 
Reacting to the issues raised, the Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Aminu Iya-Abbas, had said, "The public hearing would continue after the Christmas holidays.
 
"If there are people who were unable to make presentations today, they can do so after the holidays on Wednesday or Thursday."
 

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the six years jail term imposed on a former Assistant Director in the Police Pension Office, John Yakubu Yusuf.
Yusuf was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a fraud involving N22.9 billion (Twenty–two Billion, Nine Hundred Million Naira).
 
The apex court in a judgment read by Justice Tijjani Abubakar also ordered the convict to refund N22.9 billion to government coffers, a statement on Wednesday by Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC’s Head, Media & Publicity, said.
 
Yusuf is one of the six civil servants facing prosecution for allegedly stealing N32.8 billion from the Police Pension Fund. He was initially convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine of N750, 000 (Seven Hundred Thousand Naira only) by a Federal Capital Territory High Court presided over by Justice Abubakar Talba.
 
The EFCC, dissatisfied with the judgment of the trial court, approached the appellate court to set aside the judgment. Ruling on the substantive matter, the Court of Appeal held unanimously that the three counts involving Yusuf (Counts 17, 18, and 19) clearly stated the amounts he converted for his personal use.
He pleaded guilty to the three counts and thereby admitted to the conversion of an aggregate sum of about N24 billion to his personal use. He was therefore sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to return the stolen N22.9 billion.
In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Yusuf prayed the apex court to set aside his conviction and the order to refund N22.9 billion on the ground that the Court of Appeal judgment was a miscarriage of justice.
But the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the decision of the appellate court.
 
Justice Abubakar said the appeal of the former pension Director seeking to set aside the six years jail term against him was frivolous, vexatious and devoid of merit.
 
He further held that victims of the convicted Director deserved restitution which can only be achieved through justice.
The EFCC in June 2020 re-arrested Yusuf, who had been on the run since 2018 after the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, sentenced him to six years imprisonment and a fine of N22.9 billion, for conniving with five others to steal N32.8 billion of Police Pension Fund.
 
Based on his re-arrest, Justice Baba Yusuf of the FCT High Court on Monday, June 22, 2020, issued a remand order that would enable him to serve his six years jail term in Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja.
 
 

CRIME News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

No fewer than 1,753 bags of 50 kg of fertiliser, suspected to have been concealed for delivery to terrorists have been intercepted by the Nigeria Customs Service in Adamawa State.
 
SaharaReporters learnt that urea fertiliser is being used by Boko Haram terrorists as a critical component of manufacturing Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
 
The said 1,753 bags of 50kg urea fertilizer, concealed in charcoal sacks, were intercepted around the Nigeria/Cameroon border in the Mubi South Local Government Area.
 
The Nigerian Government, through the office of the National Security Adviser, has banned the free circulation of urea fertiliser in the Northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, due to its usefulness in the making of bombs by terrorists.
 
Adamawa/Taraba command's Area Comptroller of Customs, Ishiaka Ganiyu, disclosed this to journalists in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, on Wednesday, saying "the movement of urea fertiliser in Adamawa is a threat to national security and also food security”.
 
"Urea fertiliser is used by terrorists to make explosives; that is why Adamawa State is one of the states in which the federal government prohibited its circulation," he added.
 
Other items seized according to Ganiyu include 9,825 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also called petrol; 5,340 litres of foreign engine oil; 838 pieces of android phones and 5,050 capsules of tramadol.

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

Lai Mohammed

Preliminary reports on the Abuja-Kaduna train terror attack have shown that there is a collaboration between bandits and dislodged Boko Haram terrorists from the North-East.
 
This was made known by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday.
  Lai Mohammed
While he claimed the Nigerian Government was working to unravel the mystery surrounding the attack, he, however, said measures taken by the government cannot be made public as there were lives of kidnapped persons at stake.
 
