Amnesty International and global rejection

By Peter Kayode

Amnesty International has been in the news again, this time around, and its typical fashion of turning the truth on its head in pursuit of an often disjointed agenda aimed towards causing conflict in countries where they have their operations.
The case of Nigeria is no different from other countries where Amnesty International have been accused of engaging in acts that either undermine national security or incite the people against constituted authorities. A good example is an accusation levelled against Amnesty International by a couple of countries such as the United States, China, Congo, Russia, as well as Chile, where the complained about Amnesty International for what they assert is one-sided reporting, or a failure to treat threats to security as a mitigating factor.
This much has been witnessed in Nigeria with the way, and manner Amnesty International has serially accused the Nigerian government and the Nigerian Military of human rights violations in the prosecution of the Boko Haram war in North-East Nigeria. Amnesty International has on several occasions churned out reports and statements castigating the Nigerian Military when substantial gains are recorded in the fight against terrorism, and feign ignorance when Boko Haram terrorist kill women and children and burn down villages.
This disposition of Amnesty International tells one thing: which is the fact that its motives have always been to cause unnecessary distraction either by commission or omission in most cases.
The Catholic Church has also criticized Amnesty for its stance on abortion, particularly in Catholic-majority countries. This fact was also highlighted recently by an international law expert Elyssa Koren who criticized Amnesty International’s new support for abortion access through all nine months of pregnancy and its claim that human rights protections “start at birth.”
She stated thus: “Amnesty’s announcement is reflective of a self-referential echo chamber made up by abortion groups and elements of the international system,” “The right to life that all persons possess applies from the moment when life starts, which science confirms is at conception,” Koren said. “International law supports this reality. This is evidenced in historical protections for pregnant women facing the penalty of death.”
Koren cited the preamble of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by over 190 countries, which affirms that children need “special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.”
“Given that Amnesty International has no power to re-craft international law or the laws of science, their announcement that human rights ‘start at birth’ creates no change in the human rights tradition,” Koren said. “That said, it does contribute to the existing body of dangerous misinterpretations that seek to re-imagine the international order.”
The position of Elyssa Koren aptly captures Amnesty International in their elements in misrepresenting facts to suit their narrative which often is not the reflection of the reality on the ground, but a deliberate attempt to cause chaos in the society.
The position of Amnesty International as a global human rights body has also been questioned in several quarters for what was described as an organization with toxic workplace culture. In a report undertaken by the KonTerra Group and led by psychologists, to look into lessons learned following the suicides in 2018, found bullying and public humiliation were routinely used by management.
“There were multiple reports of managers belittling staff in meetings, deliberately excluding certain staff from reporting, or making demeaning, menacing comments like: ‘You’re shit!’ or: ‘You should quit! If you stay in this position, your life will be a misery,’” it said.
The consultants, who focused on Amnesty’s international secretariat, based in London, found it to be mainly operating in a “state of emergency” following a restructuring process to decentralize and move staff closer to the ground in places of civil unrest and conflict.
Many staff at Amnesty International described their employment as a vocation or life cause. It said there had a “significant risk of experiencing secondary stress or vicarious trauma” due to the nature of the work. But, the report found, the “lion’s share” of wellbeing issues were not isolated to exposure to trauma or suffering. Instead, the adversarial culture, failures in management and pressures of workload were among the most significant contributors to wellbeing issues.
Staff reported multiple accounts of discrimination based on race and gender and which women, staff of colour employees were targeted or maltreated.
“Given Amnesty’s status and mission – to protect and promote human rights – the number of accounts the assessment team received of ‘bullying’, ‘racism’, and ‘sexism’ is disconcerting,” it said. The reviewers provided Amnesty’s secretary-general with a private report on allegations of abuse of power, discrimination and unfair treatment, which merit further investigation. They found multiple instances of alleged favouritism or nepotism in hiring and cases where “it appears that positions or individuals may have been made redundant without due process”.
In 2019 Amnesty International’s Secretary General Kumi Naidoo admitted to a hole in the organization’s budget of up to £17m in donor money to the end of 2020. To deal with the budgetary crisis, Naidoo announced to staff that the organization’s headquarters would have cut almost 100 jobs as a part of urgent restructuring. Unite the Union, the UK’s biggest trade union, said the redundancies were a direct result of “overspending by the organization’s senior leadership team” and have occurred “despite an increase in income”.
Unite, which represents Amnesty’s staff, feared that cuts would fall heaviest on lower-income staff. It said that in the previous year the top 23 highest earners at Amnesty International were paid a total of £2.6m– an average of £113,000 per year. Unite demanded a review of whether it is necessary to have so many managers in the organization.
The above examples indeed give an insight into the operations of a supposed global human rights organization dedicated to the protection of human rights. I believe that Amnesty International is indeed a charade, and this much has been highlighted with its operational strategies in Nigeria that somewhat promotes mediocrity and celebrates evil over good.
This fact has led to calls for the expulsion of Amnesty International from Nigeria by a large segment of the population for allegedly inducing chaos in the country. They cited instances where Amnesty International systematically supports the activities of terrorist and militant groups in Nigeria. Worthy of mention is the way and manner Amnesty International have been providing tactic support to groups like Boko Haram, Islamic Movement in Nigeria and the Indigenous People of Biafra.
They have consistently feigned ignorance of the nefarious activities of these groups that have resulted in the loss of lives and the disruption of socio-economic activities in the country. This fact has been highlighted numerous times and with evidence to support.
It must indeed be stated that Amnesty International as an organization has so many skeletons in its cupboard and this is mainly responsible for its tirade against the efforts of the Nigerian government in the prosecution of the war against terrorism and other militant acts in the country.
It must indeed be stated that this disposition of Amnesty International is not restricted to Nigeria alone but also in countries where Amnesty International operates. There are several instances in countries like Israel, the United States of America and the likes where the operations of Amnesty International have been questioned amidst calls for circumspection.
I believe that it is indeed time for total scrutiny of the operations of Amnesty International across the globe to put issues in proper perspectives for the good of humankind. The peculiarities of time indeed necessitate so.

