The Nation Newspaper

Tag: maltreatment

  • Protest over maltreatment of Nigerians in Libya

    Members of the Neo Black Movement (NBM) of Africa, Northern Region, have protested over Nigerians who are being sold into slavery in Libya.

    At the rally, which took place at the UNITY Fountain, Abuja, the group condemned the killings and the slave trade in Libya.

    Addressing reporters, its Northern Regional President, Chief Duncan Amadi, called on the government to create an enabling environment for development in the country to forestall the influx of people to Libya.

    He urged the Libyan government to remember the advocacy of its late leader, Moamar Ghadaffi, on the need for a United Africa, and that this could be achieved if all Africans, irrespective of colour, were treated based on the principles of social justice and equality.

    He reminded the Libyan authorities that Africans are stronger if they live in peace and unity. He called for the eradication of the slave trade in Libya and that all those culpable should be brought to justice.

    Amadi also advised Africans who are fleeing their countries, to stay and learn a trade that would be useful to themselves and family.

    In response, operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) and the police who received the protesters  thanked them for conducting themselves peacefully and promised to communicate the group’s concerns to the appropriate quarters. They urged them to hang the association’s banner at the Unity Fountain so that people could read and get our message.

    Relatedly, a similar protest also held in Victoria Island, Lagos at the weekend. The members of the group marched from Four Point by Sheraton Junction to the old Libyan Embassy at Landmark Events Centre to Etim Inyang Crescent back to their take off point.

    Its National Legal Adviser Chief Hope Aliyu also reiterated the injustice meted to Nigerians in the African country, urging for a stop and for the Federal Government to assist those who were maltreated.

     

     

  • Nigeria kicks against maltreatment of migrants

    Nigeria kicks against maltreatment of migrants

    Nigeria has kicked against the stereotype that migrants are “desperate, parasitic and less-economic value group”.

    The leader of the nation’s delegation to the 133rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, Switzerland and House of Representatives’ Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun, made this known yesterday.

    Lasun, while addressing the General Assembly of IPU, noted that migrants represent an increased market size, purveyor of skill and talent, alternative sources of labour and workforce as well as reversal of population losses.

    But he warned that before granting asylum to migrants, all states must collaborate with the INTERPOL and take appropriate steps to ensure that such persons had no link with terrorism.

    The deputy speaker said the scale, scope and complexity of migration in the world were on the increase due to conflicts and terrorism, which he blamed for creating a pool of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and economic downturn, especially in Nigeria.

    He added that millions of migrants were leaving their countries in search of opportunities as well as due to social strife arising from religious fundamentalism, xenophobia, ideological intolerances, and natural disasters such as desertification, flooding, earthquake and volcanic eruptions.

    “I wish to remind us that when people migrate for any of these reasons, they carry along with them their fundamental human rights within the contest of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR).

    “Accordingly, whether migration within national boundaries or transnational borders, it is our responsibilities to evolve policies that respect the rights of refugees or asylum-seekers.

    “In doing so, we must recognise that all human beings are born free and it is morally and legally wrong to discriminate against any on the account of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political, national or social origin, property, birth or other status

    “It is important that we remove the stereotype of migrants as a desperate parasitic and less economic value group. In fact, if properly integrated, they will be veritable drivers of economic growth and development…

    “We accept that in the short run, they may constitute a drain of scarce natural resources and opportunities to the host country, but in the long run, migrants bring to the table all the benefits of diversity in terms of food, good, culture and services.”

    While prescribing measures that can solve the problem, Lasun urged world leaders to be mindful of the 1951 Convention that was adopted after the World War 2 and amended in 1957 to cover the whole world.

    “In the light of the foregoing, and since by definition, refugees are not protected by their own government, the international community must ensure they are safe and protected.

    “We must observe the statement of the UN High Commission for Refugee (UMHCR) that refugees deserve as a minimum the same standard of treatment enjoyed by other foreign nationals in a given country. In any case, the same treatment as nationals.”

    He availed the forum steps being taken by Nigeria to address IDPs issue.

    Lasun said: “We have established IDP camps across the country. We have persons escaping the consequences of insurgency housed on temporary basis.

    “Similarly, on July 31, 2014, a Presidential Committee on Boko Haram Victims Support Fund was established.”

    “In view of the sensitivity attached to the issue by the Nigerian parliament, the House of Representatives has established a Committee on DPs and Initiatives on Northeast.

    “In the Senate, a Bill has been introduced on the creation of Northeast Development Commission and has gone through second reading”.

    On way forward, Nigeria called on nations to deepen their democratic system by adopting inclusive practices to eliminate sources of conflicts and tensions.

  • Maltreatment of children

    Maltreatment of children

    •We agree with UNICEF that the plight of the African child needs special attention

    Despite the fact that the Day of the African Child has been celebrated annually since 1991 when the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) initiated it in honour of those who participated in the Soweto Uprising in South Africa, the plight of the African child remains deplorable. The day was set aside to raise awareness of the continued need for improvement of the education given to the African child.

    This was a fitting remembrance for the uprising in which about 10,000 black school children marched in a column more than a mile long, to demand high quality education as well as the right to be taught in their mother tongue. The protest which began on June 16, 1976 continued for about two weeks, during which hundreds of the students were shot, the most talked about being Hector Peterson. More than 100 people were killed and a thousand others injured during the protests.