Mohammed intervened after the Minister of Defence, retired Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi, was asked to provide information on the train attack of Monday, March 28, 2022, in which eight persons were confirmed killed.
At least 26 others were injured in the attack.
“What is happening now is that there is a kind of an unholy handshake between bandits and Boko Haram insurgents. Preliminary reports of what transpired at the Kaduna train attacks show that there is a kind of collaboration between the bandits and the dislodged Boko Haram terrorists from the northeast. I can tell you very confidently that the Federal Government is on the top of this matter,” the information and culture minister said.
 
The defence minister, in his earlier response to the question, said: “Honestly, I think the security chiefs are working hard to unveil those that are involved, and we will tell you very soon those that are carrying out these attacks.
“Both Jos and Kaduna, we will come and explain to the public what is really going on and our efforts to ensure that all these activities are stopped once and for all. We are really on top of the situation, we are planning hard and we will get it out as soon as possible.”
On what the government was doing following the 72-hour ultimatum given by the families of the victims of the train attack, Mohammed said, “I think the Honorable Minister of Defence has already addressed the issues. One, that what the federal government is doing won’t be the subject matter of a press conference, because we have lives at stake.
 
“And that the various arms of security are working night and day to unravel the mystery surrounding the kidnap, the attack as a whole, the kidnapped people. What I can assure you is that you get the respective arms of government actually engaged as we speak, in getting those, you know, victims released. It’s natural for anybody who is a father or a mother of a kidnap person to be worried and to be concerned.
 
“But at the level of government, we appreciate that and we are leaving no stone unturned, but we’ll give you specific steps we’re taking. I think it will be counterproductive and not going to aid or help those who are kidnapped or help, you know, the security forces who are tracing and ensuring that there’ll be no repeat of such attacks.”
 
The attack and abduction, which occurred on March 28, have continued to elicit concerns over the degeneration in the level of insecurity under President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
 
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) had confirmed eight deaths, while many persons were declared missing.
 
 
 
 

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

A US cryptocurrency expert was sentenced Tuesday to 63 months in prison for advising North Korea on how to create cryptocurrency services and blockchain technology to circumvent US sanctions over its nuclear program, court officials in New York said.
 
Virgil Griffith, 39, had pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate US law, in a bid to reduce the sentence for a crime that can carry up to 20 years behind bars, AFP reports.
 
Prosecutor Damian Williams said "there is no question North Korea poses a national security threat to our nation, and the regime has shown time and again it will stop at nothing to ignore our laws for its benefit”.
 
He said that Griffith had "admitted in court he took actions to evade sanctions, which are in place to prevent (North Korea) from building a nuclear weapon."
 
In April 2019, Griffith gave a presentation in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. He was arrested at Los Angeles airport in November of the same year.
At the conference, Griffith provided information on how North Korea could use the technology to launder money and evade sanctions, including through "smart contracts," according to the court.
 
After the presentation, the prosecution said that Griffith "pursued plans to facilitate the exchange of cryptocurrency between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and South Korea, despite knowing that assisting with such an exchange would violate sanctions against the DPRK."
 
The United States prohibits the export of goods, services or technology to North Korea without special permission from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
 
In addition to 63 months in jail, Griffith will spend three years on probation.
 
Griffith holds a doctorate from the California Institute of Technology and has also worked on Ethereum, a Singapore-based global platform with blockchain technology for business and financial use, which has a cryptocurrency named after it.

International News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

More facts have emerged on how policemen brutally murdered a 27-year-old student of Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, Abiola Oluremi Afolabi, on April 3, 2022, and dumped his body in a mortuary without the knowledge of any of his family members.
 
After killing the young man, the police went ahead to lie that he was an armed robber, who was killed during a gun battle with officers.
 
However, findings by SaharaReporters revealed that the Osun State Police Command made the claim in order to cover up the extrajudicial killing of the National Diploma 2 student by their personnel.
 
Afolabi had visited his friend named Matthew, a phone repairer, at his shop that fateful day and decided later to spend the night at his house when tragedy struck.
 
Not suspecting danger lying ahead, Matthew's fiancée, who was around at the time, prepared some food for the three of them to eat before going to bed.
 
