The Nigeria Police Fore has rejected the alleged Amnesty International Nigeria report on the use of force against members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) also known as shiites.
In a report on Wednesday, Amnesty International alleged that the Nigeria Police and military used deadly force against IMN members.
The organisation also said security forces must be held responsible for killing 45 members of the group.
Shiite members had been protesting the detention of their leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who was arrested in December 2015 after a clash with the Chief of Army Staff’s convoy.
A statement by police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood on Thursday, said the allegation against the police was not true.
“The Nigeria police force wishes to state categorically that the allegation against the police by the Amnesty International is in its entirety untrue,” he said.
Moshood said that the report also alleged that the military dispersed peaceful gatherings by firing live ammunition without warning.
The spokesman said that the report was a clear misrepresentation and absolute distortion of facts to divert attention from the heinous crimes committed by the IMN members.
He said that the group had carried out a provocative attack on police personnel and set ablaze a patrol vehicle in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Wednesday.
Moshood said that in spite of the provocation from the members of the group, the force resisted the use of maximum force on them.
“To set the record straight, there was no report of death in any police station in the FCT from the police intervention and quelling of the disturbance of public peace and public safety.
“The Force sees the Amnesty International allegation against the police as deliberate and desperate attempt to cast aspersions on the investigation and ongoing prosecution of the arrested members of the group,” he said.
He said the force would not be deterred from carrying its statutory duties nor condone lawlessness by any group under any disguise.
Moshood said that force would continue to operate within the ambit of the law and ensure the diligent prosecution of the arrested members of the group in Abuja.
He implored members of the public to disregard and discountenance the allegation by Amnesty International.
The Federal Ministry of Finance has denied knowledge of a 3.5 billion-dollar fund allegedly kept and utilised by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for fuel subsidy.
The Permanent Secretary, Mr Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, gave the ministry’s position when he appeared before the Senate ad hoc committee probing the allegation in Abuja on Thursday.
Isa-Dutse’s claim appeared to corroborate the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr Maikanti Baru, who restated the agency’s denial that it had no such fund in its custody.
The allegation emanated from the Minority Leader of the Senate, Abiodun Olujimi, at plenary on Oct. 16.
In a point of order, Olujimi had alleged there was a 3.5 billion dollar “Subsidy Recovery Fund being managed only by the GMD and Executive Director, Finance, of the NNPC”.
It was on the basis of that allegation that the Senate set up the committee, chaired by the Majority Leader, Sen. Ahmed Lawan.
Isa-Dutse said the ministry was only aware of the outstanding payments under the old subsidy regime, being handled by the Debt Management Office (DMO).
“As far as the current fuel importation regime is concerned, the Ministry of Finance does not have any account it is operating.
“We are not aware of the alleged 3.5 billion dollar fund, and we do not maintain any subsidy fund account,” he said.
The NNPC had earlier denied the 3.5 billion dollar subsidy fund claim in a statement on Oct. 17.
The GMD explained on Thursday that the agency was only utilising a revolving fund of 1.05 billion dollars to defray the cost of under-recovery in the importation of fuel.
Asked by the lawmakers to differentiate between subsidy and the “cost of under-recovery”, Baru said subsidy was usually captured in the national budget, while the latter was not.
The 1.05 billion dollars, according to him, is part of the NNPC’s operational costs.
He said the money was sourced from the corporation’s share dividend in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Baru explained that the action was in line with section 7 (4)(b) of the NNPC Act, which mandated it to defray its operational costs from its revenue.
“This 1.05 billion dollars is being administered under a steering committee that was set up, and a working committee that handles daily operations of this fund.
“These committees comprise representatives of the Minister of Finance, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Accountant General of the Federation, CBN, Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency, Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board, Directorate of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC.
“The fund is being transparently administered according to laid down processes and governance.
“I would like this honourable committee to note that the actions of NNPC were in compliance with the National Assembly directive that NNPC, as the supplier of last resort should, and has, maintained robust petrol supply and distribution to the nation.
“Currently, no other oil company imports petrol due to the high landing cost above the N145 per litre price ceiling on sale of the product, and also due to the lack of provision for subsidy in the Appropriation Acts since 2016,” he explained.
The GMD assured the committee that the NNPC would continue to guarantee energy security in the country by maintaining PMS supply at the approved pump price of N145 per litre, except directed otherwise.
When Lawan requested for documents to back up his claims, Baru said they were not immediately available and asked for one month to present them to the committee.
But the lawmaker gave him two weeks to furnish the committee with the documents, and adjourned the hearing till Nov. 6.