Kayode PhD wrote of University of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

#EndSARS: Inter-Faith clerics launch 21-day warfare against destabilisation

The National Inter-Faith and Religious Organization for Peace (NIFROP), on Thursday, began a 21-day warfare and intercessory prayers against agents of destabilisation troubling the country. 

The group officially launched the campaign to cleanse Nigeria of the demonic spirit behind the EndSARS protests at the Unity Fountain, Abuja. 

Declaring the 21-day exercise open, NIFROP’s Patron, Sheik Mohammed Adamu, said the demonic spirit of homosexuality is behind the EndSARS protests in the country.  

While welcoming peaceful protests seeking positive change, Sheik Adamu said the last mass action had a spirtual undertone.  

According to the clerics, the enemies of Nigeria wanted to use the protests as an avenue to infiltrate the demonic spirit of homosexuality into the country by all means.  

The group, however, called on all Nigerians to pray for the country as we do not have anywhere else to call home. 

At the end of the prayers, Sheik Adamu assured that the nation would be cleansed of all demonic impurities brought about by the EndSARS protest.

He added that all the sponsors of the protests would also be exposed and put to shame. 

Read full statement below:

As-Salam-u-Alaikum wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatuh
Barak Allah fik 
Barak Allah fi nayjiria
Yahmik Allah

I bring good tidings to you all gathered here to pray for Nigeria in this critical point of our existence under the umbrella of the National Inter-Faith and Religious Organization for Peace, which have been at the vanguard of promoting religious tolerance in the country and interceding for Gods intervention in our affairs. 

We are gathered here in our usual manner to speak in one voice for Allah’s mercies to continue to be with Nigeria even as some undesirable elements are attempting to cause a crisis of unimaginable proportion through the demonic infiltration of the EndSARS protest across the country. 

While it is a good thing to embark on peaceful protest seeking positive change in the society, it is, however, against the instructions of Allah. “O You who believe! Enter absolutely into peace (Islam). Do not follow in the footsteps of satan. He is an outright enemy to you.” (Holy Quran: 2, 208)” 

Quran is the holy book of Allah; it was revealed on Mohammad peace and blessings be upon him. The Quran contains the teachings of Islam. It tells us why Allah created humans, and what does he wish us to do to win his pleasure. 

Prophet Mohammad is the last messenger of Allah to humankind. Allah says in the Holy Quran that he has sent Mohammad peace and blessings be upon him as a mercy to the worlds. Not as a king or a dictator or a tyrant ruler, but as peace and blessing for all. 

“O humankind, We have created you from a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes for you to know one another.  Truly, the noblest of you with God is the most pious.2  Truly, God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. Quran, 49:13.”

The Prophet Muhammad, in his famous last sermon of Hajj, said: {O people!  Your God is one, and your forefather (Adam) is one.  An Arab is not better than a non-Arab, and a non-Arab is not better than an Arab, and a red (i.e. white tinged with red) person is not better than a black person, and a black person is not better than a red person, except in piety. 

My dear faithful ones, this revelation from Allah is indeed the source of strength for the National Inter-Faith and Religious Organization for Peace. We have come together for several years under one umbrella and praying to God for divine intervention in the affairs of Nigeria. 

Our Christian brothers and sisters have prayed from the Holy Bible; our Muslim brothers and sisters have also prayed from the Holy Quran for divine intervention in the affairs of our great country. And before our very eyes, we have seen the great work of God in the affairs of Nigeria. 

We must all see our intercessions as a duty we owe our dear country. For the Holy Quran teaches us to become better humans. Rasool Allah told his companions, that Gabriel kept on recommending me about treating the neighbours in a kind and polite manner, so much so that I thought that he would order me to make them my heirs. 

The Quran says, “O you who believe! Fear Allah and seek a wasila to him”(5:35). God tells the Prophet (PBUH): “And in the night, pray the tahajjud, which is additional for you for soon your Lord will raise you to the Station of Praise (Maqam Mehmud)” (17:79). 

A hadith states that on that day people will be running to and fro looking for an intercessor, until they come to the Prophet Muhammad, who will answer, “I am for intercession”. The Lord will then ask him to “…intercede, for your intercession will be heard” (Bukhari).