But at about 12:30 am, a bunch of policemen from Housing Estate Division barged into the phone technician's apartment and shot Afolabi in the leg without uttering a word.
 
The policemen thereafter arrested and detained Matthew and his fiancée after the incident.
 
Refusing to take the young polytechnic student to the hospital for urgent medical care or disclose what his offence was before they shot him, the policemen watched the 27-year-old bleed to death.
 
The Nigerian security agents thereafter moved his body to the morgue of Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital in Osogbo, the state capital, and abandoned it there for one week until the family found out about the killing from a stranger.
 
Speaking with SaharaReporters on Wednesday on how the victim’s life was cut short, his lover of nine years based in Switzerland, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that Afolabi was killed at a time they were making preparations for him to join her in the European country.
 
According to the young lady, the death of the polytechnic student, who was the second child of his parents, has greatly affected his widowed mother and siblings.
 
She further disclosed that the police have been unwilling to name and punish officers responsible for the murder of Afolabi despite overwhelming evidence on the ground.
 
She said, “They killed him for no reason and took away the joy and peace of the entire family.
 
“After killing him, they dumped his body at LAUTECH Hospital mortuary without informing his family members.
 
“They shot him in the leg which made him pass out several times before he died. This was after they had detained Matthew and his fiancée.
 
“The police claimed not to know his whereabouts but meanwhile his car and phone were in their custody.
 
“The officers who killed him are still in uniform walking freely. We don’t want him to die without getting justice. Those police officers should face the law. We want an autopsy carried out on his body. We want justice.”
 
The shooting of Afolabi, which led to a protest in Osogbo last week, took a different turn on Monday when the Commissioner of Police in Osun, Olawale Olokode, after the latest discovery, announced that an investigation into the incident would be conducted.
 
In a statement, the spokesperson for the police in the state, Yemisi Opalola, said, “The Commissioner of Police urges everyone to believe in the police and allow justice to take its course, as he would meet with the state government and civil society organisations to do justice to the matter.
 
 
 
“Investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of Abiola is ongoing. He promises to make the outcome of the investigation public"
When SaharaReporters called Opalola respond to questions regarding the update on the matter, she said the police were standing with their earlier statement on the matter.
However, days since that promise was made by the police in Osun and more than a week since the extrajudicial killing, the officers responsible have yet to be named by the state command, leaving the bereaved family and friends of the victim to wonder if justice will ever be served on the matter.

Exclusive News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

Human rights activist, Aisha Yesufu has urged Nigerians to rise up and speak against the insecurity ravaging various parts of the country.
 
Yesufu who noted that tomorrow (Thursday), April 14 will mark the 8th remembrance of the Chibok kidnap incident, said Nigerians should hold those in government accountable for the security of lives.
 
Her comment comes in the light of the forthcoming general elections in 2023 as many politicians have declared interest to contest for various political positions.
 
Over 200 girls were kidnapped from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State in April 2014.
 
About 100 girls are still believed to be with the terror group with most of the others released after negotiation with the government.
 
In a video sent to SaharaReporters, Yesufu stated that Nigerians should speak for those who are currently victims, noting that anyone can become a victim.
 
She said, “Tomorrow is going to be 8 years that Chibok girls were taken away, on the 1000th day of the abduction. My daughter said something, she said as long as Chibok girls are in captivity, we all are in captivity and unfortunately, we have so many of our citizens who are in captivity. People have been taken away, just ask yourself if you're taken away right now, what will be the value of your life?
 
“Will your government care for you? There are some people who already know that answer, they are in the bushes right now. Many people were abducted in the train attack unfortunately we have a callous government and callous people who even denied that the abduction happened, they denied that there were attacks and killing and probably still deny just as we have people who deny that Chibok abductions happened.
 
“We are all victims waiting to happen, yesterday's victims were once survivors. Today's victims were yesterday's survivors and tomorrow's victims are today's survivors, we are all victims waiting to happen. The victim card is going round, who is next?
 