Jordan’s Tourism Minister, Lina-Annab, resigns over flash flood tragedy
Jordan’s Tourism Minister, Lina-Annab, resigns over flash flood tragedy
Jordan’s Tourism Minister Lina Annab, has tendered her resignation after the government was accused of negligence in flash floods that killed 21 people, mostly school children.
“In view of the painful situation’’ in Jordan, Annab tweeted on Thursday that she had presented her resignation to Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz so that he might “make the appropriate decision.’’
The government gave no immediate comment.
Thirty seven children from a private school based in the capital Amman and seven of their teachers were on a trip to a hot springs area near the Dead Sea on Oct. 25, when they were swept away by floods triggered by torrential rains.
Several lawmakers had called for Annab and Education Minister Azmi Mahafzah to face a no-confidence vote in parliament over alleged negligence in the fatal incident, one of the deadliest weather-related disasters in Jordan.
The government has blamed the school for the incident, with Mahafzah saying it violated safety regulations that bar access to dangerous areas in bad weather.
The school changed the destination of the trip, approved by the Education Ministry, from the area of al-Zarqa in north-eastern Jordan to the flood-prone Dead Sea area, according to the education minister.
Buhari met traditional rulers when he visited Kaduna, after the Kasuwan Magani crisis
Buhari met traditional rulers when he visited Kaduna, after the Kasuwan Magani crisis
President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Kaduna State in the midst of sectarian crisis that claimed tens of lives was a display of exemplary leadership and governance with a human face, says an organisation.
The Buhari Media organisation (BMO) hailed the President in a statement issued by the group’s Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke on Thursday in Abuja.
The group noted that Buhari had during the visit met with political, traditional and religious leaders in an on-going effort to bring the life consuming mayhem to an end.
It added that the president also read the riot act and seriously warned trouble makers in that state and elsewhere in the country that his government would no longer tolerate such blood-letting.
In its reaction to the visit, the group hailed Buhari for this unprecedented move and for showing that governance should, and can, have a human face.
“This is the first time in the history of this Nation that a sitting President would visit a troubled spot right in the midst of a crisis.
“This is exemplary leadership, a commendable display of governance with a human face; this is how we know a leader that cares,” it said.
BMO recall that the visit was a grand departure from what happened in a not too distant past.
“We recalled that in a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government headed by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as President, we were faced with a similar situation like Kaduna.
“Rather than a solution with a human touch, bombs and missiles were deployed in Odi; PDP government descended on that poor village and completely wiped it out.
“This is the route that Buhari has decided not to take,’’ it said.
The statement said Buhari was a war General just like Obasanjo, but the difference was that while one General was a humanist, the other was nihilist.
The group said it believed that Nigerians were watching and taking due notice.
Meanwhile, the group has also advised Sen. Bukar Ibrahim, former Yobe governor and three-time senator, to quietly retire to his village rather than cry over spilt milk.
It also dismissed the former governor’s attempt at disowning comments attributed to him as an afterthought.
BMO noted that rather than play to the gallery after losing his bid for an unprecedented fourth term in the Senate, the Senator should have quietly nursed his wounds.
“Here is a man who is perhaps one of the biggest beneficiaries of the tsunami that trailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 victory.
“Aside from being a Senator, his wife was appointed a minister from the House of Representatives and has also secured a ticket to return to the National Assembly in 2019.
“But he is clearly bitter that he has been denied a return to the Senate as if Yobe State is a personal estate,” it said.
The group pointed out that the North East that the Senator claimed the President has little chance of clinching in 2019 has benefited a lot from the Buhari administration.
“It is unfortunate that the Senator has chosen to be blind to the infrastructural and socio-economic progress as well as improved security in the North East in the past three and a half years of this administration,” it said.
According to BMO, not even North West Nigeria has benefited as much as the North East region in terms of appointments.
It said the north east produced the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief of Army staff and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
BMO added that inspite of Ibrahim’s attempt to recant, he had inadvertently exposed himself as one of those senators who had been working against the success of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
Inspector-General of Nigeria Police, Ibrahim Idris
Inspector-General of Nigeria Police, Ibrahim Idris
The Commissioner of Police in Kaduna State Command, Malam Ahmad Abdurrahaman, on Thursday said the command has charged 97 people to court suspected of involvement in the recent crisis in Kasuwan Magani area of the state.
Abdulrrahaman, who made the disclosure at a press briefing in Kaduna, explained that 45 of the suspects where arraigned at the Chief Magistrate Court, Ibrahim Taiwo Road Kaduna on Oct 24,
“Also 52 suspects were equally arraigned in the same court on Oct. 31 accordingly.” he added.
