Biafra: Nigeria President Buhari Must Meet Nnamdi Kanu, Says Former Leader

 
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari must meet with Biafran secessionist leader Nnamdi Kanu before violence between the army and separatists escalates into a full-blown conflict, according to Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Speaking to Newsweek in London, Obasanjo—who served as Nigeria’s first elected head of state from 1999 to 2007—says that the heavy-handed tactics of the Nigerian state against pro-Biafra activists, a secessionist movement that is pushing for an independent state, have not suceeded, and a more conciliatory approach is needed.
“I don’t see anything wrong in that [Buhari meeting with Kanu]. I would not object to that; if anything, I would encourage it,” Obasanjo tells
Nigeria has witnessed an uptick in pro-Biafra sentiment in recent years, resulting in deadly clashes between the military and secessionists.
Declaring itself an independent republic in southeast Nigeria in 1967, Biafra was reintegrated into Nigeria in 1970 after a three-year civil war in which at least 1 million people died. Obasanjo fought alongside Buhari on the Nigerian side in the war. Kanu, a British-Nigerian dual national, has risen to prominence as the leader of modern pro-Biafra separatists. Kanu was arrested in Nigeria in October 2015 and held for almost two years without going to trial. He was bailed in April but faces trial for charges of treason.
Kanu’s backers accused the Nigerian military of invading his home and killing supporters earlier this week—a charge the military denied.
While Buhari has largely avoided speaking publicly on the Biafra issue, the Nigerian military has come under scrutiny for what right groups say is a heavy-handed response to protests by Kanu’s group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and other separatists.
Nigerian security forces killed at least 150 pro-Biafra supporters between August 2015 and November 2016—including some in extrajudicial executions, according to a report by Amnesty International.
The number included at least 60 people who were killed at a memorial gathering in May 2016, when security forces raided homes and a church where IPOB members were sleeping. The Nigerian military denied Amnesty International’s allegations and said IPOB members had used “unjustifiable violence” against soldiers. 
Nigerian soldiers were recently deployed to the southeastern state of Abia, where Kanu is currently living. IPOB members alleged that soldiers surrounded Kanu’s home on Sunday and killed several people, but the Nigerian Army said in a statement that IPOB members had blocked the road while army vehicles were on patrol, and had thrown stones at soldiers.
The statement said the soldiers fired in the air to disperse the IPOB members and that no one was killed. The army shared a video which it said supported their account.
Obasanjo says that the army’s “heavy boot” response to pro-Biafra sentiment is “not the solution,” but adds that the secession craved by IPOB is not the way forward either.
The former president, who was also military head of state in Nigeria from 1976–1979, says economic
development in the country is the only way to solve the issue. Some Igbo leaders have complained
that President Buhari, who hails from northern Nigeria, has prioritized the development of other parts of the country to their detriment.
“We need to satisfy the youth in job creation, in wealth creation, in giving them a better, fulfilled life, in giving them hope for the future,” says Obasanjo. “There’s no easy way out.”
The Biafran war erupted in 1967, after Odumegwu Ojukwu, a Nigerian military officer, declared independence. Biafra was largely populated by the Igbos, a mostly Christian ethnic group; Ojukwu's declaration of independence came on the back of pogroms against Igbos in northern Nigeria, which is dominated by the mostly Muslim Hausa ethnic group.
Nigeria, which had a much larger military force, blockaded the Biafran order, leading to a famine that sparked worldwide condemnation when images and footage of starving Biafran children seeped out to the international media.             
Ethnic tensions have again been boiling over recently in Nigeria, a country of more than 180 million people and hundreds of ethnic groups. A coalition of youth groups ordered Igbos to leave northern Nigeria in June; while the demand was rubbished by the Nigerian government, none of the leaders of the groups were arrested.
Obasanjo, a senior Nigerian commander during the war, says Nigeria must avoid allowing the current tensions to escalate into another conflict. “Those who fought in the war in Biafra will not want to fight any other war," he says. “I have fought one war too many in Nigeria; I don’t want to see another."

Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu The Appeal court judgement on the case read by Lord Denning in Agbor v. Metropolitan Police Commissioner (reported in the London Weekly Law Reports, Vol. 1 of 1968), makes a compelling reading. Lord Denning said …”There is a civil war flaring in Nigeria. Sparks from it have come down in London. Some have landed on No. 35 Woodstock Road, London, NW 11. In 1965, the house was bought by the government of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. It was occupied by one of their senior officers. In 1966, a Federal Military Government was set up in Nigeria. It was then arranged that an officer of the Federal Government of Nigeria should occupy the ground floor of No. 35 Woodstock road, while the first floor of No. 35 Woodstock road, remained occupied by an officer of the Eastern region. Afterwards, civil war broke up in Nigeria. The Eastern Region seceded. It calls itself the Republic of Biafra. But this house remained occupied as before. The Federal officer was on the ground floor. The Biafran officer was on the first floor. “Now, we come to January of this year, 1969. On the ground floor, there was a Mohammed, who was on the Diplomatic staff of the Federal Government of Nigeria. On the first floor was a Mr Onuma, who regarded himself as being employed by the Republic of Biafra. Mr Mohammed on the ground floor decided to leave. But the Nigerian High Commission still intended to keep possession of the ground floor. They arranged for decorators to come in. They intended, after the decorators had finished, to put another of their officers at the ground floor. On the very day Mr Mohammed left, the decorators came in. But they left at 9.00 o’clock at night. They left the place locked up. But the Biafrans on the top floor had been keeping watch. They knew that Mr Mohammed had gone. They had themselves got a key of the ground floor. They got into the ground floor and installed a family of the Biafrans into it. They put in Mrs Agbor, her husband and six children. The family occupied the ground floor. An hour later, two men came from the Nigerian High Commission. They tried to get into the ground floor. But the Biafrans kept them out. On the next day, January 5, 1969, some 20 Nigerians came and sought to turn out the Biafrans but the police persuaded them to go away. The Biafrans then went to their Solicitors, Linklaters and Paines. They wrote to the Nigerian High Commission, which did nothing to evict Mrs Agbor and her family. Then, suddenly on March 7, early in the morning, the police came and told her she must leave. They said they were authorised by the Home Office on behalf of the Nigerian High Commission. The police officers bundled her out of the house, including her husband and children. Her Solicitors issued a writ on her behalf to challenge this eviction. They asked for an order to restore her back to the house. The judge in chambers refused to make such an order. They then went to the court of appeal. The appeal court ruled in favour of Mrs Agbor. Said Lord Denning:” The plain fact here is that Mr and Mrs Agbor’s claim of right to be entitled to the the possession of the ground floor of the house. They entered by stealth. They used a key that had been left behind. But they did it under a claim of right. It may be that they had no such right as they claimed. But even so, the proper way to evict her was by application to a court of law. No one is entitled to take possession of premises by strange hand or with a multitude of people. This has been forbidden since the statute of Richard 11 against forcible entry…The police must not take laws into their hands. If she must be turned out, it has to be by due process of law and not by action of the executive…In my judgement, this court should make an interim order that she be restored to her possession of this flat. I would allow the appeal accordingly.”

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/11/biafra-defeated-nigeria-london-court/