“You think you are safe? The people who are victims today once thought they were safe and here they are, they are victims. The next to be victims are those of us who think we are safe today, have you made a demand for those people who were abducted from the train? The government has turned its back on them, nobody is saying anything.
 
“What kind of life is this? If your fellow citizens are abducted and nothing is done about it, when you get abducted, nothing will be done about it. I know a lot of people will say ‘God forbid' but God will not do for us what he has given us the capacity to do for ourselves.
 
“Those who were abducted once said ‘God forbid' and the only way our lives will matter is to hold the government accountable. It's election eve and these politicians are going around doing their shenanigans, laughing, giggling, smiling and having meetings, focusing on who becomes President, Governor, Senator, etc. Nobody cares about what becomes of you, what will you care about you?
 
“There are citizens who have been abducted and are in the bushes right now, we cannot continue to be quiet and when one of us is taken, all of us must come out as if we are all taken, that's the only way to send a message to the government that we'll not allow them to abdicate their responsibilities and the only way to send message to terrorists that we won't sit and watch them take any of us without coming after them."

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

File Photo

The House of Representatives has unveiled plans to investigate the alleged victimisation of employees at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The federal lawmakers made the resolution on Wednesday.

File Photo
An editor with the agency, Collins Yakubu-Hammer who was suspended from his position claimed it was because he used his position as a union leader to challenge an ‘illegality’ by the NAN management.
 
According to him, the ordeal started on September 23, 2021, when he, alongside officials of three labour unions, challenged an ‘illegality’ they observed in the promotion examination the Nigerian government-run agency organised for staff on August 26, 2021.
 
The unions are the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Radio, Television, Theatre Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU), Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Service Employees (AUPCTRE) and the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporation and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC).
 
The unions, in a joint release, which was forwarded to the NAN management, requested that the promotion granted to five staff, which they said did not follow due process, be reversed.
 
According to the statement, five members of staff were “secretly smuggled into the venue to write (sit) the promotion examination against the public service rules.”
 
They alleged that the Head of Admin, Abdulhadi Khaliel, and the Director of Finance, Accounts, Oladele Ojo, “conspired to promote their ‘cronies’.”
 

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

The people of Effium/Ezza-Effium in Ohaukwu and part of Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State were thrown into a state of mourning and confusion, following the invasion of their communities by suspected assailants described as ‘Effium warlords’.
 
The attack, according to Vanguard, claimed more than 26 lives and destroyed 17 houses in the early hours of Sunday, April 10.
 
The affected villages include Ohagelede, Umuezeoka, Ebbiaji and Ebbeta, all in Ezza/Effium and part of Ebonyi.
 
During an unscheduled visit to the affected villages, people were seen in groups mourning their family members killed during the attack.
 
Others were busy relocating members of their families, including property for fear of further attacks by the assailants.
 
According to an eyewitness, Chief Daniel Nwanga from Umuezeoka village, the incident happened in the early hours of the day at Ezza villages of Ohagelede, Umuezeoka, Ebbeta and part of Ebonyi, where the alleged assailants from Effium invaded the Ezza-speaking side of the community.
 
Nwanga stated that the government ordered a ceasefire two weeks ago, which they obeyed, but that they never knew that their enemies would come to launch another attack against them.
 
He said, “In the past three weeks, the government has ordered a ceasefire in this community and we agreed to obey because we don’t disobey any order from the government.
 
“The assailants came in their hundreds and killed four at Ogbabruagu; another four at Ebiaji; another four at Ogbaenyigwe and came to Ebbeta and killed six.
 
“They went to Izzi-speaking area to trace our people and also killed eight there and burnt more than 17 houses. The incident happened on Sunday around 6 am and they kept operating till 2 pm.
 
“We called Army people from Nweke Ndiagu, but before they came, the gunmen had already left. We counted 26 dead bodies. Government should know that we are law-abiding citizens and should know those who committed these atrocities and those sponsoring them should be arrested and prosecuted.”
 
