Tag Archives: Torture

We have zero tolerance for Human Rights abuse – Army Chief

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The Nigerian Army says it will continue to maintain zero tolerance for Human Rights abuses in the ongoing anti-terror war in the North East. Maj.- Gen. Lucky Irabor, the Theatre Commander of Operation, Lafiya Dole, gave the assurance Monday while receiving a delegation from the UN Security Council in Maiduguri.

Irabor said that troops deployed to the theatre were made to undergo special training on code of conduct before their deployment.

“The theatre has zero tolerance for any form of Human Rights abuse.

“To that extent, we have instituted measures to ensure that our troops operate within the provision of International Human Rights laws,’’ he said.

He added that the International Human Rights laws were well entrenched in Nigerian Army’s code of conduct and rules of engagement.

“Prior to induction of any unit into the theatre, troops go through training where the issues of code of conduct are taught to ensure that they keep to the rules of engagement,’’ he said. He also said that there were dos and don’ts that soldiers were made to abide by in operations.

“For anyone who defaults, we have a standing court martial in Maiduguri to try cases of misdemeanour. “Some soldiers have been court martialed, awaiting sanction and ratification by appropriate authority,’’ Irabor said.

He said that the military was also working with the International Committee of the Red Cross to ensure the protection of Human Rights in its detention centre.

“We are collaborating with the ICRC on our detention centre and they have free access to our detention facility.

“We have been collaborating with them and they have been supportive,’’ the military commander said. Earlier, Amb. Matthew Rycroft, leader of the UN delegation, commended the military for its gallantry in fighting the Boko Haram.

“We recognise the threat Boko Haram had created in your country and its neighbours.

“We commend the Armed Forces of Nigeria engaged in this operation and the Multi-National Joint Task Force,’’ Rycroft said. The ambassador also commended the Nigerian Army for the success it recorded in the fight against Boko Haram insurgence.

“We know that the fight has not been won; we encourage you to continue your efforts.

“We are also firm in our determination to assist in alleviating the humanitarian crisis in the region,’’ Rycroft said.

Tales of rape, torture, and blackmail as deported Nigerians recount ordeal in Libya.

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Nigerian returnees from Libya have appealed to federal and state governments to provide job opportunities for Nigerian youths to prevent them from endangering their lives looking for greener pasture abroad.

Some of the returnees told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos, that they decided to leave the country because they were jobless.

They said that they travelled to Libya with the hope of crossing to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea in search of jobs. NAN recalls that on Feb.14, 161 Nigerians returned voluntarily from Libya.

One of the returnees, Miss Bridget Akeamo, an indigene of Anambra, said her parents decided to send her to Italy when all hope of securing job after her school proved abortive.

Akeama, who said she left Nigeria in August last year, returned with four months pregnancy.

She said she was arrested while trying to cross to Italy from Libya by immigration officials.

Akeama said: “Ever since then, I have been moved from one prison to another until I was taken to detention camp in Tripoli.

“We were subjected to inhuman treatment while in prison, from the food we eat to the water we drink.

“Most of the young ladies in detention camp were raped by Libyan officials and if you refused their advances, it will be hell for you.

“Thank God I am back in Nigeria, I know all hope is not lost but it is painful that I will begin from scratch again with my unborn child.”

Stanley Iduh, 34-year-old indigene of Delta, told NAN that he was tricked by an agent popularly known as “Burger that he would facilitate his journey to Spain through Libya.

He said that when his hope of crossing into Spain was dashed in Libya, he decided to stay back and work in the Arab country.

“I worked in Tile producing company and their salary was good but unfortunately I cannot save my money in the bank. I lived with other Nigerians. I dug a hole in the ground to save my money.

“Unfortunately, one day, some Libyans came, kidnapped us and inflicted punishment on us. They asked us to call our relations back in Nigeria and tell them to send N300, 000 as our ransom.

“The 200, 000 US dollars that I saved, disappeared; they moved us to another place until we got to detention camp. Nigerians should be discouraged from travelling to Libya because they are not treating us like human beings.

“Our ladies were dehumanised by Libyan officials, it is very painful,” he said.

Iduh, who said he sold the house left by his late father before travelling to Libya, urged the federal and state governments as well as wealthy Nigerians to create job for the youths.

“It was because I was jobless for three years that I was cajoled to travel abroad to look for greener pasture. I am back in the country after eight months, devastated and humiliated.

“I have gone to look for greener pasture but here I am today; I have brought nothing green back home,” he said with tears running in his cheek.

Paul and Marvellous Isikhuemhen are twin brothers who travelled to Libya in March and May 2016 respectively in search for greener pasture.

Marvellous told NAN that they regretted travelling out of the country because of the bitter encounter they had in Libya. He said that though they secured good job in publishing house in Libya, “it was suffering and smiling’’ until they were given the opportunity to return home through IOM.

Isikhuemhen urged the Nigerian government to stop young ladies from travelling to Libya, saying they were molested by Libyan immigration officials. He said that most Nigerian ladies bribe Nigerian Immigration Officers to secure travel documents to travel to Libya.

