The Nigerian Constitution which provides that Nigeria shall be
indivisible and indissoluble has been overridden by the Powers of the Judiciary as it could not stop Bakassi from being removed from Nigeria. The Map of Nigeria has been redrawn and reduced in size by reason of the removal of Bakassi Peninsula from Nigeria. Just as Bakassi Peninsula was removed from Nigeria by judicial power, it is our strong legal opinion that Biafra shall also be removed from Nigeria by judicial power.
Regarding the legal issue of capacity to refer a matter to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, there is an exception to the general rule that only sovereign nations are clothed with international legal personality to bring actions in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). International Law permits National Liberation Movements recognised by the UN and International Human Rights Organizations to bring actions in the International Court of Justice on behalf of the people they represent otherwise the oppressed people would not have access to justice contrary to human rights law. It is an elementary principle of law that in everylaw there must be an exception. A simple example is the traffic law that forbids you to beat the traffic light or drive in the opposite direction but permits
emergency ambulance services to violate the rule because somebody’s life is at stake. In the same way, there is an exception to the general rule of international legal personality that permits national liberation movements and international human rights organizations to bring actions in the ICJ.
The rule of law on international legal personality allows national liberation
movements recognised by the UN to bring actions in the International Court of Justice. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is not a country but an organization recognised by the UN with the right under international law to bring action in the ICJ on behalf of the Palestinians just as Bilie Human Rights Initiative has been recognised by the UN with power to represent the Biafrans. By the rule of international law, if the Biafrans do not obtain justice within the Nigerian jurisdiction, they have the right to appeal to the International Court of Justice.
We have said that our intention is not to destroy Nigeria but
to be free from Nigeria. We have cited numerous examples of countries that got independence without destroying their host countries. Starting from the Bible history, Israel came out from Egypt without destroying Egypt. In modern times, Eritrea came out from Ethiopia without destroying Ethiopia. Bangladesh and Pakistan came out from India without destroying India. In 2011, South Sudan came out from Sudan without destroying Sudan. In the same way, we the Biafrans want to leave Nigeria without destroying Nigeria. If a Biafran wants to maintain dual citizenship and retain his Nigerian citizenship, it is his fundamental human right. There are many Nigerians that are also British and American citizens.
The Nigerian law provides for the right of self-determination to indigenous
peoples of the land enforceable by the Judiciary. The Biafran Lawyers obtained evidence from the British Authorities showing the Treaties signed between the British Government and the ancestors of Biafraland from 1884 – 1892 which authorised the British people to enter upon our land for the purpose of trading only. This evidence is before the Federal High Court Owerri. As at that time,there was no Nigeria but there was Biafra. The ancient Map of Africa 1662 showed the three kingdoms in Africa from where Nigeria was carved out in 1914, namely, the Kingdom of Biafra in the East, the Kingdom of Benin in the West and the Kingdom of Zamfara in the North.
A typical provision at Page 24 of the Treaty Documents signed between the ancestors of Biafraland and the British people placed an obligation on the
British Government in the following words: “To respect all native laws and
customs of the country, and not to interfere with the existing rights of any of the natives without first obtaining their consent”. This provision was made because the British people came for trade under the name of the Royal Niger Company Ltd and our ancestors granted them license to trade in our land but not to interfere with the government of our country then in existence. There was acountry called Biafra shown in the Ancient Map of Africa 1492 – 1843.
We have proved from the Ancient Map of Africa that the Biafrans are some of the indigenous peoples of the lands where Nigeria exists today. This fact of history therefore engages Articles 19 – 24, Cap 10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990, which guarantees the rights of indigenous peoples of the land to self-determination. The Biafrans therefore decided to use the third option. For this reason, we commenced the action in the Federal High Court Owerri and embarked upon national and international diplomacy for the Independence of Biafra. .
Apart from the rule of international law that a people seeking for independence must commence the action from their domestic jurisdiction, it was also necessary to commence the suit in Nigeria in order to create momentum and synergy and gather the Biafrans together under the Customary Government so that we could establish a de facto government under Customary Law on the ground and satisfy the requirements of international law for recognition without committing the offence of treason.
The rule is that a people seeking for independence must show that they are governable under a leadership structure to avoid anarchy, lawlessness and bloodshed. Though the Customary Government headed by the Supreme Council of Elders is not sovereign, it provides an internal command structure to hold the people together should anything happen to Nigeria. By the rule of customary law, it is the duty of theelders of the land to gather their children together in times of crisis. Therefore,
Justice Eze Ozobu’s Customary Government is an alternative platform for the
Biafrans to fall back to in case of crisis but does not oppose the Nigerian
Government.
The advantages of using legal method to achieve independence are many. If
independence is achieved by due process of law, all your investments and
properties in all parts of Nigeria will remain yours. The only difference is that
you will pay the taxes and rates to the government in whose jurisdiction your
properties are located. It is just like owning properties in London or America.
Again, everybody has the fundamental human rights to have dual citizenship. If
a Biafran wants to have dual citizenships, he can still retain his Nigerian
citizenship. It is your human rights to acquire multiple citizenships. I know
some Biafran activists who have dual and triple citizenships. Most importantly,
the use of legal method has attracted the Biafran elder statesmen into the
Biafran Struggle and given the Struggle much respect and legitimacy. It has
also attracted international diplomats to visit Biafraland and observe the court
proceedings in the Federal High Court and see our level of preparedness for
independence. The Biafran Struggle is no longer in the hands of charlatans and
fraudsters but now in the hands of Biafran intellectuals, strategists, royal fathers
and diplomats. Nevertheless, we emphasise that everybody is important in the
Struggle but every person must know and do what he is best talented to do. The
big men and small men are all important and needed in the Biafran Struggle.
