The Nation Newspaper

Tag: violence

  • Oyo warns masqueraders against violence

    The Oyo State government has urged custodians of the Egungun Festival in the state not to renege on their promise of celebrating a festival devoid of violence and hooliganism.

    The government noted that peace, security and safety had been predominant during stakeholders’ meetings involving heads of masquerades across the state: the Olori Alaagba, the Aare Isese from the zones and custodians of the masquerades with government officials at the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.

    It said representatives of the government’s security department always attended such meetings preceding this year’s Egungun season.

    In a joint statement by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun and the Special Adviser to Governor Ajimobi on Community Relations, Alhaji Bidemi Siyanbade, the government said another stakeholders’ meeting will be held today at 12 noon to further deliberate and consolidate the modalities and conduct of masquerades during this year’s Egungun Festival.

    The statement said this would give it the prominence it deserves and promote the state’s rich cultural values and tourism potentials.

    The government said 23 of the 27 Egungun in the state had signed a non-violence pact with the police Command.

    It said the government had secured the commitment and readiness of security agencies to maintain peace, law and order during the festival.

    The government hailed the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, for keying into Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s peace initiative during the festival by admonishing the custodians of the masquerades (Egungun) to maintain peace and order.

  • Ngo, security agencies warn youths against violence

    Youths in Ekiti State have been advised to reject calls from politicians to be used as agents of violence before, during and after the July 14 governorship election.

    They were also urged to contribute meaningfully to the electoral process, by voting credible candidates and by promoting peace building activities in their various localities.

    The advice was given at a town hall advocacy forum tagged ‘Vote Not Fight, Election No Be War’ held in Ido-Ekiti, headquarters of Ido/Osi Local Government Area of the state. It was also attended by the representatives of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil

    Defence Corps and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The parley was organised by a civil society organisation, the New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative (NIGAWD), to sensitize the youths to use their votes to bring about a positive change in the state.

    It was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom Agency for International Development (UKAID) and National Democratic Institute (NDI).

    The governorship candidate of Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), Rev. Tunde Afe, and his counterpart in Independent Democrats (ID), Mr. Tosin Ajibare, who spoke at the town hall meeting, gave a commitment to run a peaceful campaign.

    NIGAWD Executive Director, Miss Abimbola Aladejare, said there was need to engage critical stakeholders, including the youths, on the need to refrain from any act of bloodshed before, during and after the poll.

    She said: “It is imperative to let our youths know that their statutory obligation on the day of election is to vote and stay back to protect their votes. No rigging, no ballot snatching or killing of people.

    “When it comes to issue of violence and rigging, everybody is involved. I mean the youths, politicians, security agencies and INEC. That is why we are engaging them on the need to respect the sanctity of the ballot.

    “We witnessed peaceful election in 2014 in Ekiti, but there was crisis leading to destruction of property and killing of people after the election. But this time, we want our people to be civil, because there is nothing to gain in violence.”

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ahmed Bello, who was represented by the Area Commander in charge of Ido/Osi, Ijero, Moba, Ilejemeje and Efon local governments, Mr. Adetoye Adepegba, assured the voters that the command was determined to ensure adequate security of lives and property.

    He said: “On our side, we are going to be neutral. We are not going to take side and we will ensure that we monitor the election in the most professional way to enforce compliance to rules.

    “Part of our duties is enforcement of law and order. We also owe it a duty to preserve the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act. We are assuring our people that we shall be civil and neutral in this election.

    The Resident Electoral Commission in Ekiti, Prof Abduganiy Raji, said the commission has strengthened its system and make it technologically driven, saying this has made it difficult for anyone to manipulate the outcome of the election.

     

  • Rec warns youths against violence, vote buying

    the Ekiti State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. AbdulGaniy Raji, has warned the youths against violence, “vote buying and selling” at the July 14 governorship election.

    Raji also warned them against being used by politicians to attack opponents, voters and electoral officials adding they would be disowned, if arrested by law enforcement agents.

    He expressed dismay that the budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was slashed while that of the National Assembly was increased by the federal lawmakers.

