Pfizer Kano Trial: 24 years after, some victims not compensated and still can’t live normal lives

ONE sunny afternoon in April 1996, Maryam Ibrahim, also known as Ladi, took Maryam Ibrahim Sulaiman, her six-year-old daughter, to the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) in Kano for vaccination after the child had suffered severe headache and fever overnight.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9HdPss5CJM

Before dawn, the child’s situation became so severe that she could barely walk. Ladi strapped her daughter to her back and headed for the hospital.

The child was later confirmed by a female European doctor at the IDH to be suffering from Meningitis.

After giving her four rounds of injections, the doctor handed her a wristband and a whistle. She also took her photograph, and gave her mother a copy as gift. And the pink colour registration card was taken from her by the officials of the hospital.

Ladi was excited, especially as the treatment was done free of charge. But her excitement would later be short-lived because, what transpired at the hospital cast doubts on the treatment administered on the poor child.

“…On reaching there (IDH) I entered with Maryam and she was accepted immediately and they took her to a particular room,” she recalls during an interview with The ICIR.

“I peeped through the window where they laid her on a bench but when they discovered that I peeped, they let the curtain down, and as of then they’ve cut her open from the waist to fetch some fluid. I saw something like a TV connected with a cable on her, yes, I saw that. But after that I was not allowed to see anything again. Later they asked me to get a seat for myself, which I did.

“Later, I saw a staff held her by the neck and told me to follow so as to get a bed for her, and I did.

“All that I cared about then was my child’s health and well-being.”

Later, the hospital officials instructed her to come back with the child after a week for check up.

But during the week, the child began to feel chronic pain in the leg and waist region.

On the day she was asked to come back with her daughter, Ladi was amazed when she was told that the white doctor and her colleagues had gone back to their country.

A physician who witnessed the event said the doctors left Kano unceremoniously immediately after the treatment.

Ladi did not know that her daughter had been used as one of the 200 guinea pigs to test the efficacy of a vaccine manufactured by the United States-based pharmaceutical company, Pfizer.

Since then, Maryam has continued to live her life with complications arising from the treatment. Her problem include chronic waist and leg pains and incessant fever. Later, she started complaining of auditory problem, then dizziness, resulting in loss of balance.

The vaccine later affected the mobility of her waist and legs. So, she was being taken from one hospital to another administered with different injections and drugs, Ladi narrated.

It is not clear if the complications affected Maryam’s memory 24 years after but many of her answers to questions were incoherent and she seemed to have forgotten many things about herself.

The treatment, it seems, has changed her life and now all she desires is living a healthy life free of pain.

“Most time, she is sick and to play basketball with her fellow girls is difficult. She complained that some of her school mates poked fun at her and she tried to explain to them that her waist and legs are not strong enough” Ladi said, sadness written all over her face.

She eventually finished high school in 2012, after enduring years of crude jokes and verbal assaults from insensitive peers.

She could not continue with her education because her parents could not afford it. And she also could attract intimate relationships because of her poor health condition, her mother told The ICIR.

“Men are scared to marry her because of her intermittent sickness. And she can’t walk long-distance without feeling pain in her hips”.

When I was young, my future ambition was to be a doctor- Audu Sani

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/pfizer-kano-trial-24-years-after-some-victims-not-compensated-and-still-cant-live-normal-lives/

AN investigation published by The ICIR has revealed how the Akwa Ibom State government spent N5.4 billion in 2019 on the maintenance of only one state-owned aircraft, a Bombardier Global 5000 strictly meant for the use of the governor, Emmanuel Udom and members of his family.

The State House of Assembly had approved N2.5 billion for that purpose but the office of the Secretary of the State Government (SSG) spent N5.04 billion.

In the investigation, Liberty Jet, a New York-based airline operator said the annual cost of flying and maintaining a Bombardier Global 5000 for 400 hours a year is approximately $2,272,015 which is only N693.88 million, at the exchange rate of N305/$1 in 2019.

Another aviation cost company called Aircraft Cost Calculator said the cost of flying and maintaining a Bombardier Global 5000 is $2,525,902 which is equivalent to N770.4 million at 450 hours per year.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/akwa-ibom-govt-spends-n5-4-billion-on-maintenance-of-one-aircraft-for-governor-family/

THE Akwa Ibom State Government this year released the Account General’s annual report and audited financial statements for 2019. A thorough analysis of the report reveals that the offices of the State Governor and the Secretary to the State Government made several questionable and extra budgetary expenses in 2019. These bizarre expenses were incurred on cars, aircraft maintenance, fuel, government special projects and governor’s hospitality exceed N10 billion.

N 4.864 billion spent on cars
The report reveals that the office of the SSG purchased 15 new Toyota Prado Jeeps (TXL) for the sum of N4.864 billion. The approved budget for that item was N738 million. So an extra N4.126 billion was posted for the purchase of these cars.

The figures in the financial report, imply that the unit cost for one Toyota Prado Jeep (TXL) is more than N324 million. But a market price survey conducted in October 2020 by our reporters showed that the current unit price of the car is N34 million. Cheki cars, a reputable car company in Lagos, said 15 new Toyota Prado Jeep (TXL) would be sold for N510 million only, which is N228 million less than the original amount budgeted for the vehicles.

Even with a mark up of 20 per cent profit for the supplier of the vehicles, they should not have cost more than N612 million.

Through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, our reporter sought information from the office of the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, on the purchase of the 15 number Toyota Prado Jeeps. Ekuwem did not respond to the request sent to his office on 24th September 2020 and the follow- up reminder sent to him two weeks later.

N5.04 billion spent on maintenance of state aircraft

A big recurrent expenditure item in the 2019 financial report under the SSG’s office is the maintenance of the state aircraft. The House of Assembly approved N2.5 billion for this item in 2019 but the SSG’s office spent N5.04 billion on the maintenance of one aircraft, a Bombardier Global 5000, which is used exclusively by the governor and the first family.

According to Liberty Jet, a New York based airline operator, the annual cost of flying and maintaining a Bombardier Global 5000 for 400 hours a year is approximately $2,272,015, N693.88 million, at the exchange rate of N305/$1 in 2019.

Also, an aviation cost evaluation company, Aircraft Cost Calculator, puts the cost of flying and maintaining a Bombardier Global 5000, at $2,525,902 (N770.4 million) at 450 hours per year.

Expenses incurred by the state on the maintenance of the aircraft have outraged Akwa Ibom indigenes, Civil Society and Civil Liberties Organizations.

At one point, Senator Ita Enang, currently serving as Senior Special Assistant on Niger Delta Affairs to President Buhari, called on the state government to sell the aircraft and invest the money in education and agriculture.

Arc Ezekiel Nya-Etok, a respected politician and advocate of good governance, advised the state government to push the state aircraft into the fleet of Ibom Air, Akwa Ibom State-owned airline, for chartered services to help the state get economic value from it.

The state government keeps posting fees for maintenance and repairs of the state aircraft, even as information on the company maintaining the aircraft remained a top secret.

After spending a month scouting for leads on the company in-charge of the maintenance and repairs of the state aircraft, our reporters through a critical source outside the state got briefs that CAMOSA (Continued Airworthiness Maintenance Organisation), an aviation consultant based in Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa, was in-charge of the maintenance of the aircraft.

Checks on the company at the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, show that CAMOSA was registered to do business in Nigeria in December 2019, with the name “CAMOSA Projects Limited”. The company’s address on the CAC and FIRS is Udo Udoma Avenue (House number withheld).

After a long search for the company’s address in Uyo, it was discovered that the company has been operating surreptitiously from a property allegedly owned by the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Special Duties and Aviation Development, Mr Okpolpum Etteh.

During a physical check at the address, there was no signboard or any other proof that the company occupies the flat, instead another company linked to Etteh, had a small signage on the door to the flat.

A critical source who spoke about the operations of the company, told our reporters, that CAMOSA Projects Limited only “squatted a while in the facility and used the address to formalize their registration but had moved out to a new office in Shelter Afrique.” Shelter Afrique is a high-brow, government-owned residential estate in Akwa Ibom State where top government functionaries live.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-akwa-ibom-governor-ssg-in-multi-billion-naira-scandal/

THE Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) was conceived by the Federal Government as a means of transforming the country’s abundant, largely untapped gold deposits into a major source of revenue for the country.

But controversy surrounding the establishment of a gold reserve by the Zamfara State government, and reports of the purchase of gold from the state by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the PAGMI arrangement, has ressurected the age-long clamour for resource control by oil producing states of the Niger Delta.

PAGMI is a comprehensive artisanal and small-scale gold mining development programme, launched in 2019 to foster the formalisation and integration of artisanal, or illegal, gold mining activities into Nigeria’s legal, economic, and institutional framework. It w‎as ‎designed as a broader strategy to address the structural and institutional factors such as rural poverty, lack of alternative livelihoods, and difficulties in meeting legal and regulatory requirements that tend to push artisanal gold mining operators deeper into the informal economy.‎

‎The provision of access to markets for the artisanal miners through a National Gold Purchase Program and the deployment of enhanced mining methods at artisanal and small-scale mining sites are to serve as ‎catalysts for the planned integration.

‎In line with the National Gold Purchase Program, the ‎Central Bank of Nigeria will be purchasing gold that has been mined, processed and refined under the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative for use as part of Nigeria’s external reserves.‎

Offering more insight on PAGMI, the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, on its website, explained, “‎PAGMI will deploy safer and more efficient mining and processing technologies across artisanal mining locations across the country, starting with Kebbi and Osun States as the Pilot States with intervention in Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger States to commence immediately after the Pilot.

“Using a Centralised Off-take and Supply System supported by a Decentralised Aggregation and Production Network, PAGMI will buy all the gold produced by artisanal and small-scale miners and aggregated by licensed buying centers and aggregators for supply to the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

A major feature of PAGMI, the biometric data capture and enrolment exercise for artisanal miners, kicked-off in Yauri Local Government Area of Kebbi State in February.

However, controversy is trailing the implementation of PAGMI after the announcement by the Zamfara State government that it had established a gold reserve was followed by reports that the CBN is to purchase N5 billion worth of gold from the state government.

‎Under the PAGMI arrangement, the CBN had, earlier in July 2020, paid the sum of N268m for 12.5kg of locally mined gold bars.