Isikhuemhen added that most of the children brought back home by these ladies had no fathers.

“I can boldly tell you that the children you are seeing in their hands and those pregnant ladies are products of Libya immigration officers,” he said.

Soldiers Torture Adamawa Man To Death For Stealing Phone

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The police in Adamawa State have launched a manhunt for some soldiers, who allegedly tortured a man, Umar Abdulaziz, to death for stealing a phone in the Ganaye Local Government area of the state.

Abdulaziz was accused by a female neighbour, identified only as Fatima, on Monday of stealing her mobile phone.

The woman, who reportedly befriended a soldier, was said to have gone to report the alleged theft to her lover.

It was gathered that the soldier, whose name had yet to be ascertained, came back with three other colleagues and dragged Abdulaziz away from the house.

The victim was reportedly taken to a corner of the compound, where the soldiers battered him, until he went into a coma.

The matter was said to have been reported at the Area F Police Station, after which policemen and neighbours came to rush the victim to a hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

A witness, who identified himself only as Abass, said Fatima also told her soldier lover that Abdulaziz beat her up in the house.

He said, “The lady lived on the next street to mine. Our house is around the barracks in Ganaye. She had a disagreement with Abdulaziz and the next thing was for her to call her soldier lover to deal with the victim.

“She accused the man of stealing her mobile phone. She also said the man beat her up and told her lover to deliver her from his grasp. When the lover came, there were four soldiers in all. They dragged Abdulaziz out of the house and off to an unknown location.

“They did not even ask what happened. They used knives to injure Abdulaziz. The victim collapsed, the police were invited and they came to the house. I am not sure whether they arrested any of the soldiers.”

He expressed dismay over the development, saying, “It is wrong for soldiers to harass civilians and even to the point of death. The military and police authorities must investigate this matter and bring the soldiers to book.”

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SR: How SSS Tortured Man To Death, Paid Family N15m To Keep Quiet

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After “torturing” a man to death, Nigeria’s secret police, SSS, exploited the influence of the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, to pay a paltry N15 million compensation to the victim’s family, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

At about 2.30 a.m. on April 4, SSS operatives on the trail of a suspect accused of cloning the phone number of the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, stormed No 37, Aje Street, Pleasure, in the Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos in commando style.

Residents of the address said the operatives scaled the fence of the compound, screaming and threatening as they knocked down doors and shattered ceilings. They rough-handled residents, who thought they were armed robbers as they did not introduce themselves, dragged them from their beds, ordered them out of their apartments and forced them to sit on the dusty ground of the compound.

About an hour later, when they were done harassing the residents, Saheed Eyitayo, 34, a friend to the suspect the operatives were looking for, laid in the dust motionless – beaten to a pulp by the operatives.

One resident, who described the entire experience as “nightmarish,” told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Eyitayo was so battered that he couldn’t stand unaided – three operatives had to drag his him into one of the vans the armed men brought with them.

Unfortunately, that was the last time he would be seen alive in public.

The operatives were led to the residence by Adejoke Ogunbona, the wife of the wanted man, Rilwanu Jamiu. While on the run for the alleged crime, Mr. Jamiu, who is now facing trial alongside another suspect, had spent few days at Mr. Eyitayo’s apartment before moving on to another place in the Oke Aro area of Lagos, where he was eventually arrested.

It is not clear if Mr. Eyitayo knew his friend was a fugitive when he allowed him to stay at his apartment.

Mr. Jamiu’s wife had visited her husband while he was hiding at Mr. Eyitayo’s apartment. Though she later confessed that even though she knew her husband was no longer at Mr. Eyitayo’s apartment, she took the SSS operatives there.

Suspicious death

Three days after the raid, the SSS invited Mr. Eyitayo’s landlord, Mathew Sobiye, to the Lagos office in Shangisha and told him, for the first time, that they had carried out the raid on his compound and that Mr. Eyitayo was dead.

They warned him not to disclose this to anyone, the Septuagenarian said.

The SSS claimed Mr. Eyitayo was resisting arrest on the night of the raid and tried to jump from the moving van as he was being conveyed to their office. They said he died from injuries sustained in the process.

But Mr. Eyitayo’s family would have none of that. They claimed that from account of fellow tenants at his Pleasure residence, he was already unconscious when he was handcuffed and carried into the waiting van.

They wondered how an unconscious man in chains could overpower several SSS operatives and jump to his death. They said if the SSS had nothing to hide, it shouldn’t have waited for 19 days before formally informing them of Mr. Eyitayo’s death.

Michael Lasisi, one of Mr. Eyitayo’s relatives, told PREMIUM TIMES that the SSS waited that long because they were trying to perfect a fabricated story to hide the fact that they tortured Mr. Eyitayo to death.

“We had gone to the SSS office several times, and they told us ‘come back you cannot see him.’ Until finally on the 23rd (of April), 19 days after he was killed, they now told one of my brothers Oyetunji that he had died. Meanwhile they had told the landlord not to tell anybody that he had died.