We have consequently gathered here to offer prayers of intercession for Gods intervention against the forces of Satan standing up against pour country. The EndSARS protest, as we all know, is an avenue that the demonic Spirit of homosexuality intends to penetrate Nigeria by all means.  

My faithful ones, we must join our voices and pray for Nigeria because we do not have anywhere to call home. Our hopes and aspirations for Nigeria are built on the promises of God to deliver us in times of need, such as these when agents of darkness have conspired against us using the EndSARS protest. 

I want to give is this charge that as we begin this 21-day prayer. We shall be specifically praying to God for the spiritual cleansing of Nigeria from the demonic Spirit behind the EndSARS protest across the country. 

On this important occasion of 21 days prayers, we’re aware, more than ever, that our times are in God’s hands. We need His presence and power to be displayed in our nation. We need unity and love to stir our hearts and give direction to our days. We need the wisdom to guide us; we need the Spirit to lead us, to live out godly lives that would bring honour to our country.  

We shall be praying for all those in authority, for every leader of our nation, that God would give them wisdom and discernment as they lead. We pray that their hearts would be directed first to God that they would recognize where their true help and strength come from.

We pray that God would guard their coming and going, and be their refuge and their peace. We shall pray that God would surround every leader with wise counsel, that they would be humble and kind, patient and loving through their actions and words. We pray that their faith in God would be unwavering, strong, resolute, and firm.

We shall also be praying for all the youths in the country for all the forces of darkness, trying to mislead them into engaging in acts that are against the interest of the country. We shall join our hands and our voices with our Bible and Koran to pray fervently.   

My faithful ones, the task before us is such that should be taken very seriously as we have always done in our previous programmes for we have indeed proved that with prayers and supplication nothing is impossible for God to do. 

I am convinced that at the end of this 22 days of prayers, Nigeria shall be cleansed of all demonic impurities brought about by the EndSARS protest. I am also convinced that all the sponsors of the protest shall be exposed and put to shame Insha Allah. 

It is our prayers that “Our Lord, pour down upon us patience, and make our steps firm and make us victorious over the disbelieving people.” Rabbanaa afrigh ‘alaynaa sabran wathabbit aqdaamanaa wansurnaa ‘alal qawmil kaafireen Surah Al-Baqarah ,verse 250. 

Allah subhanahu has explained in His Book that He is the Helper of believers in this world and the next. He said, the Most High: “Indeed, we will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand.” [Al-Qur’ an 40:51]

“And whoever is an ally of Allah and His Messenger and those who have believed – Indeed, the party of Allah – they will be predominant.” [Al-Qur’ an 5:56]

“Indeed, the ones who oppose Allah and His Messenger – those will be among the most humbled. Allah has written ‘I will surely overcome, I and My messengers.’ Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might.” (Al-Qur’an 58:20-21). 

Al-hamdu Lillaahi nahmaduhu wa nasta’eenahu wa nastaghfiruhu, wa na’oodhu billaahi min shuroori anfusinaa wa min sayi’aati a’maalinaa. Man yahdih Illaahu falaa mudilla lahu wa man yudlil falaa haadiya lahu. Wa ashhadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu la sharika lahu wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasooluhu.

Amma ba’d (أما بعد). May yah di hillahu falaa mudhila lahoo, wa may yudhlil hu falaa haadiya lahoo. Ina asdaqal hadeethi kitaabullah, wa ahsanal hadyi hadyu muhammadin, wa sharal umoori muhda-thaa-tu-haa, wa kulla muhda-tha-tim bid’ah, wa kula bid’a-tin dhalaalah, wa kulla dhalaala-tin fin-naar. Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil ‘akhirati hasanatan waqina ‘adhaban-nar. 

Rabbana wala tuhammilna ma la taqata lana bihi wa’fu anna waghfir lana wairhamna anta mawlana fansurna ‘alal-qawmil kafireen

“Assalamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh”

Arrest Alarm: Group alleges Sowore is depressed, suicidal

The Coalition Against Fake Activists (CAFA) has described the alarm of arrest raised by Omoyele Sowore, the Sahara Reporters publisher as a sign of “depression which could lead to suicide”.

CAFA demanded that Sowore be urgently placed under suicide watch due to the “underlying mental and psychological conditions that can no longer be ignored”. 

The group said “this has become paramount following a tweet in which the ex-presidential candidate falsely accused the Defence Intelligence Agency, Police and Department of State Services (DSS) of plotting to murder him in the course of an expected arrest.”

CAFA made the allegation at a press conference delivered by Executive Director, Comrade Olarewaju Bakare, on Thursday in Abuja.
 
“The Coalition Against Fake Activist (CAFA) has called for the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore to be urgently placed under suicide watch following the false alarm he raised about his safety at the hands of security agencies,” Bakare said. 

“His false claim that a bounty has been placed on his head is meant to make it appear as if the security agencies are after him when he reality he has been allowed such latitude. If he was not arrested for all his inciting tweets that contributed to causing chaos with the #EndSARS protests, we wonder what makes him think he was important enough to attract a bounty.