Also, in August, 2020, Zamfara State governor, Dr. Bello Matawalle, visited the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to present gold bars mined in the state to President Muhammadu Buhari.

‎Then, in October 2020, Matawalle announced, at a press briefing in Gusau, that Zamfara has established a ‘gold reserve’ with gold that was, reportedly, entirely mined and refined by artisanal miners in the state. The gold reserve, the first of its kind in Nigeria, was launched with 31kg of processed gold that is to be deposited in a bank.

The governor explained that the establishment of the gold reserve would boost the economy of the state.

“My administration will subsequently continue to buy gold from our local miners so as to gradually improve the reserve. ‎Even though our state, like other states of the Federation, is grappling with competing demands from the public, the resources at our disposal are meagre. We feel it is of utmost significance to invest in the future of our people.

“The establishment of the gold reserve, therefore, is part of the relentless efforts by my administration to diversify the state’s economy by exploring all potentials of the state, and maximally utilising them for the benefit of the present and future generations,” Matawalle said.

Going by the PAGMI arrangement, it is expected that the CBN will purchase gold from the ‘gold reserve’ of the Zamfara State government.

The Federal Government had banned mining activities in Zamfara after illegal mining by artisanal miners was linked to the banditry in the state. But Zamfara State Commissioner for Finance, Rabiu Garba, while shedding further light on the ‘gold reserve’, noted that “When the ban is lifted and mining activities resume fully, we (Zamfara State government) are hopeful that we will be receiving royalties from miners while the Federal Government will also be giving us something”.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-zamfara-gold-mining-ressurected-clamour-for-resource-control-by-oil-producing-states/

How did a nation draped in delirium on October 1, 1960 find itself dripping with blood just under seven years later? Exactly 50 years after the kick-off of the Civil War of 1967, ‘FISAYO SOYOMBO, Editor of the ICIR, recalls the events that led to Nigeria’s lowest moment in history.

But now we have acquired our rightful status, and I feel sure that history will show that the building of our nation proceeded at the wisest pace: it has been thorough, and Nigeria now stands well-built upon firm foundations — Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Independence Day, 1960

A HAPPY BEGINNING

You could sense the joy of the people. In Lagos, then seat of power where hordes thronged the streets — and in other parts of the country — it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment of animated merrymaking exemplified by widespread wining and dining. Even in the far-flung villages, wine swigging and food gobbling were de rigueur, at least for the day.

Earlier at midnight, the small but rising clique of elites had clutched at their radios as devout Catholics would the Rosary, listening as the sonorous voice of Emmanuel Omatsola — a doyen of broadcast journalism — announced from Race Course: Nigeria is a free, sovereign nation.

Ask the primary school pupils at the time what the occasion was about and they would probably grope clumsily in search of the right words, but they sure had an idea: first, they holidayed away from school, and then returned to be served unusual rounds of sumptuous meals and handed lovingly petite green-white-green flags. As my father described it, at Independence on 1st October 1960, the mood all over the country was that of “naked excitement”.

FORESHADOWED CAPITULATION

Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister who delivered Nigeria’s maiden Independence Day speech, was one of the most brilliant and learned Nigerians of his time, at a time securing a scholarship to study at the University of London’s Institute of Education. And although he succeeded in earning a reasonable degree of notoriety for championing northern interests — a splotch that nearly all leaders of other ethnic groups equally bore — he cut an influential and likable figure outside the country especially because of his front-line roles in the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the negotiations for the resolution of the Congo Crisis of 1960 to 1964, the condemnation of the South African Sharpeville Massacre of 21st March 1960 and quelling the attempted expulsion of South Africa from the Commonwealth in 1961.

Sadly, for all his education and intelligence, the two-time Prime Minister misjudged the country’s foundations at Independence, which were anything but “well-built”. It was a blunder he never recovered from; well, the chance itself never came. Six years after delivering that fervent speech, Balewa paid with his life — alongside those of some others who championed the quest for Independence. With the benefit of hindsight, it was a death that was always coming. It was foreshadowed.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/flashback-how-nigeria-went-to-war-exactly-50-years-ago/

NIGERIANS were shocked on October 20, after soldiers opened fire on unarmed #ENDSARS protesters who were protesting peacefully against police brutality at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos State.

The protesters had been at the Lekki toll gate for two weeks prior to the shooting by the Nigerian Army, protesting the extra-judicial killings and unlawful arrests perpetrated by the notorious police unit, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.

Several videos circulating on social media including a live stream Instagram video revealed that men dressed in Army fatigues had shot at the unarmed protesters and soldiers were also seen barricading the protest site before the shooting started.

On October 21, the Nigerian Army in responding to media reports on the Lekki shootings via its official Twiter handle @HQNigerianArmy claimed the reports on soldiers shooting the unarmed protesters were false and none of its men was present at the scene.

Seven days later, Major Osoba Olaniyi, Acting Deputy Director, 81 Division Army Public Relations, reversed the military’s initial position in a press statement, saying soldiers had been deployed to Lekki’s toll gate to enforce curfew announced by the Lagos State Government.

However, he denied that the troops deployed to the scene had shot at the protesters.

“The intervention of the military followed all laid down procedures for Internal Security operations and all the soldiers involved acted within the confines of the Rules of Engagement (ROE) for Internal Security operations.

“At no time did soldiers of the Nigerian army open fire on any civilian,” Olaniyi said in his statement.

The military’s statement came shortly before Amnesty International, AI, revealed that its investigation had tracked army vehicles from their Lagos barracks to Lekki Toll Gate using photographs and verified videos of the soldiers’ movements that had been posted on social media.

On October 24, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State governor said security camera footage obtained from the scene confirmed Nigerian soldiers firing at the peaceful protesters at Lekki plaza, prior to the army’s admission of its presence at the scene.


READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/lekki-shootings-shitte-killings-and-other-lies-peddled-by-nigerian-army-since-2015/

It was on this day 24 years ago that four Nigerian teenagers, irked by the illegal and unjust annulment of the June 12, 1993 general election by the Ibrahim Babangida administration, hijacked a Nigeria Airways aircraft flying from Lagos to Abuja and diverted it to Niamey, Niger Republic.

The incident took place on a Monday, October 25, 1993, at a time Ernest Shonekan, then Interim President, was struggling to hold a chaotic country together.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The young men — Richard Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi and Kenny Rasaq-Lawal — boarded the flight quite gently and waited till the pilot announced that passengers could unfasten their seat belts.

According to an account of the incident, as was later relayed by Ogunderu himself, the boys signaled to one another and seized the plane.

Passengers aboard the aircraft, including top businessmen and senior government officials, were bewildered to hear a voice, different from that of the pilot, addressing them in the moments that followed.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this plane has been taken over by the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy,” the rather tiny voice said. “Remain calm, we will not harm you. You will be told where the plane will land you.”

Ogunderu recalled that “the air hostesses were almost stone-dead, gripped by fear. They must not move else they would ‘be dead.'”

A passenger who was in the toilet was said to have remained indoors until one of the hijackers came to pull him out.

“We wanted change. Our action confirmed that when a system is inhumane, it could produce the extreme in all of us,” Ogunderu said in an interview in 2009.

“A system that cares not, a system that does not listen to our cries and our woes, a system that wants to exterminate us does not deserve a day of existence.”

Ogunderu was the leader of the pack and he narrated how he kick-started the hijack.

“I walked into the cockpit and seized the process, and then the others followed me. Two of us stood in the plane to intimidate the passengers. We took over the plane and asked the pilot to head for another country.”

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/flashback-how-four-teenagers-hijacked-a-nigeria-airways-plane-for-mko-abiola/

IN a keynote address during the opening ceremony of the Directorate of Army Physical Training (DAPT) Officers Training Conference, ‎2020, in Zaria, Kaduna State, on November 3, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, for the umpteenth time, declared the ‘loyalty’ of the Nigerian Army to President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a speech read on his behalf by the Commander Infantry of the Nigerian Army, Major General Stevenson Olabanji, Buratai said, “I want to humbly express my profound gratitude to Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for his continued and invaluable support to the Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles.

“Therefore, I wish to pledge the commitment and unalloyed loyalty of officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army to the President and the defence of our democracy.”

However, the import of Buratai’s speech, which suggests that the Army’s loyalty lies first with the President before allegiance to the Nigerian ‎state and its constitution, is at odds with the spirit of the Armed Forces Oath.

The wordings of the Nigerian Armed Forces Oath puts loyalty to the country first, before loyalty to the President. ‎

The Armed ‎Forces Oath reads, “I… swear by Almighty God that in the service of my country, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces at all times. I will truly and faithfully serve the Federal Republic of Nigeria as by law established as a…. and will as in duty bound so serve for the period of my engagement or re-engagement, as the case may be, and go wherever ordered by land, sea or air and I will observe and obey commands of the Government of the Federation of Nigeria as by law established and of officers placed over me. I will always perform my duties diligently and efficiently and will not engage or be involved in any activity in conflict either directly or indirectly with this pledge. ‎I will, in the performance of my duties, eschew and expose corruption and will not corrupt others or aid or abet corruption in all its facets. ‎I will not discriminate on the basis of religion, tribe or cult or practise any form of partiality in the performance of my duties and will always follow the path of justice, honesty and concord amongst all the people of Nigeria in all I do. ‎I will subject myself to all Acts, Laws, subsidiary legislation and service regulations which now are or shall from time to time be in force and applicable to the Arm in which I am to serve during the period of my engagement or re-engagement, as the case may be. ‎So help me God.”

In the same vein, the wordings of the ‎Oath of Enlistment of members of the Armed Forces of the United States, from whom Nigeria copied it presidential system of government, also put loyalty and allegiance to country first.

The US Armed Forces Oath reads, “I…, do ‎solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

‎Remarkably, the Nigerian Army, under Buratai, has had cause to declare loyalty to Buhari on several occasions in recent times. And, in all such instances, the Army put loyalty to the President before loyalty to the country and the constitution.

As the recent #EndSARS protests gathered steam across the country, and moved from just demanding the scrap of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad ( SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force to questioning bad goverance, the Nigerian Army issued a statement, on October 15, labelling the protesters as ‘subversive elements’, ‘trouble makers’, ‘agents of disunity’ and ‘anti-democratic forces’.