The CP said that normalcy has been restored in all troubled areas of the state and residents have resumed normal businesses.
“The command is currently committed to post violence management efforts and I am appealing to the general public to support the command to ensure success by giving us prompt and relevant information that can facilitate peaceful coexistence in the state as well as expose criminally minded people and rumour peddlers in our midst.”
Abdulrrahaman also disclosed that within the last two weeks, another set of 26 suspects were arrested in various crime not related to Kasuwan Magani crisis. which includes
“The crimes include criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, rape, illegal and possession of firearms, kidnapping, culpable homicide, drug peddling among others.”
He also disclosed that the police recovered one Locally made Pistol, one Short Dane Gun, single barrel Gun, four live Cartridges, a Toyota Siena registered DKA 830 AU, two Fabricated Wooden Pistols, seven Machetes, two Knives, one torch light and 20 bags of substance suspected to be Indian Hemp.
The CP said the 26 suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations were concluded.
“I wish to thank the good people of Kaduna state for their support to the Police and other security agencies during this trying period and to appeal for strict compliance during the remaining curfew period,” the CP said.
He reassured of the command commitment to reduce crime to its barest minimum in the state with the full support of residents.
Abdurrahman said members of the public should continue to provide the police with useful information regarding activities of persons likely to constitute danger to the society, so as to prevent them from carrying out their heinous acts.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is faced with a dilemma as an election approaches on how to credibly clamp down on Riyadh.
He plans to clamp down on its human rights record while sparing a 13 billion dollars arms deal with Saudi Arabia.
Trudeau, who has promised “consequences’’ for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, is under pressure to freeze an already unpopular 13 billion dollars contract for armored vehicles built in Canada by U.S.-based General Dynamics.
The problem is that the deal underpins 3,000 jobs in the small city of London, Ontario, a recovering manufacturing centre and a likely battleground in 2019’s federal vote.
The debate over the deal is worrying to members of Trudeau’s ruling Liberal party, including Peter Fragiskatos, the lawmaker from the London North Centre parliamentary constituency.
“A lot of jobs depend on this contract,’’ Fragiskatos said in an interview, noting Trudeau has visited the city several times and “understands very well the challenges that London has faced. I am advocating very strongly for my community.’’
A source directly familiar with official thinking said “we don’t want to lose those jobs’’, but added it was also important for Canada to take a stand when human rights are violated.
“Canada is committed to upholding human rights, freedom of expression and the protection of journalists around the world,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau said that Ottawa would review its export permits to Saudi Arabia in response to the death of Khashoggi, whose murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October has sparked an international outcry.
As for further penalties, a government official earlier that Canada is carrying out a “comprehensive review of our relationship with Saudi Arabia,’’ while trying to “establish a credible narrative’’ for the murder and coordinate a response with allies.
In recent years, Trudeau has cast himself and his government as standard-bearers for progressive values at a time when the United States is withdrawing from the global stage under President Donald Trump.
Canada is particularly sensitive to Khashoggi’s murder after Riyadh abruptly severed diplomatic ties following Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland’s tweet in August demanding the release of jailed activists.
Trudeau backed Freeland after the tweet and the two have been generally aligned on the murder of Khashoggi while he stated why Ottawa would go ahead with the arms deal.
Freeland replied that it was “a very good question’’ and declined to be more specific.
Trudeau has said scrapping the deal would cost “billions’’ in penalties.
Opposition critics and human rights groups say that if Trudeau is serious about standing up for human rights, he should cancel the deal.
Other nations are also grappling with how to send a strong message to the Gulf oil producer about its need to respect human rights while limiting the economic impact.
Germany halted new weapons sales to Riyadh, and Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for the rest of the European Union to adopt a similar position.
Berlin is also reviewing sales that have already been approved, including contracts for patrol boats that are under construction.
But in Britain, the second-largest exporter of arms to Saudi Arabia after the United States, Prime Minister Theresa May’s government has repeatedly rejected calls from opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to end arms sales to Riyadh.
`There are jobs in the UK at stake so when it comes to the issue of arms sales we have our procedures,” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told lawmakers.
Saudi prosecutor visits Istanbul consulate where Khashoggi was killed
London’s newly elected mayor Ed Holder, a former Conservative minister who helped found the Canada Saudi Business Council and led a trade delegation to the kingdom in 2016, said the contract should not be canceled.
“I’ve been in contact with the federal government about that and I’m advised that they don’t intend to cancel the contract,” he said in a radio interview after his Oct. 22, election.
The political fallout of scrapping the deal could be significant.
The Liberals control two of London’s four seats and have a narrow, 12-seat parliamentary majority heading into a re-election campaign for a vote due by Oct. 21, 2019.
The killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2 has continued to draw global outrage, especially at a time when journalists and the media are under increasing attacks.
Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government and columnist for The Washington Post, was assassinated at the Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Turkey in what has been described as premeditated murder.
There have also been growing protests against Khashoggi’s disappearance and at allegations of “state-sponsored murder’’ of the journalist as his disappearance was directly linked to his criticism of Saudi policies.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) says between 2006 and 2017, more than 1,000 journalists were killed, often for simply doing their job of uncovering something that someone wants to stay hidden — an average of one death every four days.
Analysts have, however, criticised the way world leaders have reacted to Khashoggi’s killing.
A human rights activist, Dr Kayode Ajulo, says “there is a sharp and sad irony between the Khashoggi case and if the killing had taken place in Nigeria.
“In the former’s situation, a life is lost, yet cry against it was loud. In Nigeria, killings happen in torrents and thousands; with impunity too’’.
Analysts say Khashoggi’s killing has also renewed safety concerns for Nigerian journalists who have also had their unfortunate share of attacks.
The Coalition of Nigerian Media and Civil Society Groups, while protesting Kashhoggi’s killing at the Saudi Consulate in Abuja, also asked Nigerian government to re-open similar cases of journalists killed by suspected government officials.
The group during the protest said: “Just as we call on the Saudi government, so also, we call on the Nigerian government to put an end to impunity for crimes against journalists’’.
The group, particularly, recalled the killing of the Nigerian foremost investigative journalist and publisher of Newswatch Magazine, Mr Dele Giwa, via a parcel bomb in 1986.
The group asked President Muhammadu Buhari to “order the reopening of impartial, independent and transparent investigations into the killings of all journalists in the country and ensure their killers don’t go unpunished’’.
Mr Simon Kolawole, Publisher of TheCable, online newspapers, says Khashoggi’s death has again refreshes one’s mind of the sad memories of what Nigerian journalists went through in the hands of the military.
“The murder brought back the sad memories of military dictatorship in Nigeria. Khashoggi’s fate is a reminder of the dangers journalists still face,’’ Kolawole said.
Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria compels “the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media to, at all time, be free to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people’’.
However, while Section 22 gives the media the responsibility of holding government accountable to the people, it is not justice-able, as it neither empowers nor protects the media to discharge its duty.
In his view, Mr Kakuna Kerina, Programme Coordinator for Africa at the Committee to Protect Journalists, says the Nigerian press is the continent’s most prolific and vociferous, setting the standards for media practitioners throughout the region.
“But in the 1990s, they met their match in the late Gen. Sani Abacha’s regime which set new standards of abusive treatment of the press with tactics such as indefinite detentions without charge.
Other inhumane treatments meted out to Nigerian journalists and workers in media houses under the junta were secret trials by military tribunals, torture by police and state security agents, disappearances, office bombings and bans and seizures of publications,’’ he observed.
He said further that the Detention of Persons Decree No. 2 allowed indefinite, incommunicado detention of citizens, while the Offensive Publications Decree No. 35 of 1993 allowed the government to seize any publication deemed likely to “disturb the peace and public order of Nigeria’’.
He also observed that the Treason and Treasonable Offenses Decree No. 29 of 1993 was used in 1995 by a special military tribunal to convict Kunle Ajibade, Chris Anyanwu, George M’bah and Ben Charles-Obi as “accessories after the fact to treason’’ for reporting on an alleged coup plot.
In that regard, Mr Bayo Onanuga, Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) was exiled and The News magazine, TEMPO, PM News and other media outfits were proscribed, birthing the guerrilla journalism.
Recounting his ordeals, Onanuga said: “I left through the usual ‘NADECO route. Before I left Nigeria, I had to go and shave. I used to have some Afro hair on my head.
“I dressed like a farmer and bought some eye-glasses. I dressed more like an old school teacher and just carried a few things and headed towards Ghana’’.
Onanuga regretted that his employee, Bagauda Kaltho, was killed by the state, while his colleague, Babafemi Ojudu, was arrested at the border while coming back to Nigeria from a conference in Kenya.
“Kunle Ajibade was already jailed for life. Dapo Olorunyomi was on exile. Seye Kehinde, had floated City People. Jenkins Alumona, our editor was in detention. So many other people had been arrested at that time,’’ Onanuga said.
But analysts say the threats during the dark military era for Nigerian journalists are still with the members of the pen profession even after the return to civil rule.
Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based non-profit, nonpartisan organisation that monitors press freedom globally, had reported serious reservations about Nigeria’s government press relations in 1999.