The Intellectuals, Technocrats, Politicians and Businessmen are all important.
Our women, children and students are all important in the Struggle. But every
person should wear the shoes of his size. The level we have reached now in the
Biafran Struggle is as a result of using the experts in their areas of expertise.
What the Claimants are expected to do as the case progresses:
We have noted that the hatred, persecution and attacks on the Biafrans are still
going on in various parts of Nigeria. At the moment, due to the rejection of
Biafra by many people in the South-South, the word “Biafrans” is now
synonymous with the word “Ibos” even though the Igbo People are not the
only Biafrans. Nevertheless, to the people of the North, all the Easterners are
the same whether they are from the South-East or South-South. We have also
noticed that despite the hatred, persecution and attacks on the Easterners in the
North and West, the Ibos especially have continued to invest heavily in the
regions where they are hated. Below is the photograph of a public rejection of
the Igbo People in Lagos State:
In the North, the Ibos are killed and butchered like rams and goats without any
Government speaking on their behalf. This is the most important reason for the
restoration of the Biafran sovereignty. It is a sovereign country that can join
issues with another sovereign country in a diplomatic war over the lives of its
citizens. If a British citizen or American citizen is killed in Nigeria, the British
Government or American Government will take up the case for its citizen with
the Nigerian Government and ensure that justice prevails. From what we have
seen so far, we conclude that Nigeria does not regard the lives of the Biafrans.
The Northern Governments have stated unequivocally that theirs is a Shariah
Law Territory. The region is governed under Shariah Law and therefore any
person living in their territory must be willing to obey the Shariah Law or move
out of the region. However, the killing of the Ibos is not because they disobey
any Shariah Law but because of their enterprising spirit in commerce and
industries and the rapidity with which they acquire wealth in the land of their
sojourn by dint of hard work while the owners of the land become poorer in
comparison. Below is the photograph of the Ibo trader they recently macheted
to death like a ram:
The attacks, hatred and persecution are perpetrated by both the elite and the
masses of the North and West. The Oba of Lagos insulted the Ibos and
threatened to drown them in the lagoon if they failed to vote for his candidate.
On receiving severe criticisms from the public, he turned around and said that
he was drunk when he made the threat! On Monday 20 April 2015, it was
reported all over the internet and shown on the Facebook page of Dr Abraham
Ariyo, Medical Doctor, American-based Cardiologist, a Yoruba man, calling
for the elimination of the Ibos as he alleged that God might have put a curse on
the Ibos as they are hated everywhere they go, using the massacre of the Ibos in
South Africa as an example. He said that the Yoruba would continue to “bus
them to Onitsha” referring to the deportation of the Ibos from Lagos to Onitsha
as done by the Governor of Lagos State.
Unconfirmed sources told Daily Sun, on Monday, that the village heads of Dong and Lawaru, Dabang Kayako and Ferdinand Boro, respectively have both been killed in the herdsmen militia attacks that occurred in the communities early in the day.
Locals said a military aircraft is currently hovering over the area apparently to nip the crisis in the bud.
BVI Channel 1 can confirm that OURMUMUDONDO group led by The President of All The Frustrated Nigerians-Charleyboy has made real her threat to gather at the Foreign Affairs Commission to protest against Slave Trading ongoing in Libya and to demand that Nigeria Government evacuates all the concerned Nigerians from Libya with immediate effect.
In a letter made available to BVI Channel 1 few days ago from the group,the letter reads in full ‘ Fellow Nigerians, we write to you with a sorrowful heart and a weeping soul.Evil has been allowed a chance to dominate the minds of Africans.Our Brothers and Sisters have been turned into objects of contempt and ridicule in the most humiliating slave trade ever witnessed in recent times.Over 150,000 Africans are in Libya trying to cross over to Europe every year .Among them,there are more than 40,000 Nigerians who are being abused,starved ,deprived of water ,sold into prostitution,mutilated ,and even killed.Some of them are even hung upside down and burnt alive.This is evil and inhumane.This does not paint us well as Africans and Black people.Those people who are being sold as slaves in Libya are our brothers and sisters.Some of them are close relatives that we don’t even know are there.Some are our long time friends.And more importantly,they are all Nigerians and Africans.And for this reason,we must all come out in solidarity,arms locked with heads held high and march to the Foreign Affairs Commission peacefully on Monday(being today),December 4,2017 to demand that our government brings our people back to Nigeria’.The statement concluded.
As we write Charlyboy and members are seen at Tafawa Balewa House,Off Ahmadu Bello Way,Abuja seated on the floor with hands tied in chains and their voices chanting songs of freedom.This will continue for 6 hours non stop everyday until Government does the needful.
Since riding into power on the mantra of change and anti-corruption posturing, Nigeria, under the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has become a theatre of the absurd. The actions and inactions of the government in power in the last two and a half years, as well as the brazen impunity emblematic of the operations of the nation’s security agencies, have made it a laughing stock in the global arena. While many instances abound of the evident lack of synergy, unhealthy rivalry, and bitter feud amongst the different security apparatuses, what appeared to be the most dramatic and unsettling was a recent clash between the operatives of the Department of State Security, DSS, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
On November 21, 2017, the EFCC officials, armed with both search and arrest warrants, had made a failed attempt to arrest Ita Ekpeyong, the immediate past Director-General of the DSS, and his National Intelligence Agency, NIA, counterpart, the embattled Ayodele Oke who was recently sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari along with the former secretary to the government of the federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal. The operatives who had laid siege to the residences of the duo for about 48 hours, had moved into the Number 46, Mamman Nasir, Asokoro, Abuja residence of Ekpeyong at about 6 am to effect his arrest, but faced a stiff resistance from the DSS officials guarding him. The same ugly scenario played out at Oke’s residence.
