Sahara Reporters Latest News Thursday 1st August 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 01/08/19
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target=_blank>Peeling Waste To Wealth Through Innovation
Figure 1 Heap of crudely tried cassava peels
Figure 2: Old Cassava dump at Ojai-Apata, a small agrarian community in Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi state
Figure 3: Amina Hamidu
Figure 4: The fine mash of Cassava Peels
Figure 5: The Grating Machine
Figure 6: The Pressing Machine
Figure 7: Agata Ainoko
Figure 8: The Pulverizing Machine
Figure 9: The sifting Machine
Figure 10: The Fryer
Figure 11: Bird fed with HQCP
Figure 13: Herder and his Cattle on a Farmland
Figure 14: Ausmus Uhuoto Akomodi with his cattle
Figure 15: Birds fed with HQCP
Figure 16: Lydia Oyewole
Figure 1: Heap of crudely tried cassava peels
The smell of stale fufu, a staple food made from cassava, permeates the air around Ojai-Apata, a small agrarian community in Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi state. Two truckloads of cassava, on average, are transported out of the village every day, says Ali Ogalagwe, the Manager of Synergos Cassava Peels factory.
Just behind the Synergos factory is a heap of wasted cassava peels that could have translated into good money for the peasant, rural women in the community. But there they lay, like a mountain of dried wood, causing severe air pollution.
Lydia Oyewole, an environmental expert, says before Synergos’ factory, the villagers pile the brown covering of cassava tubers in different corners of the village. “Before, you can’t even stand in the community because of the smell from cassava peels,” Oyewole says as the car stops in front of the sheltered space that serves as Synergos’ processing factory.
Figure 2: Old Cassava dump at Ojai-Apata, a small agrarian community in Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi state
Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, with about 19% of the global production coming out of the country. According to World Atlas, Nigeria produced over 47 million metric tonnes in 2013. 20.1% (9.6 million metric tons) of this production value is lost as waste. At N200 per 50kg bag, N38.4 billion is being lost as waste.
When this waste product is processed, the value addition increases the price per pack. A bag of High-Quality Cassava Peels (HQCP) sells at almost 7 times the cost of the raw unprocessed peels. A 25kg bag sells at N1,250, while 50kg bag sells at N2,500. This, no doubt, has enormous financial gain for the people and of course, a ripple effect on the economy.
Frying garri, a famous Nigerian cassava flacks, is a family trade for Amina Hamidu, a mother of five. She learnt it from her mother, but for more than 30 years in the business, she disposes of the peeled back of the cassava tubers. To her, they are waste and hold no value. Occasionally, Amina says, other villagers pick up the peels to feed their domestic animal; mostly goats.
Figure 3: Amina Hamidu
But, Adeniyi Adeniran, a consultant and animal scientist, says feeding the raw, unprocessed peels to restricted animals can be poisonous both to the animal and humans who consume the flesh.
“Under natural feeding system,” he begins. “Animals have an inbuilt mechanism that helps them check themselves if they start to taste a toxic feed. So, they will eat as much as it is not harmful to them. The challenge comes when animals are confined and are feed under zero-grazing— when the feed is bought to them. The animals have no choice; they have to eat it. Small ruminates in particular if they eat beyond a certain threshold of the peels (unprocessed), they begin to lose their hair on their body because it is toxic to their system and chances are that residues from the cyanide can remain in the meat when the animal is slaughtered.”
Technology for High-Quality Cassava Peels (HQCP)
Figure 4: The fine mash of Cassava Peels
The majority of cassava processors are ignorant of the economic value of these peels. “You can only produce garri and fufu from the cassava, and nothing else,” a local cassava processor in Ogun State told Premium Times in a recent report. Contrary to this claim, not only can the white, fibre part of the cassava tuber be converted to varieties of products, the peels are also of economic value.
Apart from the vast economic waste in disposing tonnes of Cassava by-product, it constitutes a great deal of environmental pollution. The rotten wastes produce a nauseating smell that pollutes the surrounding air. Empirically, experts say the cyanic acid in cassava can also cause water pollution. Adeniran says when cassava decomposes, the toxins in it get into the soil, which can be washed down through erosion and pollutes surrounding wells and water bodies.
Figure 5: The Grating Machine
In some areas, the peels are sun-dried on bare floors for a period of two to three days. This method can only be done during the dry season and fed to ruminant animals, such as goats and cows alone. ILRI says this crude method of drying is poisonous because of the aflatoxin, poisonous fungi found on crops, content. But it is also neither profitable nor can it be feed to monogastric animals.
“As a result,” the research institute finds, “farmers and feed industry do not have access to process peels at the desired quality and sufficient quantity.”
In solving this problem, scientists from CGIAR, the world’s most extensive global agricultural innovation, developed a technology that reduces drying time to 3 hours. The institute also developed derivatives of the peels that can now be fed to monogastric animals and a whole range of other livestock, including birds and aquatic lives. The processed feeds come out in various textures suitable for different kinds of livestock. There is the fine mash, fed to birds and marine lives, the coarse mash which can be eaten by cattle, and the wet mash suitable for pigs. These derivatives also have varying shelve lives ranging between 2 weeks to 6 months.
