WHEN eight-year-old Elijah Success left home for lesson on August 7, 2020, his parents and siblings had no premonition he would not return home the lively and healthy boy he had always been.
The Primary II pupil was trekking back home when the unexpected happened – he was hit by a fast-moving commercial motorcycle, leaving his skull smashed and his body bruised.
The incident happened at Gidandaya, around Orozo, a suburb of Abuja. He was immediately taken to Karshi Hospital, where he was referred to Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, and then to Garki General Hospital, Abuja, before finally finding respite at the National Hospital, where the head was operated upon.
Eight-year-old Success Source: The ICIR
The damaged part of his skull was removed during the surgery, leaving only his scalp (skin of his head) to cover half of his head. He has been without half of his skull for five months, after the surgery was conducted.
A large and deep mark cuts across his head from one end to the other. The skin on affected part of his skull shakes intermittently each time he breathes. Success looks very sombre whenever he tries to talk, a sign that he is in pain. He is eager to play with other children, but he’s restrained by his disability. One of the limbs affected by the accident was paralyzed for weeks. But, now, he can stand for a few minutes and move his hand as well.
Elijah and Alice Achala, his parents, who both hail from Oju local government area of Benue state, said they already have spent over N2.5 million on the boy’s treatment, but can no longer bear the cost, particularly now that another surgery is imminent.
His poor, distraught father, a security guard who earns N25,000 monthly, lamented that he was in debt. He said that he and his wife have borrowed a lot of money from neighbours, friends and relations, many of who are now asking for the loan repayment. He said he owed N900,000 in the course of saving the boy’s lives.
His other children could no longer go to school, and he has not paid his house rent in a year, he told The ICIR.
What further compelled Achala to cry out for public assistance over his family’s travails is that he was sacked last November by the company he had worked with as a security guard.
He said he had gone to bury his father in the village that month, and was replaced by another guard. And all his appeals to his employers fell on deaf ears, he said.
His wife corroborated his claims. Mrs Achala told The ICIR that her family lives on neighbour’s charity.
“As a mother, it’s not been easy for me at all. My husband has been sacked from his place of work. I’m only surviving through the people around me. Sometimes, they will come with ‘mudu’ (a small bowl for measuring foodstuffs) of garri (cassava flake), rice and beans. That’s how we’ve been living. There are three children with me. None of them goes to school, except the orphan that is in senior secondary school,” she explained.
According to the father, Success needs weekly physiotherapy because the accident paralyzed his arm and leg on the side of his head that was affected by the accident. So, they have been able to make the paralyzed parts function a bit, through physiotherapy; which he said his family could no longer afford.
Forty-one-year-old Achala said: “My condition is very bad now. That is why I’m calling on people everywhere for help. I don’t want to lose him. He has endured much pain, and since he is alive today, I have assurance that he will survive this. All I just need is money to do this surgery. The national hospital has kept the skull with them and asked me to look for money so they fix it back.”
Unlike many other victims of crashes on Nigerian roads, the motorcyclist who hit Success stopped and helped him to the hospital. But, he has only made N18,000 contribution to his treatment since, the boy’s father told The ICIR.
He said his family was at the hospital for over a month during the first surgery before they were released to go look for money for the second lap.
Elijah Achala, Success father Source; The ICIR
Asked by The ICIR to tell how much he needed for the operation, he said the hospital did not tell him how much it would cost him, adding that the hospital told him to pay initial sum of N200,000 naira for theatre.
Achala expressed his family’s readiness to appreciate any hospital or team of experts who will be willing to collaborate with the hospital to carry out the surgery.
“All I want is to do the surgery in a way that will bring no further indebtedness to my family and ensure the safety and good health of the boy. And, I will be happy if I could get assistance to pay the N900,000 my family owes in the course of the past treatments,” the father pleaded.
He said he owed the hospital and could no longer afford the cost of checkups. He said he is not sure if the cost of the second surgery would be more than the first.
To avoid further complications, Success has been kept at home by his parents since he was discharged by the hospital, his father told our reporter.
A representative of the World Health Organisation ( WHO) has countered reports by some sections of the media that the global health body has disqualified Nigeria and eight other countries from COVID-19 vaccine bid.
Walter Mulombo, WHO country representative to Nigeria, countered the reports in a tweet on Saturday morning.
Mulombo wrote on his official Twitter handle that contrary to reports, the WHO would not disqualify a member state from accessing an approved vaccine for its population.
“WHO is part of Covax facility and can never disqualify a member state from accessing an approved vaccine for their population. I call upon members of the press in Nigeria and globally to contribute to fighting misinformation,” Mulombo posted.
Charity Warigon, communicator officer for the WHO in Nigeria, in a statement sent to The ICIR, said Nigeria was among the 51 our of 72 countries considered by the review committee as ‘ready’ to receive the COVAX vaccine.