Curiously, according to informed sources, the number of DSS officials on ground ordinarily was no match for the more overwhelming number of the EFCC operatives that came. They were however said to have called for reinforcement from the headquarters of the organization headed by Lawal Musa Daura, a kinsman of the president from Daura in Katsina State who from all indication, was all out to thwart the arrest.
An unimpeachable source hinted the magazine that in Daura’s desperation to foil Ekpeyong’s arrest, he had given his men a strict instruction to shoot to kill anyone who dared them. The source said but for the maturity displayed by Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the EFCC, with the tactical withdrawal of his men, there would have been a blood-bath. As the macabre drama unfolded, not a few people wondered why Daura, a man who had gained notoriety for brazen impunity and gangsterism especially in the manner he had handled similar allegations of suspected corruption, would be so desperate to prevent Ekpeyong and Oke’s arrest.
So why did Daura, who has collaborated with the ministry of justice to arrest alleged corrupt officials, suddenly decide to shield people who are being sought for alleged corrupt deals?
From the findings of the magazine, the whole macabre drama even goes beyond covering up sheer lawlessness, as described by Itse Sagay, professor of Law and chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, by the DSS and the NIA under the former security chiefs.
Investigations by the magazine revealed that it was indeed a grand design and desperate move to cover up the alleged cesspool of corruption going on in the DSS under Daura. The magazine learnt that several petitions to the presidency on the rot in the DSS under him had been successfully blocked.
The magazine can authoritatively serve you the inside story of what could have provoked a bloody confrontation between the DSS and the EFCC, two sister agencies whose leaderships don’t see eye-ball to eye-ball. The magazine gathered that a petition written to the vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo by a high-ranking official of the DSS, Adebayo Babalola, a lawyer, against Daura was the trigger of the present face-off between the EFCC and the DSS.
It was learnt that Babalola, frustrated by the non-delivery of his petition to Osinbajo after two attempts, decided to send copies to the EFCC and the ICPC. It was gathered that Daura had used his formidable influence at the presidency and intelligence network to intercept the petitions, thereby preventing them from getting to the vice president. But as soon as Magu received the petition, believed to have indicted Daura for corruption, he swung into action by arranging the arrest of Ekpeyong and Oke.
But unknown to many, there was more to the entire arrest saga than meets the eye. Daura saw through Magu’s sly moves that he, rather than Ekpeyong, was the actual target of the EFCC investigation. Though Ekpeyong too had issues to resolve with the EFCC over his stewardship as DG, SSS, it was a case of using one stone to kill two birds. Seeing that there is a case against Daura, the chairman of the anti-graft agency merely wanted to use Ekpeyong as bait to get at his traducer. Now, it may not be out of place for some people to read vengeance to EFCC action. In which case for Magu, revenge would be seen to be best when served cold. Recall that it was on account of the unfavourable reports on Magu, by the DSS that, twice, his confirmation as EFCC chairman was rejected by the Senate.
But a source insists that the major interest of the EFCC team is that the EFCC action is a furtherance of the trail of the $2.1 billion arms procurement fund allegedly disbursed for the 2015 elections by Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser. Sources say that part of the fund had also allegedly been traced to the DSS and NIA. It was learnt that the $43 million and naira components found in the Ikoyi apartment was the share of the NIA from the fund. The magazine’s investigation revealed sundry allegations of corruption, mismanagement of funds, and vindictiveness against Daura.
The DSS, it was gathered, also got $30 million from the fund for its operations, out of which Ekpeyong had expended nine million dollars. The former DSS boss is said to have handed over the balance of $21,237,435.72 to Daura in cash. So why was it difficult for the current DSS boss to tell the authorities that the part of the arms deal funds that came to his Service was for security operation? That is the reason for the conflict with EFCC, as sources say that there are suspicions that Daura had converted the money for his personal use. Also allegedly mismanaged was the sum of $12,960,480,740.38 being the balance in the pension fund account.
Ekpeyong, on his part, is required to explain to the EFCC what happened to a N250 million property he reportedly acquired with public funds to accommodate some intelligence officers from the United States of America who had come to train some DSS operatives. It was gathered that there had been no trace of the documents in respect of the said property.
To further prove that Daura, a 64-year-old man with over 64 children, had the penchant for dipping his hands in public vault to take care of his family, he had allegedly in April 2017, withdrawn the sum of one billion, six hundred million naira (N1,600,000,000) out of the two billion, four hundred million naira (N2,400,000,000) budgeted for the life insurance policy of DSS staff members. That is not the only thing the petitioners believe he had done wrong. He is also believed to have allegedly used non-service personnel one Ambassador Adamu Saidu Daura, to collect the money, an act which is against Service rules and government’s financial regulations. If the allegations are proved, Daura may also be required to respond to allegation that he claimed that the money so diverted was to prosecute Buhari’s presidential campaigns in 2019. Aside from the alleged diversion, there is yet another allegation that the DG SSS renovated a service guest house in Maitama, Abuja, for a whooping one billion naira. The value of the property in question is said to be between N250 million and N500 million as at the time it was reportedly acquired by Ekpeyong’s predecessor, Afakriya Gadzama.