Figure 6: The Pressing Machine
This innovation was first reproduced by ILRI, with hundreds of cassava farmers trained on how to incorporate the process in the cassava processing chain. However, Synergos, led by Adewale Ajayi, is the first and only company that has commercialized this technology, thus creating wealth for local women who collect these peels and sell to the company. So far, there are two factories sited in Kogi and Benue because of the huge amount of cassava produced in these states. These factories continue to provide incomes to many of the residents in their host and surrounding communities.
Agata Ainoko, a fair, middle-aged lady, makes her living from collecting and selling of cassava peels to Synergos. It creates an additional income, apart from what the factory pays her as a worker. Bent over a pile of mixed cassava waste, Agata separates the stomps from the peels, getting them ready for the grating machine. “This is where I make money from,” smiling Agata says as she sorts through the cassava skins.
Figure 7: Agata Ainoko
Reduction in cost of production
Livestock farmers expend 70% of production cost on feeds. This high cost of production is because many of the livestock feeds are maize-based, thereby, given rise to stiff competition between humans and livestock for maize. Although Nigeria is the largest producer of maize in Africa, the capacity of the continent is 6.5%, a miserly figure compared with the United States of America that produces 46% of global production. Despite the meagre production strength from Africa, the continent accounts for 30% of the entire world’s consumption. The shortfall is made up for by importation. In Nigeria, livestock consumes 95% of the total eight million tonnes produced in the country annually, yet many feed millers rely on importation of maize to provide feeds. The high demand for maize significantly raises the cost of maize-based feeds.
The HQCP has hugely subsidized the dependent on maize for animal feeds and thus reduced the competition between livestock and human. Ausmus Uhuoto Akomodi, consultant and manager of a small scale livestock farm in Lokoja, says he reduces the cost of feeding his arrays of animals by 50% since introducing the cassava peels feed.
Figure 8: The Pulverizing Machine
“Every livestock farmer will tell you that reducing the cost of production to maximize profit is important to every farmer,” Akomodi says. “I have substituted 30% of the livestock feeds with the fine cassava mash, and that has brought down the cost of feeding by 50%.”
Akomodi discloses that he is still experimenting with the feed, and so far, has not noticed any adverse side effects in the livestock exposed to the feed. But Akomodi’s experiment is merely a personal quest. Amo Farm Sieberer Hatchery Limited (AFSH), a large scale livestock company, exposed its livestock to HQCP in a research experiment conducted by ILRI.
“Layer and broiler birds fed the HQCP mash at a replacement rate of 60kg/ton, performed similarly on feed intake, conversion efficiency, egg production, growth rate and achieved 10-12% lower feed costs compared with control birds on a maize-based diet,” the research shows.
Figure 9: The sifting Machine
According to the research, it implies that Amo-Byng substituted only approximately 7% of its maize-based feed with the fine cassava mash and recorded a 10-12% reduction in its production cost.
Premium Fish Feed limited, a feed company in Ikorodu area of Lagos has fully adopted HQCP hence able to cut down feeding cost. “We have been using been using the HQCP for about a year,” says the manager of Premium Fish Feed. “It is a good material and does not reduce the quality of the livestock”. However, he mentioned that HQCP could not fully substitute maize in poultry and fish feeds. The reason for this, he says is because of its low protein content but cattle, pig and other ruminants can feed on HQCP entirely.
Figure 10: The Fryer
Potential Solution for farmer-herder clash
The Farmer-herder crisis is one of the intense security challenges in Nigeria. Thousands of investments and harvests are lost to the clash for food and water between farmers and cattle herders. At least, 3,600 people have been killed in the clashes between farmers and nomadic herders since 2016, according to Amnesty International.
Asides the clashes that have led to several bloodlettings, farmers have also had to deploy stringent measures in ensuring that they reap the maximum harvest. Peter Lawal, a 21-year-old farmer, and his team of partners lost N3.5 million investments on a 62-hectares-cassava plantation when cattle entered and grazed on the five months old cassava plants. Peter and his team lost the investment they had made on the farm.
Figure 11: Bird fed with HQCP
This experience has pushed many farmers to put in a measure that has led to the death of cattle. At a young farmers’ gathering in Lagos, one of the farmers suggested hedging cassava plantation with jatropha or castor seed, poisonous plants, capable of killing the cattle if consumed.
This problem can be mitigated by the used of cassava peels as feeds for the cattle. The HQCP is a quality feed for animals and can be mixed with other nutritious components to increase the growth rate of cattle. This, is, however, best used when there is a structured ranching system where the calves are fed to enhance growth and beef production. Countries with the highest percentage of beef production in the world engage in ranching where the cattle are nourished for high productivity.
Figure 13: Herder and his Cattle on a Farmland
Akomodi, who also rears cattle alongside his poultry and fish pond, says his calves develop faster than an average calf raised in the nomadic pastoral system.
“The reason is simple,” he says. “Calves use up most energy roaming from places to the other whereas, these are stationed. Hence, their energy is conserved and used us for development.”