Warigon stated that out of the reviewed 51 countries, however, only 18 countries in total were finally chosen to receive the initial Pfizer doses due to the high demand for the initial 1.2 million doses of the vaccine.
Warigon noted that all countries on the African continent were expected to start accessing the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines by the end of February as the vaccine was under review by WHO for Emergency Use Listing, with the outcome expected soon.
However, she added that out of the 88 million AstraZeneca doses allocated to African countries for the first phase, Nigeria had received 16 million, which was the largest allocation among all other countries.
Early Saturday morning, some Nigerian newspapers, including The Punch and Sahara Reporters, had reported that the WHO-led COVAX global initiative failed to shortlist Nigeria for the Pfizer vaccines following the country’s inability to meet the standard requirement of being able to store the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius.
The report stated that Matshidiso Moeti, WHO director of African Region, during a virtual press conference, had said only four African countries were shortlisted for the Pfizer vaccine out of the 13 that applied.
Moeti was quoted to have said that only Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia met the requirements to access the WHO emergency use listing.
“To access an initial limited volume of Pfizer vaccine, countries were invited to submit proposals. Thirteen African countries submitted proposals and were evaluated by a multi-agency committee based on current mortality rates, new cases and trends, and the capacity to handle the ultra-cold chain needs of the vaccine,” part of the report had said.
Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), had said in January that Nigeria would receive 100, 000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines through the WHO-led COVAX scheme by the end of the month.
As of the time of filing this report, Nigeria had recorded 137,654 positive cases of COVID-19 with 111,639 recoveries. The number of cases and deaths has seen a substantial increase since the second wave of the deadly virus, with 1,641 total reported deaths.
NO fewer than two million additional cases of female genital mutilation have been projected to occur over the next decade due to COVID-19 disruptions.
This was revealed in a joint statement by Henrietta Fore, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Natalia Kanem, executive director of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) on Saturday, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
The duo stated that COVID-19 had contributed to the shutting down of schools and disruption in programmes that could help protect girls from this harmful practice.
“Even before COVID-19 upended progress, the Sustainable Development Goals target of ending female genital mutilation by 2030 was an ambitious commitment.”
The international bodies reiterated their commitment to protect the 4 million girls and women who were at risk of female genital mutilation each year.
“Far from dampening our ambition, however, the pandemic has sharpened our resolve to protect the 4 million girls and women who are at risk of female genital mutilation each year.”
The UNICEF and UNFPA bosses, however, highlighted the need for unity and collaborations among stakeholders in tackling the menace of female genital mutilation across the globe.
“Ending female genital mutilation requires collaboration among a wide group of stakeholders. This includes global, regional, national and local policymakers; civil society from small grass-roots organisations and women’s rights groups to international non-governmental organisations; agents of change from teachers and health workers to religious leaders and local elders; as well as law enforcement and judicial officials.’
They also stressed the crucial role needed to be played by men and boys in ending female genital mutilation, adding that there was a need to amplify the powerful and persuasive voices of survivors who were increasingly leading transformative change in their communities.
$2.4bn needed to end female genital mutilation by 2030
The UNICEF and UNFPA directors have also highlighted the need for adequate funding in tackling the burgeoning menace of female genital mutilation across the world.
They stated that if the Sustainable Development Goals target of ending female genital mutilation by 2030 was to be met, some 2.4 billion dollars would be needed over the next decade.
“Even in countries where female genital mutilation is already declining, progress needs to increase ten-fold to meet the global target of elimination by 2030. This will require some $2.4 billion over the next decade, which breaks down to less than $100 per girl.”
They added that the money was needed to preserve the bodily integrity, health and right of a girl-child.
“This is a very small price to pay for preserving a girl’s bodily integrity, her health and her right to say no to violation. However, most of this money has yet to be raised.”
NOT known to be a protégé of any ‘big’ political dynasty in Oyo State as such, suddenly, Seyi Makinde manifested prior 2015 governorship election. He began by handing out scholarships and other forms of empowerment to indigent people of Oyo State. From Ibadan, the reach extended inwards into other parts of the state. Branded vehicles ran everywhere announcing Makinde.
Oyo people familiarized by the day.
For the rest of us not resident in Oyo State, the billboards probably did the magic. We were curious and sought to know more. The private radio stations for which Ibadan has since come to offer a supportive nursery bed of some sort, complemented the billboards. The people reckoned, and properly too. The then Ajimobi government knew clearly the people were reckoning. It could not pretend too. Indeed, the government attack against the radio station owned by the Tungba dance maestro, YinkaAyefele, earned Makinde more sympathy, among other repercussions. Whatever was the reductionist disposition of the ‘constituted authority’ folks in Oyo State finally fizzled out. Seyi Makinde swept them off. Seyi Makinde forces of the fringes have mainstreamed. Media of all sorts, online and offline, coalesced in favour of Seyi. Seyi needs no further conviction on the power of the media. Media made him and filled his cup of joy, as they say. But for how long will this ecstasy endure? Will they wait till they pay double the price of their predecessors as warned by historian?
