The Nation Newspaper

Tag: harassment

  • Hijab: Muslim women decry harassment, stigmatisation

    Hijab: Muslim women decry harassment, stigmatisation

    Nigeria Muslim women yesterday expressed concerns over the alleged stigmatisation and harassment of women in hijab, the women’s veil, across the country.

    The National Amirah of Al-Mu’minaat Organisation, Hajia Nimatullah Abdullateef, who addressed reporters in Lagos ahead of the World Hijab Day, noted that Muslim women were worried by the way the Army harassed their colleagues within and outside conflict zones because they wore hijab.

    She said hijab is a symbol of the Muslim woman’s faith and adherence to Allah’s injunction.

    According to her, Muslim women remember the harassment, persecution, emotional and psychological anguish women in hijab suffered recently in Nigeria, especially after President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that the nation might consider a ban on the Islamic dress code, if terrorists continued to use it as a cover to bomb innocent people.

    Hajia Abdullateef decried the attempt by authorities of the Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in its Ibadan, Oyo State office, to legislate and limit the hijab standards in Nigeria.

    The amirah (women’s leader) said the soldiers’ attitude remained a festering sore in “our heart, while we note with suppressed anguish the harassment of Muslim women in hijab by officers and men of the Nigerian Army within and without military installations in different cities all over Nigeria”.

    She added: “Other government agencies are trying to rob the Muslim of the hijab as her right to freedom of religious expression, by demanding that she expose her ears during image capturing. These are: the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). We call on the leadership of these agencies to call their men to order.

    “We wish to remind the Nigerian security institutions that Boko Haram is the enemy and not Muslim hijabis (women in hijab). Indeed, Boko Haram has used several ingenious garbs and artefacts to camouflage its members and carry out its dastardly and evil attacks, including fruits, vegetables, motor vehicles and even fake army and police uniforms…”

     

  • PDP warns against unlawful detention, harassment

    PDP warns against unlawful detention, harassment

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government and the police against harassment and unlawful detention of its members ahead of Saturday’s election.

    A statement yesterday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the warning was informed by a Save our Soul (SOS) message from the Kogi chapter of the party.

    According to the PDP, the police, using men of a special squad, had been arresting, assaulting and invading homes of key party members.

    The statement said: “Information available to us shows that police operatives, acting on the orders of the APC government, have been hounding, assaulting and arresting PDP members and supporters in Igalamala, Ofu, Dekina, Ankpa and Idah local governments and other areas, ostensibly to intimidate and frighten the electorate and pave the way for some compromised Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials to manipulate the electoral process in favour of the APC.

    “We want Nigerians and the international community to note that this attack is a fallout of the secret meeting between the Presidency and security agencies and INEC, which we exposed earlier this week.

    “The national leadership of the PDP condemns in the strongest terms, this reprehensible partisan deployment of state apparatus of power, which is yet another clear indication that the police may have become a compromised instrument in the hands of the APC Federal Government in its bid to forcefully take over PDP states.

    “This intolerable and provocative operation by the police cannot continue. Kogi State is a known PDP state and our members and supporters as free citizens, cannot be treated as prisoners of war in a state where they are in the majority.

    “Kogi State people are being pushed to the wall. We invite the nation to note the avoidable growing tension occasioned by the desperation of the APC to take over the state.

    “Consequently, we hereby state that we hold the Federal Government responsible, should there be any civil unrest and/or breakdown of law and order in Kogi State or in any other part of the country where they have been exhibiting dictatorial and fascist tendencies.”

     

  • Contestant accuses Ikire monarch of harassment

    Contestant accuses Ikire monarch of harassment

    •It’s not true, says ruler

    A contestant to the Akire stool, Prince Tajudeen Olarenwaju, has accused the Akire of Ikire, Oba Olatunde Falabi, of harassing his subjects.

    In a statement, Olanrewaju claimed that Oba Falabi was barred from the throne by a Supreme Court judgment.

    Olarenwaju accused the monarch of using the police to harass residents.

    He alleged that many indigenes were framed up and detained on trumped-up charges.