The cost of feeding the cattle in the ranching system is also significantly reduced because of the HQCP which are cheaper and has similar energy content as maize-based feeds.
There are challenges
The major challenge in the adoption of HQCP by herders, according to Victor Adejoh, the deputy country coordinator at Synergos, is that the herders are unwilling to pay for the product.
Figure 14: Ausmus Uhuoto Akomodi with his cattle
Notwithstanding, there is also the challenge of prompt collection and transportation of the peels to the processing units. 30 out of the 36 states in Nigeria produce cassava whereas there are just two commercial factories in the country, apart from ILRI’s factory. With tonnes of cassava peeled daily, many of the peels still go to waste as there is no system to promptly collect them for processing. If the peels are not processes within 24 hours, it begins to develop toxic content thus become unsuitable for processing.
Also, the processing machines are expensive for an average Nigerian farmer. “The imported machines are too expensive, and the fabricated ones cannot meet up with the demand. The system also has to be syndicated for seamless production such that as the machine peels, it sends the tuber for processing and the peels also go in another direction for processing. This is currently not so,” Adeniran says.
Also, Adejoh says there is the issue of standardization to ensure that the HQCP is produced in a controlled and hygienic environment remains one of the challenges as the technology gets more popular.
Figure 15: Birds fed with HQCP
Potential for scale
As the innovation gets more popular amongst livestock farmers, the demand becomes higher, and the existing factories cannot meet up. Premium Feeds alone needs about six tonnes of HQCP per week. With other smaller livestock farmers like Akomodi, there is a vast untapped market that the current supply is unable to meet.
Synergos is investing in setting up processing units within cassava clusters that are unwilling to invest in the HQCP production. “We are looking at getting aggregators that might not be interested in doing the peels directly but might want to take up the cake and send it to the feed millers,” says Lydia.
Figure 16: Lydia Oyewole
Adejoh says the factory is looking at two major approaches in scaling up to meet market demands. The medium-scale factory would be encouraged across cassava clusters while the large-scale factory will be a stand-alone where peels are brought in for processing.
He mentions that the Synergos is working with the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) and the African Development Bank (ADB) to set up factories in other parts of the country including Taraba, Niger, Oyo and Ogun states,
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target=_blank>Your Plans To Frame Atiku Will Fail, PDP Tells Buhari, APC
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that alleged plans by President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to frame former Vice President Atiku Abubakar will fail, The Nation reports
The APC had, in a statement on Tuesday, accused Atiku of committing felony through his various statements on topical national and international issues.
In a statement Wednesday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the main opposition party said comments so far made by Atiku were patriotic and within his constitutional right and freedom of speech.
According to the party, by being the presidential candidate of the PDP in the February 23 elections, Atiku and his party command the followership and solidarity of overwhelming majority of Nigerians.
“As a responsible political party, we boldly state that none of the statements made by our presidential candidate falls within the realm of a felony in any way whatsoever.
“However, intelligence available to the PDP largely posits that the threats against Atiku Abubakar emanated from certain persons around the Buhari Presidency who are jittery that President Muhammadu Buhari’s defence is collapsing at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, for which they have become desperate to use underhand methods to stop Atiku Abubakar.
“The PDP invites Nigerians to note that the renewed allegations against Atiku Abubakar came after a witness told the court, as has been publicly reported, that the Army never required any enlisted officer to submit his WAEC certificate, in total contradiction to claims that Mr President’s certificates were in the custody of the Army.
“Our party counsels the APC to rather get ready for justice instead of seeking ways to frame Atiku Abubakar on flimsy and unconstitutional grounds.
“Moreover, the APC is reminded that while the PDP was in power, it never gagged the APC and its leaders, including President Buhari, from exercising their freedom of speech and freedom after the speech, in line with our laws”, the PDP said.
The party recalled that Buhari issued over 160 statements while he was in the opposition, including inflammatory remarks like the one that called on his supporters to take their fate in their own hands.
The PDP added, “It is instructive to note that none of the PDP administrations threatened General Buhari over such comments.
“Furthermore, it is quite disturbing that the APC is attacking Atiku Abubakar for commending British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, for appointing 39-year-old Nigerian, Kemi Badenoch, as a minister in his cabinet.
“Contrary to President Buhari’s projection to the world that Nigerian youths are lazy and should not be given an active role in governance in our country, other nations are finding accommodation for our youths. Atiku Abubakar cannot but commend such world leaders, no matter whose ox is gored.
“It is also instructive to note that the APC has further shown its disdain for the Nigerian youth as being demonstrated by President Buhari, whose cabinet has no place for our youths.
“Instead of attacking Atiku Abubakar for standing for our energetic and focused young men and women, Nigerians expect that APC will accept its failures and advise President Buhari against total disregard for young Nigerians.
“Furthermore, the PDP notes the reference by APC to President Buhari as a ‘sitting’ President. Our party, however, states that what Nigeria needs at a time like this is a working President, not a President that sits down while our country becomes the world headquarters of poverty; not a President that relaxes in an arm-chair while insecurity festers and our economy continues to nosedive to the extent that Ghana has overtaken our nation as the number one recipient of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in West Africa.