When he assumed the governorship position of Oyo State, many, including yours sincerely, was excited about Seyi Makinde in a way. I quickly moderated it knowing the usual ways of Nigerian politicians. Maybe I should be particularistic with the politicians of the Southwest. Be it known to them all: the people, and I mean their voters now have several derogatory names for them. And the labels are registering fast with us all. We shall come back to these labels in due course. The Ibarapa crisis have probably given the highest decibel to the discomfort deriving misgovernance and even lack of governance.
Unluckily for the political class, the internet technology, has liberalized peoples’ access to information. So what? A lot, really. Till date I haven’t encountered that story anywhere else.
It was the story of a young agripreneur in Ibarapa area of the state. She recounted her tragedy to a an Ibadan based broadcaster who was farsighted enough to upload the video online. It goes thus: The female agricscience graduate of the University of Ibadan still resident in Ibadan with the retired parents had set up a farm in Ibarapa area. On a particular weekend the boyfriend joined her in Ibadan and they both travelled down to the farm. When they were done in the evening, they set out to return. The journey ended abruptly with some marauders’ violent intervention. The Fulani herdsmen signaled a violent stop order. But who would heed such? Trying to speed away, the daring devils dashed forth and hauled bullets on the couple’s car. The driver was the target and they got him. He fell leaving the car to drift uncontrollably. The guy had died. The killers moved in and dragged the lady out of the car. Thus began her kidnapping experience. It didn’t matter to the Fulani herdsmen that this poor lady had just lost her partner who could probably have been saved. Her confessed malaria condition notwithstanding, the ultimate ransom was their concern. She received beatings of her life as she was marched through forest thickets and rivers with her hands chained to avert any possible escape attempt. This self-motivated farmer spent days before the daredevils struck a deal with the father who had to personally bring the ransom in exchange for his dear daughter. The follow-up burdens are better imagined: How will the tragic news of her boyfriend be broken? Will she go back to the farm? Who can guarantee future safety?
So deeply, the tragedy sank into me. It did so much as I ruminated over my recent trip through some section of Ibarapa stretch some months back. I needed to see a friend in both Oyo and Okeho same day. Fate can hand out life and death challenges sometimes, just believe it. I had my share that weekend. I, therefore, left Lagos for Oyo and later headed for Okeho from Oyo. Returning to Lagos was inevitably via Igbo Ora to Abeokuta from where I could “easily” connect Lagos. If you plan to be in Abeokuta from Okeho and you don’t make up your mind by 4.00 pm. you may as well forgo it. The road from Okeho to Abeokuta through Igbo Ora is afairly good road even as it had been built by the government of the Awolowo premiership days. On both sides of the road were cultivated lands brimming largely with food crops like plantain, yams, cassava and assorted vegetables and fruits. Once in a while, we encountered Fulani ladies selling ‘wara’. Their sight did not portend any fear or danger then. But the thought of those encounters these days…
How can you be emotionally strong after reading the supposed tribute written by one of the sons of Dr Fatai Aborode, an American returnee farmer, to the father after Dr Aborode’s gruesome murder, allegedly by the Fulani herdsmen. I got the said tribute after watching the video of Team Sunday Igboho’s threatening visit to the Seriki Fulani of Igangan. Dr Aborode’s son was painfully declarative asserting “…Nigeria is not home…Nigeria cut your life short, Nigeria ruined your dreams and didn’t let you reap the fruit of your labour! Nigeria wouldn’t find your killers; Nigeria is not home!”
Any more damning or worse, hell remains to be let loose in Ibarapa, after the two tragedies cited here? Surely, OyoState government officials couldn’t have missed all these. And if they did and chose to ignore it, their conscience must be out of this world. How can anyone predict who may be the next victim of the raging disturbance with its unpredictable space and time manifestations?
The submissions and subsequent interpretations including locally contextualized versions of the scholars who asserted the centrality of media and communications in the multi-track diplomacy are not far-fetched. No stronger evidence of this was the timely public argument of a foremost peace and conflict resolution scholar, Prof Isaac Olawale Albert, published by Cable, an online newspaper. The timely, multistakeholder approach prescribed by Albert, perhaps, did not seem to bear any strong appeal for the SeyiMakinde government. The cost of the crises thus ballooned freely. Apparently preferring the populist option, the governor took his time to devise his own mitigation design.
But which crisis allows for vacuum? A parallel leader has since emerged in the person of Sunday Igboho. Igboho, unlike Makinde of the government house, has been feasting on the incidence of media abundance of this age, even with seeming territorial influence extending beyond Oyo, that they both belong.