The statement, signed by Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, also pledged the Nigerian Army’s ‘unalloyed’ loyalty and commitment to Buhari.

“As a responsible and law-abiding organisation, the Nigerian Army reaffirms its unalloyed loyalty and commitment ‎to the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, and the constitution of the country,” the Nigerian Army statement said.

Buratai also pledged the Army’s ‘absolute’ loyalty to Buhari during a working visit to the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), in June 2020.

Noting that, following a directive from Buhari, the Nigerian Army was on course to becoming self-sufficient in the production of arms, ammunition and other military hardware, Buratai added, “I assure President Muhammadu Buhari absolute loyalty on his intention to secure Nigerian territorial integrity. The Nigerian Army and the Armed Forces will always support his programmes.”

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/for-the-nigerian-army-under-buratai-loyalty-to-buhari-comes-first-before-allegiance-to-nation/

Poor sanitation and lack of access to water affect the health and education of school children in Nigeria, but this problem is yet to gain the full attention of the government at various levels in Nigeria. Olugbenga ADANIKIN visited a number of schools in South-East and South-West where this problem is acute. Here is his report:

OKONKWO Blessing, 16, attends Olona Mixed-School in Onicha-Olona, Aniocha North Local Government Area, Delta State. In the last six years, she has been going to the school on daily basis, armed with a keg of water because the school has no water and the toilet facility is always in unhygienic condition.

Other students either take to the wilds to relieve themselves or use toilets in neighboring houses.

“Yes, since JSS1 we visit the bush to defecate,” Blessing says in affirmation. “There is a toilet but we have to bring water from home to school.”

Hope Okia, 16, another student shared similar concern as her friend, Blessing. Respite comes only when it rains.

“We fetch from those tanks and visit the toilet behind our class,” says Hope pointing to a water tank near the former principal’s office.

Hope who was shy to recount how they cope without water during the dry season said; “We use the bush. It is not dangerous,” she said tacitly.

The ICIR and Public-Private Development Centre (PPDC) found out during a monitoring exercise that there are five water closets in the school lavatories already taken over by weeds, giant spider webs, and animal wastes.

The investigation revealed that most school constituency projects in some South-Eastern do not have proper toilet facilities, and many were poorly done or abandoned since 2015 when the project were commenced.

Oyeniyi Nafisat, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member undertaking her primary assignment in Olona mixed-school shared similar experience as the students.

To prevent toilet infection, Nafisat says she would rather engage in open defecation than to risk using the school’s restroom. She disclosed she has never used the toilet, not even to urinate.

“It is not hygienic,” she said.

Open defecation one of Nigeria’s greatest burden

Poor sanitation and low access to good toilet facilities have remained notable water-related, health problem most common among poor and rural communities in Nigeria. Waterborne diseases, Diarrhoea are evident especially when faeces and animal wastes wash down the streams. But rural dwellers have no other options than to rely on the poor water source for drinking and other domestic purposes.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says ‘Toilet saves lives! Without toilets, deadly diseases spread rapidly.”

But this message is often disregarded while implementing education or health policy in Nigeria.

The UN agency maintains that girls could miss school activities due to shortage of toilets in their schools, mainly during their monthly flows (menstruation). It is estimated that one in three schools globally lacks adequate toilets while 23 per cent of schools do not have a toilet at all.

Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) as of June 2019 highlights further the importance of potable water for proper sanitation. It reports that 2 billion people globally lack access to basic toilet facilities, as a result, forced most people to practice open defecation.

“Inadequate sanitation is estimated to cause 432 000 diarrhoeal deaths annually and is a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and trachoma. Poor sanitation also contributes to malnutrition,” the WHO sanitation report adds.

2019 report by UNICEF Nigeria further shows that 47 million Nigerians still defecate openly.

As of 2018, Water Aid Nigeria, a Non-Governmental Organisation revealed that 120 million Nigerians lack access to a decent toilet. It says out of 10 persons, less than three actually have access to a good toilet – a trend that might prevent the country from realising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG) except deliberate action is taken.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-failed-constituency-projects-cripple-seast-schools-worsen-sanitation-part-1/

By Nelly Ating

Fourteen-year-old Samaila Abdulrahman arrived Malkhoi Camp in 2014 tucked by the side of his aged grandmother, both saddled with all their worldly belongings after a journey of 30 kilometres from Gwoza, Borno to Yola, Adamawa State. The teenager had just witnessed the death of his father who tried to flee from Boko Haram dressed as a woman. Provoked by his audacity to outsmart them with a feminine camouflage, he was killed.

Samaila recounted how he and his grandmother escaped death, his eyes filled with tears as he relived the memory.

Life since then has gone ahead for a boy who was forced into an internal displacement shelter at nine, leaving behind his hometown, family and friends.

Despite his loss, he is determined to start afresh with no parent.

"I want to become a doctor, so I can help wounded people," he said, with his eyes fixated on the Junior School Certificate Examination (JSCE) past question papers in his hands as he prepares for his upcoming examinations.

Before Covid-19 took the world hostage, education had become a safe space to birth big dreams and hopes for children displaced by Boko Haram. It was where ambitions of becoming soldiers, doctors, air force pilots, engineers even big dreams of becoming a superstar like famous Nigerian artiste Naira Marley.

Out of 400, 000 children who arrived at various camps in Maiduguri, Yobe, Gombe, and Adamawa at the ages of 8,9, 10 many had dropped out of school to either marry, used as suicide bombers, or were forced into labour.

Since 2009, the terrorist organization has launched a series of attacks on education; over 1000 schools have been destroyed in the northeast and about 2900 teachers and students affected

Abuja-based Clinical Psychologist Folajaiye Kareem explains the various ways children who experience conflict react to a post-traumatic stress disorder.

"They have outbursts from crying to becoming rebellious," and with COVID-19 lockdown where routines were disrupted, "this consequence created a double dose of vulnerability to children on lockdown, and then with no parents to shield them." For the children in camps, Covid risk is amplified many times over.

Hilda Lawerence, a secondary school teacher at Malkohi said she noticed the children from the camp often band together and withdraw from other kids in school mainly because they could not communicate in English. In response, the teachers had to devise a one-on-one focus teaching approach per child.

"You will notice some days they showed up, some days they won't. I ensured one boy who was sent to Lagos by his father to hustle was brought back to school after I threatened to report the case to the state government."

In 2003, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo signed the Child Rights Act into law, to preserve the rights of children and protect them from exploitative labor. 17 years later, the Child Rights Act is yet to be fully enforced expressly held back by factors such as conflict, poverty, illiteracy and religious prejudice and most recently the rise in unemployment rate propelled by the Covid-19 lockdown.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/lost-childhood-the-trauma-of-growing-up-in-nigerian-idp-camps/

“WE were in our house in Awka that fateful day in August 2017 when some gunmen broke into our house and took my husband. They also took away almost all our household properties and told me to go and marry another man that this one is as good as dead.”

Those were the words of Chidimma Edozieuno, when she appeared before the Anambra Judicial Panel of Inquiry on police brutality on Friday to give an account of what men of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) did to her spouse.

The bereaved woman told the panel that her husband whom she said lived in Benin Republic, visited Nigeria after she gave birth to a baby and was arrested in the early hours of August 1, 2017 by policemen on mufti at their Ichida street residence in Awka.

“They said my husband was a kidnapper. I didn’t even know where they came from, and at first, I didn’t even know they were policemen,” she added.

She stated that after concerted searches with a friend in police stations in the state, she found the men that took away her husband were dreaded SARS operatives from Awkuzu office.

She said the SARS operatives who came to arrest her husband took away the refrigerator, television, a generator set, laptop, iPhone and her husband. She got to know about the death of her husband through the counsel of the dreaded disbanded police unit in court.

“With the help of a friend, who is a police officer, we started looking for my husband. He took me around many police stations to know if they had him, but none of them had him. We went to the Awkuzu SARS office where I saw three of the men who came and arrested my husband.

“I took a lawyer and we went to court. It was in court that the counsel representing the SARS told us that my husband was dead. They said he was a kidnapper. I dated my husband for a long time before we got married. He is not a kidnapper. I lived in Benin and that was where we knew each other. I later relocated to Nigeria. My husband is from Aguleri.”

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-sars-operatives-killed-my-husband-carted-away-our-belongings-woman-tells-panel-on-police-brutality/

WITH the US presidential elections results due in a matter of a few days, countries around the world are monitoring the race closely as the outcome could mean different things to different nations.

President Donald Trump, though, perceived in some quarters as a polarizing figure, his brand of politics and foreign policies have favoured countries like Isreal and Sudan amongst others.

For Joe Biden, the Democratic Party hopeful, if he wins, his victory could usher in a breath of fresh air to several countries who are hoping for relief from the crippling sanctions by Trump administration.

However, based on the positions of both candidates during the Presidential debates, America’s foreign policies may not be significantly favourable to Nigeria.

On October 22, when Biden was asked if he would weaken the US oil industry to pursue a more environmentally friendly energy policy.

“I would transition away from the oil industry, yes. The oil industry pollutes, significantly…It has to be replaced by renewable energy over time,” Biden stated.

A Biden-win with a preference for a diversified energy option will certainly affect the fortune of Nigeria, a country that relies majorly on oil revenue.

However, President Trump’s administration has already seen an increased US oil production at its peak, lifting a 40-year ban placed on oil importation and stopped the imports of crude oil from Nigeria.

The energy policies of President Trump and Biden do not involve Nigeria in its scheme considering its preparation for a post-oil future.

Nigeria boasts of the world’s ninth-largest proven gas reserves but a potential Biden administration could settle on the possibility of deploying natural gas as a transition fuel to a low carbon emissions economy.

In January, President Trump expanded his administration’s travel ban to include Nigeria, along with five other countries its likely with a Trump win the immigration restrictions will still be in place.

The ban on Nigerian immigrants which took effect on Feb. 22, would not prevent travel by Nigerians coming to the US on student and employment visas.

A question most Nigerians have ahead of the US election is who will be most likely to rescind the US restrictions on immigration from Africa’s most populous nation.

According to a Gallup poll in July, despite the immigration ban placed on Nigeria by the US, a majority of Nigerians have a positive view of the U.S.’s leadership.