    Olarenwaju said: “Oba Falabi, after losing the legal battle at the Supreme Court, constituted himself into a demigod waging war against perceived opposition to his inordinate ambition. The once peaceful Ikire town now lives in fear.

    “There is tension leading to uncertainties regarding the once revered stool and this is not a good example at all. With the Supreme Court judgment in my favour, Oba Falabi is just buying time and that is why he resorted to intimidation of innocent citizens.

    “The Akire stool became vacant after the demise of Oba Boladale Oseni Oyegunle  in 1987. After the necessary procedures, a candidate from the Aketula family, Prince Tajudeen Olanrewaju, was nominated as the next oba.

    “The nomination of Prince Olanrewaju was approved by the kingmakers and his name was forwarded to the then Oyo State military administrator, Col. Adetunji Olurin, to announce him as the new Akire of Ikire.”

    But Oba Falabi denied the allegations.

    He said: “The truth is that Olanrewaju’s father, Mosobaloju Asupoto, went to cause trouble in Balogun village, which is under my authority. The villagers came and reported him to me.

    “I invited him to my palace but he started misbehaving and began to assault me. But when my chiefs and some subjects could not tolerate it any longer, they reported the case to the police, who came and took him away.

    “The police later charged him to court for assault. His relatives have come to beg me but I don’t know I’m harassing anyone. How can I intimidate my subjects when I want my town to be in peace?

    “On the Supreme Court judgment, I was not sacked by the court. The court never asked me to vacate the stool. The court only granted the prayers that the Aketula family be included in the ruling houses for the Akire stool. There is nothing more than that.”

  • ‘Save us from police harassment’

    ‘Save us from police harassment’

    A Lagos lawyer, Mr. Bamidele  Ogundele, has asked the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase to call to order some of his officers, who harass and terrorise some community leaders in the Lekki Area of Lagos State over land disputes.

    Ogundele, in a Save Our Soul (SOS) letter written on behalf of the community leaders, alleged that a certain Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Mr. Oyinlola Adeoye of the X Squad, Force Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos, always allow himself to be used in terrorising some principal members of the Dada Bakare Family of Abijo Town, Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    The petition, which was jointly signed by the counsels to the family, Ogundele and Raimi Oluwaseyi Nojeen alleged that the DCP Adeoye has been using his officers  to terrorise the community. They warned that his actions, if not checked, “are capable of causing a breach of the peace, lawlessness or outright anarchy”.

    The Dada Bakare family of Abijo claimed to be  the traditional owners of a large parcel of land totalling 75,000 hectares  at Abijo Village, which was officially Gazetted by the Lagos State Government with No. 55 Volume 40 of 2007 and which is the  subject matter in suit number LD/2308/2011 before a Lagos High Court.

    The family said it was surprised when a certain Alhaji Akeeb A. Adams, a native of Lamgbasa Village in the same Ibeju Lekki, allegedly invaded their property with some land grabbers to take over their land without the consent or authority of the family.

    They alleged further that the said Alhaji Akeeb “engaged” the services of the DCP Adeoye, who they claimed has been giving security backing to the illegal and unconstitutional actions of the hoodlums hired by Alhaji Adams.

    “DCP Adeoye personally led a police patrol team to take over the Dada Bakare family land at Abijo Town without a Court Order or Execution of Court Order despite the suit pending in court by the Dada Bakare family in LD/2308/2011 against Alhaji Akeeb Alarape Adams & Ors for the illegal trespass.

    “Several members of the Dada Bakare Family including Mr. Raimi Oluwaseyi Nojeem, Mrs. Sikiratu Aduni Lawal, Chief Sadiku Noah, Mr. Kamoru Suleiman, Mr. Waheed Aluko and Mr. Sheriff Sulaimon were intimidated, harassed and arrested by the OC X Squad team without any justification.

    “Coupled with this, the rights of the Dada Bakare Family members to human dignity, liberty and freedom of movement as guaranteed by Section 34, 35 and 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as well as Article 4, 5, 6 and 12 of the African Charter of Human and People’s Right Law of the Federation 2004, were curtailed and violated on several occasions.

