The Nation Newspaper

Tag: amnesty

  • Amnesty for 547 inmates in Kaduna

    Over 34,000 out of the estimated 48,000 prison inmates in the country are awaiting trial, said Minister of Interior, Abba Moro. This is unfair and unhealthy. So, what to do? Free up some awaiting trial detainees sand give them a reason to make good.

    That was what Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero did. He has decongested the prisons in the state by releasing 547 inmates. Among the pardoned inmates was one sentenced to life imprisonment whose release the governor ordered on health grounds.

    The Nation gathered that high rate of awaiting trial inmates in various prisons within Kaduna State alone poses security challenges to the government and society. Government sources said that considering the serious the issue is, the government discussed the issue if decongesting the prisons at several security council meetings.

    At one of such meetings, Governor Yero was said to have directed the Attorney-General of the state to work out modalities to solve the menace of the high number of awaiting trial inmates. The government also set a committee to fast-track the process with the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Garba Uba Shehu as chairman, while state Controller of Prisons, Alhaji Abubakar Garba, Justice D-H Khobo, ASP Bawa as members while the Solicitor-General of the state Daris Bayero serves as Secretary.

    Between January and September, the committee visited all prisons  across the state and released 547 awaiting trials inmates with minor offences, while over 600 cases were terminated including those who were granted bail but who by nature of their cases ought not to be in the prisons in the first place.

    As for those serving capital punishment, the Attorney-General sought and obtained the approval of the governor to engage the services of private legal Practitioners to defend them when their case are taken to court.

    This, according to him, will enable the accused persons to have access to lawyers which ordinarily they would not have and will have the cases against them expeditiously tried and their fate determined. Apart from that, the committee liaised with police to have a comprehensive list of those to benefit from the government largesse and were selected according to the severity of their offences and character of evidence.

    The commissioner said that in compliance with Section 212 (1) and after due consultation with state committee on prerogative of mercy, the  governor granted amnesty to four inmates who were convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment and above with six months recently. Some of those whose release was  ordered having attained the age of 60 years and above, and whose conduct was found to have changed for the better are Nuhu Yusuf, Danjuma Adamu, Hardo Barau, Abdullahi Adamu, Aliyu Muhammad, Muntari Hassana, Ali Hassan, Lawal Alhaji Bature and Salisu Ya’u.

    While Abdullahi Ibrahim and Chukwuma Eze who were convicted and sentenced to 21 years and has served 12 years and 12 years,  seven months respectively regained their freedom for good conduct, Usman Salahuddeen who was sentenced to death by hanging had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment. Nine inmates were released on account of age while one, Aminu Adamu, who was serving life sentence was freed on health grounds.

    All the inmates who were freed by the governor were cautioned against committing any offence that may bring them back to prison. The amnesty beneficiaries looked  happy walking out of prison having spent years there with no hope of being freed.

    Government at all levels were however called upon to rise up to the challenge by not only decongesting the prisons but also to reconstruct them to international standards so that they serve the purpose they were built and not to serve as centre for breeding criminals.

    Justice dispensation system must also be looked into with a view to minimise the ever increasing number of awaiting trial inmates.

     

  • Amnesty for seven convicts

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has granted amnesty to seven convicts serving jail terms in prison within and outside the state.

    The beneficiaries are Raimi Isa, Aminu Sulaiman, Rasheed Kolawole, Zainab Kehinde Babatunde, Joseph Adeola, Segun Adeyanju and Reuben Awoyale.

    The governor acted in pursuant to the advice and recommendation of the State Advisory Council for prerogative of mercy and to commemorate his administration’s four years anniversary.

  • Reports on rights’ abuses exaggerated – Jonathan

    Reports on rights’ abuses exaggerated – Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan has said reports on human rights abuses by the country’s military and other security agencies were being blown out of proportion by foreign based rights agencies.

    The President, who stated this in Abuja on Thursday while declaring open a three-day international workshop on civil-military cooperation at the National Defence College, promised investigation into the reports.

    Amnesty International and other rights groups have accused the Nigerian military, the police and other security agencies of extensive right abuses, particularly in the ongoing counter insurgency campaign.

    The President said: “We have taken very seriously reports from some international organisations about perceived human right abuses by our security forces during military operations.

    “Findings have generally shown that these reports are in the need exaggerated, we know that there are issues but the reports sometimes exaggerate the issues

    “For me, maybe standing as a President of a country where we are fighting terror, if you make certain statements people will begin to interpret it to mean that the President is trying to defend the armed forces.