Though Biden is yet to pick interest in Nigeria from his position during the debates but apart from revoking the travel ban on Nigeria it is hard to know his stand on US interests in Nigeria.

Joe Keshi, a former Nigerian consul to the US who spoke on a breakfast programme on Arise TV said Nigeria’s interests will be largely represented if more American – Nigerians seek for elective positions in the US.

“The Democratic Party has a liberal-leaning towards countries where they have strategic interests but I have always advocated for Nigerian – Americans to seek elective positions in the US that is the only way we can retain Nigeria’s interests in the US,” he said.

Corroborating his stance, Pat Utomi, a Professor of Political Economy in an interview said today’s Nigeria would be marginal to U.S.’ strategic interests, except concerning terrorism and regional security interests.

He stated the scenario would change, “if the considerable number of Americans of Nigerian descent vote as a block, then they are consequential in affecting outcomes.”

In recent times, the US has consistently revealed that its protectionism policy of placing America’s interest first before other countries under President Trump has not put Nigeria’s interest in its crosshairs.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/analysis-trump-or-biden-win-at-us-elections-could-be-a-lose-lose-for-nigeria/

BEN Ayade, the governor of Cross Rivers state has presented the 2021 appropriation bill of N277,708 billion tagged ‘budget of blush and bliss’ to the State House Assembly.

Ayade made this known via his social media page on Thursday saying that the total budget for 2021 stands at N277,708,738, 550.50.

“Today I presented the CRS 2021 budget of Blush and Bliss to the H.O.A which stood at the sum of two hundred and seventy-seven billion, seven hundred and eight million, seven hundred and thirty-eight thousand, five hundred and fifty naira, fifty kobo (#277,708,738, 550.50),” his tweet read.

According to Ayade, the capital expenditure of the budget is NGN85,196,800.00 while recurrent expenditure is NGN192,511,985,550.

Unlike the government’s initial budget proposal in 2020, N911 billion was budgeted for capital expenditure while recurrent expenditure was pegged at N188 billion leading to a total budget of N1.1 trillion tagged ‘Olipotic Meristemasis’.

The ICIR in a data analysis had reported that the budget was unrealistic considering the Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state and its allocation from the federal government.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/ayade-presents-n277-bn-budget-of-blush-and-bliss-to-state-assembly/

COVID-19: Sub-Saharan Africa is faring better than expected as ‘First World’ countries go into second lockdown

AS of November 2, ‎according to data obtained from the website of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ecdc.europa.eu), 46,597,299 cases of COVID-19, including 1,201,162 deaths, have been recorded across the world.

Out of the number, Africa accounted for 1,796,748 cases, including 43,302 deaths.

The United States – a ‘First World’ country – recorded 9,207,362 out of the total of 20,807,415 cases on the American continent. The US also recorded 230,996 deaths.

Also, majority of the 10,324,515 cases recorded in Europe were in highly developed, ‘First World’ countries such as France, 1,413,915; Spain, 1,185,678; United Kingdom, 1,034,914; and Italy, 709,333.

UK, Italy, France and Spain also have the largest share of the 270,313 deaths recorded in Europe, with 46,717, 38,826, 37,019, and 35,878, respectively, as of November 2.

As of that date, the countries that rep‎orted the most cases in Africa were South Africa, 726,823; Morocco, 222,544; Egypt, 107,736; Ethiopia, 96,583; and Nigeria, 62,964.‎

South Africa has recorded the most COVID-19-related deaths in Africa, 19,411; followed by North African countries – Egypt, 6,278; Morocco, 3,762; ‎Algeria, 1,973 – and Ethiopia, 1,478. Nigeria, as of November 2, had recorded 1,146 deaths.‎

While the data from Nigeria and other African countries – especially Sub-Saharan Africa – are generally seen as not reflecting the exact COVID-19 situation due to low levels of testing, it is instructive to note that life in the region has largely returned to normal, as most governments have lifted lockdowns imposed to check the spread of the virus.

But, on the other hand, a number of the highly developed ‘First World’ countries are going into a second lockdown at the same period.

Doomsday prophecies

When Nigeria recorded sub-Saharan Africa’s first case of coronavirus on February 25, doomsday predictions for the region came in thick and fast as experts predicted the annihilation of the continent, which is home to most of the ‘Third World’ countries.

Even as the virus was already having a huge toll on the US and other Western ‘First World’ countries before it officially arrived in Africa, all the worst case scenarios projected by experts indicated that millions would perish in Sub-Saharan Africa. In early April 2020, when the figure stood at ‎13,814 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 52 countries across Africa, with about 747 deaths, Melinda Gates, wife of billionaire Bill Gates, and Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, predicted that dead bodies would litter the streets of African countries in the coming days.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/covid-19-sub-saharan-africa-is-faring-better-than-expected-as-first-world-countries-go-into-second-lockdown/

NDUKWE Ekwekwe, another petitioner at the ongoing Lagos panel of inquiry has narrated how officers of the disbanded Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) tortured him, threw him from a two-story building, and had his spinal cord broken in the process.

The ICIR had on October 27, reported the ordeal of Okoli Agwu Abunike, the first petitioner at the panel of inquiry.

Ndukwe Ekwekwe, who appeared at the panel on Tuesday on a wheelchair, recounted how he was stripped naked and severely tortured by SARS officers in 2016.

Ekwekwe said he was a trader at the Alaba-Rago market before the SARS operatives led by Inspector Haruna invaded his shops to arrest him without telling him is offense.

““I was at my shop at Alaba-Rago Market on that fateful day in February 2018 for the day’s sales when some police officers from the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) came to me fully armed. I asked them what they wanted and they said they wanted to arrest me. Why? They didn’t say anything.”

He stated that they forced their way into his shop, scattered his goods, and shooting gun and tear gas into the air to disperse other traders that came to his rescue before they eventually dragged, handcuffed and whisked him to the Lagos Police Command, Ikeja.

“They forced their way into my shop, scattered all my wares but they didn’t find anything. This time, other traders had come around and they demanded to see their ID cards but they fired their guns and teargas into the air and they all left.

“After they ransacked all my shop, I was dragged outside, handcuffed and taken to the Lagos Police Command, Ikeja,” Ekwekwe narrated.

Ekwekwe further narrated that he was thoroughly beaten at the police command before they told him they had an intelligence report with an order from the Inspector General of Police to effect his arrest.

“At Ikeja, I took out my phone to call my mother but as soon as I was sighted by one of the officers, he hit my hand and head with a gun butt and I was dragged out of the van into the torture room where I was stripped naked and tortured and treated like a criminal without telling me what I had done wrong.

“I was persistent to know what I had done wrong and they told me they had an order from the Inspector General of Police to effect my arrest. They said they had an intelligence report on me. After I was thoroughly beaten, another team came around and began another round of beating. They later asked if I should be killed and the man I later know as Inspector Haruna said not yet.”

He said he was later dragged back to his shop the following day where goods at his three shops, running into N18m were sold by the SARS officers before he was thrown from a two-storey building to the ground and had his spinal cord broken in the process.

“The following day around 8 pm, I was taken back to my shop with my hands and legs chained. They broke into the shops, brought out my wares and sold everything to traders and passersby. I lost all the wares in my three shops worth N18m.

“While they were doing this, I started shouting to attract the attention of passersby and few of the traders around. When they discovered that I was agitated, the commander ordered one of his boys to keep me busy and he pushed me from a two-storey building to the ground.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/sars-officers-threw-me-from-two-storey-building-broke-my-spinal-cord-victim-tells-lagos-panel-of-inquiry/

As Nigeria transits into a cashless society, the evolution also creates opportunities for internet fraudsters to take advantage of unsuspecting citizens. Abdulrasheed HAMMAD reports about how Nigerians are getting fleeced of their hard-earned money by internet crooks.
Victims of internet fraud recount experience

A victim of online fraud, Eziri Tina, an indigene of Delta state, narrated how she met one Orave Olufu, a member of a scam syndicate on Facebook. Orave describes herself as a cloth seller on Facebook and Tina asked to be introduced to her supplier. She was later introduced to Efe Mercy Morrison, the alleged fraudster who lies to her victims on Facebook that she imports clothes from China.

After a long negotiation, Morrison showed her victims the pictures of the goods that would be supplied to her and requested payment in the sum of N57, 500. Immediately, Tina transferred the money into a Keystone Bank account – 6030589177 bearing the name: Efe Mercy. A few minutes later she was blocked.

When she reported the scam to Keystone bank, they asked for the account details of the swindler. She also reported the fraud to her bank and the staff who attended to her promised they would do their best to recover her money.

This happened on 21 July and as of the time of filing this report, Tina is yet to recover her money.

Busola Saa’dudeen is another victim of an online scam. She narrated how her friend on Facebook, Olaitan Adebesin introduced an investment program to her.

According to Saa’dudeen, she was constantly persuaded by her friend to invest and receive double the amounts invested within two days.

“Two days after I sent the sum of N10,000 to them, which is the day I was supposed to be credited the double amount as promised. I talked to the person and she told me they have a problem with their network. Not long after that, they stopped responding to all my messages,” she lamented. The Trucllaer showed her name as Victoria Investment.

It was later she discovered that her friend’s Facebook account had been hacked. When asked why she didn’t inform the police, she told The ICIR that her friend informed her that the police would not do anything to it, rather they would fleece her.

The stories of Tina and Saa’dudeen illustrate the travail of victims of online scam in Nigeria, and the frustration they experience in the quest to seek redress.

Online scam in Nigeria is now rampant as more youths engage in swindling others as a means of survival.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US recently indicted 80 suspects, 77 of them Nigerians – in what it describes as the “largest case of online fraud in US history.”
Also, last year, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) along with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) arrested 281 individuals for cyber-enabled financial fraud, among who 167 were Nigerians.
The estimated annual financial loss in Nigeria due to cybercrime was N250 billion ($649 million) in 2017 and N288 billion ($800 million) in 2018, yet 95 percent of cybercrimes go unreported
Another victim, Oladipupo Success narrated how her friend’s WhatsApp number was hacked and used to defraud her. They are in the same WhatsApp group for Christian fellowship. The victim, a 200-Level student of Anatomy at the University of Ilorin, didn’t know her friend physically, but she knows she is a member of her church.