“They did that so as the days elapsed they would be able to manufacture lies to cover up the official criminality. They could not tell us what he has done. They said his friend was part of those who cloned the governor’s number. They traced the friend to his house but they did not see him.

At a meeting between Mr. Eyitayo’s family and the SSS on May 3 at their Shangisha office, angered by an SSS attempt to implicate Mr. Eyitayo in the number cloning scam, Mr. Lasisi and other family members walked out on the officials of the secret service threatening to drag the agency to court.

“A SHOW OF SHAME”

Not wanting the story of the alleged extrajudicial killing by its operatives out in the open, the SSS approached Mr. Akiolu, the paramount traditional monarch in Lagos, to appeal to the family of the dead man, after its original attempt to use officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice failed to assuage Mr. Eyitayo’s family.

Some members of the family said they first suspected that something was fishy when those who had resisted the antics of the Lagos State officials were exempted from the delegation to meet with Mr. Akiolu.

“I think the SSS had told the Oba that some members of the family who gave them a hard time during the initial discussion shouldn’t be allowed to be part of the negotiation. The excuse they gave was that the Oba did not want a crowd in his palace,” a family member, who sought anonymity for security reasons, said.

Several family sources present described the negotiation at the monarch’s palace as a show of shame. They said the moment the SSS offered to pay N15 million, some of the most outspoken members of the delegation suddenly became quiet.

They said Mr. Akiolu doused the flickering flame of resistance from the family members when he appealed to them to accept what the SSS was offering in order to bring a closure to the matter and stop acting like they were there to sell the body of their dead kin.

“The family lawyer put up a spirited effort to make the DSS [as the SSS is also called] pay more compensation, but members of Saheed’s family would have none of that,” an attendee at the meeting said.

“In fact, one of them was stepping on his (lawyer’s) feet and telling him not to be too hard of the DSS and to accept whatever the DSS was offering so that the matter can be settled. The lawyer was almost in tears,” another family source said.

“At a point, they even threatened to fire the lawyer if he would not agree with the decision of the family.”

“One of them said that they should accept the offer of the DSS because the body of Saheed was suffering and they needed to bury him urgently to stop the suffering,” the source said.

Another source, however, added that Mr Akiolu insisted that N10 million be given entirely to the parents of the deceased. He also insisted that the SSS must pay the lawyer’s professional fees.

According to our sources, the five million that was remaining from the compensation paid was shared among members of the deceased’s family involved in the negotiation.

Meanwhile, even as they agreed to accept the compensation, none of the victim’s family members had seen his corpse as the SSS did not disclose where it kept the body.

The family did not also press the SSS to conduct an autopsy on the deceased as required by Lagos State laws for persons who died under suspicious circumstances like Mr. Eyitayo

“The DSS did not allow the family see the corpse of the dead victim before they forced the family to reach a negotiation. That was the plan. When they finished the negotiation, they called Saheed’s uncle to come and look at the body but he was only shown his legs,” one of our sources said.

CUT AND BRUISES ALL OVER

Family members who saw Mr. Eyitayo’s corpse after it was released for burial by the SSS said it dawned on them the reason the agency refused to let his family see the body before the negotiation was concluded and all documents signed.

“If you see the corpse, you would know that he was tortured and killed in a brutal manner. He had two deep cuts in the back of his head, apparently inflicted by a machete or other similar sharp objects. There were cuts and bruises all over his body,” the source said.

As part of the agreement reached with the deceased family, the SSS agreed to foot the bill for his funeral. Mr. Eyitayo’s body was carried to his hometown in Oyo for burial in the most disrespectful manner, the source said.

“If you see the way they carried his body home. They couldn’t even get a proper vehicle to deliver his body to his family.

“They got a rickety vehicle. On their way to Oyo State, the vehicle conveying his body was so old that its tyres bust twice before it got to the town. And they spent several hours on the road fixing the tyres.

“His body was not even put in a casket. He was taken home for burial in a body bag made of jute sack. The type used for keeping rice.

Babs Animashaun, the lawyer who represented the family, declined to discuss details of the negotiation when reached for comments. He however said the family has moved on after settlement.

“That is strictly confidential between the parties. I cannot share the details of the settlement with the public,” he said.

“The family agreed to settle with the SSS out of court. They can never be happy with what has happened but at least they were able to move on. That is what is important,” he added.

The SSS could not be reached for comments. The agency does not have a spokesperson, neither does it have an email address or phone number through which it can be contacted. Before the current administration, the SSS used to have a spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, but the current leadership of the agency led by Lawal Daura, has refused to appoint one or disclose how it should be officially contacted for enquiries.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited the palace of the Oba of Lagos to ask about his role in the saga, officials requested a formal letter. About two weeks after the letter was delivered, the monarch has not responded or agreed to a formal interview.

2000 Nigerians Are Being Tortured In Chinese Prison, Former Prisoner Says.

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Some 2000 Nigerians are currently living in squalid conditions and being tortured in a Chinese prison, according to a prisoner who was recently released and returned to Nigeria.