    “We forward a petition to the office of the Inspector-General of Police and our matter was assigned to the P.R.O Department of Force CID, Area 10, Abuja and the case file of X Squad, Force CID, Alagbon, Ikoyi, Zone 2, Onikan and Area J. Ajiwe Police Headquarters were all retrieved for discreet and God-fearing investigation,” the petition stated.

    The family alleged that despite the intervention of the Inspector General of Police and transfer of the case file, DCP Adeoye still continues to harass and intimidate them at the alleged instigation of Alhaji Akeeb Alarape Adams.

     

     

     

  • Curbing sexual harassment on campuses

    I once asked a female student of a higher institution a question I knew the answer to assure myself my views on the issue is right.

    The question was whether it is true that lecturers sexually harass female students in exchange of marks?.

    Not only did she confirm that the allegations are true, she cited personal experiences and that of others she knew about.

    Contrary to denials, sexual harassment and rape cases are common in virtually all educational institutions, including the primary schools.

    Some lecturers are so notorious that female students have to device all manners of tactics to ward off advances or outright demand for what they think is part of their benefits for being lecturers.

    I remember a case of a Post Graduate student who was advised to meet her project supervisor in company of her husband who should offer generous financial gift to the lecturer to prevent him from asking the lady for sex.

    Those who don’t give in to the demands  and can’t pay in cash sometimes pay dearly for their refusal by being deliberately scored low. There are cases of students who have had to repeat a session just because they refused to subject themselves to the ‘evil ‘ demands of randy lecturers old enough to be their fathers.

    The recent case of a part-time lecturer in University of Lagos who raped an admission seeker which is being investigated by the institution is indicative of what some lecturers can do to satisfy their lust.

    A lecturer raped the daughter of his neighbour who was entrusted to him to assist in securing admission and shamelessly claims that he had the consent of the girl to sleep with her.

    There is another case being investigated in University of Calabar where a Professor of Law raped a student after offering her an opportunity to recopy a class text in his office.

    Like in the first case, some friends of the notorious lecturer are not denying that the lecturer had carnal knowledge of the student in his office, their defense is that the lady is morally loose. The Professor also claimed the act was consensual.

    What a shame that lecturers have turned their offices to ‘slaughter slabs’ on the excuse that the students offered themselves to them which is not the case in this two instances.

    Even if the students offered themselves, the question for the lecturers is whether  it is right for them to have sexual relationships with students? Is it morally justifiable to engage in such unethical conduct when they are married and have their own children.

    Thankfully, past students have come out in both cases to confirm that the two lecturers have an history of sexually harassing students.

    A top newspaper editor recently wrote put a lie to denial of allegations of sexual harassment by lecturers when she recalled how her project supervisor while she was an undergraduate was interested in sleeping with her and she declined.

    Those she sought  help from to appeal to the lecturer her to give the lecturer what he wanted told her to give the lecturer what she wanted . Her punishment for refusal was lack of the necessary supervision by the lecturer.

    If incidents of sexual harassment are to be curtailed in institutions, cases like the ones  above should be thoroughly investigated and the lecturers severely penalised to serve as a deterrent to others.

  • Onitsha-based industrialist decries SON’s harassment

    The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of an Onitsha-based company, Chief Sylvester Okeke, has decried what he termed “harassment” of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in the Southeast.

    Workers of an Onitsha-based company last week, protested SON’s alleged frustration of indigenous companies and corruption of some of its officials.

    Chief Okeke said: “As an advocate of what is right, I won’t let some disgruntled manufacturers frustrate the good works the SONS’s workers are doing, particularly the Southeast. It was a shock to have read in one of the dailies that a company staged a protest.

    “Over the years, we’ve had value-adding transaction with the agency and yet to recall a time we were threatened because of bribe. As a manufacturing outfit, we have gone through our manufacturing routines – moving in machineries, certification, having SON engineer our processes, and attended a number of knowledge-sharing and capacity-building workshops from the stables of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria”.