Federal govt asks ECOWAS Court to throw out Nnamdi Kanu’s $800m suit

 
 The Federal Government has told the Community Court of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, sitting in Abuja to throw out a fundamental human rights enforcement suit filed by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.
According to the Federal Government, Kanu who was granted bail by the Federal High Court, has allegedly escaped from his ongoing trial and for this reason, the judgment of the ECOWAS Court on the suit would serve no purpose.
The IPOB leader had filed the suit on March 3, 2016 demanding $800 million as compensation from the Federal Government for his alleged unlawful arrest in 2015 and continued detention.
Lawyer to the Federal Government, Mrs Maimuna Shiru, stated in an objection to the suit that Kanu, having been granted bail by the Federal High Court in Abuja where he is being tried alongside others on charges of treasonable felony, on April 25, 2017, it was unnecessary for the ECOWAS Court to adjudicate on the IPOB leader’s suit.
Shiru further explained that Kanu having allegedly jumped the bail granted him by the Federal High Court, Abuja, event had overtaken his suit.
The three grounds of the application stated, “Having regards to Article 88(2 ) of the Rules of the Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, this suit has become devoid of purpose and unnecessary to adjudicate upon.
“The result of a judicial decision in this suit will serve no purpose. There are no live issues in controversy between the parties for the court to determine.”
Also, Thomas Etah, who deposed to an affidavit filed in support of the Nigerian Government’s motion, pointed out that the IPOB leader filed his notice of registration before the ECOWAS Court on March 3, 2016, while the plaintiff was granted bail by the Federal High Court on April 25.
He added, “That the plaintiff/ respondent has now jumped bail and his whereabouts are unknown.
“That further to paragraph 8 above, it is public knowledge that the Federal High Court of Nigeria has ordered Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe and two other sureties to produce the plaintiff/respondent or forfeit their bail bonds.
“That the plaintiff/respondent and the group he represents, the Indigenous People of Biafra have been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the defendant/applicant (Federal Government).
“That this suit before this honourable court has been overtaken by events and has become devoid of purpose.” 
Lawyer to Kanu and IPOB, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had earlier told the ECOWAS Court that he needed to respond to the application by the Federal Government.
According to Ejiofor, the Federal Government deliberately delayed the filing of the motion in order to frustrate the hearing of the case.
Ejiofor’s claims were, however, denied by the Federal Government’s lawyer who insisted that the motion was filed early enough.
However, the presiding judge of the ECOWAS Court panel, Justice Hameye Mahalmadane, said that the court paper filed by the Federal Government had to be interpreted to the panel members who were all French-speaking.
He adjourned until February 7 for hearing.

Nigeria: 'We Have a Mandate to Instill High Ethical Standards in Online Journalism'

 

As the newly elected president and also a member of the board of trustees on OPAN - Nigeria's premier association of digital/new media publishers and entrepreneurs, he has the task of achieving OPAN's vision which is to restore eroding credibility, professionalism and trust once enjoyed by the digital media when it started over a decade ago.

OPAN's goal is to instill the required high standards of quality, content and professionalism in the internet news media.Founded in May 2010 and duly registered at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 14th of November 2011 by some discerning professionals who felt the time had come to define standards for the fastest growing engagement platform of our generation, the idea of OPAN was conceived after founders recognized and understood the shift in the mode and means of social engagement, disruptions and changes that was coming which would overlap with current laws and rules guiding conduct and practice and therefore sought to create a self regulatory body that would provide the means-tested standards for users and practitioners to operate by.

It took founders many years to get the model running due to wide consultations amongst stakeholders, the public and private entities as well as learning from similar international bodies.

 

As a self-funded organisation, OPAN is modeled after similar international media associations with a mandate to self regulate members to maintain high ethical standards in digital publishing and uphold the sacred values and principles of journalism.

Ogannah through THEWILL has contributed immensely to the acceptability and credibility that internet media enjoys presently in the country with dozens of quality reporting and breaking news to its credit.

He was one of the very first to report the death of former President Musa Yar'Adua, who died in office on May 10, 2010 and the first to exclusively report on May 12, 2010, the international arrest and detention of a former governor of Delta State and highly influential member of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief James Ibori on charges of graft. Recently, THEWILL exclusively unmasked the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) as owner of the $43m found in an Ikoyi luxury apartment by the EFCC.