Makinde can’t be luckier with Ibadan being home to Nigeria’s foremost conflict resolution scholars and practitioners well appreciated continent-wide and beyond. His reckoning for experts in his neighbourhood unmistakably needs immediate reinforcement.
Tunde Akanni, PhD, is a media and conflict expert based at the School of Communication of the Lagos State University. Follow him via: @AkintundeAkanni
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced three women to six months in jail after they were found guilty of a five-count charge bordering on human trafficking.
The punishment for the offence attracts a minimum term of two years, but not exceeding seven years.without an option of fine.
After the judgement was delivered, the convicts were left to regain their freedom.
Reacting to the judgement, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, director-general of NAPTIP, lauded the judiciary’s effort in ensuring that justice was delivered, most especially in cases of human trafficking. He also urged victims of human trafficking to ensure that such cases were reported.
A report by the United States Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons titled ‘2020 Trafficking in Persons Report: Nigeria,’ states that in 2020, NAPTIP received 943 cases for investigation, completed 210 investigations, prosecuted 64 suspects, and convicted 27 traffickers.
According to the report, this is lower than it did in 2019 where it received 938 cases for investigation, completed 192 investigations, 64 prosecutions, and 43 convictions.
THE Edo State commissioner of police, Phillip Ogbadu, has dismissed reports that a kidnapped U.S.-based Edo prince, Dennis Abuda, whose corpse was discovered after the payment of an undisclosed ransom, died from gunshot injuries.
Speaking as a guest during the Sunrise Daily aired on Channels TV on Friday, Ogbadu suggested that the deceased might have been hypertensive and probably died from shock and distress, as no gunshot wound was found on his retrieved body.
“There was no open injury on the body of late Abuda. It appears that the victim was hypertensive, but the hospital is yet to give us a report on that. The shock and the distress are part of the things that made him to die easily, but whatever happened, it is the kidnappers that are responsible for the death,” Ogbadu said.
Previous accounts of the incident claimed that the deceased was shot dead by his abductors after it was discovered that he had become too weak to cope with the long walk into the forest.
Ogbadu also stated that although six suspected kidnappers operating along the Benin-Lagos bypass had been arrested by the command, stressing that the actual kidnappers of the Edo prince were killed in a gunfire exchange with the police which occurred in the bush when his team, along with other security operatives, local hunters and vigilante group launched a manhunt on them.
“We actually went into the bush with the vigilante and with all other security agencies that accompanied us and while we were doing the combing, we intercepted one of them and one of the victims identified him as the person that collected the ransom. He now led us to the camp,” Ogbadu explained.
“While we were approaching the camp, they started firing and it was a free-for-all fight. In the process, four of them were brought down. Further combing of the bush led us to the recovery of the corpse of this man (Dennis Abuda) that was on his way to the airport,” he added.
Speaking further, the police boss added, “Actually, it is very unfortunate that we have this incident but right now, all the kidnappers that operate on that route, we have been able to arrest many of them. We have six of them in our custody while the actual kidnappers were killed in the exchange of gun-fire at the camp.”
A video has now surfaced online in which the late Abuda was seen spraying dollars while dancing to songs accompanied by sounds produced from local musical instruments during a celebration. This might have given credence to police commissioner’s hunch that “his kidnap appears to have some connotations of internal connection, as if they knew him before.”
Reacting to the news of his death, chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, through a statement signed by head, media, public relations and protocols, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, condoled with the Abuda family, describing the death as “very unfortunate, sad and callous.”
Meanwhile, the Fugar Progressive Union, the apex socio-cultural umbrella body of all Fugar people worldwide, has called for a thorough investigation into the death of Abuda who until his unfortunate death was President of the Fugar America Foundation.
In a statement signed by its national secretary, Solomon Obommighie, the union urged all relevant security agencies operating in the state to unravel the mysteries surrounding his death, even as it urged the state government to strengthen security in EdoState.
“We also appeal to the Governor of Edo State to continue to work with the relevant stakeholders to strengthen the security network to protect Fugarians, Fugar and the entire citizens of the state from the incessant attacks by these criminal elements,” the statement read.
Late Dennis Abuda reportedly left Fugar in Etsako Central Local Government Area in the early hours of Saturday, 30th January 2021, and was headed for Lagos to catch a flight back to the U.S. when his vehicle was accosted by the kidnappers. He and three others were abducted. The other three abductees were said to have been released after ransom payments were made.
THE 2020 Nigeria Media Capacity Development Report has unveiled numerous opportunities for journalists practising in Africa’s most populous nation.
Such opportunities range from grants to awards that are available for Nigerian pen pushers.
At the launch of the report, media professionals, publishers, editors, and civil society organisations lent their voices on the need to strengthen the practice of journalism in the country.
The report entitled ‘Nigeria Media Capacity Development Report 2020’ was compiled by the Media Career Development Network (MDCN) and launched on Friday.