    “Some may say the President is trying to protect himself from being dragged to the Hague; as it is now common for presidents to be dragged to the Hague. Some of these reports need to be properly investigated.”

    The President recalled a 1992 publication of photographs by a Port Harcourt based newspaper depicting Nigerian soldiers openly raping local girls in Choba community in Rivers State.

    He continued: “I can recount an incident that happened in 1992. I can say exactly, a newspaper one morning came out with photographs of soldiers raping girls on the street of a community called Chuba and we were all alarmed that soldiers were raping women in Chuba.

    “Choba incidentally is not a community that is hidden. That is where the University of Port-Harcourt is located. Investigation was made, even by civil societies; people asked questions and there was no incident like that at all.”

  • Amnesty opposes death penalty for 12 soldiers

    Amnesty opposes death penalty for 12 soldiers

    The Amnesty International has opposed the court marshal of 12 soldiers and  the death penalty imposed by a military court in Abuja.

    The military court, three weeks ago, convicted 12 solders for mutiny after they fired shots at their General Officer Commanding (GOC) in Borno State.

    The Amnesty International Media Director, Susana Flood,  at the weekend, said the organisation was opposed to death penalty notwithstanding the offence.

    The statement reads: “The reason we have not said anything about the conviction is because we are unable to monitor the trial to be able to say it is fair, which is very important for us. We have to back our comment with fact.

    “We oppose death penalty in all instances. In case of the soldiers, we are opposing their death sentence. We are looking at the trial to study all that transpired”.

    She noted that human right abuse would not just end one day, but scored the organisation high on the success recorded.

    “If you look at our work on the death penalty and you examine the statistics when we started campaign against death penalty, which was over 20 years and compare to now, you will see that a number of countries executing prisoners have decreased.

    “Sadly, Nigeria is still executing. Eliminating death has been a slow bit of progress, but you can see the achievement we have made around the world”.

  • Torture: Fed Govt faults Amnesty International’s report

    Torture: Fed Govt faults Amnesty International’s report

    The Federal Government has faulted last week’s reports by the Amnesty International (AI) that the Nigeria Police and the military relied on and habitually uased torture  to extract statements from suspects.

    Reacting to the report yesterday in Abuja, the Chairman of the National Committee Against Torture, Dr. Samson Sani Ameh (SAN), noted that the report was a “calculated intention to misinform Nigerians”.

    He said the police had always taken a firm stand against the use of torture among its officers.

    The agency chief said the report was deliberately  falsified by its authors to portray Nigeria in a bad light.

    Ameh said  the Federal Government  always ensured that security officials did not use torture to extract information.

    He said: “Right from training, the Nigerian Police are being taught on how to use modern technological equipment in the detection of crime so that they do not need to resort to old crude method of torture.

    “The significant aspect of the police syllabus is that it contains a section on Human Rights so that right from the training the Police are taught on the need to observe the human rights of citizens.

    “In the course of our visit to police stations, we saw  that there was an Anti-Torture Unit in each station where anybody, either police or non-police citizens, could report any act of torture or other cruel, degrading treatment or punishment to them.

    “The Nigerian Police should be commended for establishing the Anti-Torture Desk rather than being condemned, as has been done by AI in its report, titled: Welcome to Hell Fire: Torture and Other Ill-Treatment in Nigeria.

    “To show how mischievous their report is, AI renamed the Anti-Torture Desk at police station as ‘Torture Desk’ to paint Nigeria black in the eyes of the world.”

  • Amnesty is yielding results, says envoy

    The Nigerian Ambassador to Poland, Dr Samuel Jimba, has said that the Presidential Amnesty Programme on Niger Delta militants is yielding results as over 20 militants graduated from the school of Maritime in Poland.

    The ambassador, who disclosed this during his presentation at the graduation ceremony of over 20 Niger-Delta youths sponsored for maritime training and courses at the Gydania Maritime University in Poland under the Amnesty programme, said the programme was significant to the transformation agenda of the government.

    He said the efforts and resources being deployed by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger-Delta, and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, in empowering Nigerian youths particularly to acquire qualitative skills and trainings towards strengthening Nigeria’s critical economic sectors such as the maritime industry would enable the country to compete favourably on the global stage.

    “The administration of President Jonathan resolved early in its term to provide opportunities for Nigerians to be major players in the development process. Consequently, it was decided by the president that one of the major highlights of the transformation agenda would be to reform the maritime sector in Nigeria,” he said.

  • I played no role in Osun election, says Kuku

    THE special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Amnesty, Mr. Kinsley Kuku, said at the weekend he did not play any role in the August 9 governorship election in Osun State.