According to her, the WhatsApp contact of a friend named Blessing was hacked and they used the contact to send an advertisement on Helping Hand Investment and after she joined their WhatsApp group, she received their call instantly.

“He said I should send my account details that he is going to send the account details of the account that I will be sending the money to. He promised me that after five minutes, I will be getting the alert, ‘just like that’,”

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-how-online-fraudsters-feed-on-greed-naivety-of-victims-in-nigeria/

FOR more than a week, residents of Oyigbo, a local government area located about 30 kilometres east of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have experienced gruesome killings, destruction of properties and complete unrest, allegedly aided by Nigerian soldiers, a resident who pleaded for anonymity has told The ICIR.

Shortly after the #EndSARS protests in Rivers State, another group of Nigerians suspected to be the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) embarked on another round of protests that turned violent.

A resident told The ICIR that suspected IPOB protesters vandalized and burnt three police stations including Afam police station, Umuebule 1 police station and Oyigbo police station, killing at least five policemen. He added that a court in Oyigbo and a security checkpoint in Afam were also torched.

The acts of violence carried out by the group, which has been proscribed in Nigeria since October 2017, can be traced to Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the group who in a widely-circulated voice note and video called on his followers to burn down police stations and kill security officers.

“I don’t want to see a policeman on the streets. Go and look for weapons, arm yourselves, build weapons if you don’t have one, and destroy them. Mad people everywhere. They want destruction, we’ll give them destruction,” the message in the voice not by Kanu reads in part.

Kanu is described as a British Nigerian Biafra political activist, who is resident in the United Kingdom (UK). He is also the director of a UK registered radio station named Radio Biafra.

The main aim of IPOB is to create an independent state for the people of the old Eastern Region of Nigeria through a referendum.

It is believed that the Kanu’s instruction to his followers gave rise to the crisis now rocking Oyigbo, forcing the Nyesome Wike, the governor of Rivers State to impose a 24-hour curfew.

The 24-hour curfew which started on October 21, has now dragged on for 12 days, with reports by Amnesty International, a global rights group stating that Nigerian soldiers tasked to enforce the movement restriction have engaged in alleged extra-judicial killings.

According to a resident, the soldiers who were deployed to curb the violence in the area have now turned on the ordinary citizens, whether they are IPOB members or not.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/sporadic-gunshots-illegal-arrests-death-unrest-resident-recounts-experience-in-oyigbo-lga/

THE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is being rocked by series of allegations of fraud and misappropriation of funds.

Management staff of the agency are at the centre of the allegations, which are already subject of various petitions and ongoing investigations ‎by anti-graft agencies and an internal disciplinary panel.

Principal characters in the allegations include a former Director-General of the agency, Paul Orhii, a former Acting DG, Mrs Yetunde Oni, a one-time Acting DG, Ademola Mogbojuri, and the current DG, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye. ‎

The allegations were brought to the fore by whistle-blower, Mogbojuri, who claimed that he was suspended by Adeyeye, and later transferred out of NAFDAC Abuja headquarters, because he was seen as an ‘obstacle’ to corruption in the agency.

Mogbojuri acted as DG for a period of two months – just before Adeyeye resumed as the substantive DG on November 30, 2017 before he was suspended, over an alleged N500m contract scam. After the suspension, he was transferred to the agency’s Training Institute in Kaduna.

Allegations against DG, Adeyeye‎

Allegations against Adeyeye, which were backed by documents made ‎available to The ICIR, include using a Guaranty Trust Bank account number – 0116036478 – belonging to one Mr Ayeni Odunayo Adeola, to collect her salaries from November 2017 to July 2018. According to Mogbojuri, the act was to conceal the fact that she was being paid as NAFDAC DG for those months, whereas she was yet to resign from her lecturing job in the United States – a development which means that she was collecting salaries in two places simultaneously.

Also, Adeyeye, allegedly, collected salary from 1st to 30th November, 2017, even though she only resumed work in NAFDAC on November 30th, 2017. A development which meant she collected salary for a period she did not work for.

Although the Assumption/Resumption of Duty Certificate filled by Adeyeye was dated November 3, 2017, she actually resumed duty on November 30, 2017.

A reception was held in her honour at NAFDAC headquarters, in Abuja, on November 30, 2017, to mark her resumption to the office. The ICIR sighted a programme of of activities for the reception.

Adeyeye was also accused of age falsification. Her payslip, a copy of which was seen by The ICIR, indicated that she was born on May 29, 1958 but although the petition against her did not state her real age, it noted that the date stated on the payslip was suspicious, as it suggested that she graduated from the university at the age of 18.

Furthermore, the NAFDAC DG was alleged to have purchased vehicles, including a Toyota Prado sports utility vehicle, for herself, in January 2018, without following due process. ‎

A memo marked ‘secret’ which was dated January 2018, and captioned ‘Memorandum to NAFDAC Tender’s Board For Consideration Of Request For Approval To Award Contract For The Purchase Of One (1) Unit Of Vehicle For NAFDAC Operational Office, Lagos’, which was seen by The ICIR, requested the NAFDAC Tenders Board to approve the award of the contract for supply of a Toyota Prado TX 7-5 AT LS in the total sum of N47,222,222.22 in favour of Messrs Elizade Nigeria Limited.

Another memo, signed by Musa M. Bashir, ‘CEO (Transport)’ and dated January 8, 2018, requested the AD (Procurement) to purchase one Toyota Prado and one Toyota Hilux as operational vehicles for the Lagos formation from Messrs Elizade Nigeria Limited.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/fraud-allegations-rock-nafdac/

ON the morning of September 6, a 78-year-old man climbed aboard a green-white-green “Borno State Government Free School Bus”. Alkali Musa Kukawa was returning home for the first time since 2014 – to his family, the two wives and 34 children he’d been torn away from.

“I’m happy, I’m so happy,” he says, his voice strained with emotion, tears brimming in his age-worn eyes.

The time in-between had been spent in Boko Haram captivity, then on military camps where he underwent de-radicalisation, was rehabilitated and is now ready to be reintegrated into society. He is not alone.

His 25-year-old son Ali, who had shared captivity and rehabilitation with him, is also coming home.

A total of 300 men who have lived the same experience are also going back to Borno. They have been labelled the “repentant Boko Haram fighters”.

At least 300 more are left behind, and this is their rehabilitation journey.

What is Operation SAFE CORRIDOR?

The Boko Haram insurgency in the North East is being fought on many fronts. Nigeria’s response is twofold: a kinetic and a non-kinetic response.

The kinetic is the hard-knock Operation LAFIYA DOLE; the non-kinetic is the soft-slap Operation SAFE CORRIDOR.

A former orientation camp for National Youth Service Corps in Mallam Sidi, Gombe, has now become the heart of intense efforts to de-radicalise, rehabilitate and re-integrate hundreds of men who had contact with Boko Haram insurgents. The so-called “repentant Boko Haram members” who have been on the news for years.

Operation SAFE CORRIDOR is what its name says: providing repentant members of Boko Haram/Islamic in West Africa State Province a “SAFE CORRIDOR” to return to society. It is different from the amnesty programme that followed the conflict in the Niger Delta. The “repentant” are actually former abductees of Boko Haram and terrorist suspects, and they are “clients”.

The DRR Camp has so far graduated a few of the clients in batches 2 and 3 since 2016 and a special batch in 2019. That same year, 290 more clients came on 22 November 2019. Kukawa and his son were among that number.

On 14 December, another 316 clients were taken into the camp. Kukawa’s two other sons were among them. The clients known as Batch 4/2019, were 606 in number.

Right place, wrong time and a 15-day Walk

Kukawa, from Maiduguri, was living in a little Cameroonian border town when he was taken hostage by terrorists and taken to Sambisa Forest. He witnessed the weeks before the group split into two factions: Shekau and al-Barnawi.

“One of the factions kept us. I have been praying to God to make a way for me to escape,” he says. “God finally answered my prayer.”

The answer was his son Ali, also taken hostage by the terrorist. He was 25, a father and a husband. Father and son sitting side by side in the camp’s green slacks and white t-shirt narrating their ordeals. It is Friday, a half free day, and sports is scheduled for later in the day.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/repentant-boko-haram-a-look-at-operation-safe-corridor-deradicalisation-and-rehabilitation-camp/

After days of extensive reporting, PREMIUM TIMES can now paint a clearer picture of what happened at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20.

BY Nicholas IBEKWE

AT about 6:45 p.m. on October 20, men in military uniform arrived at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos in three Toyota Hilux vans and almost immediately began shooting into a crowd of peaceful protesters gathered there waving the Nigerian green-and-white flag and reciting the national anthem.

Protesters and other witnesses at the toll gate claimed several people were injured and killed in the shooting.

A popular Disc Jockey, DJ Switch, who streamed the incident live on Instagram, claimed that the soldiers, after the shooting, took the dead away. She also claimed that a team of police officers arrived later to mop up after the soldiers.

She said the military initially prevented first responders and ambulances from reaching the injured but later allowed them through. She said she saw at least 15 corpses and claimed that security agents took the bodies away.

Several people who watched her Instagram live broadcast claimed they saw protesters being fired upon by soldiers. They said some protesters died of bullet wounds while others were left with mild to critical injuries.

Similarly, a rights group, Amnesty International, claimed 10 people were killed during the shooting at the toll gate, and two others at the Alausa protest ground.

However, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who described the shooting as a “dark note in the history of the state” and blamed the shooting on forces beyond the “direct control” of his government, originally said no life was lost in the shooting.

He later admitted that two persons died from the incident, one of them from blunt force trauma.

On Monday, during an interview on CNN, Mr Sanwo-Olu continued to discredit the accounts of witnesses about the number of deaths and wounded from the shooting. He said no bloodstain was found at the scene of the shooting when he visited

“What has happened is that there have been so many footages that were seen, that people have shown, but we have not seen bodies,” he said. “We have not seen relatives, we have not seen anybody truly coming out to say I am a father or a mother to someone and I cannot find that person. Nobody has turned up. I have been to the ground, there is no scratch of blood anywhere there.”

Despite accounts by witnesses and video posted online, the Nigerian Army denied that its personnel fired upon protesters.

The army initially claimed its troops were not at Lekki that night. However, it later admitted that soldiers were deployed on the request of the Lagos State government. The army, however, insists that its personnel did not open fire on the protesters, let alone kill any.