    Raji spoke yesterday at a Voter Education Retreat organised by Youngstars Development Initiative, 2Baba Foundation and New Generation for Girls and Women Development (NIGAWD) in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    The parley tagged “Vote Not Fight: Election No Be War” was also supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom for International Development (UKAID) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

    Youths, who were drawn from the 16 local government areas, promised to take the campaign to their localities to ensure a peaceful poll.

    Raji disclosed that between 60 and 70 per cent of those involved in violence at elections are youths whom he said are induced with money by desperate politicians in a bid to win at all cost.

    He said: “Ekiti is a volatile state, the news being heard outside is that you cannot enter Ekiti. But the perception must change.

    “It has moved from rigging or snatching of electoral materials to vote buying and vote selling. Before, when an election is disrupted, it will be cancelled but that no longer obtains.

    “You do the election again and bring all security agents from elsewhere for such rerun election and you know what that means.

    “With your activities, you can enlighten other youths, technology has been introduced to enhance the electoral process.

    “We have enhanced the software of our machines during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

    “What used to take five to seven minutes now takes one to two minutes and this has enabled us to register over 50,000 new voters during the last CVR.”

    NIGAWD Executive Director Abimbola Aladejare disclosed that a popular musician, Innocent Idibia, a.k.a. 2Face. has been commissioned as Campaign Peace Ambassador and he will perform live in Ado-Ekiti on June 22.

    Aladejare added that the Vote Not Fight campaign will take take the message of peace to political actors, media organizations, transport workers, traditional rulers, religious leaders and other stakeholders.

    Country Director of NDI, Aubrey Cutcheon, urged the youth to show readiness to take leadership roles and not allow themselves to be used as thugs.

    Other speakers at the forum include the Commissioner of Police, Bello Ahmed represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ede Ayuba; the State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dayo Famosaya; state Nigeria Union Journalists (NUJ) Chairman, Rotimi Ojomoyela.

     

  • Between propriety and violence

    Make no mistake: invading the parliament and capturing the mace is absolutely unacceptable. It is a mockery of basic etiquette, a mockery of polite society, a mockery of democratic tradition, and certainly a cynical mockery of Nigeria’s fledgling democracy, in its 19th straight year, the longest stretch yet, since flag independence in 1960.

    That is why the security agencies must probe whoever was responsible and bring them to book. That is the basic minimum required to remove the slur.

    Yet, the invasion was outrage from outside parliament. To avert such, there must be even greater scrutiny on outrage within parliament, that threatens the myth, the aura and the sheer majesty, that transfigures members of parliament (MPs) into immaculate priests in the people’s chambers, not just hustlers billeted in those hallowed chambers, turning collective business into cynical personal profit.

    It is an all-important nexus between parliamentary proprietary that earns public respect and awe; and parliamentary rascality that harvests public scorn; and even tries to enrobe the April 18 outrage in a moral garb of justifiable dissent. It is not.

    Still, the April 18 invasion clearly shows how parliamentary impropriety can lead to parliamentary assault. But parliamentary impropriety and its resultant violence do no one any good. The grim beauty of it all is that one can check the other.

    Truth be told: the eighth Senate, under the presidency of Senator Bukola Saraki, is not exactly an exemplar in parliamentary propriety, with its rank opportunism, galloping impunity and a penchant to turn an otherwise hallowed chamber into a hollow shell of oppressive cliques, absolutely insensitive to parliamentary etiquette (which ought to be the zenith of polite behaviour) or even basic decency.

    But even in the best behaved assemblies, there still must be ways that assembly must put its errant members on leash. So, no matter how bad this eighth Senate is perceived and how resentful the public is of its behaviour, it still has the legitimate right to discipline its members, if only to maintain group discipline and integrity.

    But should that be in form of frenzied and irrational suspensions? Definitely not! The reason is quite simple but that simplicity is not grasped by most. That explains the sheer glossing over of such a basic point, a point rooted in the very fundament of democracy.

    In a democratic republic, the parliament — in Nigeria’s case, the National Assembly, comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives — is the first estate of the realm. That is because the basis of democracy is representation. In other words, any act that negates or trivialises representation negates and trivialises democracy. The impact of that can be devastating — and Nigerians, of all people, still lugging unending woes from the military era, should realise that.