    Kuku said he was outside the country on official assignment at that time, contrary to the claims that he led a team of Niger Delta youths to Osun State for the election.

    The presidential adviser cleared the air on the issue in a lecture he delivered at the 10th convocation ceremony of the Benson Idahosa University in Benin on Friday.

    Kuku, who spoke on the topic: Challenging current security issues for national transformation: the way forward, said: “They even went as far as publishing that on the Election Day, I, Kingsley Kuku, led ‘Niger Delta militants’ into Osun State to help the PDP win the election.

    “I left the country on official assignment to the United States of America on Wednesday, July 30, 2014 and returned to the country on Monday, August 11, 2014. So, how could I have been in Osun State and the United States of America at the same time? “

    He described the election as “a new dawn” which is free and fair and the result acceptable to all including foreign observers and the party that lost, saying the credit for it should be given to President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Commending the late Bishop Benson Idahosa for his vision to establish the university more than 30 years ago, Kuku said: “Boko Haram continues to militate against the transformation agenda of President Jonathan.”

    He added that “discerning Nigerians have since formed the opinion that political actors and interests generously help to fan the embers of insecurity in the country for selfish and pecuniary reasons.”

    He said: “There is indeed a nexus between education, transformation and security,” hence the federal government’s investment in education in the north especially through the Almajiri schools to combat the terrorist activities of the sect.

    “The Boko Haram insurgency is not just a problem for northern Nigeria or Nigeria as a whole. It is a global problem that deserves collective effort to confront and defeat. I can assure you that this unfortunate matter is receiving the maximum albeit sophisticated attention that it deserves.”

    Kuku praised security agents for their untiring efforts which most of the time is unheralded.

    “I am aware that for every suicide bombing that occurs, more than 100 attempts would have been prevented by our vigilant security agents,” he said.

    The presidential adviser blamed the insecurity situation on “the ineptitude, insensitivity and tardiness of successive past leaderships in the country both at the Federal and State levels” which Jonathan inherited.

    Kuku said in spite of the security situation, the president had achieved a lot in many areas like aviation, agriculture, education and transportation, among others.

  • Amnesty: JTF behind extra-judicial killings

    Amnesty: JTF behind extra-judicial killings

    There have been concerns about how the Joint Task Force (JTF) is carrying out the task of curtailing the Boko Haram insurgency. Allegations of human rights violations have been rife. Amnesty International, in a report issued yesterday, says it has evidence that the military is committing gruesome murder

    Gruesome video footage, images and testimonies gathered by Amnesty International provide fresh evidence of extrajudicial executions and other serious human rights violations being carried out in north-eastern Nigeria as the fight by the military against Boko Haram and other armed groups intensifies.

    The footage, obtained from numerous sources during a recent trip to Borno State, reveals graphic evidence of multiple war crimes being carried out in Nigeria.

    It includes horrific images of detainees having their throats slit one by one and dumped in mass graves by men who appear to be members of the Nigerian military and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), state-sponsored militias. It also shows the aftermath of a Boko Haram raid on a village that resulted in almost 100 deaths and destruction on a massive scale.

    This shocking new evidence is further proof of the appalling disregard for humanity in north-eastern Nigeria, where war crimes are being committed with abandon by all sides in the conflict. What does it say about a country when members of its military carry out such unspeakable acts and then deliberately capture the images on film, said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

    These are not the images we expect from a country which sees itself as having a leadership role in Africa. The ghastly images are made worse by the numerous testimonies we have gathered which suggest that extrajudicial executions are, in fact, regularly carried out by the Nigerian military and CJTF.

    More than 4,000 people have been killed by all sides in the conflict during armed attacks this year alone. Civilians who are not directly participating in hostilities make up the majority of this death toll.

    In recent months, the conflict has intensified in north-eastern Nigeria, spreading to smaller towns and villages which are now increasingly on the front line. In July 2014 Damboa in Borno state became the first town to fall officially under the control of Boko Haram since President Goodluck

    Jonathan declared the State of Emergency in May 2013.

    The heavy-handed behaviour of the military also caused shock waves in Kaduna state in July. A fatal crackdown was carried out in response to a peaceful protest by the Shiite Zakzaky sect in Zaria. Thirty-three people were killed, including two children; 12 were killed while held in detention.

    Amnesty International is calling on the Nigerian authorities to ensure that the military stops committing human rights violations. All reports of extrajudicial executions and other war crimes and serious violations must be investigated promptly, thoroughly, independently and impartially, with those responsible; up the entire chain of command brought to justice.