The Lekki Shooting: Checking the facts
Piecing together details of on-the-ground reporting, credible information posted online by citizens, accounts by witnesses and victims as well as information obtained from top military sources, PREMIUM TIMES can now paint a clearer picture of what happened at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20.

The newspaper’s investigative team set out to unravel what actually happened on the evening of the shooting and the hours that followed.

As this medium gathered evidence for this investigation, Sodiq Adeoye, an employee of research firm SBM Intelligence, informed one of our reporters after the shooting that some residents of Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, a highbrow neighbourhood, about two kilometres from the Lekki Toll Gate, found a body floating in the lagoon just behind their houses.

Mr Adeoyo said the residents suspected the floating body could be one of the protesters fired upon by soldiers and alleged by witnesses to have been carried.

On this newspaper’s request, Mr Adeoye sent a brief time-stamped video of the corpse floating in the water. A Google map coordinate he sent indicated that the body was floating close to Bay Lounge, an upscale restaurant.

At around 6 a.m on Saturday, accompanied by a friend, Deji Ashiru, this reporter drove to the Nigerian Army Post Exchange (NAPEX) Car Park Jetty in Victoria Island, where he and his team hired a boat to search for the body.

As the boat approached the bank of the lagoon, behind the imposing Oriental Hotel, the reporter saw a shanty ahead. The shanty is on the left side of the Lekki Toll Gate if one was travelling from Victoria Island. Due to its proximity to the toll gate, it immediately occurred to the reporter that residents of the community might have witnessed things that happened during the crackdown that was not yet in the public domain. His instinct was right.

He told the driver of the boat to stop his team at the shanty. It seems the residents had been waiting for someone to tell the stories of what they saw on the evening of the shooting because team members had hardly introduced themselves or even disembarked from the boat when they started recounting gruesome details about the evening.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/investigation-bullets-blood-death-untold-story-of-what-happened-at-lekki-toll-gate/

“BUHARI’S daughter is a board member of NNPC,” a social media user @tesseract_ claimed on Monday, October 19, 2020.

“Her salary is N6.7 million, you get N30, 000 monthly for N-Power and you are telling me Buhari shouldn’t resign” reads part of the tweet which also have the EndSARS hashtag.

The hashtag, End Special Anti-Robbery Squad (#EndSARS) or is a decentralised social movement against police brutality and bad governance in Nigeria.

Muahammadu Buhari is the President of Nigeria.

N-Power is a social investment scheme which pays enrolled youth a monthly stipend of N30,000.

The claim has been retweeted by over 30, 000 people, quoted 720 times and garnered more than 24, 000 likes.

THE CLAIM:

That Buhari’s daughter is a board member of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

THE FINDINGS:

The claim did not state which of the Buhari’s daughters is being referred too. However, a picture of Zahra Buhari was added to the thread. In addition to a contradictory screenshots which state that she is a deputy manager at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

The NNPC is the state-owned oil corporation which asides its exploration activities, has powers and operational interests in refining, petrochemicals and products transportation as well as marketing.

A check on the official website of the NNPC shows a list of a 10-member board of the corporation which does not include Zahra Buhari or any of his known daughters.

They are: Chief Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Stephen Dike, member of the NNPC board and Chief Pius Akinyelure also a member.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/is-buharis-daughter-a-board-member-of-nnpc/

There have been some unresolved issues and allegations surrounding the implementation of CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme between the Apex bank, the lender and the beneficiaries, the farmers. PADIO PHINEAS digs deeper into the issues in this revealing investigation.

BASED on his enlistment as one of the beneficiaries of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Program in Adamawa State for the 2020 wet planting season, James Ezra, had high hopes regarding his newfound occupation. He looked forward to a good harvest during the year as a cotton farmer, especially having been enlisted as a member of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN).

According to the Economics Of Production (EOP) issued by the CBN, each of the 256,000 smallholders farmers captured under the programme nationwide to cultivate cotton for the 2020 wet season was allocated N158,502 (in kind and cash) per hectare; to be disbursed through the Anchor and Unity Bank.

The tabular breakdown of the EOP, indicated that each farmer would be allocated 25kg of cotton seeds, five bags of fertilizer, 12 liters of assortment of agrochemicals, a knapsack sprayer and 30 empty bags for harvest. The sum of N30,000 was also earmarked for mechanised land preparation and another N30,000 for sundry services on the farm leading to harvest.

Furthermore, the guidelines for the programme shows that upon harvest, benefiting farmers are expected to repay their loans with harvested produce (which must cover the loan principal and interest at 9 percent rate).

However, contrary to Ezra’s expectations of the support that would have boosted his cultivation, he told Nigerian Pilot that he was given only 25kg of seeds, two liters of chemicals and a knapsack sprayer. He said he was not given the promised money and fertilizer.

“Even at that, we got these items after parting with N5,500, paid to NACOTAN as registration fees, besides personally spending over N10,000 transportation fare going forth and back, in an effort to access the inputs”, he alleged during a visit to his farm in Jabbi-Lamba, under Girei local government area of Adamawa state.

NACOTAN chairman in the state, Sale Mohammed Gbalang admitted charging members N5,500, saying, “It’s true our members have paid N5,000 each for membership registration and N500 service charge for officers who will handle disbursement of inputs from the store.” On the delayed supply of fertilizer, Ezra said, “as you can see the farm yourself, it is already at the flowering stage, and today being the 8th of September, 2020, we are yet to see either fertilizer or chemicals for pest control”.

He alleged further, “For me, I can say without mincing words that we were tricked into the program for the benefit of some people. Yes, I make bold to say without any fear of contradiction that the program is not to help smallholder farmers as claimed; but we leave them to God.”

Ezra’s one-hectare cotton farm looked scourged and in need of fertilizer and under heavy pest attack when the reporter visited the farm. Given the look of the crops, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get a reasonable harvest. This is because the crops have already formed balls with flowers opening. Ezra is one of the beneficiaries of the revolving loan for smallholder farmers of the program in Adamawa, Gombe and Taraba who claimed that they did not get all they were supposed to be given.

President Muhammadu Buhari, had in November 2015 launched the ABP under CBN to provide farm inputs in kind and cash to smallholder farmers in the country.

CBN’s Director, Development Finance Department, Yila Yusuf, explained that the bank was trying to bring back the glory of textiles of those days where the industry used to employ 10 million people across the country.

Gbalang told our reporter that 27,000 farmers were mobilized for the wet planting season. And going by the EOP, N3,170,040,000, was allotted to the state. During the flag-off of distribution witnessed by our reporter in Numan local government area in early May, farm inputs as indicated in the EOP were distributed accordingly, but to about fifty farmers only. As it was explained, the general distribution would continue in the coming week.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/anchor-borrowers-scheme-and-dashed-hope-of-cotton-farmers-in-adamawa/

This report by Alfred AJAYI presents the experiences and testimonies of women from South-Eastern Nigeria where the practice of disinheritance of widows is prevalent.

Igbo culture and tradition on disinheritance of widows

THE traditional ruler of Breme Community, Eha-Alumona in Nsukka Local Government Area, Igwe Cassidy Eze, agrees that the custom around inheritance in Igboland is in favour of men, and is unlikely to change soon.

“Whatever a man had when he was alive belongs to the male children. You don’t have to include a girl-child in your property while you are alive sharing it. But if your male children decide to give part of your property to their sister, who happens to be your daughter, that is their goodwill but it is no tradition. When a woman marries, she will not take anything to the husband because she will get new property from the new husband.

“If the girl is not married, the first son of her father can use his discretion and give out anything to the girl. However, if before he dies, the man gives out anything to the daughter, that remains so,” Igwe Eze submitted.

The custom in Ugwaji- Awkunanaw, a community in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State, forbids a childless widow to inherit her husband’s property. This was disclosed by the regent of the community, Onowu Dennis Okeke-Ani, who also recalled past cases which saw uncles or brothers to the deceased dispossessing widows of the property of their brothers.

“Yes, they try to deny the woman the right of inheritance. And, if the woman sees that she has nothing there, she can find her way. Likewise, girls have no inheritance in their father’s family. They are only to pray to have a husband and go out of their father’s house.

“If the girl decides to stay in her father’s compound and start bearing children, she then has the right to be the owner of the compound. If not, the uncles may claim her father’s property. However, if the father has business outfits, vehicles in the cities, he has the right to give the female child anything he wants but not the ones in the village, according to the tradition, the girl has no inheritance right”.

The traditional ruler of Umuawulu in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Igwe Joel Egwuonwu, agreed that Igbo culture and, indeed, that of his community does not permit female children to inherit their father’s estates. He noted, however, that a widow is at liberty to inherit her husband’s estate.

“In Igboland, girls don’t inherit their father’s estate. Are you saying that when my sister gets married to an American, she will carry my father’s estate to an American husband? That is not possible. However, our culture does not forbid widows from inheriting their late husbands’ estates. In fact, it is expected that the relations of the dead men will rally round their widows to ensure that they and their children don’t suffer. It is not cultural to disinherit the widows”.

The traditional ruler of the Nkaliki Echara Unuhu community in Ebonyi Local Government Area, Eze Sunday Oketa, gave an insight into the dictates of culture in that area concerning the right of widows to inheritance.

“In Igboland, when you marry and God blesses you with children, the first son of the family is the father of the family after the death of his father. He will carry all his brothers along including his mother. But, the mother, being the widow, has the right to tell her children what is supposed to be. And her children will listen to her because their father is no more living.

“In our own custom in Izzi, when your husband dies, it does not mean that the property of your husband does not belong to you anymore. It is just that the children of the dead man will be taking care of the property of the father including the mother. No relation has the right to collect her husband’s property. We don’t do that here”.

What do the laws say on disinheritance?

The right to freedom from discrimination is internationally recognized as a human right and enshrined the principle of egalitarianism, which is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enshrined in international human rights laws.

Article Two of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or another opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or another status.

The Nigeria Constitution 1999 (as amended), in its Chapter4, Section 42, equally protects citizens from any form of discrimination on the basis of place of origin, sex, religion, or political opinion.

The Chairperson of FIDA in Anambra State, Professor Ikpeze, said there are local laws protecting the interest of widows in the area, especially against disinheritance.