A graduate of the renowned University of Benin with a Bachelors Degree in English and Literature, Ogannah as most people who know him prefer to call him, has worked in the media space throughout his professional career, starting as a political reporter with Thisday newspaper and then rising to the position of special assistant to the chairman of 

the firm until he voluntarily resigned in 2006.

Speaking recently while briefing representatives of the media on the association's upcoming Annual New Media Conference billed to hold in February 2018, Ogannah highlighted some crucial points, stating: "At inception, the internet news media was highly respected and revered by the public for its doggedness, fearlessness and resilience in bringing to light events and news that ordinarily would never be published by the traditional and establishment backed print media because of the influence that powerful public and private sector figures have over their owners and top editors.

For the public then, the independent internet media (we were often called internet warriors) was the only trustworthy source for untainted and unbiased reporting. Sadly, that same unfaltering public trust is fast eroding."

"Today, every tom dick and harry is a news site blogger or digital media entrepreneur or about to open shop without understanding the basic tenets of journalism (Truth, Trust and fairness). They write poorly, publish fake and disseminate unsubstantiated information, lack the capacity to create original content, plagiarise works of others, extort and blackmail people with threats to publish stories about them that are often times fake amongst several other odious practices that have brought damage to the credibility of the genre and threatening to destroy the hard and noble work of the pioneers of this space.    

"In fact, because of these unscrupulous practices by these misfits there have been growing calls from the public for something to be done urgently to curb the madness and chaos and it is that call that I am taking on headlong as President of OPAN.

"OPAN's Annual New Media Conference, slated for February 2018, is the platform amongst other initiatives that we intend to use to begin the debate because it brings every one to the table."

"OPAN has severally voiced its openness to work with the federal legislative and executive arms of government to enact an enforceable law that is fair and just and does not impede the independence of the

media in anyway whatsoever."The battle has just began but it must be won!"

Biafra: I am entitled to $800 million from Nigerian government – Nnamdi Kanu

 
The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has said that despite being granted bail by the Federal High Court in Abuja where he is being prosecuted alongside others on charges of treasonable felony, he is still entitled to the $800m compensation for his alleged unlawful arrest and detention in 2015.
This is contained in his response to the motion filed by the Federal Government asking the Community Court of the Economic Community of West African States sitting in Abuja to dismiss a fundamental human rights enforcement suit filed by the IPOB leader.
Kanu had filed the suit on March 3, 2016 demanding $800m as compensation from the Federal Government for his alleged unlawful arrest in 2015 and detention.
But the Federal Government, through its lawyer, Mrs. Maimuna Shiru, filed its motion on November 13, stating that Kanu having been granted bail by the Federal High Court in Abuja on April 25, 2017, and allegedly jumped bail, the judgment of the ECOWAS Court on th
But Kanu, through his lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, objected to the Federal Government’s motion contending that granting bail to the IPOB leader was just a partial satisfaction of prayers sought in the suit.
He maintained that the ECOWAS Court had the power to grant his client the $800m compensation sought since the IPOB leader’s rights had been violated.
Ejiofor stated in his written address, “We submit therefore that the court has powers to order for payment of compensatory damages when found that the plaintiff’s right has been violated.”
e suit would serve no purpose.

THE decision of the Borno State Government to convert the home of Muhammad Yusuf, the late founder of Boko Haram into a museum is a welcome development. However, certain issues need to be put to rest in actualising this laudable project. First, we must agree that the Boko Haram insurgency has become a big part of the history, not only of Borno State and the North East region but of the entire Nigerian nation and the Lake Chad sub-region. The insurgency started soon after its founder, Ustaz Muhammad Yusuf, was killed while in government security custody in Maiduguri on 30th May 2009.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/12/bornos-proposed-boko-haram-museum/

CRIME: Terrorists plotting to bomb Abuja – US, UK

 
 

 Latest news report as the British and the United States governments have warned their citizens of terrorist groups’ threat to carry out bomb attacks in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, during the Yuletide.
Meanwhile in its latest foreign travel advice to British nationals, the country’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated that it would raise the terrorism threat alert in Nigeria during the festive periods.
Around 117,000 British citizens visit Nigeria each year, according to the FCO.
The US government warned its citizens not to travel to Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa and Yobe till the end of the year.