Also speaking, Mr. Moses Nwafor from Ebbeta whose wife, stepmother, grandson and younger brother were killed, stated that he didn’t know that the war was still ongoing because there was a ceasefire agreement.
 
He lamented the loss of four of his family members, including his wife.
 
“Yesterday (Sunday), I started hearing gunshots from afar. Those warlords from Effium came with machetes and guns; they killed my wife, my stepmother, my grandson and my younger brother.
 
“Their burial is ongoing now. Since this incident started, they have told us to respect peace talk, which we did but never knew they would come to attack us.”

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

We are in the hunting season of Nigeria’s political wild game. What is left of Nigeria is only carcass. Those of you who have been around long enough have seen a ton of hyenas and other vultures scrambling over the carcass.
 
Take a look at the hyenas. Look at them very carefully. The same carnivores, same species of vultures are back to their leftover carcass. They have devoured Nigeria into a small, meatless scrap. They are coming from everywhere. They are swooping in and waddling around the bones. Each of the vultures, particularly the hefty ones, is trying to scare and stop the other oxygen-deprived ones from having a bite of the carcass.
 
The last time so many vultures were around the carcass was in 2019. They had their fill. They stripped every last bit of edible meat, tendon, and connective tissue from the carcass’ bones. Then, abandoned it. Now they are back with such hunger, greed, and ferocity. The vultures are not joking!
The vultures are making pledges to former rivals. No one is shocked by the alliance. They are united. They are moving at speed. They are consulting and conspiring with each other with speed and chemistry. They are ready as they have always been, praying for a carnivorous system that will support and sustain their appetites.
 
There’s nothing new about the vultures. Everything that’s happening now has happened before. It’s been happening for 61 years. The only absurd thing is to deny it. The vultures will be voted to power by idiots. You and others willingly put murderers, rapists, thieves, and looters in power. No lesson learned from the past.
 
2023 it’s not about candidates. It’s about vultures. But you can bury the vultures with your votes. And that’s if there will be 2023!
 
bjoluwasanmi@gmail.com

Opinion AddThis :  Original Author :  Bayo Oluwasanmi Disable advertisements : 

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government obey the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Abuja lifting the arbitrary restrictions around human rights activist and convener of #RevolutionNow, Omoyele Sowore.
A three-man panel led by Justice Tsammani had on Wednesday upturned the ruling of the Federal High Court confining Sowore to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) since August 2019.

By the new verdict, the activist could now move around Nigeria.
Reacting, SERAP in a post on its Twitter handle on Wednesday said the activist should not have been arrested in the first place for peacefully exercising his human rights.
“The Buhari administration must immediately obey the decision by the Court of Appeal, Abuja which has lifted the arbitrary restriction of journalist Omoyele Sowore to Abuja,” the tweet read.
“He should never have been arrested in the first place for peacefully exercising his human rights.”
Operatives of the Department of State Services had arrested Sowore in the early hours of August 3, 2019 for calling on Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations to demand a better country from the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. 
The activist was kept in unlawful detention from that period until December 5, 2019 when he was finally released on bail despite two court orders earlier sanctioning his freedom.
In a twist of event, DSS operatives invaded the Federal High Court in Abuja on December 6, 2019 to rearrest him without any court order.
He remained in unlawful detention until 18 days later when he was released by the secret police for the second time.
The trial judge, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, had granted Sowore N100million bail with two sureties who must be residents of Abuja and have landed properties within the Federal Capital Territory.
The judge also ordered that one of the sureties must deposit N30million with the court pending the determination of the case.
Sowore was also restricted to the Federal Capital Territory pending the determination of the case.
The activist however, approached the Appeal Court over the stringent bail conditions especially his restriction to Abuja.

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Wednesday, says only 1,390,519 Nigerians have valid permanent voters cards.
Speaking at a media conference in Abuja, the Commission's Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said only those in the fee fraction are eligible to vote in the 2023 general elections, Daily Trust reports.