Very unpopular with staff members due to his alleged insensitivity to their welfare, Daura was said to have stopped payment of duty tour allowance and other allowances to staff members on the ground that he needed to amass sufficient funds for Buhari’s presidential campaign thereby demoralizing them and undermining the security of the nation. He similarly allegedly denied directors at the national headquarters of the organization accommodation by converting the houses to personal use. For example, after he evicted Kayode Are, his predecessor, from his Number 50, Alexander Street, Ikoyi residence, he allegedly allocated same property to a woman believed to be his mistress. This was in spite of a restraining court order and the fact the substantive suit was still in court. Another case in point was the alleged hand-over of a prime property located at Glover Road, Ikoyi to another woman, to manage. Sources at the DSS view this as most embarrassing given the fact that the property which is a MESS, is strategic to the intelligence community and the purpose is to aid inter-agency intelligence cooperation given its joint ownership by such organizations like the NIA, DIA and DSS.
It was argued that by handing it over to his friend, the impression was that the MESS is a personal property, more so when cost of items are far beyond the reach of the average officer who are compelled to patronize the facility. For example, a bottle of beer in the mess is sold for three thousand naira. Many wonder how junior officers would be able to afford such exorbitant price.
But those who have been long in the system hinted that such act of exploitation is vintage Daura. In fact it was learnt on good authority that but for the disciplined nature of the organization, staff members would have rioted when he assumed duty as the new boss in protest against his appointment. Described as self-serving and greedy, he was said to have been stampeded out of Lagos State when he served as state director during the tenure of Babatunde Raji Fashola as governor of the state. Daura was said to have fallen out with Fashola, now minister of works, power and housing when he demanded for a gift of a piece of land from him. Fashola was said to have told him he would get back to him, a response that did not go down well with him. He decided to deploy an arm-twisting tactic, which however back-fired. Daura was said to have withdrawn the then governor’s chief detail prompting him to report his conduct to higher quarters. That was how his tour of duty in Lagos ended abruptly. He was posted out of the state.
Daura was also at various times a state director in Edo, Imo, Sokoto, Kano, and Osun States. He was also eased out in many of these states. It was in Imo State that he almost got his fingers burnt but for Kayode Are who was then his boss. For the one year he served there as state director, he allegedly cornered the monies meant for operations at the local government area commands of the Service. He was said to have been queried when complaints got to the headquarters of the organization that he had sat on monies meant for operatives at that command level and was almost sacked. Are, who later became a victim of Daura’s power drunkenness, was said to have saved his job. He was to leave the service with ignominy in 2013 only to stage a dramatic come-back in 2015, when Buhari appointed him head of DSS. With a tainted record of service, which should have ordinarily disqualified him from the very sensitive job, the only credential that earned him the job was his relationship with the president as his kinsman.
To convince the magazine how mean and hated Daura was, the story was told how his driver once abandoned him in Sokoto and he had to drive himself to Daura in Katsina State. Feeling like a fish out of water and starved of the usual perks of office, Daura plotted his return into the system. He decided to join the APC and joined forces with like-minds who today occupy strategic positions in government. They came together to form the Sai Baba group. And to rein in the president, they allegedly orchestrated a situation at the presidential villa, which reportedly led to the controversial withdrawal of DSS officials from the villa and their replacement with the military. The DSS officials were reportedly set-up in an incident said to have scared Buhari out of his official residence for three weeks on the excuse of an on-going renovation. At the time, speculation was rife that the president’s official residence needed spiritual cleansing by some Senegalese Marabouts before he would settle in. The friction that arose between operatives of the DSS and the military was generally believed to have cost Abdulrahman Mani, an official of the DSS, and chief security officer to the president, his job. Mani and the Aide de Camp, ADC, to the president, Mohammed Abubakar, a senior military officer, had been locked in a bitter feud over the control of security at the villa and protection of the president and his family. The DSS operatives had been confined to the periphery of the villa while soldiers from the directorate of military intelligence, DMI, took over the protection of the inner circle of the security network in the villa. This arrangement was however reversed February this year.
But contrary to the claim that the former CSO lost his job because of the bickering between him and Abubakar over who protected the president, the magazine was told that a scheming Daura had stepped in like somebody who had the best interest of the president at heart, to blame the DSS for the untoward incident at the villa. In a memo announcing the change in the security architecture at the villa, Abubakar had alluded to recent events as necessitating the change. It is instructive that Mani had, prior his sack, served the president for about 10 years. The introduction of personnel of the DMI was reportedly indeed with Daura’s consent, according to an inside source; a development which was widely criticized and sparked outrage in the country. Some retired SSS personnel were said to have been brought in to train the soldiers that were newly drafted to take over the duties of the DSS men. Thus, when in June 2015 Ekpeyong was sacked by the president, Daura became a natural choice to replace him. He assumed duties July 3, 2015. And in spite of the anti-corruption stance of his principal, perceived by many as a man of integrity, for Daura, it was business as usual. This was what got Babalola concerned and as colleagues, he decided to advise him to exercise caution in order not to dent the image of the Buhari government.
But rather than take it in good faith, he bared his fangs, making good his threat to sack his son, Joshua Babalola, who was a serving personnel in the DSS. The younger Babalola, who was recruited into the service in 2014 along with the children of 20 other members of staff, had gone to court to challenge the termination of his appointment. Though no reason was given in his termination letter why he was sacked, one of the reasons given the national industrial court, which decided the case, was that his appointment was influenced by his father. More intriguing is the fact that Daura has four of his children in the SSS. That was not all. Babalola’s personal property and belongings were also said to have been illegally seized sometimes in October 2015 when he was Director, Senior Staff Development Centre, Bauchi. The Service had similarly withheld his compensation and entitlements for the past two years, with Daura said to have boasted that he was waiting for the vice president, his Yoruba kinsman, to intervene on his behalf.