Giving his remark at the virtual launch of the report, Lekan Otufodunrin, executive director, MCDN, said the report was geared towards providing journalists with necessary information to boost their career and journalistic practice in the country.
He noted that the report was basically a catalogue database of opportunities in the media industry that would help enhance the career of journalists.
“This is a time journalists are going through a lot of challenges and they need a lot of support. This report has catalogued the database of media NGOs.
“Journalists will no longer have an excuse not to know but to maximise the support they can access to enhance their career.”
Dayo Aiyetan, executive director, International Centre for Investigative Reporting (The ICIR), commended the MCDN team for the initiative, adding that the report would not only open the eyes of the Nigerian journalists to the limitless opportunities in the industry but also help media NGOs to discover the areas of training that had not been covered.
“Colleagues often complain about lack of opportunities for journalists, but this report has proved that there are several opportunities for journalists, even in Nigeria.
“The significance is not just that it provides data about journalism, media career development and training programs, it will also help to discover the areas of training that have not been covered by media NGOs in Nigeria.”
Also speaking at the launch, Olayinka Oyegbile, a veteran journalist, said the report would help journalists and media practitioners in accessing relevant information on career development.
“The report will enable journalists to have access to the opportunities for training and fellowships that are available and most importantly, help them to build the relevant capacity ahead of the opportunities.”
Also present at the two-hour virtual launch were media professionals, proprietors and editors of media organisations, directors of media NGOs, young journalists as well as student journalists.
The Nigeria Media Capacity Development Report 2020 Overview
The Nigeria Media Capacity Development Report 2020, which is the brainwork of the MDCN, is said to be first of what will be an annual publication, documenting various programmes and activities held by media organisations and individuals.
The maiden edition launched compiled the programmes and activities held in 2020 by media organisations and media NGOs.
Notable among over 20 organisations whose programmes were catalogued in the report were; International Centre for Investigative Reporting (The ICIR), Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Reporting (WSCIJ), International Press Centre (IPC), Premium Times Centre for Investigative Reporting (PTCIJ) and African Women in Media (AWIM).
The report also contains feedbacks from participants and beneficiaries of the various programmes and projects, particularly on what they learnt and suggestions for improvement.Also included in the report were attestations by journalists who maximised the opportunities in 2020, student journalists’ reviews, awards, insightful interview quotes on capacity development by accomplished journalists, funders, database on media NGOs and support organisations and how people could maximise capacity development opportunities in 2021.
THE federal government has announced that the ban earlier placed on Emirates carrier from Nigeria has been lifted.
This was contained in a letter signed by Musa Nuhu, director-general of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), late Friday.
Earlier on Friday, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 had directed an immediate suspension of Emirates Airlines operations until the needed infrastructure and logistics were put in place.
Nuhu said in the statement that Emirates had informed the NCAA in writing that the UAE government had given the airline approval to suspend the pre-departure RDT requirement for passengers travelling on their flight to Dubai.
“Consequent upon the foregoing, the PTF directed the NCAA to lift the suspension placed on Emirates Airlines flights into Nigeria effective from February 5. The public is hereby informed as follows: Emirates Airlines no longer requires passengers to carry out pre-departure RDT,” the statement read in part.
Nuhu also noted that the PTF and other regulatory bodies on COVID-19 had not approved any laboratory to carry out RDT for incoming or departing passengers.
The ICIR had on Friday reported that the NCAA suspended outbound Emirates flights to Dubai due to failure to comply with the stipulated regulations by the federal government.
NCAA had said that Emirates had continued to engage in airlifting passengers from Nigeria using rapid antigen tests conducted by laboratories which were not approved by regulatory authorities on COVID-19.
The ICIR also reported the implications of the suspension placed on outbound Emirateairlines to Dubai due to the number of Nigerians visiting the UAE capital for businesses and tourism.
Cameroonian nationals seeking refuge in Calabar, south-south Nigeria, still have a lot to worry about, from extortion by local security officials to their home country asking for their deportation after labelling them ‘terrorists’.
FRANCIS Nelson (not real name) has mixed feelings about the safety of his family in Nigeria despite running away from the jungle boots of President Paul Biya’s troops on Dec. 18, 2017.
In Calabar, Cross River State, Southsouth Nigeria, where he lives under asylum with his wife and a son, the fear of an imminent arrest and repatriation to Cameroon rattles his mind every night. A supermarket owner back in Southern Cameroon, Nelson lost his grocery store to the crisis.
Since Oct. 1, 2017, when fighting broke out in the Anglophone Cameroon, where the English-speaking minority declared independence from Francophone Cameroon under the name Ambazonia Republic, more and more Southern Cameroonians have fled the country, seeking asylum in Nigeria.
Attacks and raids on villages in Southern Cameroon by military personnel have intensified since the 2018 election when then 85-year-old President Paul Biya, won another re-election—his seventh term in office.