    Members of Boko Haram and other armed groups are responsible for a huge number of heinous crimes like the abduction of the schoolgirls in Chibok more than three months ago but the military are supposed to defend people, not to carry out further abuses themselves, said Salil Shetty.

    A state of emergency must not give way to a state of lawlessness.

    Sadly, the same communities are now being terrorised in turn by Boko Haram and the military alike.

     

    Grisly extrajudicial executions

     

    The footage obtained by Amnesty International includes a gruesome incident that took place near Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, on 14 March 2014.

    It shows what appear to be members of the Nigerian military and CJTF using a blade to slit the throats of a series of detainees, before dumping them into an open mass grave.

    The video shows 16 young men and boys seated in a line. One by one, they are called forward and told to lie down in front of the pit. Five of them are killed in this way; the fate of the remaining detainees is not shown on video, but eyewitness accounts confirmed that nine of them had their throats cut while the others were shot to death.

    Additional footage featuring some of the same perpetrators, taken earlier that day at the same location, shows two detainees digging a grave under armed guard before the killing is carried out. One is told to lie down in front of the pit, where his legs and head are held by what seems to be CJTF members. The individual who appears to be the commander of the group puts his right foot on the man’s side, raises his knife, kisses it and shouts and cuts the throat of the restrained young man.

    All other military and CJTF shout: “Yes oga (boss), kill him.”

    Amnesty International spoke to several military sources who independently confirmed that the armed captors in the video were indeed military personnel, and according to two credible sources, they may be part of the 81 Battalion, which is based in Borno State.

    No buildings, roads or other infrastructure can be seen in the video but the noise of cars confirms that it is near a road. Several of the armed captors are wearing military uniforms, one of which has the words

    “Borno State Operation Flush” emblazoned on the front. The ID number on one of the guns is also clearly identifiable.

    Eyewitnesses also confirmed to Amnesty International that the videos were taken on 14 March 2014, the day of Boko Haram’s attack on the military detention centre in Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri. Boko Haram forces reportedly released their members and told all other detainees to either join them or go home. After Boko Haram had left the town, more than 600 people, mostly recaptured detainees, were extrajudicially executed in various locations across Maiduguri. The detainees in the video were rearrested by the CJTF in Giddari Polo, near the Barracks, where various sources have confirmed that a number of them were shot and killed by soldiers after being handed over to the military. The military then took the corpses and the detainees to a location outside Maiduguri, near Giddari where the executions are reported to have been carried out.

     

    Military roundups in Bama

     

    Further video evidence obtained by Amnesty International reveals atrocities carried out in Bama, a town 70km south-east of Maiduguri.

    Bama is one of the many communities that has been a focal point of the violence over the past two years. It has frequently been targeted in armed raids by Boko Haram and has also been singled out at least twice by the

    Nigerian military for mass arbitrary arrests of people whom they allege are Boko Haram members.

    Residents told Amnesty International about a operation which took place on 23 July 2013. Scores of Nigerian military and CJTF from Maiduguri arrived in the central market around 11am and told all the adult men to gather in one area and take off their clothes.

    According to eyewitnesses, the men were then lined up and, one by one, told to close their eyes as they were pushed in front of a man seated in a vehicle. The man then indicated left or right. Up to 35 men who were sent to the left were alleged to be Boko Haram members. The remaining 300 or so were sent to the right, deemed to be innocent.

    The video evidence obtained by Amnesty International corroborates multiple eyewitness accounts of what happened next. The Nigerian military and CJTF members ordered those alleged to be Boko Haram members to lie down side by side on the ground, and then beat them with sticks and machetes.

    One eyewitness told Amnesty International the military officials shouted:

    “You have to beat, even kill these; they are Boko Haram.”

    The footage shows how during this operation, the military and CJTF fired celebratory shots in the air. Up to 35 detainees were then loaded onto a single military vehicle and taken away to the local military barracks in Bama.

    Several days later, on the afternoon of 29 July, military personnel took the men out of the barracks and brought them to their communities, where they shot them dead, several at a time, before dumping their corpses. One local resident told Amnesty International how the gunshots rang out from around 2pm into the evening as soldiers shot and deposited the bodies in different places around the town.

    A relative of one of the extra-judicially executed men described the aftermath: “At that time everyone was aware that these people (had been) killed, (and) started running to look. We found (our relative) near Bama bridge. Plenty of people were with us. They (had) shot five of them (in that location alone). There were five bodies including (my relative).

    He had a bullet hole in his chest and no clothes, only trousers. We took the body and buried it. There is no death certificate; Bama hospital is not functioning. There is no place to complain; the town has restricted movement. Everybody left what happened to God.