    But with the suspend-first-and-think-later penchant of this eighth National Assembly — an epidemic that seems to ravage both the Senate and the House of Representatives — this legislature appears blissfully unaware of how pivotal representation is to democracy.  Yet, that is its core.

    If the polity were as flippant as the National Assembly has been on the matter, maybe we should all dream up the suspension of all members, for sundry reasons! Where would that leave our democracy? It all shows a confrontation between citizens’ rights as entrenched in the Constitution and group rights as provided for in the Senate rules. It is trite which of the two is more fundamental and should prevail.

    But apart from the basic problem of rights, the suspensions also falter on the basis of fairness. Every senator or House of Representatives member is elected by the same constituency guidelines; and they enjoy similar rights and privileges under the law. So, why should one representative (because he is Senate President, for instance) corral the power to suspend another representative (an ordinary member from the tiniest of minorities in parliament)?

    Would the expelling “Senate president” represent the constituents of the suspended member during the period of his suspension? Even if he could — and he clearly cannot — is that acceptable by the law? Can the Basic Law say yes, but a mere creature of that law say no; and that no would trump the yes by the grundnorm?

    This, in full technicolor, is the picture of the impunity behind the rash of suspensions in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Sooner or later, someone, somewhere would challenge that impunity; and the result won’t be pretty.

    That brings the matter to the Ovie Omo-Agege suspension, which is not necessarily linked to the mace-hijacking affair since investigations are still going on, even if not a few would rush to make that linkage.

    Senator Omo-Agege, despite his suspension, had stepped into the April 18 Senate plenary. He pleaded his lawyers’ counsel that the exercise was a nullity before the law. Even without the mace-seizure incident, Omo-Agege’s frontal challenge has defanged every Senate suspension, past, present or future. Indeed, to students of power, that is trite: power loses its potency the moment it is frontally challenged. That did limitless damage to the Senate’s integrity and majesty.

    Which is why any assembly worth its name must eschew impunity and run strictly by fairness, decorum and justice. When formal power clashes with moral power, moral power often triumphs; exposing how hollow and sorry power can be without authority.

    The criminality of mace capture must be punished. But that should come with the Senate itself reining in its parliamentary criminality of impunity; and stifling members’ legitimate right to democratic dissent.

    Let the eighth National Assembly return to democratic conduct. That is the only guarantee against a future recurrence of the national embarrassment of April 18.

     

  • Crime and violence as the new class leveller

    I had a relapse of thought through the night over the armed robbery killings in Offà, Kwara State, and my line of thought goes thus: all the participants in the robbery, in some few weeks time would start buying new cars, new houses, they would have enough to settle the bills for the rent of their guns if it was rented, they now have access to more ladies, especially those who define their class by money.

    As I have said in the past that the societal deprivation of the African makes her see money as an end rather than a value and impact creating possession. Because of this default mindset of the African and by extension the Nigerian, all the robbers in Offà are getting set to paint the town and the clubs red. However, my question is this: “How do people who in the past had mocked and dissed some of these robbers for not being rich feel when the robbers now possess their former oppressor’s object of pride?”

    You probably don’t have an answer to the question and this in particular shows the limitations of our money-centric society, a society that defines every form of value, norms, humanity, success, achievement only by the exchange for money is indirectly preparing herself for doom.

    Before now, education was the class leveller, education was the last resort for the common man, it ensured parity between the son of the peasant and the children of the high, but the political and elite class never liked the parity education produces, hence they went after education through criminal under-funding, substandard entry requirements, poor motivation and a capitalist endorsements of private institutions.

    Every time you hear a public school going on strike, do not assume the leadership is not happy about it. In fact, all the news your media houses report to you about consultation between the staff unions and the leadership in government is a mere veneer to give the impression they actually don’t like the fact that schools are on strike.

    Every rot you see in our public schools, every strike especially since the fourth republic began is deliberate, because the government needs such dilapidation to ensure your mass consent.