”We have the Widowhood and Widowerhood Rights Law of Anambra State 2005. Section 4 sub-section G, states that you cannot drive a widow out of her husband’s house. The law empowers the widow to inherit her husband’s property.

“Besides, we have the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (2015) at the federal level and VAPP Law 2017 in Anambra State, which prescribes punishments for harmful traditional practices, including disinheritance.”

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/disinheritance-widows-in-igboland-battle-against-culture-that-men-love-to-preserve-part-2/

CLAIM

That ASUU and federal government meeting ended in an altercation, and ASUU chairman, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, was slapped.

VERDICT

The claim that ASUU president was slapped during a meeting with the federal government is FALSE.

Full text

On 23rd October 2020, a Twitter user @maryamamasa posted a twenty-seven-seconds video clip of a rowdy session, claiming that it was an altercation between the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and delegates of the federal government during a meeting to end the ongoing industrial action by the union.

The video which was uploaded at exactly 11:17 am has gathered 460 likes, 276 retweets and viewed by 9,928 users

She said: “We are not resuming school anytime soon. I think they slapped ASUU chairman, just received a dirty slap.”

After some hours, @maryamamasa deleted the video but The ICIR archived the tweet (here)

Another user @fadeldey4u who also shared the video at exactly 2:02 pm that same day has gathered 11,600 views before 11:04 pm on Friday and captioned it as thus: “Forget school this year fam, ASUU”

https://twitter.com/fadeldey4u/status/1319625368320548865?s=19

Verification

On March 9, 2020, university lecturers in Nigeria declared a two-week warning strike to protest against what it termed “forceful” enrolment into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), a payroll software mandated for all public officials.

After the expiration of the warning strike, the union declared an indefinite strike to further press home their demands. This was despite the closure of schools by the federal government to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a turn of event, the leadership of the union met with the federal government to discuss the proposals tabled by the federal government in a bid to end the industrial strike which has been a major challenge why students in federal universities have not returned to school after the government eased the coronavirus lockdown.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/viral-video-suggesting-ASUU-chairman-was-slapped-is-false/

Disinheritance: Widows in Igboland battle against culture that men love to preserve (Part 1)

This report by Alfred AJAYI presents the experiences and testimonies of widows from Southeastern Nigeria where the practice of disinheritance of the bereaved women is prevalent.

“AFTER the death of my husband, we put him in the mortuary. But without my knowledge, his close friend connived with my brothers-in-law to take away his corpse from the Teaching Hospital at Nnewi. They then insisted that I must complete the family house my husband was building in the village and I must perform the “Igbuefi” meaning (killing of cow) on behalf of their father, who died since 1991 before the burial could take place”.

This was a thirty-year-old widow, Ijeoma Ubah, narrating her ordeal in the hands of her husband’s family members shortly after he died.

She continued: “My dear, I did it. I even sold my husband’s highlander to meet up. Then, I asked them to bring the corpse for burial. They said no, that it is time for me to go back to my father’s house with my three daughters. They even came and verbally shared the rooms in our house. At that point, I became confused. That was before somebody gave me the contact of the National Human Rights Commission”.

The death of one’s husband is unarguably a devastating experience, especially for young women who are still nursing young children. It is naturally expected that the condition of such widows will provoke empathy from relations, friends and people of good conscience. But, in parts of Africa, that is not always the case as some of them face forceful ejection from their home, while others are forced to either sleep with the dead bodies of their husbands or drink the water used to bathe the corpses to prove that they had no hand his death.

The climax of such dehumanizing widowhood practices is the disinheritance of the widows by close or distant relations of their late husbands, who lay claim to all that their brother’s estate, including property and wealth gotten in partnership with their wives. The matter is worse in families where men were the breadwinners and the widowed women had been full–time housewives.

A woman who has no male child or has no child at all is usually at greater risk; same as those suspected to have been responsible for the death of their husbands.

Such practices are common among the Igbo of the Southeast of Nigeria and they have led to the abuse, disinheritance, impoverishment and trauma suffered by many widows in the region.

Disinheritance is a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right of the widows to freedom from discrimination as provided for in Section 42 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which states that no citizen of Nigeria shall be discriminated against regardless of their place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion. (Please do more research to provide more context about existing statutes and international conventions against disinheritance.)

Man’s inhumanity to women

Cynthia Nweke, from Ezzama, in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, was heart-broken as she narrated her experience battling against efforts to disinherit her with royal complicity.

“This is the picture of the only farmland we have now. My husband secured the property by surveying it. But, immediately after he died, his brothers came to take away the land. I saw my husband’s relations surveying the land. So, I took the survey plan my husband did many years ago to the Igwe to help me. But, Igwe told me it was rubbish, that my husband has no right to survey a family land.

“My husband’s brothers had collected the frontage of our house and one of our lands we have been cultivating since I married this man. They collected another one in a swampy area. The traditional ruler, Ezeogo passed a judgment that I should leave the land because they will kill me. But, I told him that I will not leave the only land that I am cultivating to feed my children.

“One of those doing this to me was a servant to my late husband, who said my husband did not settle him and also made sexual advances to me after his death but I refused. He promised to deal with me and he is the one who mobilized them against me”.

Another widow, Precious Ngozi Nwali, from Amaeka Community, in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, narrated how documents of lands and other property were deceitfully taken away from her after the death of her husband, leaving her with nothing to train her four children.

“My husband died after a brief illness on February 6, 2019. After his death, his elder brother, Monday Nwali, and his siblings in a meeting in the village collected his phone from me, harvested the yams and cassava we planted and did not give my children and me the proceeds.

On February 11, 2019, my husband’s younger sister, who is a lawyer, led others to our residence in Abakaliki and deceitfully took all the documents for all our lands, a vehicle and a fridge away. She promised to give back to me in three months when I would have recovered from the shock and agony of his demise, but she has refused to do that”.

Precious also alleged that she had been threatened several times by one of her brothers-in-law for daring to demand the documents taken away from her.

“On one occasion, he came to Timber shade (timber shed ?) Nkwoagu with some persons to chase me out of my husband’s shade (shed?) where I am staying right now to trade. He said he would either give it to his younger brother or rent it out. In fact, they have told me several times to go and remarry if I am not comfortable with their actions.”

While this was happening, the widow said her husband’s elder brother “went and claimed one of my husband’s land with the money realized from the burial ceremony.”

It was gathered that the International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA, Ebonyi State Chapter had taken up Precious’ matter.

Ijeoma Ubah, a widow who resides in Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of Anambra State, also recounted her experience after the death of her husband.

“After the burial, I asked my husband’s friend to give me the document of the land he helped my husband to buy at Akpaka Phase Two, Enugu, at the cost of N2.5 million (two million, fifty thousand naira). That was our first project as a family.

“He shouted at me. I explained to him that I have paid all the people my husband owed and needed money to take care of my three daughters. I waited for months, no response from him.

“In January this year, I went back to the National Human Rights Commission. Through their efforts, he provided an allocation letter, the commission promised to investigate the genuineness of the document from the Ministry of Lands. We are still waiting. But, I noticed that the allocation letter bore March 14, 2016, when my husband was still alive. So, it means he had the document all the while but refused to give to my husband. The allocation letter also carried his name, not my husband’s name”.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/disinheritance-widows-in-igboland-battle-against-culture-that-men-love-to-preserve-part-1/

BOLA Tinubu, the National Leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has commiserated with victims of the Lekki shootings, after earlier demanding they answer questions about why they were at the scene of the incident in the first place.

“I heavily grieve for those who have lost their lives or been injured during the period of these protests,” Tinubu shared in a post on his official Twitter handle less than 24 hours after stating that victims of the Lekki shootings were liable for the misfortune of what many have tagged ‘Lekki Massacre.’

Tinubu, while speaking at the Lagos State House in Marina during a visit to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday, October 24, had demanded that #EndSARS protesters explain what they were doing at the Lekki Toll Gate Plaza when soldiers believed to be from the Nigerian Army opened fire at them while singing the national anthem and waving the Nigerian flag .

“Casualties of Lekki Shootings have some questions to answer; how are they there? How long were they there? What kind of characters are they?,” the APC National Leader had quizzed.

On October 20, #EndSARS protesters gathered at the Lekki Toll Gate plaza to demand an end to police brutality across the country – an exercise that they had carried on for 12 consecutive days in different states in Nigeria.

However, just a few minutes to 7pm on that day, the protesters came under attacks when security personnel in Nigerian Army uniform opened fire at them.

Amnesty International, a global human rights advocacy group confirmed that its on-ground investigations showed that at least a dozen people were killed on that day.

But despite evidence of deaths, the government has denied cases of any fatality.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/tinubu-makes-u-turn-commiserates-with-victims-of-lekki-shootings/

EYEWITNESSES and others who witnessed the incident on video which went viral on the social media, watched in shock as black Toyota Prado sports utility vehicles pulled up at the scene, and slowed down long enough to pick up a pack of thugs‎, who were armed with assorted dangerous weapons.

Men, clad in dark suits, who appeared to be government officials, could be seen opening the doors of the SUVs for the thugs, who rushed inside as the vehicles sped off.

A hysterical voice, which ran a commentary, narrating what was going on in the viral video, expressed shock at the development.

The Toyota Prado SUVs – the Federal Government’s choice vehicle – were transporting thugs to protest venues to attack unarmed citizens who are protesting against police brutality.

Apparently, from what could be seen in the videos, the government was providing logistics support for the hoodlums, who have been attacking protesters in various parts of the country, all in a bid to shut down the #EndSARS protests.

Cases of thugs launching unprovoked attacks on the protesters escalated after the protests continued even after the Federal Government disbandeed of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force and speedily replaced the outfit with the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team.

The hoodlums had initially commenced their operations by staging parallel protests in support of SARS, but gradually they turned on the #EndSARS protesters with violence.

Protesters were attacked and harassed in calculated moves that were obviously aimed at intimidating them into giving up the campaign. ‎
‎
To further discredit the #EndSARS movement, the thugs destroyed vehicles and other property belonging to members of the public who were not even participating in the protests.

This was the case at the Julius Berger roundabout in the Wuse area o‎f Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, on October 14.

The apparent intention was to create the impression that the protesters have become violent, and thereby provide the security agencies a reason to clampdown on them.

Eventually, it appeared that the mandate of the hoodlums became deadlier, culminating in murderous attacks on protesters across the country on Tuesday, October 20.

