ABIKE Dabiri, Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has urged the United States (US) Government to investigate the death of 19-year-old activist Oluwatoyin Salau, who was found lifeless by the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) on June 13.
In a statement released by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Head, Media and Public Relations Unit at NIDCOM Abuja, Dabiri tagged the news of Salau’s passing as depressing and cruel.
The NIDCOM chairman also condoled the family of late Salau.
The ICIR had earlier reported about late Salau, who went missing on June 6, after sharing a series of tweets in which she disclosed that she was sexually assaulted by a man who posed as a good samaritan.
According to the police, a 49-year-old man, Aaron Glee Jr, identified as a suspect has been taken into custody in relation to the case which is being treated as a homicide.
Salau’s body was found alongside the lifeless body of a 75-year-old Victoria Sims.
Before her death, Salau had gained a reputation for standing against injustice and oppression. The teenager was known for protesting the rights of black people in America and had joined few protests held in Tallahassee, Florida.
Meanwhile, a friend of the deceased, identified as Ashley on Twitter, has shared that a protest demanding justice for Toyin and celebrating her strength as an activist is to be held on Friday.
“There is going to be a major protest Friday in honor of Toyin’s memory and strength. Also Friday weeks ago was her first time protesting. The details are coming out soon,” Ashley tweeted.
EXECUTIVE Jet Services Limited, the aviation company, whose private jet flown Nigerian music star, Naira Marley to Abuja for a concert on Friday, June 12 has apologised for flying the controversial musician to the nation’s capital against the law.
In the letter of apology addressed to Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation, Sam Iwuajoku, Chief Executive Officer of Executive Jet Services Limited admitted that the flight was approved to convey a judge to Abuja but said the intended passenger had found his way to Abuja with the help of another flight.
“Please the flight was to carry a Judge to Abuja on Sunday 14th, 2020 as requested and permit was granted based on the application, but unfortunately when I called the Judge on Saturday morning to inform him that we have the permit, he then said that he has reached Abuja already with a different flight that someone gave him a lift to Abuja,” he said in the letter.
Iwuajoku said his team later got an offer to convey another set of passengers to Abuja but added that he was confused when he saw the name Fashola Babatunde.
Naira Marley’s real name is Azeez Fashola, but a particular name on the flight’s manifest was Fashola Babatunde, and it was No.6 on the list while there was also Fashola Adeshina on the list as No.3.
The company’s chairman said he thought it was the minister of works and housing not knowing that “it was a bunch of useless people”.
“So on Saturday morning 13th June, 2020 my staff called me that they have a charter flight to Abuja and that the passengers are already in the lounge as a rule passenger manifest is always sent to me before any departure, when I went through the manifest and I saw FASHOLA BABATUNDE I thought it was the Honorable Minister of Works going to Abuja with his men, so we decided to do the flight since (he) is a serving minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I didn’t know that it was a bunch of useless people,” he explained.
“We hereby apologize for the above flight, with your permit ref: PMA/ATMD/0175/V/V/1268 dated 11th June, 2020.”
“We are very sorry for this mistake and we promise that this would not happen again.”
This followed the suspension of the company by the Federal Government on Monday after it established that the private jet was approved for a different purpose which was to convey a judge, Justice Adefope Okoj to Abuja and back to Lagos on official assignment.
Naira Marley had Friday night performed in Abuja at Jabi Lake Mall in a concert that was meant to be a sit-in car show but turned to large crowd event which violated the lockdown guidelines against the COVID-19 imposed by the government.
The event which has left the aviation company suspended indefinitely by the Federal Government also saw to the sealing off of Jabi Lake Mallfor two weeks by the Federal Capital Territory Administration for hosting the singer and violation of restrictions on social gathering.
A WORLD court designed to investigate allegations of human rights violations has found itself in the crosshairs of the President of the United States.
A new Trump executive order threatening the court’s operations has been condemned by prominent global institutions and individuals as it appears to give cover to human rights abuses committed in the course of U.S. foreign wars while demanding accountability from foreign countries in similar circumstances.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), for example, has the power to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in northeast Nigeria, and by so doing, offers the possibility of justice for Nigerians who suffered abuses by the military fighting Boko Haram in that region.
In March, the ICC ruled that it could also investigate allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan – including any committed by the U.S. – taking a step that outraged the Trump administration.
Param-Preet Singh of the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, praised the decision of the ICC to greenlight an investigation of brutal crimes in Afghanistan, reaffirming the court’s essential role for victims when all other doors to justice are closed.
After years of collecting information on the Afghanistan war, the court’s chief prosecutor, Ms. Fatou Bensouda of The Gambia, said that enough information had been found to prove that U.S. forces “committed acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence” in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, and later in clandestine C.I.A. facilities in Poland, Romania and Lithuania.
She requested permission to open an investigation into claims of war crimes and crimes against humanity attributed to the U.S. military and intelligence personnel, the Taliban and Afghan forces.
The United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan has documented the killings of more than 17,000 civilians by the Taliban since 2009, including nearly 7,000 targeted killings. Yet, last April, a U.N. report found that U.S. and Afghan forces had killed more civilians in the first three months of 2019 than the Taliban did..
Objections by the U.S. to being examined for serious crimes in Afghanistan began with John R. Bolton, then the national security adviser, who denounced the court as “illegitimate.” He said: “We won’t cooperate with the I.C.C. We will provide no assistance to the I.C.C. And we certainly will not join the I.C.C. We will let the I.C.C. die on its own.” He added, “If the court comes after us, we will not sit quietly.”
Similar comments have been made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Shaharzad Akbar, the head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said the court had made the right decision to procede over U.S. objections. “We will advocate for victims regardless of the group affiliation of the perpetrator — whether U.S. actors, Taliban or Afghan forces,” Ms. Akbar said.