Daura is said to have great disdain for Osinbajo, whom he had boasted he was prepared to investigate. His grouse against the vice president was that he had invited Babalola, a reverend gentleman, for a service at Aso Rock chapel. Uncomfortable with his seeming closeness to the country’s number two citizen, he had reportedly ordered him not to attend otherwise he would initiate an investigation of the vice president.
The nut that EFCC would need to crack is whether Daura who has demonstrated hatred to corruption would allow himself to be drawn into any acts of corruption or even attempt to shield anyone involved in it. At least since he got into office he has deployed the apparatus of his office towards operations seemingly geared towards curbing corruption.
Recall that in September 2015, the DSS under Daura, invaded the Government House in Uyo, without the consent of the Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel or the state commissioner of police and raided the guest lodges therein in a Gestapo-like manner, breaking doors and windows. The DSS carried out the operation even without any court order or search warrant empowering it to do so. At the end of the ill-motivated exercise, it claimed to have found some arms and stacks of hard currency. However, till today, nobody had been told how much was found, while the motive remained unclear. And on October 7 and 8, 2016, Daura’s DSS was again at its ignoble best when in a simultaneous sting operations against seven court judges, jolted Nigerians and indeed the whole world, and set tongues wagging about its perceived excesses and reckless misuse of power. In these operations, the DSS interrupted the serenity of the night, and created a scene in different parts of the country in an attempt to fish for evidence of corruption against the affected judges. Their houses were ransacked and various sums of money in local and foreign currencies allegedly recovered. The victims included two Supreme Court Justices, Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro arrested in Abuja; Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the federal high court, Abuja, Justice Innocent Umezulike, chief judge of Enugu State, Justice Kabiru Auta of the Kano State high court, and Justice Muazu Pindiga of the Gombe State high court.
Daura goons were not so lucky in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The governor, Nyesom Wike, and the state police commissioner, frustrated an attempt to arrest Mohammed Liman of the federal high court, Port Harcourt in the same manner. Led by Tosin Ajayi, its Rivers State director, the DSS had claimed that the sum of $2.5 million was concealed in a safe in Liman’s house, which they wanted to get hold of, get the exhibit, and arrest the judge. The DSS alleged that the said money was a proceed of bribery by the state governor to get a favourable judgment in the legal tussle between the then Ahmed Markafi-led care-taker committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Ali Modu-Sheriff faction. In the latter cases, the DSS had done the needful by going prepared with search and arrest warrants unlike in the September 2015 invasion of the Akwa Ibom government house. The affected judges are now facing prosecution.
Daura and the DSS had also been criticized for alleged impunity, especially in the flouting of court orders partly in the name of fighting corruption. Two cases which particularly stand out amongst others, are that of Dasuki, who had been in the custody of the DSS for over two years now; and Nnamdi Kanu, the now missing director of Radio Biafra, and leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. While Kanu who was arrested October 19, 2015 was eventually released on very stringent bail conditions sometime this year, and had disappeared into thin air since September 14, 2017 when his home was invaded by the military, Dasuki has remained in DSS detention in spite of several court orders for his release on bail. Perturbed by what was going on at the DSS, this magazine had in a strongly worded editorial in its December 21, 2015 edition, expressed concern about the excesses of Daura and his ugly spooks whose actions are petty, vindictive and do, no doubt, diminish us in the comity of nations. The magazine feared that the DSS under Daura will continue to embarrass Buhari and the country if he is not called to order or removed entirely.
This was prophetic, as recent events have shown. Not a few had condemned the recent clash between the operatives of two sister agencies as a grave embarrassment to the president and the ruling APC. When the matter was raised by Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly, he said, We have been embarrassed before the international community. That two sister agencies will engage in fisticuffs, arrest and stoppage of arrests this is a recipe for national disaster. Biodun Olujimi, senate minority leader, blamed the president for the ugly development, which she described as a shame. Olujimi lamented that this is the first time we will see gross irresponsibility in government whereby there is no arbiter. Mr. President (of the Senate), something has to be done; the presidency has to be called to order. Nobody is in charge of this government and somebody has to be in charge. However, Ahmad Lawan, the Senate leader disagreed, insisting that President Muhammadu Buhari is in full control of the government of the federal republic of Nigeria. Lawan, however, called for an investigation into the matter, which was well received by his colleagues. The federal executive council had also called for reports from the two agencies.
Legal and security experts have similarly expressed strong views on the development. Femi Falana, Lagos-based human rights lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria, SAN, upbraided the DSS for obstructing the EFCC from effecting the arrests, stating that it was wrong to view what occurred as an inter-agency face-off more so since warrants of arrest and search were validly issued by a magistrate court. He described the prevention of the arrest as a clash between impunity and the rule of law, stressing that the security personnel who shielded the suspects from arrest committed the offence of obstruction of justice punishable under the EFCC Act. Sagay aligned with Falana’s position, advising the EFCC to refer the matter to the president who is the overall boss of the feuding agencies. According to Sagay, if people are misbehaving like that, preventing agencies from doing their work, then there should be a penalty for misconduct. He argued that no one is immune from arrest except the president, vice-president, governor and deputy governor.