It noted that “although a new constitution was promulgated on May 5 (1999), it was modelled largely after 1979 Constitution and offered the media no specific protection’’, identifying about 20 anti-media decrees in the amended 1999 Consitution.
Punch Newspaper, in a recent editorial said “in September 2017, more than 50 soldiers besieged the Nigeria Union of Journalists Press Centre in Umuahia, Abia State, beat up journalists and damaged iPads, laptops, tape recorders and furniture’’.
Midat Joseph of Leadership Newspaper, Samuel Ogundipe of Premium Times, the Elombah brothers – Daniel and Timothy – with elombah.com, and Jones Abiri of Weekly Source, were recent victims.
Other recent victims in the line of duty also include Friday Olokor of Punch Newspapers, Taiye Edeni of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and Enemaku Ojochigbe of the African Independent Television.
Mrs Ifeyinwa Omowole, National President of National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), has, however, advised journalists to learn from Kashkoggi’s killing by prioritising their safety.
“The lesson from Kashoggi is that all of us in Nigeria have to be trained. There is no spare life. You don’t deliberately walk into a danger zone.
“Even though Kashkoggi had gone for a pre-meeting, according to his girlfriend, from all indications, the guy had a feeling prior to going in there; he knew he could be facing death.
“We are not immune to attack; in fact, we are more vulnerable to attacks because most times, the journalist is seen as supposed enemy to the political class,’’ she said.
The NAWOJ leader called for periodic training for journalists to learn new trends in issues of security.
“There is a Life Insurance policy in Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) which costs less than N7,000 annually and a lot of us do not even subscribe to it,’’ she said.
Omowole tasked the government on the protection of every citizen saying, “if in the course of duty we sometimes have to face danger, then it behoves on the government to find a way to protect us.
“Security personnel need to be trained on the schedule and responsibility of journalists. So if they know, they will not see us as threats, they will see us as partners’’.
Also, a group of independent, UN-appointed human rights experts have urged governments to take firm steps to ensure accountability for violence and attacks against journalists.
Mr David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and Bernard Duhaime, Chair of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, express concern about the safety of journalists.
They note that high-level international commitments such as a resolution on the safety of journalists adopted by the Human Rights Council in September 2018 exist, calling on world leaders to implement such resolutions.
However, UNESCO launches a new campaign, “Truth Never Dies’’ on November 2, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.
UNESCO also calls for media partners to support the campaign by publishing stories on, or by journalists killed as a result of their work, to coincide with the commemoration.
President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration will continue to implement policies that will make Nigeria’s economy, which is already looking good, better.
The president stated this during an audience with Mr Jesper Kamp, the new Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Nigeria, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
According to him, Nigeria welcomes further strengthening of relations with other countries, especially in the areas of agriculture and trade.
The President told the Danish ambassador he was pleased that relations between Nigeria and Denmark had remained strong.
He noted that in the economic sphere there was some more work to do.
‘‘The Nigerian economy is looking good and we look forward to making it better,’’ the President told the Danish ambassador after receiving his Letter of Credence.
President Buhari also received Letters of Credence from retired Maj.- Gen. Waqar Kingravi, the new High Commissioner of Pakistan to Nigeria, Mr Babacar Ndiaye, the new Ambassador of Senegal to Nigeria and Mr Vyacheslav Beskosky, the new Ambassador of Belarus to Nigeria.
He told the envoys that Nigeria valued the existing cordial and friendly relations with their countries.
The President described the long-standing military cooperation between Nigeria and Pakistan as very commendable and beneficial to both countries.
‘‘Given the vast experience of the Pakistani military, your commitment in assisting us to develop our military is commendable,’’ he told the Pakistani High Commissioner:
The Nigerian leader recounted that as a former military officer, several of his colleagues who trained in Pakistan still have very fond memories of the country.
While receiving the Senegalese Ambassador, President Buhari commended President Macky Sall of Senegal for his roles in the progress achieved in the political process in Guinea Bissau.
President Buhari noted that he was aware of the economic progress taking place in Senegal.
He, however, stressed the need for stability in the West African region to ensure rapid socio-economic development, particularly in the key areas of education, health and infrastructure.
‘‘The bigger we are, the bigger the problems, so we must continue to do our best to surmount our challenges in the region,’’ President Buhari, who is also the current Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government, told the Senegalese envoy.
In his audience with the Belarus Ambassador, President Buhari harped on the need for improved economic ties, while commending the Eastern European country for accommodating international students from Nigeria in her tertiary institutions.
The President wished the four ambassadors very successful tenures, reiterating Nigeria’s commitment to continue to partner with their countries in areas of mutual concerns.