 

The prisoner was held in Dong-guan Prison for more than three months and diligently took notes on the conditions of the prison and prisoners throughout his sentence. He took his prison notes back to Nigeria and handed them to The Guardian, which published a report on his notes on Monday.

 

According to the whistleblower, most of the 2000 Nigerian prisoners were charged with drug-related offenses, some of which are punishable by death in China, and are subjected to torture on a daily basis. Specifically, prison officers shock prisoners with an electric device for up to two hours at a time.  The former prisoner said that such treatment has caused mental health problems for some prisoners.

 

In his notes, the source also said that Nigerians and other Africans are treated “like animals,” worse than other prisoners.

 

“We are tortured daily with [an] electric device. The worst part is that it is our fellow prisoners officials use to carry out this torture,” he explained. “When we ask why they do this to us, they say it is because we are blacks, our government [doesn’t] care for us and our government can’t do anything to them.”

 

He revealed that prisoners are also subjected to forced labor.

 

“We are made to work long hours in [a] factory every day without any salary being paid to us. Yet, we are not well-fed. The only thing left for them to do is to exterminate us or put us in the gas chamber just as the Nazis did to the Jewish people,” he said.

 

He lamented that many foreign prisoners from countries such as Ethiopia, Senegal, Iran, Jordan, Colombia and Yemen have returned to their home countries due to the intervention of their respective home governments, but this has yet to be the case with Nigerian prisoners.

 

News of this Nigerian national’s poor treatment in Dong-guan Prison comes just three days after Chijioke Obioha, 38, was executed in Singapore for possession of cannabis.

OPC Tortures Pastor Over Wife’s Death In Ogun

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A pastor with the Christ Apostolic Church, Onigbogbo, Atan Ota, Ogun State, Pastor Olusegun Omoniyi, is critically ill after he was allegedly abducted and tortured by some members of the Oodua People’s Congress.

It was learnt that 45-year-old Omoniyi had also gone into hiding after he was rescued by policemen from the Sango Area Command. He said he feared for his life as the OPC members had threatened to recapture and kill him.

Punch Metro learnt that the OPC members were acting on the instruction of some relatives of Omoniyi’s late wife, Omolade, who had vowed to deal with him over the sickness and subsequent
death of the woman.

Punch correspondent gathered that Omoniyi and his wife married in 1999 and had a set of twins in 2000. However, the twins were said to have died shortly after they were born.

It was learnt that since the death of the children, the couple had not been able to have any child, which resulted in pressures from Omolade’s family.

Early 2015, the wife was reported to have left the cleric despite entreaties from church leaders and relatives of the husband.

Punch Metro gathered that seven months after separating from the husband, the 42-year-old was attacked by a strange illness.

Omoniyi said, “She had told me that her family members didn’t want her to continue living with me, but I begged her to stay.

“However, sometime in 2015, I went for a church meeting when some of her family members came. They took away her property. Attempts at getting her family members to reconcile us were abortive as they said she had made her choice.

“However, in July 2015, I was told she was sick. On the instruction of the church leadership, I went with some other elders to give her N50,000. But her brother did not allow us to see her, saying I should go alone to see her. We refused.

“On February 6, 2016, while I was leading a church programme around 10am, four men entered the church. Two of them were OPC members and the others – Adebayo and Stephen – were my wife’s relatives. While I was on the altar, the two OPC members said they had come to take me away.

“I told them that I would not follow them since I did not know where they were taking me to. They beat me up and one of them showed me a gun and said if I didn’t cooperate, he would kill me.”

Omoniyi said he was thrown into a car belonging to his wife’s eldest brother, adding that he was blindfolded throughout the journey.

The cleric explained that he later found himself in Ijoko, the camp of the OPC, saying the men tortured him before taking him inside a clinic where his wife had been admitted.

“In one of the rooms, I saw my wife on the bed. Her legs were swollen and there was blood all over the place. I asked her why she left the house and what I did wrong.

“While talking to her, my in-laws started beating me. I have never suffered such torture. I told my wife right there that God would judge our matter,” he added.

He said he sneaked into the clinic’s toilet where he made a call to a church leader informing him of his location, adding that the latter informed the police who stormed the area and rescued him was learnt that Omolade died the following day.

The church leadership was reported to have sent a delegation to condole with the family, and Omoniyi also accompanied the men.

It was learnt that the deceased’s family allegedly attacked the group, insisting that Omoniyi must take his wife’s corpse with him.

“To appease them, I told them to find where they would bury her and I would bear part of the cost, but they refused.

“As I was leaving, they blocked the road and said they would burn the two vehicles we took there. The OPC members, who had earlier abducted me, came and dragged me to where the corpse was.

“After beating me again, they put me on the corpse and said I must die with her. They put me in a car with the corpse. I couldn’t recognise anybody until I saw some policemen who rescued me the second time,” he said.

Omoniyi said he was taken to a private hospital, adding that the location was not disclosed to protect his life. He alleged that a top police officer was also backing his in-laws, saying he had gone into hiding for security reasons.

He lamented that his wife’s family had taken away his landed property, adding that his life was in danger.