According to him, 45 percent of total registered voters in the country are invalid, a development he described as very challenging.
“This is a challenging development,” Daily Trust quoted him as saying.
He added that of the 18 registered political parties in the country, only 10 of them had notified the commission of their primaries. 
He urged the remaining parties to do the needful and for all the parties to strictly follow the electoral laws and other guidelines.
 

Elections News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

No fewer than 26 persons, including women and children have died after a boat capsized on a river in the Shagari local government area of Sokoto State.
According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria, local divers are currently launching a search for survivors and to recover more bodies.

The local government Chairman, Aliyu Dantani, who confirmed the incident on Wednesday in Sokoto, said the incident occurred on Tuesday evening.
He explained that of the 26 recovered corpses, 21 were women while five were children.
However, the council boss stated that the local government could not immediately ascertain the number of casualties as a search was ongoing.

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

With such uncertainty and mistrust in our leadership and political parties, where can young people in Nigeria turn to for fair leadership?

 

Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960 many things have changed, but poor governance has remained a constant. The military listed embezzlement, corruption, and mismanagement of public funds as reasons for taking power through the Coup d’etat between 1966 and 1999. However, we are still waiting for these issues to be dealt with- distrust, insecurity, nepotism, political instability and irresponsible leadership are the issues young people continue to cite as the key problems we face. 

 

Leadership is undoubtedly a very big challenge in Nigeria and across Africa at large. The state of a nation is a reflection of the competence and efficiency of its leadership. In a 2009 TEDx talk in London, the current Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, speaking on transformational leadership, joked that from the beginning of time other countries were jealous of the abundance of natural resources with which God has blessed Nigeria. He explained that God responded: “Wait and see the leaders I give them." Occasionally we see glimpses of enlightened leadership but it remains clear that the elite is dominated by those who are ill-equipped for the positions they occupy.

 

Young people are central to this challenge for a variety of reasons. First demographics. An independent British Council research report stated that by 2030, “youths, not oil, will be Nigeria’s greatest asset. This population is so huge that if Nigeria’s young people were to be a nation, it would probably be the 4th largest country in Africa”. Young Nigerians are simply too numerous to ignore; and when they bring their voices together to demand the same things, they can shift power- think of the Not Too Young To Run movement for example. The challenge is that Nigerian youths have demographic strength that has not yet been properly translated to participatory democratic power because of exclusionary political processes and policies and the absence of a sustainable process to ensure exemplary intergenerational leadership.

 

Second, young people in Nigeria are more connected and more creative than ever before. Nigeria has an incredible wealth of young, talented people. Think about the #EndSARS protests of October 2020. For example, when our youths crowdfunded and disbursed funds to protesters through bitcoin for social services such as food, shelter, healthcare, physical security, and legal aid. Nigerians have the numbers, the skills, technological savvy, and values to coordinate sophisticated, sustainable campaigns. They can overcome traditional and bureaucratic limitations and organize distributed network-driven reform movements. While the ‘leaderless’ nature of the #EndSARS protests might have been problematic for some, equally, it points to a political sophistication that recognizes Nigerian realities.

 

Third, young people are more inclusive than existing elites, which means they can draw on more energy for their ideas; and make systems more equal by avoiding the ethnoreligious tensions that plague Nigeria’s governance structures at a larger level. Over the years, elected leaders have represented their own interests- around everything from pensions to the exclusion of women. This has only expanded the inequality gaps in our society. Young people are far better at building inclusive processes to address challenges- whether those are political, economic or security-related. Think about the Occupy Nigeria and Light Up Naija movement for example, during which young Christians and Muslims, police and protestors, and business interests and labour groups came together. But there is more to do- young people need better access to training, funding and places and spaces where policy debates and decisions take place. 

 

Young Nigerians should stop aspiring to be like our current leaders and look inwards for guidance, ideas and inspiration- because they already embody much of what is hopeful about Nigeria. Values-based leadership comes from who we collectively want ourselves to be; not through aspirations about the need to drive luxury cars or live in the biggest houses.