There was an air of uncertainty over them—the event of June 10, 2018, when refugees filed out for food distribution at the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) office and a letter came from the Cameroon Consular addressed to the director-general of the agency asking that the refugees be arrested. Nelson, a father of one, says this has kept his countrymen in constant fear.
“A letter came from the Cameroon Consulate to the SEMA Director General stating that we who were there as refugees are not refugees but terrorists, that we should be arrested and sent back to Cameroon. When this information got to us, we were afraid, there was panic among us,” he recalls.
That in a way is a nightmare—Nelson says, but the nightmare got compounded when Nigerian security personnel restricted the movement of refugees within the country despite an Identity Card issued by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMIDP).
Refugees, he says, now provide veritable means of extortion for the security officials.
“Freedom of movement of refugees has been a problem. We can’t move from town to town freely. Even with your yellow card, certificate of asylum issued by the National Commission for Refugees, they still stop them and tell them that they are not supposed to move within the country. Most times they extort money from them – sometimes, people pay as much as N30, 000. It is a big challenge,” he says.
A Protection Officer at the UNHCR office in Calabar who admitted there have been reports of such arrests and extortions told The ICIR that the agency is holding a series of meetings with the leadership of Nigeria Police, Immigration and the Nigerian Army so that they can recognize the ID card issued by the Refugee Commission.
The allegation is not a one-off experience. Seven Southern Cameroonians who just escaped into Calabar were arrested by men of 13 Brigade of the Nigerian Army. But for the intervention of the Refugee Agency, they would not have been released, Nelson says.
He says the seven were suspected to be Anglophone combatants, “because of their dressings.”
“The clothes they wore were not very clean because they had travelled through the bush out of fear. When they got here, they didn’t have any other dress to change to, they were looking dirty and they came in a group, so they thought they were combatants.”
Intimidation comes from all angles for them; they allege that men of the Nigerian Immigration Service also declined to recognise the Identity Card issued by the Refugee Commission.
“The Immigration intimidates us most often, they claim not to recognize us, sometimes we have to call the UNHCR staff,” says a representative of the refugees in Adagon Refugees Resettlement, Ogoja Local Government who did not want to be named for his safety.
But the refugees are unhappy that their plights have not received deserved attention from the international community and the media. Quite frankly too, talks about the crisis between Francophone and Anglophone Cameroons have not gained prominence among world leaders.
The refugees’ representative, a former French-English translator in Cameroon, wonders why “nobody in the international community is talking about their plights.”
“I think Paul Biya has a very strong Mafia among the AU and they are doing everything in his favour.”
According to him, the recent victory of Biya in the general election dashed their hope of any quick resolution of the crisis.
“We thought the opposition would win the election because that would have offered some hope of dialogue and perhaps a settlement.”
The return of Biya has led to more clampdown in the country− his immediate actions show that he is not working towards any immediate resolution, he says. “Last night, a journalist was arrested and those that are in detention, we don’t know what he plans to do with them.”
He lamented that major international media have not given their crisis the required attention.
“When you look at other revolutions going on across the world, they are prominent in the news, but you don’t hear about the Southern Cameroon issue,” he observes.
“The big international media have not given it prominence in their reportage; is it because we are black? The battle is only fought on Facebook by Facebook warriors.”
Tens of thousands of Southern Cameroonians have fled the country in the wake of the clampdown by the Francophone Cameroonian government since the former declared independence under the name Ambazonia Republic.
‘Over 30,000 Southern Cameroonians Currently In Nigeria’
Over 30,000 of them are currently under asylum in Nigeria−Cross River, Benue and Taraba states−according to the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons and UNHCR.
One of the makeshift homes constructed by the UN agency for the refugees
On a daily basis, the population of Southern Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria keeps multiplying, said a senior official at the NCRMIDP.
He reveals that the Commission registers refugees, issues them identity cards and “the refugees keep coming as the crisis continues.”
Many more are running away from their homes as government forces keep arresting dissidents and setting villages ablaze especially after the president won the election for the seventh time.
Data obtained from the office of UNHCR revealed that there were 23,620 refugees as of Oct. 31, 2018, in Cross River State. Of these figures, 10,386 of them were male while 13,234 were female. While there were 333 births since January that year. The number of children among the refugees stood at 11,514, according to the UN agency.
By the middle of Oct. 2018, there were about 28,000 of the refugees registered by the Nigerian refugee commission, an official revealed. “We have close to 28,000 registered refugees,” he says, “but the registration is ongoing if we give you a figure today it may increase tomorrow.”
“This is not necessarily the true reflection of incoming, they are still coming. There are some who do come and do not report here but just settle in the nearby village,” adds the official who also pleaded for anonymity.
However, as of early November, a top staff of the UNHCR who would not want his name mentioned revealed that the figure has moved to 30,000.