Punch correspondent learnt that the matter had already got to the CAC supreme council and the church had not been able to resolve the case as Omolade’s eldest brother was a top pastor in the church.

Punch Metro saw petitions addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Area Commander, Sango-Ota, Officer-in-charge, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Abeokuta, among others.

The petitions called for the arrest of Omoniyi’s in-laws and the OPC members for the alleged abduction and torture.

Punch correspondent was told that nothing had been done on the petitions.

EFCC Doesn’t Torture Suspects- Magu

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 the first time in 13 years, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday opened the doors of its interrogation rooms and its cells to reporters to inspect.

Chairman of the anti-graft agency Ibrahim Magu said the Commission does not torture suspects because it is investigating non-violence crimes.

He added that the anti-graft agency had always put the interest of the country above any other consideration.

Magu, who personally conducted reporters round the EFCC cells and clinics for about an hour, asked Nigerians or organisations to feel free to go and inspect any detention facility of the commission in all parts of the country without notice.

He said: “I am telling you that our detention facility is one of the best in this country. I will be modest to say it is the best. You can look at the comfort we have provided for suspects, including state of the art toilet facilities.

“If you have any doubt, you can walk in to inspect our detention facility in Abuja or in any of our zonal offices at any time and without notice. We have nothing to hide at all.

“We did not tell all these suspects that you were coming for inspection, we wanted you to meet them in a natural state and form your opinion.

“We don’t torture people or suspects. Our kind of investigation is non-violence crime; we have no basis to torture people.

“We investigate financial crimes in line with international best practices. If the EFCC invites you, we must have done a lot of background check and all we will ask you is to corroborate our findings.

“After conducting the initial part of our investigation, we make sure we give bail to suspects. It is now left to these suspects to meet the conditions attached to the bail.”

He, however, said the commission was not opposed to criticisms.

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EFCC doesn’t torture suspects, says Magu

Woman, Neighbour Torture 16-Year-Old Housemaid With Iron

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A woman, Fatima Williams, and her neighbour, Waliu Yusuf, have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly brutalising a 16-year-old girl, identified only as Kemi, with a hot iron and electric cables.

Punch correspondent learnt that the Kemi was brought from Cotonou, Benin Republic.
She had been reportedly living with Williams, popularly called Alhaja, since January 2016 as a housemaid.

Williams’ apartment is on Soji Adepegba Close, Allen Avenue, Ikeja. It was gathered that the victim was allegedly tortured for not sweeping Williams’ compound last Thursday.

Punch Metro learnt that a resident informed the police and the suspects were arrested by the Ikeja Police Division on Friday, August 12.

A police source told Punch correspondent that the teenager had been admitted to the Police Cottage Hospital, Ikeja.

Kemi, who spoke with Punch correspondent in Yoruba, said, “On that day, Alhaja instructed me to sweep the compound. She also asked me to clean the windows and wash some clothes.

“I started with the washing and she went out. When she returned, she was angry that I had not swept the compound. She called the man to beat me up.”

Alhaja, a mother of four children who hails from Kwara State, said she got Yusuf to beat the girl for her obstinacy, adding that Kemi’s stubbornness had increased her (Alhaja’s) blood pressure.

She said, “The girl’s brother brought her to me on January 10, 2016. She usually stole things from the house. I kept reporting her to her brother and even asked him to come to pick her, but he refused; I got tired of the girl.

“She continued her rudeness and messed up the whole house. She also urinated on the bed. During all this trouble, my blood pressure got high. I had to use a BP machine in the house. I called and spoke to her like a child, but she would not listen. I usually gave her the food I ate. I gave her brother N40,000 in January.

“When she got me angry on that day, I was tired of beating her and I called Waliu (Yusuf). He was using an iron. As he beat her, she held his clothes and the iron injured her.”

Twenty-five-year-old Yusuf said he had wanted to scare the victim with the iron when it injured her.

He said, “The girl went into the kitchen and brought an insecticide, threatening to kill herself. I then tried to take the substance away from her. She began to struggle with me. I started flogging her and she held on to my clothes.

“Meanwhile, I was ironing some that time. I used the iron to scare her to leave my clothes. That was how the iron fell on her. I only wanted to scare her away.”

The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the suspects at the command headquarters, Ikeja, said they would be charged to court at the end of investigation.

He said, “This is a case of child trafficking, child labour and child abuse as well as assault occasioning harm. The suspects will be arraigned in a court of law.”

Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Gets 8 Years In Jail For Beating A Prisoner

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A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Monday to eight years in federal prison for supervising the backroom beating of a jail visitor who fellow guards testified was handcuffed on the ground and covered in blood.

U.S. District Judge George King ordered former Sgt. Eric Gonzalez taken into custody immediately.

Gonzalez, a 15-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was found guilty of deprivation of civil rights, conspiracy to violate constitutional rights and falsification of records in the 2011 beating of Gabriel Carrillo. Four other deputies have been convicted in the case and await sentencing, while a fifth was indicted in the case last month. Nigeria take a clue.