     

    Deadly Boko Haram raid

     

    Like many other communities in north-eastern Nigeria, Bama’s residents have been living in constant fear of attacks by Boko Haram and other armed groups. These are sometimes believed to be in retaliation for what the armed groups deem to be the local residents; co-operation with the Nigerian military. Many of the attacks are met with little resistance by the military.

    Boko Haram staged its most deadly assault on the town over the course of several hours early in the morning of 19 February 2014, which locals report left almost 100 people dead and more than 200 injured. Improvised explosive devices and grenades were used to destroy huge swathes of the town.

    The insurgents had a field day, killing, burning and demolishing, one Bama resident told Amnesty International.

    Video footage taken in the aftermath of the attack shows the charred remains of numerous cars and buildings, including fire damage to the top floor of the local Emir’s palace. Eyewitnesses told

    Amnesty International that schools and other administrative buildings were also bombed or torched, and more than 100 residents’ vehicles were destroyed.

    The footage from the aftermath shows scores of corpses wrapped for burial.

    Amnesty International is calling for an immediate, independent, impartial and thorough investigation into the pattern of serious and systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law that is emerging in north-eastern Nigeria. The Nigerian government must publicly condemn such acts, including reports of arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment, and extra-judicial executions carried out by the Nigerian military.

  • Amnesty scholarship for 50 students

    Amnesty scholarship for 50 students

    About 50 students from the Niger Delta are to transit to universities in the United Kingdom and other countries after completing one-year foundation programmes at the Westerfield College, a private sixth form institution in Yaba, Lagos.

    They got scholarships from the Presidential Amnesty Programme for Niger Delta militants for the programme.

    This was disclosed in Lagos at the launch of the Westerfield’s American Transfer Pathway, which will guarantee that graduates of the school get automatic admission into any university of their choice in the United States.

    The event took place at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Westfield’s Managing Director Michael Dosumu said the school had helped over 800 students secure admissions into foreign universities, especially in the United Kingdom (UK).   He said the institution was making a foray into the American school system.

    Dosumu said the school was replicating its partnership with the government on the Niger Delta students with various states.

    “We are going to approach state governments for partnership with the range of programmes we have. We have actually approached three states in the Southwest. We have approached one in the North and almost covered the Niger Delta. We are interested in covering Nigeria as much as possible,” he said.

    A representative of the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta, Dr Ebitim George, assured the college of the agency’s support in its drive to develop youths of the region.

    “The Presidential Amnesty programme supports Westerfield. Our children are currently studying in the school and we believe in the school’s efforts at providing quality education to our children,” he said.

    Lagos State Commissioner for Education Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye, who was represented by Mrs Yinka Bello, said it is gratifying to know that Niger Delta youths are not agitating, but educating themselves. Parents, she explained, should be confident that the programme would benefit their children. The highlight of the programmes featured testimonies from both parents and students on how the programme has helped them.

  • APGA advocates amnesty for MASSOB, BZM

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, has urged the Federal Government to institute an amnesty programme to rehabilitate youth members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Biafra Zionist Movement (BZM).

    He also enjoined government to release unconditionally members of the pro-Biafra groups held in cells across the country in the spirit of the national reconciliation.

    Umeh said the Federal Government should halt the prosecution of BZM members arrested in Enugu and MASSOB members standing trial, in the spirit of the amnesty.

    The APGA boss, who spoke yesterday with reporters in Enugu, said the amnesty programme becomes imperative as Nigerians are in search of peace and unity.

    Umeh, who reviewed the condition of the MASSOB youths, which he likened to what the Niger Delta militants experienced before the Federal Government put in place an amnesty programme for them, urged the government “to take this action because MASSOB youths were misused by their leader.”

    He said he was moved to tears each time he saw patriotic Igbo youths “who have been misused by Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.”

    His words: “It is on record that the bodies of MASSOB youths are in the mortuaries in the Southeast. The youths have protested against the way they have been used by their leader in the phantom struggle for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and have formed what they call Igbo Ga Dimma Youth Organisation.

    “The way these youths are being exposed to danger, arrested and incarcerated in cells across the Southeast has become a source of worry. There is need for the Federal Government to set up an amnesty programme so that they can be rehabilitated.

    “What Ndigbo and Igbo youths have been agitating for over the years is a just Nigeria where equity and fairness will be the basis for dealing with all Nigerians. The National Conference is addressing some of these problems.

    “The Southeast is represented by professors, diplomats, Igbo activists and elder statesmen led by Gen. Ike Nwachukwu. They are canvassing for the rights of the Igbo.”