Tag Archives: Activists

Army, Amnesty International, Trade Words Over Alleged Killing Of 150 Pro-Biafra Activists

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Amnesty International, yesterday, came out with a report stating that the Nigerian security forces led by the military, embarked on a chilling campaign of extrajudicial executions and violence resulting in the deaths of at least 150 peaceful pro-Biafra protesters in the South Eastern part of the country.

Attributing their findings to an indepth investigation it carried out, the international body stated that analysis of 87 videos, 122 photographs and 146 eyewitness testimonies relating to demonstrations and other gatherings between August 2015 and August 2016, consistently showed that the military fired live ammunition with little or no warning to disperse crowds. It also finds evidence of mass extrajudicial executions by security forces, including at least 60 people shot dead in the space of two days in connection with events to mark Biafra Remembrance Day.

“This deadly repression of pro-Biafra activists is further stoking tensions in the South East of Nigeria. This reckless and trigger-happy approach to crowd control has caused at least 150 deaths and we fear the actual total might be far higher. The Nigerian government’s decision to send in the military to respond to pro-Biafra events seems to be in large part to blame for this excessive bloodshed. The authorities must immediately launch an impartial investigation and bring the perpetrators to book,” said Makmid Kamara, Interim Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

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Police Block #BBOG Activists From Presidential Villa

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Anti-riot policemen have blocked the BringBackOurGirls members from accessing the presidential villa where they planned to hold a press conference.

The DPO, Asokoro Police Station, CSP, Grace Longe said the protesters cannot be allowed to access the villa for security reasons.

The BBOG is currently holding its world media conference to commemorate the two years anniversary of the abduction of 219 Chibok schoolgirls at the entrance road to the presidential villa.

Credit: Punch

Hindu Cow Activists Drink Pesticide In India, One Dies

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Eight Hindu cow rights activists drank pesticide as part of a protest in India calling for the animals to be given greater protection, with one protester dying of his injuries, police said.

The “gau bhakt”, or cow worshippers, consumed the poison at a rally outside a government office in western Gujarat state Thursday.

They were protesting at what they say is the ongoing slaughter of cows, considered sacred by India’s large Hindu population, despite a widespread ban on killing the animals.

“These men had come with bottles of poisonous substance and consumed a small portion in front of the collectors office”, Manish Nakum, a police inspector investigating the case, told AFP.

“All were rushed to the government hospital where one of them, identified as Gabhru Bharwad, 40, died during treatment in the evening?,” he said.

Nakum said he did not believe the men, who drank a mild pesticide used on cotton plants, intended to commit suicide.

Cow slaughter and the consumption of beef are banned in Gujarat and several other states in officially secular India.

But the activists claim cows are still being killed illegally and want cows to be given the special status of “rashtra mata” (“mother of the nation”).

Four of the protesters, aged in their twenties and thirties, were moved to a private hospital after their condition deteriorated, police said.

Dhaval Pandya, who participated in the protest in Rajkot city but did not drink pesticide, told reporters that cow slaughter was rampant in India.

“So to protect cows, which are holy to us like gods, we need to declare it as the mother of the nation,” he said.

Around 27 members of the same group also tried to block roads in Rajkot, but were detained, police said.

Around 80 percent of India’s 1.2 billion population is Hindu, but it is also home to large numbers of Muslims, Christians and Buddhists.

A spate of attacks on secular intellectuals and Muslims suspected of killing cows have heightened concerns of mounting intolerance under rightwing nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-year-old government.

Credit: Guardian

Buhari’s Ministers Should Publicly Declare Assets, Activists Demand

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One of Nigeria’s foremost anti-corruption coalitions, the Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), has challenged all the 36 ministers in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet, to publicly declare their assets in the light of the ongoing war against corruption

In a statement Sunday, the coalition said through its chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, that by publicly declaring their assets, the ministers would be demonstrating their readiness to complement the president’s zero tolerance for corruption and promise  of  a transparent government.

According to CSNAC, President Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo, “have laid a good precedence by keeping in line with Section 140 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), by declaring their assets publicly.

“This was also in fulfilment of their campaign promise of running a transparent government as well as eradicating corruption in the country.

“Public declaration of assets usually aids the assessment of public officers and will help in monitoring of public office holders and ultimately reveal those who corruptly enriched themselves while in office, paving way for proper punishment and sanctions against them.

“As public officers it is expected that the ministers should also declare their assets in line with this administration’s quest to run a transparent and corrupt free government. With the President and his Vice having shown a great example by declaring their assets, the ministers should also follow suit without further delay. The President, in his ‘my covenant with Nigerians’, promised to ‘encourage’ his ministers to publicly declare their assets. The President is hereby reminded of his promise and called to act appropriately.

“CSNAC therefore calls on all ministers to publicly declare their assets as a matter of priority. By so doing, they will have shown their readiness to complement the President’s zero tolerance for corruption and promise in the actualisation of a transparent and corrupt free Nigeria.”

Credit: PremiumTimes

Activists Commemorate 20th Anniversary Of Execution Of Ken Saro-Wiwa (PHOTOS)

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Activists have commemorated the 20th anniversary of the execution of environmental crusader Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was arrested, tried, and executed on November 10th, 1995.
Mr. Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, he spoke out against both Shell Oil Company and the Nigerian government for the environmental degradation caused by oil extraction.

On November 10th, 1995, Mr. Saro-Wiwa was arrested, tried, and executed on the orders of military dictator Sani Abacha. His execution was met with international condemnation, Nigeria was expelled from the Commonwealth of Nations for three years.

 

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Photo Credit : Sahara Reporters

Pro-Biafra Activists Continue Protests In Aba

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Worried by spate of protests by pro-Biafra groups, seeking self determination for the people of South East and their neighbours, Imo State Governor and Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha yesterday said he had taken steps to arrange a meeting of governors and chieftains of the Ohaneze Ndigbo “to discuss the matter.”

The move came on the heels of continued protest by pro-Biafra activists under the aegis of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Aba. The groups had staged a miniature rally on Saturday to protest the continued detention of the Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, by the Federal Government.

Credit: Guardian