“But after a review of his accusatory tweet, we became suspicious that there might be underlying mental and psychological conditions that can no longer be ignored with the recent events and incidents around Sowore.

“The Coalition said its concern was deepened by reliable information that Sowore had plunged into depression after he was prevented from absorbing the #EndSARS Protests into his #RevolutionNow movement. 

“We learnt from people close to him that he now soliloquises since the day he was stopped from wearing #RevolutionNow apparels at a #EndSARS protest, which left him feeling diminished, ridiculed and disgraced. It was mentioned that he repeatedly mutters to himself something about ‘ending it all'”.

CAFA added that, “The African Action Party (AAP) presidential candidate is also reportedly worried about his serial flouting of the bail conditions for his treason trial with fears that he returned to custody at his next trial date.

“CAFA therefore has cause to think that Sowore, as a result of his reported depression, may be plotting to commit suicide, which could then be blamed on the government or the Nigerian Military. 

“While any incident of self-harm on Sowore’s part will not affect anything in Nigeria in anyway, CAFA is of the view that the rabble rousers in Nigeria should not be gifted a martyr like Sowore is attempting to do. He must therefore be immediately placed under round the clock suice watch”. 

CAFA, however, appealed to the DSS, which is prosecuting him, to request the court to order a psychiatric evaluation of Sowore in order not to continue spending state’s resources in pursuing a case against someone who may y in reality only be in need of help.

Membership registration, validation necessary before APC convention – Lukman

Director General of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) Salihu Moh. Lukman, has given reasons why the planned process of membership registration/verification in the All Progressives Congress (APC) are necessary even before national convention of the party.

He however described as political bandits those opposing the move, even as he appealed to them to have a change of mind.

Some party members had argued that the mandate of He current National Caretaker Committee of APC does not cover membership registration, and should the Caretaker Committee go ahead with the planned membership registration, notice of court action is being presented.

According to them, the Caretaker Committee has up to December 2020 ‘to do the needful or be chased out’.

But while responding to the threat, the APC chieftain said the party constitution provides that the party shall update its membership records every six months and remit updated copies to appropriate Secretariats.

Lukman alleged that some leaders who are opposing the registration plan are those who want to manipulate the process to push the National Caretaker Committee into organising a National Convention with perhaps rented delegates.

In a statement made available to newsmen Thursday in Abuja, the PGF boss said the Caretaker Committee is competent and will be able to overcome all the allegations aimed at bullying them to simply organise a National Convention that can at best produce surrogate leaders with hardly any verifiable membership register.

According to him, Article 9.4 of the APC constitution specifically provide that A register of members shall be compiled and maintained at the Ward level and be transmitted to the Secretariat of the party at Local Government Area, which shall transmit a copy to the National Secretariat.

“When was the last time anybody was registered as APC member in any part of the country? When was the last time any Ward in the country transmitted to any Local Government Secretariat and/or Local Government transmitted any copy to National Secretariat? Yet, our party’s constitution provide that membership records should be updated every six months.

“How can any leader even attempt to raise questions about why we should have membership registration/verification? In this age of banditry, it will appear that some of our so-called leaders are as skillful in politics as the criminal bandits ravaging our communities – towns and villages.

“We must appeal to these so-called leaders to come back to their senses. For anybody to claim our party’s membership, not even emerge as a leader, the legal standing of such a person must be beyond suspect.

“Noting that part of the rights and privileges of members as provided in Article 9.3 of the party’s constitution include the ‘right to vote and be voted for into any of the elective positions’, it is clear that our party leaders who want to manipulate the process want to push the National Caretaker Committee into organising a Convention with perhaps rented delegates.

“In which case, the new leadership of the party to emerge out of such a process can only be surrogate leaders whose mission may simply be to ‘crown’ candidates for future elections. This has been the bane of our democracy and it is responsible for why internal democracy has eluded virtually all our parties in the country resulting in most of the avoidable leadership crisis.

“However, may be as part of its efforts to restore sanity and shame those trying to stampede it into organising a National Convention that is at best a smokescreen for the emergence of surrogate leaders, the Caretaker Committee should consider bringing forward the scheduled party’s NEC meeting where, among others, it can present its progress report. Once NEC is able consider its report and take the necessary decisions, our political merchants of crisis would need to find new handle for their dastardly campaigns.”

Lukman believed that the best route to addressing all the leadership challenges in APC is to find its bearing with reference to ensuring that the party is able to produce a credible and verifiable membership register.

“This is so fundamental and is in fact what should distinguish our party from all the other parties in the country. Any leader who is not comfortable means that such a leader doesn’t have respect for members and is unwilling to subordinate himself or herself to members. If a leader is unwilling to subordinate himself or herself to party members, why should anyone risk investing any superior elective political power to such a person?”

Nigeria to Sign More Bilateral Air Services Agreement in 2021 – Sirika

The Federal Government of Nigeria is to sign more Bilateral/Multilateral Air Services Agreement in the year 2021 for the benefit of air travellers and the nation at large.

Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika stated this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation for the 2021 Budget defence.