“This is why the PDP stands with Nigerians in their determination to retrieve Atiku Abubakar’s stolen mandate at the tribunal and no amount of threats by the APC can detract from this resolve.”
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target=_blank>Union Pickets ASL Catering Over Treatment Of Worker As Qatar Airways Delays Flight
Activities have been grounded at the Skycare Catering Services (ASL) in Lagos airport following the picketing of the company by the National Union of Air Transport Employees over the “slave conditions” of workers.
The action, led Qatar Airways, one of the clients of the catering service, to delay its Doha-bound flight due to its failure to secure onboard meals from the company.
The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) on Wednesday said that workers of the company signed a bond with Skycare to look out for the welfare of staff in the organization.
However, the management of the catering company reneged and said it couldn’t belong to any airport union causing a breakdown in communication between both parties.
The union barricaded the entrance of the catering company and prevented staff and management of gaining access to the building, vowing to picket the company until the sacked workers were reinstated and other agreements adhered to.
Ocheme Aba, the General Secretary of NUATE, told SaharaReporters the picketing was to liberate the workers from “bondage.”
Aba said some of the workers had signed an agreement with the union over three years ago but Skycare prevented its staff from joining the union.
He said the union would continue with the picketing until the management rescinds its decision.
Aba said: “The company (ASL) said we are not the right people to unionize the workers. They said it should be the hotel union. The hotel union through the management went to the industrial court in Lagos, their case was thrown out. They then instigated the hotel union to go to another industrial court in Abuja, the case was also thrown out.
“We still wrote them so that we can formalize, but they don’t want to respond to us. They have been holding the workers there in slave-like conditions, they continue to maltreat them and the workers have been agitating. We have been asking the workers to be patient with us, but now, we can no longer continue with such an attitude.
“If the issue is not resolved, we will continue with the picketing. So far, the management has not responded to our demands.”
The union accused Skycare of employing some workers without employment letters, absence of terms of engagement or conditions of service, arbitrary terminations, victimization, and refusal to recognize a registered trade union.
The ASL has been going through tough times in recent times leading to its delisting by the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE).
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target=_blank>BREAKING: Police Arrest Man In Adamawa For Slicing Daughter’s Throat
A middle age man, Sa’idu Dan’iya, also known as ‘Baban Aisha’, has cut the throat of his eight-year-old daughter, Zahrah Saidu, SaharaReporters has learnt.
The incident happened on Wednesday at Inji Uku, Damare Ward, Yola South Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
Dan’Iya was said to have grabbed his daughter by the neck with a sharp knife to kill her but for the timely intervention of a neighbor, the girl could have died.
Fadimatu Saidu, mother of the victim, told SaharaReporters that she was called from her work place by a neighbour who witnessed the barbaric act.
Fadimatu, who is the family’s breadwinner, said, “I work as a house help in the neighborhood to feed the family.
“All was well when I went out for work in the morning today, leaving Zahrah who has just returned from Islamiyya school with her father.
“Later on, a neighbour rushed out to call me back home, only to meet the tragic incident. You see how deep the cut to her throat is. It’s simply an attempted murder,” Fadimatu Zahrah’s mother lamented.
Suleiman Nguroje, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), has confirmed that Dan’iya has been arrested and is in the custody of the police.
When asked why he decided to kill his daughter, Sa’idu Dan’iya, who showed no remorse, simply said, “I felt like doing it”. He has also been reported to have made death threats severally to his wife.
Zahrah, is currently receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Yola.
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target=_blank>Police Arrest 30 Delta Poly Students Over Protest Against Mass Failure In CBT
Over 30 students of the Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro were arrested on Monday by men of the Delta State Police Command while protesting mass failure in their Computer Basic Test (CBT).
Our correspondent reliably gathered that the mass protest began shortly after the Ordinary National Diploma (OND 1) results for the CBT in the departments of Accounting, Business Administration and Banking were released and published on the school notice board.
The CBT project, it was gathered, cost the school authority over N72 million.
“The protest was massive; nearly all the students came out in their large numbers to stage the protest. Immediately we embarked on the protest, the school authority brought in the Army and police and began to beat up students, torture, intimidate, teargassing and shooting sporadically,” one of the polytechnic students, who gave her name as Charity, told SaharaReporters.
The protest, which lasted several hours, featured thousands of students occupying major streets and barricading the Ozoro-Asaba major highway, disrupting academic and economic activities as well as vehicular movement.
They brandished placards with inscriptions such as “Rector this is not our results,” “Rector, give us our money back”, “We no go gree ooo, we no go gree”.
“The CBT system was introduced two weeks to our examination without test running the efficiency of the system. Coercion was used in enforcing the new system. Even our SUG could not do anything about it because of its docility. Some of the institution’s staff decried the leadership style of the rector, Prof. Job Akpodiete,” one of the students, who simply identified himself as Aaron, said.