    “I recommend an investigation into the matter to ascertain the company’s claim and also, to look into the aggrieved company’s profile, activities and products. Justice must be served, however the story goes. To the best of my knowledge, manufacturers who have been having issues with the agency are those producing fake or substandard products. In my opinion, we have not had the agency have a firm grip on things like this before”.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • NGO tackles harassment

    A United States-based advocacy group, Dreams Project for Africa (DPA), has declared its readiness to fight sexual assaults on Nigerian campuses.

    The organisation said it would increase advocacy in the country on eradication of all forms of harassment that have derailed academic pursuits of many youths. It said it would embark on awareness campaigns and create platforms to educate students on their rights.

    One of such programme, the group said, will hold on August 29 at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), where hundreds of youths and students would converge to discuss on matters affecting their academic careers.

    The the theme of the event, which is being held in partnership with Junior Chamber International (JCI), is “End of sexual harassment and bribery in Nigerian colleges.”

    It will feature three Nigerian speakers. One of them is Dr Princess Olufemi-Kayode, a criminal justice psychologist and a child protection consultant.

    Others are Lade Adeyemi, a professor of International Business and Negotiation and Fisayo Soyombo, a graduate of Animal Science from the University of Ibadan (UI) and Editor of The Cable, an online news medium.

    Soyombo has vast media experience, which began with The Guardian in 2005. He is also a 2013 recipient of Deutsche Welle/Orange Magazine Global Fellowship for Young Journalists.

    The event seeks to host 50 young mentors, who will be advocates in their various fields. They will train and mentor participants at the event.

     

  • Local gin dealers, consumers lament police ‘harassment’

    Dealers and consumers of locally brewed gin, popularly known as ‘Ogogoro’ or ‘kai-kai’ have lamented what they described as ‘continued harassment and arrest’ of their members and customers by the police in Aba, Abia State.

    Sources alleged that security agents, after the Rivers State incident, have been going about arresting dealers and consumers.

    They complained that the continued arrest of their customers would affect their business negatively.

    A dealer, Boniface Kalu said that since the Rivers State episode, the police in Aba have been arresting their members and customers alike, only to release them on bail after they pay.

  • No more police harassment in Rivers, says Amaechi

    No more police harassment in Rivers, says Amaechi

    Rivers State Governor and Director-General of Buhari Campaign Organisation Rotimi  Amaechi has said policemen would no longer be used  to harass the people.

    He spoke while interacting with All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters during his ward-to-ward campaign in Emohua and Ikwerre local government areas at the weekend.

    Amaechi urged the people to vote for the party’s governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

    Amaechi said: “Next week Saturday, I expect everybody to come out and vote. There will be no police molestation again. There will be no army harassment again.  Any police that molests you must be preparing to retire and this time, it will not be retirement, it will be punishment for retirement; so come out to vote. We are looking for you to come out to vote.

    “The reason why I am running from ward to ward is to encourage you to come out because after what the police and the army did  last time, everybody will be afraid to come out. Saturday, we should all come out to vote and as your governor, I urge you to vote for APC.”

    He re-emphasised that his administration would set up a commission of enquiry to look into election-related deaths.

    According to him, those found guilty by the law would be punished.

    “We have agreed to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate the killings so far. So, all those people who killed, we shall punish them. Whether they like it or not, they must account for everybody they killed.

    “For the police, we believe that by now they must have learnt their lesson. We believe that by now they must have known that they were politicians and not Nigerian Police. This Saturday, we expect them to be Nigerian Police and not Nigerian politicians.”

    In Emohua, the governor  campaigned in Ogbakiri, Ibaa, Obele, Rumuewhor Odegu and Elele.

    Also speaking to APC supporters in Ikwerre Local Government Area, particularly in Igwuruta, Ipo, Omademe, Ozuaha, Omuanwa, Isiokpo, Omagwa and Aluu, Amaechi told the people to vote APC all the way.

    Amaechi said the Buhari  administration would usher in people-oriented policies, programmes and projects.