Sirika said the Federal Government in the year (2020) had signed the instrument of ratification of BASA with USA, India, Morocco and Rwanda. “More Bilateral/Multilateral Air Services Agreement would be signed in 2021 for the benefit of our nation” he stated.

The Minister said the Ministry of Aviation has proposed N 78 Billion for capital expenditure and the emphasis will be focused on the implementation of the Aviation Roadmap as approved by the Mr. President.

He further disclosed that the aviation Road map which would be implemented through Public, Private Partnership (PPP) includes: establishment of National carrier; Establishment of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility; Development of Agro Cargo Infrastructure; Establishment of Aviation Leasing Company; Search and Rescue and Establishment of Aerospace University with support of International Civil aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The Minister expressed appreciation for the cooperation which the Ministry has continued to enjoy from members of the National Assembly in the provision of funds for its projects and programmes.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman house Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji said the committee expected maximum cooperation from the Minister and Chief Executives of the agencies under the Ministry’s supervision in providing all the relevant documents that would help facilitate the scrutiny of the budget process.

According to him, the aim of the Committee is to assist the Ministry in carrying out its laudable programmes. This, he said can only be achieved through mutual cooperation.

Sani Datti
For: Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Aviation

N’west APC chairmen back Buni’s c’ttee on party membership registration

A forum of state chairmen of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North-west have declared support for Governor Mai Mala buni-led National Caretaker Committee to completely reposition the party and carry on with the planned membership registration nationwide.

The state chairmen comprising that of Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa, Kano and Kaduna states.

Some party members had argued that the mandate of He current National Caretaker Committee of APC does not cover membership registration, and should the Caretaker Committee go ahead with the planned membership registration, notice of court action is being presented.

According to them, the Caretaker Committee has up to December 2020 ‘to do the needful or be chased out’.

But in a statement made available to newsmen Thursday in Abuja, signed by the chairman of the forum Isa Sadiq Acida, acknowledged and commended the Buni-led efforts at repositioning the party.

“We the North Western States All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairmen comprising Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa, Kano and Kaduna States, wish to express our unflinching support and confidence in the APC National Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), led by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State.

“We are particularly pleased to note the committee’s strides in reconciling the various interest groups in the party and its commitment to ensure adequate compensation for party supporters, who have continued to toil for its success.

“We are equally aware of the Committee’s desire to produce an authentic National membership register for the party.

“We therefore wish to call on all well meaning members of the party to support the National Caretaker Committee, in order to place the All Progressives Congress on a sound footing for continued electoral success at all levels, now and in the foreseeable future.”

#EndSARS: Court process seeks dissolution of Lagos panel

The Lagos state government has been dragged before a federal high court to disband the the Judicial Panel Of Inquiry and Restitution For Victims Of SARS
Related Abuses In Lagos State and Lekki Toll Gate Incident.

The Plaintifs in the case, Adekunle Augustine and Semion Akogwu, prayed the court to disband the panel on the ground that the Lagos state governor, being a party in the matter, did not exercise his power in public interest by setting up the panel.

The plaintiffs are praying the court to make a declaration that the Lagos State Governor, being a party cannot set up a panel to investigate itself and the outcome of the panel will be in favour of the state.

The plaintiffs averred that he who pays the piper dictates the tune.

Apart from the judicial panel of inquiry, other defendants in the suit are, the Governor Of Lagos State, the Chairman of the panel and the Attorney-General of the state who are 1st, 3rd and 4th defendants respectively.

The Chairman of the panel is listed as the 2nd respondent in the case dated November 11,2020 and filed at a Lagos federal high court with suit number FHC/L/CS/1572/20.

The plaintiffs, Augustine and Akogwu, in the suit, filed through their counsel, Samuel Adama, Esq. seek the determination of the following questions:

*WHETHER having regards to section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Exhibits A and Exhibit B, the 2nd Defendant being an Agent/Appointee of the 1st Defendant can ensure fair hearing for the Plaintiffs under the auspices of the 3rd Defendant in a mater in which the 1st Defendant is a party?

*WHETHER having regards to section 5(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Exhibits A and Exhibit B, the 1st Defendant validly exercised his powers in public interest by setting up the 3rd Defendant to investigate a matter in which the 1st Defendant himself is a party?

*WHETHER having regards to Exhibits A and Exhibit B, the 1st Defendant is a party to be investigated under the terms of reference for the 3rd Defendant in the discharge of its mandate?

*WHETHER the 4th Defendant being the Chief law officer of the State ought to act in public interest by advising the 1st Defendant against the setting up of the 3rd Defendant and ought to do all things legally possible to ensure fair hearing in the matter?

Upon the determination of the questions, the plaintiffs also prayed the court for the following reliefs:

*A DECLARATION that having regards to section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) together with Exhibits A and Exhibit B, the 2nd Defendant being an Agent/Appointee of the 1st Defendant cannot ensure fair hearing for the Plaintiffs under the auspices of the 3rd Defendant in a matter in which the 1st Defendant is a party.