But as far as Mike Ejiofor, a former director of DSS was concerned, the EFCC had no right to investigate how the DSS funds were spent. Ejiofor said by the DSS Instrument 1 of 1999, no person or agency is empowered to investigate the spending or operational matter of the DSS except the President. The DSS makes returns of spending to the President annually. I am surprised with what is happening. We have never had it before. He (Magu) has no power or mandate to investigate the spending of the DSS. It is not done anywhere in the world. The former DSS director accused Magu of vendetta. According to him, if he had the power, he should have gone to the DG DSS, stressing that possibly he wants to settle scores because he was indicted by the DSS report which barred his confirmation. But joining issues with Ejiofor and those who hold similar views, Sagay contended that The DSS procedures do not supersede the laws of the land. The EFCC Act does not require the agency writing anybody first. They cannot make a law that supersedes that of the National Assembly. The excuses of the DSS are just a way of covering up sheer lawlessness.
What impact do these comments have on DSS boss? Those who know Daura well say he carries himself with an aura of invincibility. According to a source, he believes that nothing can happen to him because he has a firm grip on the lever of power. He believes that not even the president can dare him. He is a strong member of the cabal holding the president hostage. Be that as it may, certain questions are begging for answers. What really does Daura have on the president that has made him so powerful? And can the president afford to look the other way as Daura carries on like Mr. Untouchable? Or is it that his actions have the approval of the President? Time alone will answer these questions.
Few days ago,I went to a village in Nimo for the burial of my friend’s Mum.As I drove across the villages to my final destination, I took notice of two issues: Almost every house along the village roads has provision for shops where confectioneries and other household items are sold.The second is the imposing church structures almost in all the villages.What is the effect of using all the available building space for trading in the villages? To start with,our forefathers,our great grand fathers before the coming of whitemen were not foolish when they designated certain area as market.That was why they have the four market days viz Nkwo,Eke, Orie and Afor.Our forefathers have residential places,play grounds ,Village Squares and Market where goods from farmlands were exchanged.Everything was well arranged by our uneducated grandfathers.
Today,i expected a well developed market with underground structures to go with modern facilities.Alas,that peaceful and serene environment that used to characterize our various communities are about to be destroyed and replaced with buying and selling activities everywhere! I am convinced that somebody somewhere has reduced our people to the level of ordinary traders! Who is responsible to what they are selling? What is wrong with having industrial parks in our various communities and then modern markets to sell produced goods?
As i was looking around the community in Nimo,i tried to find out what drives the economy of the villages. I noticed that there was no factory any where,no major farmland-nothing! When i got to the Church for burial mass,i noticed that elderly men and women constituted 90% of those in attendance.Where are the young ones? In the Cities and Libya Slave Market! Up to 8% of the young ones i saw at the burial came down from cities .It occurred to me that we would be in serious generational crisis if these set of people in the villages should die!
Coming back to what sustains the village economy,i simply concluded that burial activities had kept the village economy going.Every week,there must be an inflow of funds into various communities in preparation for one burial or the other.Then,comes to Church activities.Very soon every village in our various communities will have gigantic church building for worshiping .I have no issue with the Church but i want to say that trying to build Church branches in all the villages may not be the best option.A town like Nimo should have just about three Parishes of Catholic Church while other locations should be converted to modern schools and mechanized farmlands with moderate church building for prayers ! Can we travel to Israel to learn how to make good money through farming? A man without money in his pocket will always grow sick! The Church can stand in place of Government by using her platform to give our people sense of direction.Give us spiritual direction and economic directions.Instead of asking people to donate money in building big structures in our various villages,the Church can ask people to fund small factories that would be producing toothpicks from bamboo trees that could be seen everywhere.A tomato plantation in various villages can bring young people back to the villages and restore robust economic activities instead of this buying and selling trend.
We can still transfer hard- work to the next generation instead of consumption driven economy.
I left the burial feeling disillusioned that most people were indifferent to the plight of our dear people and the future of our children.We are about losing our indigenous identities.
Following the report early November of the tragic death of 26 young Nigerian ladies trying to cross to Italy in their bid to seek a greener pasture in Europe, parents of daughters that had embarked on a European odyssey have been thrown into turmoil. The emergence of the grisly reality of enslavement of Nigerians in Libya had further stoked the fire of fear and anxiety tormenting parents whose children’s whereabouts are presently unaccounted for.
We spoke with two parents whose daughters had travelled in September and the last heard of them was their being held in the North African country, Libya.The two families are presently gripped by fear and anxiety, as they could not ascertain if their daughters were alive or not.
A widow’s agony
One of the distraught parents is Mrs. Josephine Uchenna, a widow from Amasato village in Umulolo community, Okigwe Council Area, Imo State. Her daughter, Chinaneye Uchenna, a 15-year-old, had travelled purportedly to Europe in October. She travelled in the company of two other young ladies. They were chaperoned by an agent that was supposed to oversee their passage through Libya and across the Mediterranean to Austria, where they are to be taken into the employment of a certain Madam Amarachi Chukwuka.
Presently, Mrs Uchenna had no idea where her daughter is, all she knew was they lost track of her when she reached the North African country.
She narrated to Saturday Sun how her teenage daughter was lured to Europe. The haunting episode began in early July. The story revolved around a wealthy Nigerian who needed three young ladies as salesgirls in her shops in Austria where she lived.
“In early July, Mrs Ujunwa Ikechukwu had come to tell me that her sister-in-law, Thankgod, who is based in Europe wanted three young girls to work as salesgirls in Austria. I know that Ujunwa Ikechukwu, her husband, Ikechukwu Mgbemele and his sister Thankgod Mgbemele, are in the business of connecting people with those in Europe who need young ladies to work for them. So Thankgod who is based in Europe asked her brother to scout for young ladies from this village who would be willing to travel to Europe to work.”