    He said: “It is important that we all must come out to vote this time around, so that we can stop the PDP from writing election results for us. You cannot sit at home and win election. So, all of us must come out and vote for APC. APC party agents, this time around must take their duties seriously. All of us saw how the APC Presidential Candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari won the election. We in Rivers State have a commitment to reflect our votes for Dr. Dakuku Peterside, so, we can carry on with development. We still have your roads to complete. The flyover at Rukpokwu, if we vote in APC, Dakuku as our governor, we will indeed have closer ties with the Federal Government, and I assure you industries and other developmental projects will be attracted to Rivers State. That is why we must all come out en masse to vote for APC in the upcoming Saturday guber and State Assembly elections. There are so many opportunities to benefit from if you vote APC. This is our opportunity and we can’t afford to miss it.”

    The governor urged women and youths to resist any attempt by the PDP to rig the Aprill 11 elections.

    “From today, women and youths will have to work until the guber and state Assembly elections are over. I can give you an example of what happened in Bauchi State, where youths and hunters took the decision to protect their votes from the polling units to the INEC office, until the votes were counted and declared. Here, our mothers and women should protect our votes from 7 a.m. at the polling units, until after voting and results are declared at the polling units. Please, don’t leave your polling units. The security agents are at polling units to protect you, don’t be scared of any arrest, exercise your franchise without fear.”

    Amaechi paid a condolence visit on late Ikechi Dimkpa’s family at Ipo community. The late Dimkpa was killed by suspected PDP political thugs during the presidential election.

    He promised to support the family of the bereaved. He also received defectors from the PDP.

  • Harassment of opponents counterproductive, says Opadokun

    The Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER) yesterday warned against the harassment of political opponents by the Federal Government, stressing that it is counter-productive.

    The group said that when victims of oppression, victimisation and repression are pushed to the wall, they may resort to self-help.

    Its Coordinator Mr. Ayo Opadokun, told reporters in Lagos, it is curious that security agents are deployed to victimise leading opposition figures during the electioneering, thereby sending clear signals that the government is afraid of legitimate contest.

    He lamented that senior military officers have embraced partisanship by becoming a tool for subverting and undermining democratic culture, adding that it is a disservice to the cause of patriotism and professionalism.

    Opadokun also alluded to the danger of the over-involvement of the military in partisan struggles, saying that it conveys an impression to the soldiers that civilian leaders are incapable of providing effective leadership.

    He said the misbehaviour of the political leadership has also sent a signal to pro-democracy activists to gird their loins and return to the trenches because participatory democracy is falling.

    He added: “The political operators are busy undermining the growth and maturity of public institutions. They should know that when they have so compromised public institutions for temporary gains, they would be the first to be consumed by the inadequate and inefficient performance of our public institutions.

    “The military officers should stop acceding to the political operator’s attempt at fooling the public by denying their recent harassment of political opponents, just as President Putin of the Soviet Union is doing in Eastern Ukraine. When the equation changes, they will be the first casualties.”

    The pro-democracy activist recalled that Nigeria had passed through the inglorious path under the military between January and June 12, 1993, adding that the leadership was disgraced out of office, following popular uprising.

    He urged Nigerians to brace for the March 28 and April 11 elections, which he said, will be a turning point in the march of democracy.

    Opadokun urged leaders to learn from history to avoid repeating the mistakes of the party.

    He added: “Using the military to intimidate opponents is their negative institutionalised crude tactics. In 1984, the home of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in Ikenne was for sometime had a lorry load of fully armed military, stationed on the street in front of Papa’s home. I remember visiting Papa every morning to witness what they were up to.

    “I remember passing by their vehicles many times and questioning what they were set to achieve by their crude activities. They stopped coming when I got some of our people to keep surveillance on them. The media focus on the invasion made them to leave.

    “If anyone in temporary sojourn in political office wants to return to crude tactics as Abacha did, such a fellow or group of political adventurers should remember that they cannot win against the people’s will. Warring against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other leaders of the opposition is an avoidable desperation that the local and global audience will rise up to resist.”