*A DECLARATION that having regards to section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Fepublic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) together with Exhibits A and Exhibit B, the 1st Defendant, being a party in the matter, did not exercise his power in public interest by setting up the 3rd Defendant.

*A DECLARATION that the appointment of the 2nd Defendant and the setting up of the 3rd Defendant by the 1st Defendant is tantamount to making the 1st Defendant a Judge in his own cause and ipso facto breaches the Plaintiffs rights to fair hearing.

*AN ORDER of this Honourable Court disbanding the 3rd Defendant and nullifying its proceedings and whatsoever actions taken thereby so far to give way for a credible and independent commission of inquiry to be set up by the Federal Government to take over the mandate of the 3rd Defendant as contemplated by its establishment abi nitio.

In the affidavit in support of the originating summon, the plaintiffs said,
”That on the 20th of October, 2020, the 1st Defendant caused the deployment of troops to Lekki Toll gate, Lagos State where a large number of youths were gathered in peaceful protest against police brutality; and the troops fired several artillery weapons at the scene leading to various degrees of bodily injuries and alleged death of several people.

”That the 1st Defendant admitted that he authorized the deployment of troops to Lekki Toll Gate on that 20th October, 2020 to stop the peaceful protest which by extension occasioned the use of artillery weapons by the soldiers at the scene, leading to some life threatening injuries, grievous hurt and alleged death of many of the protesters. A newspaper publications to the fact that the 1st Defendant admitted he authorized the deployment of troops to Lekki Toll Gate Lagos on that 20th October, 2020 is hereby annexed and marked Exhibit ‘A’.

”That the 1st Defendant thereafter set up of the 3rd Defendant consisting of 20 members with the 2nd Defendant as the Head, for the purpose of investigating the Lekki Toll Gate military invasion and other matters thereto and to make recommendations to the 1st Defendant on the findings. A newspaper publication on this fact is hereby annexed and marked Exhibit ‘B’

”That the 1st Defendant constituted the 3rd Defendant and appointed all the members thereof at his pleasure.

”That I am desirous of seeking justice in the matter but I strongly believe I will be prejudiced by the setting up of the 3rd Defendant, hence this suit.

”That since the 1st Defendant authorized the military invasion that led to the various degrees of bodily hurt and alleged death of many Nigerians who were at the scene at Lekki Toll Gate on the 20th October, 2020, he is a principal figure to be investigated and hence I will not have fair hearing on the platform of the 3rd Defendant which is a creation of the 1st Defendant that is equally on the threshold of investigation over the matter”.

            End

Boko Haram: CATE to mobilize Nigerians fish out wanted terrorists

The Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism (CATE) has pledged to support the Nigerian Army and the Borno State government in accelerating the capture of the 86 terrorists listed on the most wanted list released on Wednesday.

CATE, while briefing select newsmen on the published list, in Maiduguri expressed the desire for the Army to speed the capture or elimination of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, Abu Musa Al Barnawi and other terrorists named in the fourth list of Nigeria’s most wanted terrorists so that Nigerians in the northeast can begin the rebuilding of their lives in earnest.

National Coordinator of CATE, Gabriel Onoja said the Coalition akwnowledges the role of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt Gen TY Buratai and his resolve for the Nigerian Army to bring the last of the terrorists in the country to book.

He enthused that “We are pleased to note that the Nigerian Army is not resting on its oars. Since the first, second and third editions of this most wanted terrorists’ list were published, we have seen the efficiency with which the Army captured or eliminated the criminal terrorists that have made it difficult for people in the north east to lead productive live.

CATE also understands that the terrorists are living amongst us after fleeing from the theatre of operation.

“We are happier that General Buratai promised that the launch is the final push to end Boko Haram’s activities in the north east. We want to implore that the general should lead the army to appropriately treat anyone on that list the way those on the previous lists were treated.

“The signs are already there about how things have changed. The more the terrorists on the most wanted list are taken down the more the number of the towns and villages in the northeast that are able to record improvement in their peace and security index.

“It is our belief at CATE that the 86 terrorists on this latest most wanted list can be captured quickly if the populace cooperate with the authorities by supplying useful information that will assist the Nigerian Army. People should take advantage of the unanimity of technology and telephony to provide useful tips and information to the designated contacts whenever they know something that will help capture any of the wanted terrorists.

“People must however know that they are not to personally approach any terrorist or engage them as only the military and law enforcement agents that are trained for this,” he cautioned.

According to the national coordinator of CATE, the list will put Boko Haram terrorists under pressure, and that they are likely to make a show of still being capable of staging spectacular attacks, which requires that the security apparatus of the country is prepared to deal with this possibility.

He explained that, “You can see that the number of those that made this latest most wanted list has shrunken from the higher number in previous list. It is a testimony to how the General Buratai led Nigerian Army has decimated the ranks of Boko Haram terrorists, irrespective of what faction they belong.

“By publishing another list, the Army has made it apparent that the space is closing in on the terrorists that are left. The efficiency of previous operations to take them down would have set the fear of the troops into them so some panicked behaviour should be expected from the terrorists in coming days, which would include the usual strategy of attempting to carry out spectacular attacks. The security apparatus of Nigeria should be prepared for this.