She continued “Ikechukwu took my daughter and two other girls from the village to Lagos where they embarked on their journey to Europe. My daughter called me from Lagos and informed me that they all will be travelling to Europe through the sea. When they got to Libya around October, she called me again. That was the last time I heard from her.”
Uchenna felt all went well until she received a call from someone who identified herself as Amarachi Chukwuka, the person whom her daughter was supposed to be working for in Austria. The caller went straight to the point: “Your daughter Chinaneye had not arrived in Austria. All efforts to contact her had been futile.”
The worried mother ran to Ikechukwu who gave her a false assurance that his sister, Thankgod, had called to inform him the girls were already in Austria, safe and sound. That lie soon fell flat, when the news broke in October of the tragic death of 26 young Nigerian ladies trying to reach Italy.
Ikechukwu eventually made a clean breast of it, informing her the girls, including her daughter, are being detained in Libya.
“Ikechukwu came to my house last Tuesday and informed me they want Amarachi Chukwuka who had asked them to bring my daughter to bring money to enable his sister Thankgod to go and secure the release of my daughter and the two other girls,” she recalled. The situation became murkier when according to her, “he said when his sister called Amarachi Chukwuka,she claimed that she had sent money to both Ikechukwu and the sister for that purpose.”
According to the distraught widow, she has not been able to sleep since then and had been going to both spiritual churches and herbalists to inquire if her daughter is still alive.
The widow currently is confused. “Ikechukwu is from Izuogu in Okigwe. I have told him that if he fails to tell me the whereabouts of my daughter I will inform my husband’s kinsmen about the matter,” she waited.
A father’s travail over an only daughter
Also in the same quandary is Mr. Eugene Mba of the same Amasato Umulolo community. His daughter, Ogechi Mba, 21, also travelled out of the country on the same trip brokered by Ikechukwu Mgbemele.
The widow Uchenna had taken Mgbemele to the Mba household in his quest to find three girls from the community willing to travel to Austria where his sister, Thankgod was sourcing for sales girls.
The last time Mba heard from his daughter was on October 24 when she called to tell her father she and the other two girls from the community had arrived in Libya and were waiting for the person who will take them to Amarachi Chukwuka in Austria.
Mba told us the reason he allowed his only daughter to travel out of the country was that he and Ikechukwu attend the same church and that he was assured his daughter would be travelling to Austria, not Italy.
He said: “Chinaneye’s mother, Josephine, brought Ikechukwu. I and Ikechukwu attend the same prayer ministry. He told me that his sister Thankgod who lives in Austria want four young ladies who would be engaged as sales girls in Austria by one Amarachi Chukwuka who has beauty salons. My daughter already finished her secondary school in 2015 and has also undergone training in computer training.
“On September 1, my daughter, Ogechi, Chinaneye and Ada from Aboh Village in Umulolo left Okigwe for Lagos. They left Lagos on October 4. She called me when they arrived in Libya, and on October 24, she called again to tell me they were still waiting in Libya for the person who would take them to Austria. She told me they were supposed to leave Libya for Austria before October 30.”
As soon as he heard about the tragedy in Italy, Mba called Ikechukwu.
“It was then Ikechukwu called his sister Thankgod who told him that my daughter and the two other girls from the community were among those held in Libya. She disclosed they will be held for at least six months, and that while being held, it would not be possible for them to make phone calls.”
Mba continued “I contacted Thankgod, Ikechukwu’s sister, and requested her to go to Libya to see if she could secure the release of my daughter and the other two girls who had travelled together. Ikechukwu never told me my daughter and the others would be travelling through the sea to Europe, and worst of all, through Libya. If I had known all these, I would not have allowed my daughter to go.”
Reacting to this report, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa commended Saturday Sun for going the extra mile to expose the trafficking syndicate.
“I can assure you that as soon as your report is out, NAPTIP will move into the area for further investigation and necessary action against the identified traffickers. This is also a big lesson to parents who release their children to human traffickers”, the presidential aide stressed.
Following the pool of reactions trailing the alleged slave market in Libya, the Libyan government has finally opened up, saying that there is a campaign of calumny against its government.
The Charge d’Affaires/Ambassador-Designate of Libya to Nigeria, Dr Attia Alkhoder, who spoke with some select government-owned media in Abuja, said the press conference was coming “at a time of fierce media and political campaigns against Libya, claiming that there is human trade market in its territory.”
The Libyan envoy said “the claim followed media assumption carried out by the Cable News Network (CNN) channel of America and political comments follow it.” Recall that there were media reports last week about Nigerians being sold off in Libya at a paltry sum of $400.
The development generated public outcry, with the Charly Boy-led group, OurMumuDonDo, occupying the Libyan Embassy located within the Asokoro district of Abuja on Thursday.
But Alkhoder said “It seems barraging in relation to smuggling them to their destination (Europe) as immigrants not as slaves. The barraging is about the cost of transporting them to Europe, not capture their freedom in order to savage them.”
He however said the Government of National Accord of Libya renewed its condemnation of the criminal practice of trading and trafficking of human beings on all levels, be it a national, regional or international.
“We would like to confirm that any deed that happens to immigrants right is not more than individual action and not the practice of Libyan people. We condemn and reject in totality, the criminal practice of trading and trafficking of human beings on the basis that any relation with immigrants should be conceded with human dignity.