    Because the political and elite class took away the class-levelling capacity of education, crime and violence now became the new class leveller; for all the object of the rich man’s pride, his shopping sprees in Dubai, his many wasteful parties, his protruding belly, his many mistresses and side chicks, are all the common man becomes accessible to after committing robbery and all other crimes.

    That is why in recent times armed robbery, terrorism, and violence are becoming the new tools for getting government attention. “Sebi you hate Nigerians to attain good education ni, but send your own children to schools abroad, and when they come back home, you smuggle them into CBN and other federal government hegemonic institutions. Well done: let them keep making the money, the masses you under-educate are coming for it violently.”

     

    • By Kehinde Oluwatosin

    Abeokuta, Ogun-State.

  • Violence: Poly slams N168 million damages on students

    Students of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO) in Ondo State have been asked to pay N168 million as damages for the properties destroyed in the school during a violent protest that greeted the management’s “No school fee, No examination” policy. ENIOLA OLURANKINSE (Mass Communication) reports.

    Two months after, a four-man Committee of Inquiry set up by the Ondo State Government to look into the causes of the violent protest that rocked the  Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO) has submitted its report and recommended that students should pay N168 million damages as a condition for the school to be re-opened.

    Students’ Union Government (SUG) has given the government a seven-day ultimatum to re-open the school, saying students were tired of staying at home.

    A statement by the union president on Tuesday reads: “We are tired of sitting at home without doing nothing. We have no information on when our school would be re-opened. We agree strongly that we must pay for the damages, but we want to return to our studies.

    “The union calls for resumption and immediate announcement of reparation fee for each student within the next seven days starting from April 10.

    Properties worth millions were destroyed when students went on rampage on January 22, in response to the school’s “No school fee, No examination” policy.

    Chairman of the committee Pastor Oyekan Arije, while submitting the report, said the committee had several meetings with the management staff, members of the academic board, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Non–Academic Staff Union (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP) and Students’ Union Government (SUG) before arriving at its recommendations.

    Arije, who described the destruction and vandalism by the students as unacceptable, noted that members of the committee were startled by the level of destruction carried out by the students during the violent protest.

    According to him, the destruction is “massive and wanton”, saying the school’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) Centre was worst hit.

    “We’ve made our recommendations and we have submitted the report to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu for his consideration,” Arije said.

    Receiving the report, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu thanked the committee chairman and members for completing the task within the stipulated time.

    Akeredolu insisted that the students would pay for the damages, saying: “Whatever it will take, students will definitely pay the damages. It is either they pay or they don’t want to go back to school.”

    The governor wondered why students destroyed facilities put in place by the government to aid their learning. He said students arrested in connection with the violence would not have their trial truncated, adding that anyone found culpable would face the wrath of the law.

    Akeredolu said: “We will look at the report; we will then meet with the Governing Council and the inquiry committee to know the amount of reparation to apportion to each students.

    Meanwhile, reactions have been trailing the committee’s recommendation. Students disagreed with the committee, saying the destruction was exaggerated. Although students agreed to pay reparation fee, they pleaded with the government to make it affordable.

    Each student could pay up to N15,000, according to the estimated population. But, the SUG was canvassing N10,000.

    Students begged the government, the committee and school management to be lenient in fixing the reparation fee.

    Also, some students, who claimed to have paid their school fee before the rampage, asked the management to exonerate them from the penalty as they were not part of the protest.

    A student, who paid his school fee before the violent protest, said: “We are already writing our examination before some students started throwing stones and sticks to disrupt the exercise. We were not part of the protest and we didn’t destroy any property.”

    Another student, Yinka Olalere of the Department of Accountancy, urged the management to consider those who were not part of the rampage.

    He said: “I was at home when the protest started. I had no examination that morning and I know many of my friends who did not partake in the protest. So, it will be so unfair for us to pay the same amount with those who destroyed and even stole some properties.”

    Some parents reacted to the committee’s report, condemning the students’ action and begged the government to fix a “reasonable” reparation fee.

    A parent, Mr Abiodun Oyewole, urged the government to consider the economic condition of the country before fixing the reparation fee.