As of the time of filing in this report, calls and messages to Akpodiete were not responded to while calls to the state Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, were unsuccessful as her mobile line was switched off.
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target=_blank>AMCON To Go After Babalakin, Ubah, Kashamu, 17 Others Owing N5trillion Debt
Wale Babalakin
Wale Babalakin
Following the new approaches adopted in the recovery of debts owed to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the agency has taken some steps to immediately recover the N5trillion debt from its debtors.
In a document published by AMCON’s, prominent Nigerians like Wale Babalakin, Ifeanyi Uba, Buruji Kashamu and a host of others were listed as top debtors.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had on Monday announced that the directive was part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s renewed efforts to ensure the effective recovery of the debts.
Osinbajo said a special task force comprising the heads of AMCON, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and permanent secretaries of the Ministries of Justice and Transportation, would be in charge of the recovery.
Ahmed Kuru, AMCON’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, had lamented that the country was structured and ruled in a way to allow the debtors to get away with the debt.
With the new directive, the agency would be going after 20 highest debtors including Ifeanyi Ubah, Jimoh Ibrahim, Wale Babalakin and Kashamu Buruji.
S/N
Obligor Name
Main Promoter(s)
Current Exposure
1
Capital Oil & Gas Industries Limited
Ifeanyi Ubah
115,952,152,265.92
2
NICON Investments Limited
Jimoh Ibrahim
59,544,633,980.31
3
Bi-Courtney Limited (MMA2)
Wale Babalakin (SAN)
40,798,422,374.02
4
Josepdam & Sons Limited
Late Mrs. Josephine Damilola KuteyiSaheed KuteyiGaniyu Kuteyi
39,056,674,951.55
5
Tinapa Business Resort
Cross River State Government
36,006,319,844.68
6
Home Trust Savings
Chukwukadibia AjaegbuFunmu Ademosun
30,626,243,344.71
7
Geometric Power Limited
Prof. Barth NnajiNnaji AgathaObibuaru Eluma
Anike Paul
Nwobodo Benjamin Chukwuemeka
Dozie Chijioke
Akpe Austine
Nnaji Okechukwu
UBA Trustees Limited
Kunoch Limited
Diamond Capital & Financial Market Limited
29,844,500,896.77
8
Roygate Properties Limited
Wale Babalakin (SAN)Agumadu JohnAlarape Olabode
Okhaleke Ndudi
28,137,176,532.32
9
Shell Development Petroleum Company – West Multipurpose Co-operative Society Limited (SPDC)
Shell Staff, represented by Ikponmwosa Ogiemuda
26,474,541,188.17
10
Anyiam Osigwe Limited
Anyiam-Osigwe Dorothy Chinyere
20,523,322,350.29
11
Platinum Capital
Obire RichardFrancis Atuche
20,378,820,507.19
12
Flotsome Investment Limited
Oboden IbruTejiro Ibru
20,218,703,550.96
13
Lonestar Drilling
Late Chief IdisiMargaret Idisi
20,207,979,803.22
14
Petrologistics Limited
Ugoji Egbujo
19,576,962,565.35
15
Lorna Global Resources
H.E. Chimaroke Nnamami
18,919,109,352.85
16
Hosanna Properties Limited
Anionye ChikaObi Ike C.
18,059,895,396.27
17
Minaj Holdings Limited
Ajegbo Mike NnayeluchudihuLuke Chidi ChudihuiloguMiller Gregrey
Ethridge Kyle
Attueyi Joe
Oladele Afolabi
Okpere Kisito
Kokoricha Paul
17,306,900,257.66
18
Afrijet Airlines Limited
Inoelle Willam BarryCarr Collin
13,122,022,439.57?
19
Petroleum Brokers Limited?
Wilcox Awopuolagha?
13,076,314,937.26?
20
Hotel De Island; Kasmal Properties; Island Autos & Nacoil?
Kashamu Prince Buruji?
13,015,595,907.67?
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target=_blank>Nigerian Jailed For Money Laundering In Singapore, Dupes Fellow Inmate of $37, 800 In Prison
A Nigerian, Amos Paul Gabriel, 48, who had already been jailed in Singapore was on Wednesday charged with cheating another inmate while in remand at Changi Prison, Yahoo News Singapore reports.
It was gathered that in May 2019, Amos involved in helping his friend to launder $1.84 million stolen from the Ethiopian Government which made him to badged three years in jail.
Amos, who is a permanent resident in Singapore has been accused of deceiving Milled El Khouri into believing that a sum of $37, 800, provided by El Khouri, would be used to post bail for the latter.
The report says Amos tricked El Khouri to deliver the sum of money to a person named Chung Ting Fai through another person named Enkhadalai Mandakh.
During his previous legal cases, Amos had been represented by a lawyer also named Chung Ting Fai.
Although, El Khouri is allegedly wanted in Australia as he has records of criminal cases. He was detained in Singapore in January last year.
Amos’ is said to have committed the crime between January and May 2019 at Changi Prison Complex while he was in remand for his money laundering offences. His charge sheet did not state the roles played by Chung and Enkhadalai in the alleged offence.