“The Government of National Accord wonders at the fierce and blind campaigns that were carried by the international media and participation of some political officials of friendly countries who should be aware of the immigrants’ situation, and the exceptional condition.
“In Libya, what worries us deeply is the objectives of this campaign which was carried by countries that reject accepting immigrants and do not assist to bear any cost of this phenomena which Libya is most harmed by. It constitutes danger to its security, social constructions and loads on its initial weak economy.
“Libya renews its call to put an end to exploitation, suffering of the ambitious African man looking for better life in Europe and human trafficking, right from the country of source, route and target country.
“Libya calls to initiate international campaign to put an end to these phenomena by providing security, border control to end Libyan crisis, unify its government institutions and end the transition system that contribute a lot in the weakening control of territory, hence allow for smugglers to be more active on their illegal activities,” Alkhoder said.
The Libyan envoy also said the Libyan authority had immediately instructed the relevant agencies to carry out a comprehensive investigation on the criminal claim according to the Libyan law and reveal its findings to local and international community, apprehend and punish persons responsible for it, be it human trafficking of immigrants or human trading.
“Libya considers such matter, if accurate, is a result of illegal immigration. Libya is harmed by it, she rejects being held responsible.
Solving the issue of illegal immigrants is a collective responsibility to the countries of origin, transit and destination. Moreover, Libya spends a lot of money to construct and manage camps to accommodate the immigrants and facilitate their voluntary return to their countries.
“Libya emphasises that the phenomenon of illegal immigration and its outcomes needs serious coordination of international efforts to stop it. Therefore, the need for practical and effective measures between the countries of origin, transit and destination, also, international and regional organization concerned,” Alkhoder added.
The Libyan government further said supporting the Libyan authority with technical and logistical needs in order to control its southern border since Libya is the major route for immigration across the Mediterranean Sea was necessary.
It urged the European Union and the international community to cooperate with the countries of origin to establish developing permanent projects to stop the phenomenon and its outcome as contained in Tripoli declaration of November 22-23, 2006, on immigration and development.
The envoy also said assisting Libya to meet the cost for the immigrant camps and support the construction and empowering of security outfits is also necessary.
Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, Thursday, presented before the members of the state House of Assembly a draft budget of N166.9 billion for tge 2018 fiscal year.
Obiano said the 2018 budget entitled “Budget for Value-for-Money, Economic Diversification and Job Creation” would create jobs and also boost the state’s economy.
He said Job Creation was number three in his 2018 fiscal year with a view to ensuring that Anambra tackled unemployment, underemployment and more importantly, provide a means of livelihood for the poor and vulnerable.
The governor told the lawmakers that the budget size represented a 43 per cent increase over the current year’s budget which stood atN115.5 billion and tagged “Budget of Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth.”
He said the estimate illustrates his administration’s resolve to continue to deliver the dividends of good governance to the people of Anambra.
The governor, while analyzing the budget, said the Value-for-Money entails that the state would “carefully assess all activities and make difficult trade-offs to ensure we focus solely on implementing projects and programs that provide commensurate value to Ndi Anambra.
“The underlying principle going forward shall be “Doing Even More with Less” and zero tolerance for corruption and corrupt practices.”
On ‘Economic Diversification’ Obiano added that his administration would ensure that Anambra attains fiscal independence over the next four years through her internally generated revenues, which he believed should cover “our recurrent expenditure with the balance to support capital interventions. We hope to aggressively embark on public finance reforms to optimize and strengthen our tax administration processes”.
“Strategic Collaborations: Fourthly, we hope to develop stronger ties with the Federal Government MDAs and key Development Partners (such as the World Bank, European Union, United Nations System, etc.) to jointly intervene in Social Investments, Works & Infrastructure, Education, Healthcare and Environment sectors of our economy. To achieve this, we have aligned this budget to the National Economic Recovery & Growth Plan and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda 2030.
“Public-Private-Partnerships: And finally,our fifth target outcome will be to strengthen and refocus our Public-Private-Partnership Strategy. Significant resources will be channelled towards targeted promotional processes to attract large scale export-driven investments across our key economic pillars in the State”.
A breakdown of the budget showed that in the next fiscal year, it shall be funded by the state Internally Generated Revenues projected at N2.5bn monthly compared with the current run rate of N1.35bn monthly as claimed by Governor Obiano, as well as through grants and counterpart funds estimated at N20bn; other capital receipts comprising of concessionary debt financing for the state social sectors estimated at N18.4bn.
Similarly, the state expects to receive Reimbursements and Refunds from Federal Government for works done on Federal roads and Paris Club payments estimated at N28bn of the 43.8bn owed to the State; while personnel costs such as workers remuneration, replacement of retired teachers, promotions and appointments were estimated at N21.6bn vs. 2017E of N20.4bn.
It also showed that the state expects to spend N63.9bn on Recurrent Expenditure and N103.1bn on Capital Expenditure.
It shows N27.93bn would be spent on Roads & Infrastructure comprising completion of 150km of roads across the state, road constructions, rehabilitation, bridges construction, installation of Traffic Lights on strategic roads and others.
Other sectors of the state economy also got significant budget proposal from the estimate.
The state also budgeted N7.5bn for Community Social Development Program, and others.
The governor scored himself high on the implementation of the budget of the passing year, saying that he was able to meet the budget proposal and promised to do better in the coming year.
Earlier commending the governor, the Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Rita Maguagwu, said that a good number of items budgeted for in 2017 running estimate was accomplished, and promised to give accelerating hearing on it to fast track its passage.