    Meanwhile, the SUG, through its President, Temitayo Ayejuyo, has urged the students to remain calm and be law-abiding, stressing that the union was doing its best to ensure the management fixed an affordable fee.

    Temitayo said:  “The union is aware of the panel’s recommendations and are working relentlessly to see to the welfare and benefits of students. This is the oath we swore to. We want our students to refrain from any online speculations regarding the amount we are to pay for reparation. We don’t want 0social media speculations that will distort our work in progress.”

  • Ekiti 2018: Britain warns politicians against violence

    Britain has urged politicians in Ekiti State to play the game according to the rules, as the July 14 governorship election approaches.

    Its Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Miss Laure Beaufils, spoke yesterday in Ado-Ekiti when she visited the first private radio station in the state, Voice 89.9 FM.

    Hosted by the General Manager, Mr. Donald Falayi, Beaufils said Britain was watching developments in Ekiti ahead of the July poll.

    She advised politicians and their supporters to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner, before, during and after the election.

    The envoy said her country expected the conduct of open and transparent primaries, which would lead to a credible election.

    She enjoined politicians to dwell on issues and manifestos, rather than attacking personalities.

    The diplomat said: “I believe the primaries should be open, although it will definitely be a tense period. People all over the country are looking forward to the election.

    “Politicians should dwell on issues, policies and manifestos, rather than on personalities. The coming Ekiti election is a signal to the February 2019 general election.”

    She described Nigeria as a wonderful country, whose citizens are creative and dynamic.

    Beaufils said the country is not as bad as being portrayed across the globe, but advised that efforts should be made to change the perception.

    She said there are positive stories to tell about Nigeria, rather than corruption and Boko Haram insurgency, which attract local and foreign media.

    Falayi said the station had maintained neutrality in the reportage of events in the state, in line with broadcasting code.

    He said the station would give massive coverage to the Ekiti elections in the 16 local governments, adding that Outside Broadcasting (OB) vans would be deployed in polling stations.

  • ‘Neighbourhood Watch will aid violence’

    Leaders of Rivers State, under the aegis of Rivers Elders and Leaders Council (RELEC), have raised the alarm over Governor Nyesom Wike’s controversial Neighbourhood Watch Law, saying it will signpost another round of violence, which can escalate into a civil war.

    RELEC, through its Chairman, Chief Albert Horsfall, a former director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS), warned that with both the government and the All Progressives Congress (APC), planning parallel neighbourhood watch groups, it could spell doom.

    The elders said: “Since coming up with the idea of the Neighbourhood Watch Safety Corps, reactions and counter-reactions have trailed the law, especially as it relates to bearing arms by members of the agency, among other provisions.

    “Given the recent violence that happened in Rivers State, arguments by those in favour and against the Neighbourhood Watch Law will only start another around of crisis, with unimaginable consequences.

    “For Rivers State leaders to profess to set up the Neighbourhood Watch of armed youths all around the state and for it to be done on a purely political basis of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)/APC is the most dangerous enterprise for our current political leadership on both sides to attempt to engage in. This development, when it fully happens, will certainly lead the state into another civil war.”

    While recalling events that trailed the Civil War of 1967 to 1970, the elders lamented that many who died were oblivious of what the leaders were fighting for.

    RELEC said: “God forbid that some young, hot-headed political leaders will once again lead Rivers State back to another throw of possible Civil War.

    “We are calling on all sides in this heartless campaign of undesirable rivalry to stop forthwith. Their reckless utterances and activities can only lead Rivers State to another violent confrontation. Their confrontational outbursts can cause this state avoidable bloodshed. It may soon lead to physical confrontation by their supporters.

    “They must rather resort to dialogue and they must stop sowing the seed of bad blood and longtime enmity among the citizenry, who after all are kinsmen and women, brothers and sisters and need to remain so and not to be led to the path of longtime enmity and dislike of one another.”

    The group insisted that Rivers people need peace, security and good governance, while calling on others in the state to intervene.

    RELEC said: “We need to leave a united, peaceful and progressive Rivers State for our young ones and future generations, not to destroy the state for them, simply on the basis of personal misunderstanding and quarrels.