    This was a huge price to pay for education by the African child. The tragedy though is that more than 37 years after this sad incident, education is still far from becoming a right of the African child. And this is true of many African countries. Rather, the children are subjected to all kinds of harmful practice, including those involving violent discipline in schools and daycare centres. There are also economic crimes, the most common of which are child labour and parents selling their children for financial gains. Social crimes are most common in child abuses, like turning children into slaves by foster parents and caretakers; some of these sadists have been reported to have put hot iron on the bodies of children, or sometimes beat them to death on flimsy excuses, even after the children had been starved almost to the point of death. Children who have been denied education often turn out to be street hawkers and street beggars who are easily amenable to rape and form the majority of hands that terrorists and other criminals recruit for their operations. There is also the social crime associated with female genital mutilation, and the branding of children as witches who are sometimes tortured or stoned to death, to name a few.

    We agree with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), that communities, irrespective of their religious or traditional beliefs have a major role to play in eliminating these practices. Its director of programmes, Nicholas Alipui, hit the nail on the head when in commemoration of The Day of The African Child stressed the need for communities to lead in the campaign against the continued dehumanising of children, noting that nothing is as powerful as the communities themselves seeing the harm being done to their own children and making a strong decision to stop the harmful practices.

    But this does not in any way imply that governments have no role to play to reverse the trend. Indeed, the escalation of these crimes against children is a perfect demonstration of government’s nonchalant attitude towards all sorts of harmful practices against children. This is an area where the civil societies must sharpen their swords to wage war against harm being done to children. The governments must wake up and take decisive actions through appropriate policy reforms and legislations that will not only put the would-be offenders under severe censure but also prescribe heavy punishments for any person or groups of persons caught in these harsh, harmful and primitive acts of subjecting children to dehumanising experiences.

    The world will be a pleasant place if more care and attention can be paid to the children who are leaders of tomorrow. A situation where the African continent has many children out of school is ominous, not only for tomorrow, but even today.

     

  • Fed govt protests Cameroun’s maltreatment of Nigerians in Bakassi

    Fed govt protests Cameroun’s maltreatment of Nigerians in Bakassi

    The Federal Government yesterday protested to Cameroon the maltreatment of Nigerians living in Bakassi, the peninsula which was ceded to the Francophone country in August 2008.

    But Cameroon denied the claim.

    It said that its hospitality to the Nigerians in Bakassi Peninsula has led to massive requests from them to obtain Cameroonian nationality.

    Attorney-General of the Federation Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) lodged the Federal Government’s protest at the 30th session of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC).

    The session was presided over by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nation (UN) for West Africa , Amb. Said Djinnit, who is also the chairman of the Mixed Commission.

    But Adoke insisted that Cameroon should take measures to investigate the maltreatment of Nigerians in Bakassi to address the concerns of Nigeria.

    He said: “Mr. Chairman, let me reiterate my earlier representation to the 20th meeting of the Follow-Up Committee that the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is concerned about reported cases of maltreatment of its citizens in the Bakassi Peninsula . As I reiterated on that occasion, while Nigeria would continue its international obligations, the government is concerned about this situation and its possible effect on the work of the CNMC.

    “The effect of these allegations and the political pressure they engender cannot be over-emphasised as they impact profoundly on the level of public confidence between the government and its citizens.

    “We call on the Cameroonian authorities in the spirit of Article 4 of the Greentree Agreement and other international Human Right Instruments to which our two countries are signatories, to urgently investigate and take measures to address these concerns.

    “This is important as it would provide the enabling political environment for the activities of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC) and the Follow-Up Committee, as well as strengthen the hand of government in its resolve to faithfully implement the ICJ judgment.

    Adoke reiterated Nigeria ‘s commitment and determination to continue to faithfully implement the judgment and commitments made to the UN Secretary-General and the international community. We therefore call on the international community to continue to support our efforts to ensure success in this endeavour,” he said.

    The Head of the Delegation of Cameron, Vice-Prime Minister Amadou Ali, said his country had not been harassing Nigerians in the Bakassi Peninsula .

    Ali said: “The legendary hospitality of Cameroon which receives, in peace and stability, millions of strangers would not be put in question concerning the 10,000 to 15,000 people of Nigerian origin living in the Bakassi Peninsula.

    “On the contrary, these populations are given a special attention by the government and the high authorities of the state, as testified by the tens of billions of CFA francs invested in Bakassi in social infrastructure and several donations granted to them.”

    Amb. Said Djinnit, praised “the courage which President Goodluck Jonathan and AGF Adoke demonstrated despite political pressure to seek the review of the ICJ ruling.

    “This session was convened to measure the progress achieved so far. We have come a long way, a lot has been done and we are proud of our achievements. We have crossed the thresholds. I wish to commend President Jonathan and President Paul Biya for their unwavering commitment to the implementation of ICJ ruling.”

    The Federal Government yesterday commenced action to provide a new resettlement for the people.

    A committee was set up by Vice President Namadi Sambo. The committee, headed by the acting Governor of Cross River state, Effiok Essien Cobham, is to look into all the modalities for the resettlement process. The committee has three months to work.

    The decision was reached at a meeting of Committee on Bakassi and Plights of the displaced people presided over by the vice president.

    Others at the meeting include the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar, National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, Director General National Boundary Commission and Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, among others.

    Cobham said the vice president charged the committee to take a holistic view of the problems.

    He also hinted that the work involves the development of an entirely new settlement so as to find a lasting solution to the plight of the displaced people and settle them permanently.

    Ita-Giwa described the setting up of the committee by the vice president as a welcome development, which according to her will help restore the dignity of the people of Bakassi.

    “Today is one of the happiest days for me as leader of the Bakassi people because it shows that Nigeria is working, it shows that the Presidency is working.”