“The risk of terrorist attack increases around religious festivals; so (the threat alert) will be elevated
in the run-up to and throughout the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Terrorist groups have threatened to conduct bombings and attacks in the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) area during this period.
“You (British nationals) should avoid places where crowds gather, including religious gatherings and places of worship, markets, shopping malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, transport hubs and camps for displaced people,” the United Kingdom said in a statement posted on the FCO website.
Last week, the United States Embassy in Nigeria issued a similar warning titled, ‘Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Holiday Security Reminder’.
“The US Mission urges all US citizens to exercise caution in and around shopping centres, malls, markets, hotels, places of worship, restaurants, bars, and other places where crowds gather in and around the Federal Capital Territory, from now through the Christmas and New Year’s holiday season. Terrorist groups have threatened to conduct bombings and attacks in this area during this period.
“The US Mission remains concerned about potential attacks in the states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa and Yobe. Travellers are urged to avoid those states through the end of the year.
“Review your personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates. Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security,” the US Embassy warned.

New Boko Haram strategy focuses on fortress towns in Nigeria

 

After eight years of conflict with Boko Haram, Nigeria has a new strategy to protect its citizens from the terrorist group: fortress towns.

Some of the nearly 2 million displaced people who have fled rural areas in northeast Nigeria now will be housed in fortified towns, ringed by farms, with the rest of the countryside effectively left to fend for itself.

This new vision for the Borno state is a stark admission of the harsh reality on the ground.
For two years, the military and government have said Boko Haram is all but defeated, and the remnants are being mopped up.
However, the military is largely unable to control territory beyond the cities and towns it has wrested back from Boko Haram. 
Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno state, said it was not possible for people to live in small villages.  There’s beauty in numbers, there’s security in numbers. So our target is to congregate all the people in five major urban settlements and provide them with means of livelihood, education, health care and, of course, security,” he told Reuters. “It’s a long-term solution, certainly.”
The plan for the eastern part of the state, centered on the town of Bama, is intended as a pilot scheme to be rolled out in other parts of Borno if it is successful.
Vigilantes, currently members of a group known as the Civilian Joint Task Force, will become agricultural rangers, the governor said.
Aided by Nigerian security forces, they will aim to secure and patrol a 3-mile radius around each garrison town where people can farm.
Peter Lundberg, the United Nations Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, who heads the organization’s response in the northeast, told Reuters that the reconstruction of Bama town, the second biggest in the state, was “logical.”
Even so, sentiment amongst the displaced is mixed.   It is not clear how the returnees will be housed. There are already 15,000 people in a crowded camp for displaced local residents set up by the military.
The U.N. had planned to move them into new shelters that would hold 30,000 people, but the military said it could not oversee two camps simultaneously, U.N. and military officials told Reuters. The government has announced plans to build 3,000 homes in the Bama area. But there are concerns about how people sent to the town will manage, since many did not originally live there.
“It’s one thing to move people to Bama,” said Lundberg. “Unless the engine of the economy can restart, the risk is that people are moving back to places where they will become very dependent (on aid).”
Aid workers said the line between the fortified towns and the dangerous countryside means that people have a choice: live in virtual quarantine, or return to their homes in the countryside, where Boko Haram roam, and be treated by security forces as potential insurgency sympathizers.
“You’re imprisoned, but you’re safe,” said one senior relief worker to Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. “If you prefer your own life you can do it on the outside.”
Reuters reports that Boko Haram’s recent attacks, including a suicide bombing that killed at least 50 in a mosque in Adamawa state last week, are the “last kicks of a dying horse,” Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed said last Sunday.
On Saturday, suicide bombers  killed at least 13 people in the town of Biu and injured 53 others.