“Some people may see it as a risk factor, but it is an opportunity. By coming out to attempt attacks, the terrorists would also make themselves available for capture and this is where the timely provision of information about the movement of terrorists and others of their activities will be useful to the Army.

“What we have resolved at CATE is to help mobilize Nigerians to support the Nigerian Army in all ways possible to contribute to the capture of fleeing Boko Haram terrorists. For us it is the one way of assisting to help realize the assertion by General Buratai that capturing those on the latest most wanted list will help bring Boko Haram to an end in the northeast,” Onoja stated.

#EndSARS: Group drags Falana before ICC

Joseph Nwaegbu, Esq. a Senior Associate of Pathfind Attorneys on behalf of Make Nigeria Better Initiative (MNBI) has claimed that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has acknowledged receipt of a criminal complaint against Lagos-based lawyer, Femi Falana.

This he said is over his alleged role in the escalation of violence during the EndSARS protests in Nigeria. 

According to Nwaegbu, “if found guilty of instigating the mass action that led to the killing of innocent citizens, wanton destruction of properties and other heinous crimes against humanity, the self-styled human rights activist would have to cough out $2billion.”

This, according to the complainant, would be used as punitive damages for causing death, injury and maiming of several citizens as well as wanton destruction of public and private properties between 3rd October 2020 till 21st October 2020. 

He revealed that a reply signed by the Head of Information and Evidence Unit of the ICC, Mark P. Dillon, the Communication has entered the Registry of the Court and will be considered accordingly with the procedure and Rome Statute of the ICC. 

The complaint dated 4th November 2020 was addressed to the Office of Madame Fatou Bensouda, The Prosecutor, International Criminal Court (ICC).

Filed by Joseph Nwaegbu, Esq. a Senior Associate of Pathfind Attorneys on behalf of Make Nigeria Better Initiative (MNBI),  the complaint said the role played by Mr Falana before, during and after the violent exercise is not only ignoble but criminal. 

”On the recent #EndSARS Protests which turned violent across the country, we beg to submit that the role played by Mr Falana before, during and after what observers described as the mother of all protests in Nigeria is not only ignoble but criminal”, the group said. 

The group also accused the Lagos lawyer of spreading fake news to further incite the youths in the country against the government which killings and destructions of properties.

”We have seen how the type of incitement spearheaded by Mr Falana worked in Rwanda and other parts of the world and the resultant effect was genocide. In the case of Nigeria, the misguided youths who acted based on Falana’s posture, character and utterances employed crude methods to illegally murder about 22 (Twenty Two)  police officers in cold blood during the #EndSARS Protests that lasted between the period 3rd October 2020 till 21st October 2020. We strongly believe that Mr Falana is a highly placed Nigerian citizen, senior lawyer and politician that without the timely intervention of the ICC he will get away with justice in this case. 

”At Oyigbo Police Station in Lagos alone, a total of 3 (Three) police officers were killed and roasted like Christmas goats with their facilities destroyed”, he said.

The group said it has attached sensitive pieces of evidence on the allegations raised to drive home their argument that Mr Femi Falana, SAN, ought to be prosecuted and sanctioned.

In the criminal complaint, the complainant listed policemen killed and government property destroyed as casualties of the protest which lasted for about three weeks.

 ”Despite the killing of innocent citizens and security agents alike with reckless abandon in the aftermath of the #EndSARS Protest, MNBI believes that it is rather reprehensible, appalling and criminal for Falana SAN to keep publishing in some online platforms from 25th October 2020 till this moment to trivialized the damage caused to innocent citizens in Nigeria. We submit that this again should form a basis why he is liable for investigation and subsequent punishment by this Honourable Courting the last hope of common men worldwide,” MNBI added. 

”It is our further submission that what Falana is doing gives room for suspicion that another brand of the terrorist group may be created to hide under the cover of “human rights activists” whilst sustaining the evils alreadybedevillingg our people through the activities of the disbanded Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Boko Haram and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).  

”W, therefore,e urge that the unrepentant Femi Falana SAN who has decided to permanently pitch himself against humanity in Nigeria be investigated, arrested and made to face the full wrath of international criminal law irrespective of his status, wealth or connection. 

”Overall, we submit that prima facie cases of instigating violent protests that led to the killing of innocent citizens, wanton destruction of properties and other heinous crimes against humanity have been established against Femi Falana SAN vide this Criminal Complaint for which the ICC can investigate, prosecute and mete out appropriate sanctions to him”.

Who is bankrolling Amnesty International in Nigeria?

By Justine Idakwo

In the days before the #EndSARS protests, one of the spectacles Nigerians, and indeed the world, were treated to was the tantrum thrown by a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK), who lost his cool when he was pressed for information by a journalist. While briefing journalists as part of a tour of certain states, a journalist told FFK “we don’t know who is bankrolling you” and that triggered the most disproportionate tongue lash ever from the rattled politician.

Global activist group, Amnesty International, is now in the same space as FFK. It is time to ask, who is bankrolling Amnesty International in Nigeria? This question is pertinent considering the frenetic manner in which the group has been struggling to defend the indefensible. It has become so brazen in a manner that suggests that it is under pressure to return value to whoever is picking up the tabs for its activities in Nigeria.