When charged through a videolink, Amos claimed that he was not aware of the new charge against him as his lawyer will inform him duly. He will be back in court on 28 August.
If the charges against gone through, Amos could face up to 10 years in jail or a fine if convicted.
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target=_blank>BREAKING: Shiites To Suspend Protests Temporarily In Compliance With Court Order
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria has announced the temporary suspension of ‘Free Zakzaky’ protests staged by members of the movement to seek the release of their leader, Shiek Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, and his wife from continued detention.
SaharaReporters had reported a court order obtained by Nigeria’s Government banning all public activities and demonstrations of the group after claiming that it has been hijacked by extremists.
A statement on Wednesday signed by Ibrahim Musa, President, Media Forum of the IMN, says the suspension of protests is so that the “court case instituted by our lawyers on the proscription order made by the federal government this week can take its full course.”
Musa said the step was taken in good faith and with the hope that a genuine and amicable way could be found to solve the crises surrounding the illegal detention of the Shiite leader for almost four years.
He said, “If at all any protest occur anywhere in the country, it might be this notice hasn’t reached those involved or they misunderstood the notice or it is some security agents that are behind it, who we know have been doing all they can to smear our image as victims of savage oppression since 2015.”
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target=_blank>Achieving Justice For Victims And Ending Impunity Across The Continent By Femi Falana
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) recognizes “that during this century millions of children, women and men have been victims of unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity” owing to armed conflicts. These “grave crimes threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world”.’ Africa has had its fair share of the problem. As such, various efforts to pursue, make and keep the peace have been intensified over the past half a century.
The pursuit of international criminal justice in Africa through the International Criminal Court (ICC) platform has not been without hitches. There is a growing rift between the African Union (AU), as a continental body, and the ICC owing to the AU’s perception that the ICC is pursuing selective justice and the AU’s misgivings about the ICC’s indictment /trial of some sitting heads of states in Africa.
The claim of selective justice undermines the very essence of global justice. On the face of it, the ICC Statute could apply to any situation, because even if the state is not a party to the Rome Statute, the Security Council could refer a situation in a non-state party to the ICC and the ICC would exercise jurisdiction over such a matter. Legally and conceptually, no state is immune from the ICC’s jurisdiction. However, experience over the years would seem to suggest that the ICC jurisdiction applies only to weaker states and not powerful states.
At the annual summit of the Heads of State and Governments of the AU held in Addis Ababa two years ago, the leaders and representatives of the member states voted to adopt a strategy to collectively withdraw from the ICC. However, Nigeria and Senegal did Africa proud by refusing to vote for the planned exit from the ICC. As the vote for impunity was defeated, South Africa, Burundi and The Gambia announced plans to withdraw from the ICC. Even though both Burundi and The Gambia withdrew from the ICC the latter has since returned to the ICC while South Africa has dropped the plan to quit the global criminal court.
The vote to quit the ICC by African leaders was based on the allegation that the ICC has exclusively focused attention on African leaders by only investigating and prosecuting cases of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by African leaders. To justify the decision of African States to quit the ICC, the AU announced that the mandate of the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights would be amended to include criminal jurisdiction. Nothing was however said by the AU on the urgent need by member States to strengthen their criminal justice system and accountability mechanisms.
In accusing the ICC of “selective justice” it has not been denied that there was the basis to have opened an investigation into the war crimes in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Central Africa Republic, Sudan, Mali, Libya, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire. It is on record that while the Security Council referred the cases of Darfur and Libya to the ICC the transition government in Libya decided to try the suspects in Tripoli. Even though the cases of Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire were referred to the ICC by the Special Prosecutor in the exercise of his proprio motu powers the governments of both States accepted the jurisdiction of the court. However, the cases from Uganda, the Central Africa Republic, Cote D’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali were referred to the ICC by the governments themselves of those countries.
With respect to the convicted ex-President Hasne Habre of Chad it was the African Union which mandated Senegal to set up a special tribunal for his trial in Dakar while it was the Government of Sierra Leone which requested the Security Council of the United Nations to set up the Special Court for Sierra Leone which tried ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor. In combating impunity in other parts of Africa, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda sat for 21 years; the Central Africa Republic plans to set up a Special Criminal Court while South Sudan has decided to establish a hybrid tribunal. The newly installed government in The Gambia set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which is currently taking evidence from the victims of gross human rights abuse which characterized the Yahya Jammeh regime.
From the foregoing, it is indisputably clear that even though the ICC has tried several political leaders in Africa, the majority of the cases were referred to the court by the African States. In other instances, it was either the United Nations Security Council or the African Union which ensured that brutal dictators were made to stand trial and account for the atrocities perpetrated by them while in office. In all the cases in which the ICC intervened it was confirmed that the States were either unable or unwilling to prosecute the suspects who were involved in genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
To the extent that the ICC has failed to try the heads of governments of some powerful states responsible for the unprecedented crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria the allegation of selective prosecution of African leaders cannot be dismissed lightly. But the failure of the ICC to prosecute such well known highly placed criminal suspects should not be a justification for preventing the arrest and trial of other perpetrators of crimes against humanity and genocide. As far as Africa is concerned the ICC cannot be absolved of the allegations of selective prosecution. The case of former President Laurent Gbagbo has gone from selective prosecution to selective persecution. Whereas he was discharged and acquitted in February 2019 the ICC has ordered him to be incarcerated in Belgium pending when the Prosecutor would file a fresh charge against him. But since the ICC has no power to order a defendant that has been tried, discharged and acquitted it ought to quash the detention of Mr Gbagbo forthwith.