Nigerian Army Identifies Soldiers who Tortured Civilian in Nasarawa

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Authorities of the Nigerian Army on Wednesday, said it had identified the soldiers who violated the rights of a member of the public in Mararaba, Nasarawa state, on Aug. 8.

Brig.-Gen. Yusuf Shalangwa, Director, Legal Services, Nigerian Army, made this known in Abuja when the army appeared before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that on Aug. 8, a photograph of a man lying in the mud, with some soldiers standing over him was seen on the front page of a newspaper.

Consequently, NHRC carried out preliminary investigation and gave the army an ultimatum to
identify and produce the soldiers involved in the act.

“We have identified the soldiers involved in the violation of the rights of the man and we
hope to take appropriate actions. The report of our investigations will be made available to the commission. We will give everyone a fair hearing,” Shalangwa said.

He assured that no one found culpable in the torture of the civilian would be spared after.

In his remarks, Executive Secretary of NHRC, Prof. Bem Angwe, emphasised the need for the commission and the military to chart a way in ensuring that rights of citizens were not violated by soldiers or other persons.

“We will have about 300 soldiers for training on human rights; we are sure that after the training the misconception on the issue of human rights violations will be brought to an end,’’ he said.

The executive secretary said the commission was informed that the victim had been attacked by angry youths in Mararaba before the soldiers intervened.

Couple Arrested For Defiling And Battering 13 Year Old Girl

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A Warri based couple, Mr and Mrs Francis Onyeji have been arrested by men of the Ekpan police station in Delta state for defiling and assaulting 13 year old girl pictured above.

According to ThisDay,  the 13 year old JSS 2 girl was constantly subjected to sexual abuse by Mr Onyeji. When the wife, Chibuzor, who is the little girl’s aunt found out, she battered the girl, accusing her she was lying against her husband.

Mr Onyeji, an offshore worker with an engineering company based in Delta state, constantly gave the girl money after sleeping with her and begged her not to tell her Aunt. Recently, the girl took the money he gave her to school where it was was stolen. She raised an alarm and accused her fellow classmates of stealing her N1,500. To ensure that she was actually telling the truth, the school delegated a teacher to follow her home to see her guardians. On getting home, she was interrogated by her aunt and she confessed that Mr Onyeji gave her the money after sleeping with her.
“When my aunt asked me where I got the money from, and l told her it was her husband who gave me the money after sleeping with me, she said it is a was a lie”.
Mrs Onyeji was angry with her, saying she was telling lies against her husband. After the teacher left, the woman descended on the girl. She used hot knife to inflict injuries on the girls buttocks, back, leg and hand.
Mrs Onyeji was arrested and charged before an Ekpan magistrate court on Monday July 6th for physical abuse on the minor. She was however granted bail on compassionate ground as she is a nursing mother of  three months old baby.
Mr Onyeji is currently on the run . The state police have launched a manhunt.
Mrs Onyeji is still in police custody after youths in the area threatened they will do to her what she did to the little girl if she returned home. The little girl is currently in the custody of the Delta state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare and the Nigerian Child Welfare Fund (a non-governmental organisation and will be reunited to her biological parents after the case has been concluded.
The case comes up again on July 21st.

How I Was Chained, Tortured In The Bush By My Abductors – Rescued Ondo Regent

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For two weeks, serene Akungba Akoko in Akoko South West area of Ondo State stood still, no thanks to an abomination committed by some gun-wielding youths who abducted the regent of the community, Princes Oluwatoyin Omosowon, and three of her aides.

The regent and her aides  were abducted on their way from a public function in Akure, the Ondo state capital. She was ambushed on the Ose/ Owo Expressway and forced to alight from her vehicle and pushed
into their waiting vehicle and taken to an unknown destination.

Her vehicle, a Toyota Avensis, said to belong to Adekunle Ajasin University, which conveyed her and the aides, was later abandoned and two of her aides released, while they whisked the regent away with her driver.

  • Anger and protest

To show their anger, the people of the community staged a protest round the town, describing the incident as an abomination.

The town was thrown into confusion as markets, shops and stores remained closed, while academic activities in the university  were completely paralyzed.

Reports had it that the kidnappers a few days after the incident, requested for N20 million ransom before the regent could be released.

However, while the negotiation was on, security operatives were busy sniffing around to smoke out the kidnappers.

This, however, paid off last week when a combined team of security operatives burst the syndicate  responsible for the abduction.

Four other persons who were earlier kidnapped from different places, also breathed air of freedom as detectives stormed their hideout at Arimagija in the thick forest in Ose local government area of the state.

  • Those freed

Others freed included a corps member,  Azubuike Ijeoma, an Indian, Alex John Thekinathy, his orderly, Obute Sunday, and the regent’s driver, Aliu Abdujelili.

Speaking exclusively with South West Voice, the regent, who came back from  captivity with a bruised head, said she was tired of the throne, following the sad experience she went through in the hands of the kidnappers.