However, not all victims of the attacks were protesters – in some cases, passers-by were caught up in the state-sponsored violence that was unleashed on the #EndSARS movement.

‎October 20, a day which became known as ‘Black Tuesday’ in the social media, was to go down in history as another of those infamous dates on which dictatorial regimes suppressed popular dissent with brutal force when soldiers rained live bullets on unarmed protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos.

The daily barricade of the Lekki Toll Gate by mostly youthful protesters was a major highlight of the #EndSARS protests and dislodging the crowd at the Gate was key in the agenda to forcefully suppress the movement, which the army and some backers of the Federal Government were beginning to liken to a push for ‘regime change’.

Many protesters were killed in the ‘Lekki Kill‎ings’ and many more were critically wounded.

By the end of the day, pictures of a blood-stained national flag, which went viral across social media platforms, has become the symbol of ‘Black Tuesday’.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/black-tuesday-lekki-killings-mirror-tianamen-squares-brutal-suppression-of-dissent/

ACROSS the country, governors are in the race to impose 24-hour curfews on their states in a bid to subdue the escalating #EndSARS protests, which are increasingly turning into violent uprising as hoodlums cash-in on the situation to wreak havoc.

States where curfew has been declared, so far, include Lagos, Rivers, Osun, Abia, Edo, Plateau, Ondo, Ekiti, Imo, Enugu and Delta.

The protests had started on a peaceful note as youths took to the streets to demand the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad ( SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force – an outfit that is known for the worst forms of police brutality.

The Federal Government gave in to the demand, just after a few days, by scrapping SARS but the development did not stop the protests.

Rather, the protests escalated, largely due to the government’s decision to replace SARS with another police special squad that is to be known as SWAT – the Special Weapons and Tactics Team.

With SARS disbanded, the protesters started pushing for the release of all arrested protesters, as well as a total over‎haul of the Nigeria Police Force. The protests continued.

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, was the first to attempt to use executive powers to bring an end to protests in his state.

On October 12, Wike issued a directive, banning all proposed protests by #EndSARS campaigners in Rivers State. ‎

Wike, in the directive which was contained in a statement by his Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, explained that there was no need for any form of demonstration since the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had disbanded SARS.‎
‎
“The Rivers State Government hereby wish to inform the general public that all forms of protests have been banned throughout the state. Therefore, all proposed protests under #EndSARS Campaign are hereby prohibited. Government took this decision because the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had already scrapped the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. Therefore, there is no need for any form of protest against a Unit of the Police Force that no longer exists,” the statement issued by the state to prohibit further protests read.

Wike’s directive‎ attracted widespread condemnation. But it also failed to stop the protests. In defiance of the governor’s directive, protesters continued converging on the streets of Port Harcourt and otherparts of the state.

Edo State governor, Paul Obaseki, was the first to opt for the imposition of curfew as a means of putting an end to the protests.

Starting from 4:00 pm on October 19, Obaseki declared a 24-hour curfew‎ in Edo State until further notice, after hoodlums, numbering over 100, reportedly broke into cells and freed inmates at the Benin and Oko prisons. Officials of the Nigeria Correctional Service said about 1,993 inmates were missing after the Benin and Oko jailbreaks. Before the October 19 jailbreak, two people were reportedly killed when thugs attacked #EndSARS protesters who besieged the Edo State House of Assembly in Benin City‎, on October 16.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/protesters-hoodlums-march-on-despite-24-hour-curfew-imposed-in-states-by-governors/

WHEN Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, announced the disbandment of the ‎Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force, he‎ must have expected Nigerians to praise the Federal Government for a ‘prompt’ response to the demands of irate Nigerians protesting against police brutality‎.

The abolition of SARS – an outfit which was the poster boy of police brutality and oppression – was tops on the agenda of the #EndSARS movement and the government would have expected that the protests would cease after it acceded to the populist demand by bringing a formal ‘end’ the loathed and dreaded organisation.

But the disbandment of SARS did not stop the protests, rather, the uprising escalated when the IGP announced the establishment of another police special squad – the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team.

While announcing the formation of SWAT, the police authorities had moved to placate citizens who are still nursing grievances against SARS by assuring that personnel of the now defunct SARS would not be part of SWAT. However, what the police authorities and the Federal Government did not realise at that point was that Nigerians do not want a replacement of SARS with another police ‘special squad’.

So, the #EndSARS protests suddenly became #EndSWAT even though the proposed new police outfit was yet to formally take off. Not long after the government disclosed the name of the new special squad – SWAT – messages claiming that SWAT means ‘SARS With Another Title’ went viral in the social media. It became clear that Nigerians, who are hell-bent on getting rid of police brutality are not taking any chances.

‎So, rather than bringing an end to the protests, the IGP’s announcement of the formation of SWAT added fuel to the agitation which had taken on a life of its own.

As it were, the statement issued by Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, to announce the establishment of SWAT on October 13 did not help matters, as it noted that the new outfit was created to fill the gaps arising from the dissolution of SARS.

“The IGP has set up a new Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team that will fill the gaps arising from the dissolution of the defunct SARS,” the statement had said, while also disclosing that prospective members of the new team would also undergo a psychological and medical examination to ascertain their fitness and eligibility for the new assignment.

‎Although the statement reaffirmed the IGP’s “irrevocable commitment towards the successful and holistic implementation of the Police reforms”, and “enjoined members of the public, particularly protesting citizens, to exercise restraint and allow measures being put in place to come to fruition and engender a Police Force that would meet the yearnings and aspirations of the citizenry”, the speed at which the SWAT was set up, barely 24 hours after SARS was disbanded, appeared suspicious, suggesting that the government was only dressing the defunct outfit in new robes.

‎Going by the IGP’s statement, if SWAT survives the ongoing #EndSWAT protests, policemen that are selected to serve in the new unit would commence training at the different police tactical training institutions nationwide as soon as next week. ‎Personnel from the Police Commands in the South-East and the South-South are to be trained at the Counter-Terrorism College, Nonwa-Tai, Rivers State, while those from the Police Commands from the North and the South-West will be trained at the Police Mobile Force Training College, Ende, in Nasarawa State, and the Police Mobile Force Training College, Ila-Orangun, in Osun State, respectively.

The IGP’s statement also suggested that personnel of the defunct SARS are not going to face any disciplinary consequences for the atrocities committed by the outfit, which have been well documented over the years. Former SARS operatives were only asked to report at the Force Headquarters, Abuja for debriefing, and psychological and medical examination, following which they will be ‎redeployed into mainstream policing duties.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/is-swat-sars-by-another-name-why-nigerians-are-wary-of-another-police-special-%e2%80%8esquad/

AS debate continues over the controversial nomination of Lauretta Onochie, the Special Assistant to Nigerian President on Social Media as a commissioner of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), The ICIR shares posts where she demonstrated partisanship and her affiliation for All Progressives Congress (APC).

Before the emergence of Buhari as Nigerian President in 2015, Onochie has been a regular campaigner and supporter of the APC and the President.

On January 13th, 2015, Onochie tweeted: “issues in Nigeria. hope is here. vote Buhari/Osinbajo. vote APC. improved infrastructure, reduce poverty, equip school.”

Two days later, she dissociated herself from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) while campaigning for Buhari to emerge as president.

In a response to the tweet, she added that she has spent many years campaigning for an opposition party against the PDP.

“We’re not pleased that the elections were postponed, but no matter how long we have to wait, we will still vote Buhari, Atiku had hoped that his agony would end yesterday. Now there’s still one more week of excruciating pain for him and PDP before they go into oblivion. #SaiBaba,” Onochie posted.

On the same day, she also tweeted that, “There is nothing that has a beginning that has no end including PDP. The end of PDP is here. But more important (sic), change is here. Vote Buhari.”

On June 6th, 2018, while campaigning for Buhari’s second term, Onochie declared on her verified Twitter profile that she is a ‘Buharist’.

In Nigeria, the term ‘Buharist’ is used to qualify an ardent supporter of Muhammad Buhari or his political ideology.

“For once, since 2010, I’m speechless. I feel like My vote on June 12, 1993, has just been validated. If I wasn’t already a Buharist, I would become one today. What is there not to like about President Buhari and his commitment to do what’s right. Our MKO can now rest peacefully,” Onochie posted.

In multiple tweets, Onochie also campaigned for the re-election of Buhari seeking Nigerians to vote for the president and the party.

Apart from her tweets campaigning for the APC and Buhari, Onochie on June 24, 2020 declared that she belongs to APC.

Onochie said this while the APC was facing an internal crisis before the intervention of Buhari. “There is definitely an APC e-NEC meeting tomorrow. We are going through a growth process. Thank you, everyone,” she posted with the APC flag.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/multiple-times-lauretta-onochie-buharis-aide-declared-she-is-apc-member/

How true are viral claims on Nigeria’s unemployment rate, extreme poverty and debt profile?

A viral post on Twitter claimed that Nigeria has 28 percent unemployment rate, 49 percent poverty rate and $89.5billion debt profile.

The claims were made by a Twitter influencer Adetutu Balogun with the handle @Tutsy22 on October 5.

Balogun is currently having over 230,000 followers on her Twitter account where these claims were made.

She also stated in the tweet that Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N10 billion for population census which was reported by several mainstream media organisations.

The tweet read: “* 28% unemployment rate, * 49% in extreme poverty, * $85.9Bn debt and counting, Buhari just approved N10 billion for census. Extreme irresponsible behavior is main crisis facing leadership in Nigeria.”

THE CLAIMS:
From the tweet, these claims were established:

That Nigeria has 28 percent unemployment rate.
That 49 percent of Nigerians are in extreme poverty.
That Nigeria has $89.5bn debt profile.


THE FINDINGS:

Claim 1:

The FactCheckHub first checked the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) website for the data on Nigeria’s labour statistics to determine the total percentage of unemployment rate in the country.

According to the statistics on Nigeria’s labour force released by the NBS for 2nd quarter (Q2) of 2020, Nigeria currently has 21,764,617 unemployed people. The data also stated that 27.1% people are unemployed in the country.

The NBS also stated in the labour force report that “The unemployment rate during the reference period, Q2, 2020 was 27.1%, up from the 23.1% recorded in Q3, 2018.”