In as much as AU is opposed to the indictment and prosecution of African leaders not much has been done to promote accountability and defend human rights. In fact, in order not to be held to account only nine States (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Tanzania and The Gambia) have made a Declaration to allow victims of human rights abuse to seek redress in the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights. However, the AU will be deceiving itself if it believes that the planned mass withdrawal of African states from the ICC will shield African leaders who engage in genocidal acts from prosecution and humiliation. As long as the governments in Africa continue to pay lip service to the fight against impunity, the victims of egregious human rights infringements will not hesitate to seek redress in available human rights mechanisms to bring perpetrators to book.
If the ICC wants to be relevant in Africa it cannot continue to pick and choose the cases to investigate and prosecute. For instance, the Prosecutor of the ICC issued warnings and threatened to prosecute politicians linked with political violence during the 2015 general election in Nigeria. But no such warning was ever issued when former President Yahya Jammeh annulled a credible presidential election held in The Gambia in 2016. Happily, the Economic Community of West African States intervened decisively and prevented the break out of a civil war in the country. As the ICC cannot continue to turn a blind eye to atrocities committed by the regime of former president Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia the Prosecutor should open an investigation into them under the Rome Statute without any further delay.
If the AU does not want Africans accused of violations of international law to be tried outside the continent and domestic jurisdictions, it has to show the strong political will to combat impunity and ensure justice for victims. Refusal to comply with court orders admitting criminal suspects to bail or ordering the release of detainees is an invitation to anarchy. The manipulation of constitutions for tenure elongation is also an invitation to political instability. The AU has to adopt measures to prevent the manipulation of national constitutions to legitimise tenure elongation by ruling parties, harassment of opposition figures and civil society activists, killing of political opponents, proscription of civil groups, closure of media houses and ban on freedom of expression and association.
The inevitable collision between the sovereignty of states over their criminal justice systems and supranational criminal adjudication is addressed by the Rome Statute of the ICC through recognition of the primacy of the domestic legal system. Under articles 1 and 17 of the Rome Statute, complementarity enables states to retain jurisdiction over crimes committed in their territories and by their nationals. The purpose of the Court is to complement national jurisdictions that are unable or unwilling to prosecute international crimes. By affirming the principle of complementarity, the parties to the Rome Statute demonstrate that they do not intend the ICC to actively step into the shoes of national criminal justice systems.
Indeed, the primary responsibility to protect African people and residents from violations of human rights rest squarely with individual AU member states, in recognition of the sovereign responsibilities and duties of states. Referring a handful of cases and situations to the ICC cannot and will not satisfactorily end the culture of impunity for human rights violations and abuses across the continent and will not give effective remedies, justice and reparations to African victims.
To best address accountability and combat impunity across the continent, African leaders should strengthen and improve domestic criminal justice systems and the regional and sub-regional human rights courts and mechanisms. In particular, the Summit of Heads of State or Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) should reaffirm its commitment to improve respect for human rights among its member states, consistent with the SADC treaty, which commits them to act in accordance with the principles of “human rights, democracy and the rule of law.”
The Summit of Heads of State or Government should without further delay restore the SADC Tribunal’s human rights mandate and comply fully with the orders of regional tribunals and municipal courts. It should be noted that SADC leaders in August 2014 stripped the tribunal of its mandate to receive human rights complaints from individuals and organizations, leaving it only to adjudicate disputes between member countries. This drastically limits the tribunal’s human rights protection mandate.
The AU should immediately rescind its 2018 outrageous decision Decision EX.CL/Dec.1015(XXIII) to limit the autonomy and human rights mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. This illegal decision is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with the human rights provisions of the AU Constitutive Act, and it is retrogressive, to say the least. It should be noted that the AU Executive Council in June 2018 stated in its decision that the African Commission only had “independence of a functional nature and not independence from the same organs that created the body.” The AU Executive Council also decided to authorize the AU policy organs to revise the criteria for the commission to grant observer status to NGOs, taking into account overtly broad considerations of “African values and traditions.”
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights itself has to wake up and be counted on the side of human rights, be more assertive in the exercise of its human rights mandate and to robustly challenge any attack on its foundational instrument—the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights—by the AU or any other institutions for that matter. The African Commission has to restate its historical leading role across the continent in promoting and protecting human and peoples’ rights, including in Nigeria when it delivered groundbreaking decisions during the period of the military dictatorship in the country.