Omosowon, who became the regent in 2013,  declared:

“I am tired of the throne and I have said this several times. I want to return to my family in Lagos. I have on several occasions told the kingmakers and traditional chiefs in the town to help me out.”

On her ordeal in the hands of her abductors, the regent said she slept under a cocoa tree in the thick forest for the period of her incarceration.

  • Recounting her ordeal

She recounted her ordeal:

“They took us into the bush and we had to trek for hours before they took us to another location along Akure/Owo road in the middle of the night. They hit my head with an object and blood started gushing out asking us to lie on the floor.

We were taken to another location from there to another forest where they released my secretary and one security official and the kidnappers instructed them to go home and inform people about my abduction and brought another car which took us away from the place.

We were tortured and had to walk into a swampy place and river before getting to where we were kept and they demanded for N20 million as ransom. They told me that I have been delaying the process of selecting another king for the town and I should contact Mimiko to pay the ransom.

We were subjected to many tortures, many other victims were brought to the forest while some were either released or taken away to another place. I fasted for days praying to God to touch their heart but thank God the security operatives rescued us before they could carry out their threats.

It rained on me several days and I was drenched. I was blindfolded and only heard the voices of my abductors. We could not see their faces but their feet.

They chained my legs and arms. I prayed inside of me that l would not die by reciting the book of Psalms inside the bible.

When it was 3am, they took us inside the thick forest. I think the place is very close to a sawmill because I heard the sound of a big machine used to cut logs of wood. I became very scared. He said that I did not want the community to have another king and that am on the throne enjoying the dividends thereby depriving those who the seat is meant for.

He told me that they would spare my life if  I was able to pay what the person who sent them paid them to kill me. I pleaded with them that I did not know anything about the Obaship of the town and that if asked to abdicate the throne, I  would do so if an Oba is selected. I even told them that the Obaship matter is in court.

The second in command said I was instrumental to the delay in the filling of the vacant stool of the town. I was handcuffed all through and was with my driver. I had a terrible experience. I was maltreated for the two weeks I was detained in their den.

They gave me rice and Eba and bought drinks for me but most times, I refused their food and went into prayer and fasting.

Their gang leader showed me some respect as a regent and during my interaction with him he confessed that they went into the kidnapping business because there is no job.

I had the premonition that I will be released on Tuesday and I informed one of my abductors on Sunday and he just laughed and said it can only happen after my people had paid my ransom.  And to God be the glory I was set free on Tuesday. God is merciful and wonderful.’’

  • Corps member’s abduction

Vanguard learned that the corps member, Miss Ijeoma Azubuike, was abducted while she stood by the roadside to board a vehicle  to Lagos, after leaving the orientation camp.

Ijeoma, who graduated from Ekiti State University,  Ado Ekiti, and currently serving in Jigawa State, said she was travelling from Abuja to Lagos on May 3, which was a Sunday when she boarded a vehicle by the roadside.

“I never knew they were kidnappers. The experience was horrible. We were left in the rain. We slept on the floor. We were beaten and handcuffed.

After the driver picked me he drove some kilometers and suddenly the vehicle went into the bush and that was all I knew until I later discovered that where they took me to was their hideout. I must have been hypnotized.  On getting to their hideout, they ask me who are my parents and where they worked.

  • Calling my mother and demand for N10m ransom

“Later they called my mother and demanded for N10 million. They threatened that if the money is not paid they  will not see me again in life,’’ she said.

Also speaking when they visited the governor after they were released, an Indian, Alex John, said he had never gone through that excruciating experience in life. He said the kidnappers beat him several times when they asked him to give them the phone number of his friends who will pay the ransom.

Also, one of the suspects, Ikpen David, said he was not one of the kidnappers but the driver to the leader of the gang.

Ikpen said he was the one that dropped “Federal” at the point they were arrested, adding that  it was the head of the group that said he should carry him to Auchi and return the following day to pick him up.

“I took him from Auchi to Isan where he went to fortify himself spiritually.

The suspect said it was when he wanted to leave that night that ’Federal’ said he should sleep overnight because the road was dangerous.

Speaking on the release of the regent and others, the Director of Directorate of State Service, DSS, Mr Christian Ojobor, said all the victims, including the regent, were rescued from the kidnappers’ den at about 5am by his men and those of the Nigeria Army.

According to him, the victims were abducted  in different states, including Ondo, Rivers and Abuja, and kept in their hideout in Ondo State.

Man Accuses AIG Joseph Mbu Of Torture, Threat To Life

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Alhaji Suleiman Yerima, a Lagos-based foreign exchange dealer has accused the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, Lagos, Joseph Mbu, of directing policemen to torture him over a forex deal that went wrong.

The businessman said Mbu directed policemen from Zone 2 to torture him and one of the ways they tortured him was to dip his face into a bucket of water, a form of torture known as ‘water-boarding’, used to extract confessions from terrorists.

The man who has petitioned president Buhari said he was detained for 80 days by the police after he and a friend were picked up by the EFCC. He said his friend, a man named Uwem Antia was equally tortured and beaten. He claimed in his petition that Antia is lying critically ill in a Lagos hospital following several beatings and torture by the police which included ‘hanging him on a pole like a roasted chicken from 11pm till the early hours of the morning.’