There has been a lot said about how Amnesty International is tied to questionable and dubious financing of its global activities, which are mostly geared towards subjugating targeted countries on behalf of client states. The chunk of its financing comes from donations, a large percentage of which is conveniently from “unanimous donors”, a euphemism for key players in the war industry – weapons manufacturers, arms dealers, crisis merchants amongst others plagues of the earth. Its donors that are brave enough to have their names next to their donations to Amnesty International prove to be mired in subversive activities in sovereign states through shell companies.

If posing as a neutral NGO while pocketing illicit and questionable money is immoral, Amnesty International surpassed its own self with the recent kind of funding it drew from in Nigeria during the #EndSARS protests. It directly benefitted from terrorist funding, which is not surprising since it has done a little terrorist financing on the side while carrying out its so-called human rights monitoring in Nigeria’s northeast.

The NGO may opt to argue to the contrary, but the fact remains that it leveraged propaganda facilitated by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a group outlawed by the court and properly designated as a terrorist organization. Amnesty International benefitted from the propaganda deployed by IPOB against the Nigerian state, which implied that it was funded in kind. It is yet to be established how much the organization got from IPOB in cash since this is still being investigated.

What is clear however is that IPOB started the lie about a massacre at Lekki Toll Gate on the night of Tuesday 28 October 2020 in order to justify the widespread arson and looting that it unleashed against government establishments and some key Nigerians the following day. Amnesty International’s Nigeria Country Director, Osai Ojigho, has continued to parrot the claim of massacre without being able to provide a shred of evidence. She rather was trying to sell the farce that Nigerian military authorities have a penchant for doing things certain ways and that this was enough evidence.

Things turned almost comical when enlightened Nigerians took Amnesty International to task. The operatives of the NGO went FFK as they took to social media to counter accuse those who are asking them to provide evidence of the massacre, they had claimed took place. They went petty.

FFK’s trip that came under scrutiny was meant to be a whitewash mission to praise the administration of some state governors while Amnesty International’s mission is to undermine Nigeria’s integrity, sow disaffection within the population and further incite more violent protests. It was however not as ingenious as FFK, who attempted plausibility in the excuse it made for his outburst, rather Amnesty International resorted to it old tricks.

Such tricks include rehashing lies told by some of the agents it planted among the protesters. These were the ones that were oblivious of the possibility of fact-checking to the extent that they were sharing and trending movie production pictures as their evidence that people were killed at Lekki Toll Gate. It is a miracle that these movie stills, made popular by Amnesty International’s agents, did not make it into the report that the NGO hurriedly put together. Not that it would have mattered anyway since the organization has a history of hiring people from the creative industry to help it mimic reality by testifying before panels after being thoroughly coached by performing experts, posing for staged photographs, or using sound editing software to layer sound effects on interviews to make them sound distressing.

More befuddling is that Amnesty International’s tally of fatalities from the Lekki incidence include people that miraculously resurrected and even came forward to dismiss reports of their demise. A responsible organization would have step back, take stock, identify where it went wrong or what it did wrong and make amends. But Amnesty International has become too absorbed in its own echo chamber to allow for simple reason and logic to prevail. So, Ojigho and her associates continue to see shadows in the woodwork in addition to ghosts of living persons whose make-believe demise it wants Nigerian authorities to be held accountable for.

Not even the public realization that its star witness, DJ Switch (Obianuju Catherine Udeh) is an IPOB operative has made Amnesty International wake up from its reverie. Ojigho shared the stage with DJ Switch and Tim Okafor, National Coordinator of IPOB in Canada and Stella Kemdirim, an IPOB member in testifying before the Canadian Parliament. One Abdulrazak Namdas, a member of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who should have been a redeeming feature for the IPOB-Amnesty International circus at the Canadian Parliament, turned out to be an associate of an opposition figure who had threatened to make the country ungovernable after losing the presidential election to the incumbent.

The implication of Amnesty International playing tag-team with IPOB on an international stage is that is has shared culpability with the IPOB members who killed policemen in several cities across Nigeria, looted food reserves, destroyed government property and inflicted injury on Nigerians. The judicial panels of inquiry set up by some states must make it a point to invite this NGO to appear before them and they should be asked the right set of questions. The group should answer these questions with the same candor it had repeatedly demanded of the authorities in Nigeria.
Amnesty International should be asked to provide evidence of the massacre it alleged. It should provide proof of the repression it has been accusing the government of engaging in. It should explain why its reported fatalities resurrected within hours of being reported dead. But more importantly, the panels should ask “who is bankrolling Amnesty International in Nigeria”?

The answer to this last question will be useful in helping Nigerians understand this organization’s mission in Nigeria and the kind of courtesies to accord it. One expects that Amnesty International would not flare up like FFK, who became visibly angry in Calabar when asked a similar question. Nigerians really want to know who is bankrolling Amnesty International and it is not too much to ask.

Idakwo is a public affairs commentator and wrote from Lagos.