    “A word is sufficient for the wise. Let us, once again, remind the combatants that Rivers State was established and built on the sacrifices and blood of our departed sons and daughters. No one has the right to destroy Rivers State or sow the seeds of permanent discord that will lead to its destruction.”

    Rivers elders, commenting on restructuring, stressed that they will back genuine efforts to right wrongs of the past, but noted that politicians must not repeat the ills of what formed the agitation for restructuring.

    RELEC said: “We have been advocates of restructuring, but from some of the things we are seeing right now, we hope that we are right to ask for restructuring, because it will place more powers in the hands of states’ leadership, politicians and we do not want to think that they are incapable of handling the powers maturely.

    “We must, therefore, advise and caution political leadership to show maturity, sensibility and caution in the exercise of political powers, in the interest of all concerned, not for their own personal or group political interest.”

  • Ohanaeze: we can’t get Biafra through violence

    The Ohanaeze Ndigbo has said the actualisation of the sovereign state of Biafra would not be achieved by fighting, noise making, name-calling and insults.

    The President-General, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, spoke at a lecture series organised by the Student Affairs Department of the University of Nigeria (UNN), College of Medicine, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu State. The lecture was themed: “Excellence in Character and Learning as a tool for Restoration of the Dignity of Man”.

    Nwodo said Biafra can only be actualised through “political diplomacy”. He noted that things can only be changed through the ballot box, and urged the people to participate in the electoral process.

    He said: “We cannot get Biafra by fighting and insulting people. We cannot get restructuring by shouting, we can only get it through political diplomacy.”

    Nwodo urged everyone, especially Ndigbo, to obtain their voters card and be part of the electoral process.

    The President-General recently accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of secretly plotting to disenfranchise Ndigbo from participating in the 2019 elections by not making it possible for them to partake in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

     

  • BREAKING: Four-day surge kills 237, 1250 injured

    BREAKING: Four-day surge kills 237, 1250 injured

    A four day surge in violence has left 237 dead and 1250 injured in Eastern Ghouta. Seven medical facilities have also been attacked throughout Syria, leaving thousands with scarce access to medical care when it is needed most.

    On February 8 at 9:50 am Damascus time, the Mishmeshan Primary Health Center in Idlib was attacked, destroying it completely, and putting it out of service. Six were killed. Four medical staff and four Syrian Civil Defense paramedics (White Helmets) were injured along with several others that were on premises at the time of the attack.

    On February 8 at 8 p.m. Damascus time, the Al Rahma Hospital in Khan Sheikhoun was attacked and put out of service. The hospital was completely destroyed. One of the medical staff was killed and several others were injured.

    On February 8, The Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets) center in Khan Sheikhoun was attacked killing three members of the White Helmets, and wounding four others.

    On February 7, the obstetrics hospital in Douma, Eastern Ghouta was targeted by airstrikes causing severe damage and the death of an administrative worker.

    On February 6 at 11 a.m. Damascus time, the ‘Save a Soul’ Mental Health Center in Easten Ghouta was hit by several missiles. At around the same time a ‘Save a Soul’ Primary Health Care Center was also attacked. Two staff and two patients were wounded. The center provided healthcare for 20,400 patients.

    On February 6, a dental clinic in ‘Albaraa center’ of Eastern Ghouta was targeted and destroyed.

    There have been at least 35 attacks on medical facilities and staff in 2018, leaving thousands in a vulnerable state with little or no access to medical care. Many of the attacks are within the ‘de-escalation zone’ and have large populations of IDPs who are extremely vulnerable already.

    “I am sickened by the relentless attacks against civilians and deliberate targeting of hospitals. How can they justify killing 237 civilians and injuring over 1,250 civilians in the past 4 days? Our hospitals and medical facilities are being hit by surgical strikes. The injured have nowhere to turn and are dying in the streets and their homes. The reckless bombing of civilians we are seeing amounts to a war crime, and must be stopped. Civilians are not targets. Hospitals are not targets.”- Said Dr. Ghanem Tayara, Chairman of UOSSM International and Birmingham, UK GP.