He said, “Over 250 people are in EFCC detention cells; some have stayed for four months, some six months. EFCC did water boarding to me and Antia and it was because a friend reached former IG Suleiman Abba that I was not beaten but my life is in danger, the policemen and EFCC officials are out to kill me.”

Punch reports…

Yerima said that his ordeal began on March 3, 2015, when EFCC operatives phoned him that he was needed at their office in respect of a petition written against him and Antia by one Denis Ale and Mrs. Gladys Aginwa, both of Standard Chartered Bank, Lagos.

The FOREX dealer stated that he visited the EFCC office with Antia in company with his lawyers and was shown the petition, in which Ale alleged that he gave him N120m to source for dollars and that he had not fulfilled the bargain.

Yerima said, “I told the operatives that it was not N120m but N627m which they sent to Uwem Antia’s account with Zenith Bank. Antia, who is the Managing Director of Kafisto Oil and Gas Ltd., was the one that brought the customers to me and my duty was to source for dollars.

“When Mr. Antia confirmed the alert of N627m in his account, I gave them $1m in cash. The next day, Antia gave them the balance of $2.250m and both transactions were properly documented. During our interrogation, Antia supported our statements with documentary proof of evidence and clearly stated in his written and oral statements that I had given him the balance of $2.250m, which he delivered to Denis Ale.”

In spite of Antia’s statement and evidence exonerating him from any wrongful act in the transaction, the businessman said one Mr. Adeola, Head of BFF at the EFCC, still ordered that he and Antia should be detained.

Yerima stated that they were denied bail and access to their families and lawyers by the EFCC Director of Operations, IIiyasu Kwarbai, and that when they challenged the treatment, they were rushed to a magistrate court on March 12, where the commission obtained a detention order for 30 days.

He said, “On the evening of March 13 around 8pm, policemen from Zone 2, led by one DSP Dantoro, came to the EFCC detention facility. Antia was released to the officers on the instruction of Kwarbai and he was handcuffed by the officers and his legs chained.

“The officers started beating him mercilessly in the presence of EFCC officials, the policemen later took him away to their torture chamber at Zone 2 and continued the torture under the directive of Mr. Joseph Mbu and supervised by Dantoro.”

But the EFCC denied detaining Yerima and Antia for extended period of time. The commission’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, who said he was not aware of Yerima’s case, noted that the anti-graft agency did not keep suspects in its custody unnecessarily.

When contacted by Punch, Joseph Mbu could not be reached for comment.

Source: Punch

Sex Slavery Pushes ISIL Victims To Suicide – AI

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Women and girls from Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority forced into sexual slavery by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group have committed suicide or tried to, rights group Amnesty International said.

The London-based rights group said on Tuesday, women faced torture, rape, forced marriage and were “sold” or given as “gifts” to ISIL fighters or their supporters in Iraq and Syria.

“Hundreds of Yazidi women and girls have had their lives shattered by the horrors of sexual violence and sexual slavery in ISIL captivity,” Amnesty’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser, Donatella Rovera, said in a statement.

“Many of those held as sexual slaves are children, girls aged 14, 15 or even younger,” Rovera added.

Based on interviews with over 40 former captives,the Amnesty report ,  Yezidi women and girls face harrowing sexual violence , said fearful of rape, some of the women had tried to kill themselves.

A 19-year-old named Jilan committed suicide out of fear she would be raped, Amnesty quoted her brother as saying.

A girl who was held with her but later escaped confirmed the account, saying: “One day we were given clothes that looked like dance costumes and were  told to bathe and wear those clothes. Jilan killed herself in the bathroom.”

“She cut her wrists and hanged herself. She was very beautiful; I think she knew she was going to be taken away by a man and that is why she killed herself.”

Wafa, a former captive told Amnesty how she and her sister attempted to end their lives after their captor threatened them with forced marriage.

#Gambia: 20 years of President Yayah Jammeh in power – Djibril Balde

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Since his accession to power by coup d’etat on 22 July 1994, President Yayah Jammeh has been accused of ruling the Gambia with an iron fist. After 20 years in office, his record has been tarnished by allegations of serious human rights violations including, restriction of the freedom of expression and opinion, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, executions and disappearance.

On 22 July 2014, to mark the 20th anniversary of President Jammeh’s accession to power, Gambian refugees, along with Senegalese, Gambian and international human rights organisations held a sit-in in front of the Gambian Embassy in Senegal. A Gambian human rights activist said the demonstration “was a success, it highlighted … the mistreatment Gambians are going through…All those who gathered here are in one way mistreated, seriously tortured, wrongfully imprisoned, or escaped an assignation attempt.”
The protesters were calling on the African and international community to take a greater interest in the deteriorating human rights situation in the Gambia. They were calling for the Gambian government to allow the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on torture and summary, extrajudicial and arbitrary executions to conduct the mission they had initially scheduled from 12-18 August 2014, but later unilaterally postponed.
Read the full blog here.