 

Young Nigerians are not the future, they are the present- and Nigeria requires a level playing field to ensure the inclusive governance and responsible leadership they need. The Nigerian President recently set the tone by signing the Electoral Amendment Bill which indirectly links to his commitment from his speech at the Summit for Democracy organized by President Joe Biden, in which he committed to strengthening Nigerian democracy; but there is much more to do. Our youths will demand their rights- and either these demands are channelled through constructive, inter-generational political dialogue and through an openness to change from the elite; or these demands will again spill onto the streets.

 

 

 

Ehi Idakwo

Programme and Learning Manager

Accountability Lab Nigeria

Opinion AddThis :  Original Author :  Ehi Idakwo Disable advertisements : 

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sacked Tochukwu Okorie as the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State.
Justice A. Abubakar on Wednesday handed over the leadership of the party to Joseph Onu Silas.

Following the outcome of the PDP Chairmanship election that brought in Okorie, Silas, who emerged second, sought redress in court, Politics Nigeria reports.
It was learnt that the court granted all the four reliefs prayed by the plaintiff.

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 

At least 677 traffickers have been convicted and sentenced to various jail terms between January and March 2022, with a total of 3,359 arrests and 65,915.891 kilograms of assorted drugs seized within the same period by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
No fewer than 2,223 drug users were also counselled through brief interventions and rehabilitated in NDLEA facilities across the country in the first quarter of the year; figures that represent a fair balance between the agency’s drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.

Lagos has the highest figure of drug seizures with 22,192.62 kilograms of illicit substances recovered from parts of the state, followed by the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command, Ikeja, also in Lagos, with 8,979.869kg of drugs seized between January and March, while Kano and Kaduna led the pack in the arrests of offenders with 194 arrests each within the same period.
While a total of 257 hectares of Cannabis farms were destroyed in forests across Ondo State, 14.869 hectares suffered same fate in Edo and an hectare destroyed in Bayelsa State within the same period.
A further breakdown of the drugs seized within the first quarter of the year shows Cannabis leading the table in January with 8,205.75kg; followed by Codeine -414.281kg; Diazepam -192.459kg; Tramadol -135.067kg; Rophynol -43.062kg and Cocaine -24.32kg. 
In February, Cannabis also topped the list of seizures with 20,538.79kg; Codeine -1,848.052kg; Tramadol -540.354kg; Diazepam -137.041kg; Rophynol -80.261kg; Cocaine -15.727kg; Methamphetamine – 6.207kg and Heroin – 4.006kg.

Cannabis also topped the list of seizures in March with 21,583.81kg; followed by Tramadol -8,965.319kg; Codeine -417.207kg; Diazepam -57.755kg; Cocaine -45.082kg; Methamphetamine -7.527kg; Rophynol-6.34kg and Heroin -1.497kg.
While appreciating the commitment of officers and men of the agency, the  Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), urged them not to rest on their laurels.

Drugs News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has granted the appeal filed by human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore challenging his stringent bail conditions confining him to Abuja.

The judgement which was delivered on Wednesday by Justice Tsammani who led the three man panel described the restriction of the activist to Abuja as a gross violation of his fundamental rights.

The court held that the bail conditions granted by the trial judge, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, restricting Sowore to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as excessive and stringent. 

The court therefore set aside the lower court judgment and granted the prayer of the activist to travel out of Abuja but failed to grant him request to travel to the United States of America to see his family.

It would be recalled that Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court on October 4, 2019, granted bail of N100million to Sowore.

Ms Ojukwu said Sowore should produce two sureties in like sum.

Of the N100 million, N50 million was to be deposited with the court while the balance was to be put in place should Sowore jump bail.

The court said Sowore’s sureties must deposit tax clearance certificates for three years, 2016 to 2018, and documents of landed properties in Abuja. The sureties were also to deposit affidavit of means for their assets.

The court ruled that when released after meeting his bail conditions, Sowore should remain in Abuja till the case was determined. 

Human Rights News AddThis :  Original Author :  Saharareporters, New York Disable advertisements :