The Malabo Protocol, that is, the Protocol ‘on the African Court of Justice and Human Rights’, and the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, Annex, Malabo Protocol, with jurisdiction on international crimes, corruption and “illicit exploitation of natural resources,” contained in Article 28A, should be amended to remove Article 46A which provides immunity for sitting leaders, to the effect that: “No charges shall be commenced or continued against any serving African Union Head of State or Government, or anybody acting or entitled to act in such capacity, or other senior state officials based on their functions, during their tenure of office.”
The AU should stop prioritizing ‘political settlement’ of egregious human rights abuses at the expense of accountability, access to justice and effective remedies for African victims of violations and abuses. Accountability and justice must never be sacrificed to promote the interests of those in power. African victims of human rights violations and abuses cannot have faith and confidence in domestic criminal justice systems and regional and sub-regional human rights courts if the AU continues to fail or refuse to address the challenges confronting these institutions of justice and to consistently obey and enforce court judgments.
The African human rights community should coordinate and organize victims of crimes against humanity and genocide to seek reliefs within the criminal justice system. Victims of human rights abuse should be encouraged and supported to seek redress in domestic courts and regional tribunals and institutions.
The human rights must realise that repression is imposed on African countries for the sole purpose of implementing the anti peoples’ policies dictated by the International Monetary Fund and other imperialist institutions that have continued to control the economy of African countries. This Network must not rely on Western governments and funding agencies if it wants to achieve the objective of promoting accountability in Africa.
The AU and its member states and African leaders, in general, must sort out the procedural obstacles that continue to impede the effective enforcement of judgments of regional courts in domestic nation-states.The AU should stop engaging in confrontation with the ICC and instead show genuine commitment to prosecute those accused within member states’ domestic courts, develop the capacity to prosecute crimes under international law within national courts, and improve access to justice for victims nationally and regionally.
The African Union should adequately fund the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and encourage its member states that have not yet done so to ratify the protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and make declarations that would allow individuals and NGOs direct access to the court.
As noted, the AU should politically empower the court and ensure enforcement of all its rulings and judgments if it is ever going to effectively fulfil its human rights objectives, as contained in its Constitutive Act and ensure justice for victims of human rights violations and abuses across the continent.
The need for the prosecution at the ICC will remain as long as African leaders continue to fail or refuse to address entrenched impunity and gross injustices on the continent. The African solution to the problem of African impunity should mean accountability for perpetrators and justice and effective remedies for victims. Owing to the inability of the criminal justice system to bring the violators of human rights abuse in many countries the ICC is a very popular institution in Africa. Hence, it has continued to receive complaints alleging contraventions of the Rome Statute by many pubic figures in Africa. The office of the Special Prosecutor recently disclosed that it has so far received 131 petitions from Nigeria alone.
Apart from the ICC the victims of gross abuse of human rights in Africa will continue to seek redress in countries whose courts are clothed with universal jurisdiction in the area of human rights. Because of the refusal of some governments to prosecute public officers who sponsor electoral offence the United States government has imposed a visa ban on them.
In fighting impunity, the human rights community must stop relying on reports compiled by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other foreign NGOs. The Network on International Criminal Justice should speak authoritatively in defence of human rights in Africa. As a matter of urgency, the human rights community should pressurise the AU to end the illegal occupation of the territory of Western Sahara by the Kingdom of Morocco in line with the provisions of articles 13 and 20 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
Finally, it is pertinent to remind the representatives of the NGOs in this meeting that the people of Africa were united in the struggle against colonialism, apartheid and military dictatorship. The struggle succeeded because the people were organised. Once again, the people have to be mobilised and organised to end impunity in Africa. It cannot be done by NGOs alone but by the people who are the actual victims of political repression and economic exploitation. I, therefore, challenge the Network to link up with progressive political parties, trade unions, student unions and other youth bodies as well as women groups in the struggle against impunity in Africa.
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Femi Falana (SAN)
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Leah Sharibu’s Mother Begs Nigerian Government For Daughter’s Release
Mrs Rebecca Sharibu, the mother of Leah Sharibu, has again pleaded with the Federal Government to intensify efforts towards her daughter’s release from Boko Haram captivity.
Rebecca made the call on Wednesday in Dapchi in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria.
News Agency of Nigeria reports that Leah was among the 110 Daphchi schoolgirls kidnapped by the terrorist in February 2018.
While the terrorists released the other 109 girls, they held on to Leah on account of her faith.
“I still plead with Federal Government, organisations and individuals to intensify efforts for the release of my daughter, Leah, who has been in the hands of insurgents for one year and five months.
Also speaking, Miss Aisha Kachalla, Leah’s friend, who was also abducted by the terrorists but was released, said she was worried on the whereabouts of Leah, who has been in continued detention by the terrorists.
“I often cry when I remember my friend Leah. I don’t know where she is.
“I don’t believe she is dead because there is no proof of her death. Her corpse has not appeared in any television station or newspaper.” Kachalla said.
Malam Kachalla Bukar, the Secretary of Dapchi Abducted School Girls Parents Association, said the association would not relent in its effort to ensure that Leah is released.
Boko Haram
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SaharaReporters, New York
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