Of the over 30,000 refugees, 5000 of them are currently at Adagom Settlement in Ogoja and over 60 per cent of them are children of school age, some of whom are separated and unaccompanied. Those identified are kept with foster parents in the settlement.
When Will This End?
No morning is normal for Peter Bidget (not real name) after gendarmeries in 2017 killed her father and arrested her husband — he is kept in a prison in Buea.
Building a new home at the refugees’ camp
October 7, 2017—at 3 pm, a helicopter loaded with government forces landed in Daddi village in Akwaya, Manyu division. Everyone in sight was shot at and killed, Bridget, a mother of two, narrates.
Ever since, she keeps wondering if she will ever see her husband again, or if her life will ever remain the same. “Right now, I don’t know how he is doing, I know that the situation with him is not an easy one,” she says with wet eyes.
“My husband was arrested by the gendarmes on his way from the farm because he didn’t know what was happening in the village.”
On other days, she feels terrified by the memories of what has happened in her village and again, the recurring fears that the government may come after those of them under asylum in Nigeria.
In Calabar where she hopes that life can again be better for her, Bridget admits coping has been somewhat herculean with two kids and an elderly mother to cater to.
“When will this end?” she asks, staring helpless and hopeless into the ceiling of the brightly lighted room she is sitting. And as if this journalist can help alleviate our pains, she quips, “Please if there is any way you can help me, you do.”
Like the mother of two, life is becoming more hopeless for Monday Henrietta (not real name) and her four kids.
A look of anguish sweeps across her face at the thought of the fate of her husband whose whereabouts has been unknown after he escaped arrest by government troops on June 9, 2017. After two arrests and two detentions with her six-week-old baby, she escaped through the forest to Nigeria via Ikom, Cross River State.
Each time she was detained, Henrietta spent between five and 10 hours in detention for two days when her husband could not be located. “I was arrested and detained for two days,” she says, “I wasn’t thrown into the cell because of the baby.”
Her baby ended up with a respiratory infection after those two days of exposure at the veranda of the military detention facility.
“That exposure let my baby contract a respiratory disease diagnosed by Dr Ebnagha of District Hospital, Manfe,” she recalls.
The couples and their children were living in Manfe, Manyu, South West Region, but Monday, her husband was on the targets’ list of the government for his involvement in the struggle for independence.
He was a member of the opposition party, People’s Action Party in 2011 and was arrested on Jan. 21, 2017, by gendarmerie on allegations of hostility against the nation.
But the mother of four is still uncomfortable despite being in Nigeria because, according to many of the refugees, the Cameroonian Consular in Nigeria has designated them terrorists.
There are claims of arbitrary arrests of refugees by Cameroonian forces. Every day, she wakes up with the fear of arrest and extradition by the Cameroonian government.
“I’m still afraid to attend meetings or interact for a long time and the fact that the Cameroon Consular office is in Calabar which I know and convinced they are working with the Cameroon government.”
“They may be sending spies to monitor refugees’ movements and activities so that they can arrest and extradite us,” she says as her voice cracks with fear.
Tears And Hopelessness
After sleeping on a mat throughout the period of her pregnancy, 23-year-old Lucy finally gave birth to a healthy baby boy sometime mid-Oct. 2018 at a hospital in Ogoja. “I slept on the mat until I gave birth,” she says.
With a three-week-old baby in a Refugee Settlement and among over 30,000 Southern Cameroonians under asylum in Nigeria, the crisis back home casts a bleak shadow over her future and that of her newborn.
Moving on with life, a market at the refugee camp
For her, it was miraculous that she gave birth to a healthy baby without complications because, according to her, she did not attend any ante-natal clinic during pregnancy – and living conditions at the settlement made the prospect of any easy delivery doubtful.
But Lucy was lucky; she and her baby are healthy, though help from the United Agency for Refugee did not get to her when she was in labour pains and eventually delivered a baby at a hospital.
She couldn’t get a mattress from the agency, because, “mattress is given based on the family size,” an official of the UNHCR said. “It’s one mattress per a family of five and below, the rest are mats.”
With her baby, she shares the temporary shelter that has just a mat and a blanket with her younger sister. Her shelter is among the 140 just constructed by the UNHCR.
The young mother was writing a final Advanced Level examination to proceed to the university when she and her family fled their home.
After a perilous journey through forest and river, Lucy in early-stage pregnancy made it to Nigeria on Nov. 17, 2017. Her father was not so lucky— he died in the forest of shock, the second day of their escape from home.
With the help of fishermen, she alongside her mother and sister sailed safely to Nigeria. “It was very critical running with pregnancy, but I had to manage because there was no option,” she says of her ordeals running to Nigeria particularly with pregnancy.
“We had to run to the bush that night. We slept there that night. Four of us, my father, mum and my sister- it was heavily raining. The next day we tried running to cross the border area but we could not make it. I was pregnant then. The next day, I lost my father, he had a shock.”
Suckling her three-week-old son in front of a temporary shelter provided by the UNHCR, Lucy speaks of how her father was declared wanted by the Biya-led government and how critical it was for her running with pregnancy from the gendarmes.
At Umojok in Southern Cameroon, her father was accused by the Francophone Cameroonian government of fortifying young boys with a local bulletproof called “Odeshi.”
Amidst sobs, she says the accusation against her late father – keeping young men who had crossed to Nigeria for Odeshi in his compound to fight government forces – was unfounded.
“Odeshi is a secret cult whereby boys put marks on their body, it is called gun proof. That was what I heard which was a lie; my father did not do such a thing,” the 23-year-old says.
For her and her baby, surviving at the settlement where UNHCR is just helping to erect structures to accommodate the refugees has been very challenging. She lives on handouts from passersby; ´a day never passed me by without food to eat.”
Often, passersby offer her money to eat and take care of her baby. Much of the distributions by the Refugee Agency did not get to her even during pregnancy and labour, she claims.
Meanwhile, late-night delivery of pregnant women has become a frequent occurrence at the settlement despite the absence of adequate means of transportation to a nearby health facility. There were 15 deliveries in the last two months at the settlement, an official of the camp said.
“Some of the babies died; some died after delivery while some were stillbirth due to poor health care services at the settlement.”
There are other new arrivals who are pregnant and without tents yet. “They sleep in the hall and they eventually deliver, we have some cases of them. They are forced to sleep on the floor and their newborn babies,” he says.
Birthrate at the settlement is overwhelming the refugee agency which has stopped distribution of baby kits to nursing mothers because there is a shortfall in the provision of such too. The leadership of the refugees revealed that the agency no longer distributes baby needs to nursing mothers in the settlement.
“Before they were doing their provisions to make sure that they provide for baby needs, but now, they no longer set their eyes to that direction. When a woman is pregnant, they no longer care to say take these baby kits, even one single thing,” one representative alleges.
“It’s something I cannot actually explain, but when we questioned them, they said, the provision is not there and sometimes, they said the birth rate is too high, they don’t encourage such situations within the settlement.”
Save the Children, an organisation that focuses on child protection, child poverty, education, health, was involved in the provision of baby kits for pregnant women and nursing mothers among the refugees, but has not resumed such gesture since refugees moved to Adagan Settlement in Ogoja. What was provided by the Southern Cameroonians in the Diaspora at the inception of the settlement has also been exhausted.
This investigation was conducted in 2018. But there have been a little improvements. As of Feb. 2020,the total Cameroonian refugee population in Nigeria according to the UNHCR was about 60,000. In a report, the agency said that some of the refugees arrived across the border with gunshot wounds. Quoting the new arrivals, it added that most of them come from areas near the border and have trekked across the savannahs forests to reach Nigeria.
NGOZI Okonjo-Iweala, former Nigeria’s finance minister, has expressed excitement over the backing she got from the United States to lead the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
This is coming shortly after the US government led by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris endorsed her for the top job.
Okonjo-Iweala made this known through her Twitter handle on Friday night, commending President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians for their support.
“Grateful for the expression of support from the US today for DG @WTO. Congratulations to Madam Yoo of Rep. Korea for a hard fought campaign. Thank You President Muhammadu Buhari @MBuhari &all Nigerians for your unflinching support. Thank you friends. Love to my family.Glory to God,” she tweeted.
Buhari had, sometime in October 2020, assured Okonjo-Iweala that he would do all within his power to ensure that she became director-general of the WTO.
According to the statement by the US Trade Representative office on Friday, Okonjo Iweala received what the US government expressed as a ‘strong support.’
The statement cited her ‘wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy’ and ‘proven experience managing a large international organisation’ as big assets.
It will be recalled that The ICIR had earlier reported that Iweala’s opponent Yoo Myung-hee withdrew her bid to lead the WTO, paving the way for Okonjo-Iweala to be in pole position to land the top job as the only remaining candidate.
Yoo, who is the current minister of the South Korean Ministry, issued her withdrawal in a statement endorsed by the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Friday.
According to the statement, “The United States takes note of today’s decision by the Republic of Korea’s Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee to withdraw her candidacy for Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“The Biden-Harris Administration is pleased to express its strong support for the candidacy of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-lweala as the next Director General of the WTO.
“Dr. Okonjo-Iweala brings a wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy from her 25 years with the World Bank and two terms as Nigerian Finance Minister.
“She is widely respected for her effective leadership and has proven experience managing a large international organization with a diverse membership.”
If Okonjo-Iweala emerges as WTO DG, it means that she would not only be the first African to hold the seat but also the first woman to ever become the DG of the 164-member organisation.
Once confirmed by the WTO, Okonjo-Iweala is expected to lead the WTO from 2021 to 2025.