The ICC was established more than 15 years ago to seek justice for victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
This report is published with permission from Global Information Network.
CALLING it a “dark and shameful week,” South African president Cyril Ramaphosa denounced the latest surge in violence against women, including the murder of a woman eight months pregnant.
“Gender-based violence thrives in a climate of silence,” he said. “By looking the other way because we believe it is a personal or family matter, we become complicit in this most insidious of crimes,” the President said.
Ramaphosa’s remarks come after some coronavirus restrictions were lifted, including a ban on the sale of alcohol.
Mr Ramaphosa condemned the brutality of recent killings, naming three of the victims, two of whom have become the subject of Twitter campaigns. They are: Tshegofatso Pule – #JusticeForTshego, and Naledi Phangindawo – #JusticeforNaledi. The president said another young woman had been dumped under a tree in Johannesburg’s Soweto township on Friday.
But his remarks ring hollow when a “new government report” released in September also declared gender-based violence a national crisis.
According to the 10-month-old report, a woman is murdered every three hours in South Africa, and many are assaulted and raped before their death.
Nomakhosazana Xaba, in her late 20s, says this violence now resembles a country at war against its women.
After the September report, President Ramaphosa announced a five-point plan to tackle violence against women, including media campaigns, strengthening the criminal justice system, and providing training for healthcare workers and counsellors.
But Xaba was fed up. “Enough is enough! A lot has been said, but there is still no change. We are brutally victimized each and every day, every second. Am I next? It’s fearing to live.”
Yesterday, the Federation of Unions of South Africa issued a strong statement urging steps to end the violence. “Fedusa is horrified by the ongoing scourge and the slow response and general inaction of our government,” they said. “Yet the government still has not ratified the ILO convention on Ending Violence and Harassment in the World of Work.”
For its efforts, 1.1 billion rands gifted by the government were deposited in the Federation’s bank.
Meanwhile, police minister Bheki Cele continues to maintain that law enforcement is doing its job when it comes to arresting perpetrators of gender-based violence. “Police are responding,” he said defensively. Commenting on the recent surge of violence, he blamed the sale of alcohol during lockdown level 3.
Mpume replied on Twitter: “Bheki Cele is gonna need to do more than just confiscate alcohol and pose in front of shebeens (bars). Women are dying every single day.”
This report is published with permission from Global Information Network.
SOME of the largest anti-racism protests in Europe have taken place in Belgium, the birthplace of King Léopold II, whose brutal rule of Congo from 1885 to 1908 caused an estimated 10 million Congolese deaths through murder, starvation and disease.
This past week, close to 12,000 people gathered in central Brussels. They were targeting the King Leopold statue outside the royal palace and more than a dozen others. The most egregious one depicts a group of Congolese people kneeling below Leopold in “gratitude”.
Many of these statues were built in the 1930s when the Belgian government created a mythology around Leopold II, erasing the public memory of the Congo atrocities and replacing it with a narrative of a benevolent king who brought glory to Belgium.
But as calls for the removal of the statues grow louder, Belgian’s political class is raising objections to the dismay of Afro-Belgians and other citizens.
“You should see what Leopold II has done for Belgium!” Prince Laurent, younger brother of the current Belgian King Philippe, was quoted to say. “He had parks built in Brussels and many other things.”
“I don’t see how he could have made people (in the Congo) suffer,” Laurent said. “There were many people that worked for Leopold II, and they were really abusive — but that does not mean that Leopold II was abusive.”
“You won’t erase the history by removing statues,” said District Mayor Koen Palinckx of Antwerp. “You won’t turn back the clock.” He scolded activists destroying objects that are public property saying: “That’s a line you do not cross.”
“This is not how we proceed in a democracy,” added Auderghem Mayor Didier Gosuin. “This is not how we put history back on the right track.”
In 2010, former Belgian foreign minister Louis Michel, the father of future prime minister and present EU Council president Charles Michel, called Leopold “a hero with ambitions for a small country like Belgium” and described the Congo stories as “exaggerations”.
Belgians have been unwilling to confront colonialism, said Idesbald Goddeeris, a professor of history at Leuven Catholic University. When he was a student in the 1990s, instructors spent only one or two minutes on the country’s role in Congo, he recalled.
“Slavery is still very real history for black people – we are still living with the consequences of it, with a racial hierarchy that puts black people at the bottom,” said Mary Ononokpono, who is doing a Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge on the British-Biafran slave trade.
“Britain, Europe and America – and Africa – have to confront their history,” said Ononokpono. “We urgently need to have a long-overdue and honest discussion about the history of slavery and its legacy of impoverishment.”
This report is published with permission from Global Information Network.
A news story, published by Legit.ng on Wednesday, June 10 claimed that a Nigerian man has invented a machine that could transform nylons and plastics into petrol.
The report, titled: “Brilliant! Nigerian man invents machine that transforms nylons and plastics into petrol (photos),” has garnered about 60,000 views on the website and shared at least 462 times on Facebook with over 400 likes and 129 comments as of Monday, June 15.
THE CLAIM
The story claimed that Emeka Nelson Ugwueze, a Nigerian invented a machine that could transform nylons and plastics into petrol.
Published on the website with photos embedded, the story read: “A Nigerian man has invented a machine that might develop Nigeria for the better – The man built a machine that transforms waste into petrol, Kerosene and Diesel.
“It was reported that the machine can also transform waste into tiles and roofing sheets.
Mr. Ugwueze. Insert: his ‘plastic-to-fuel’ machine.
“Emeka Nelson, a Nigerian from the eastern part of the country, remains celebrated in his own right for being able to create a machine that converts wastes to petrol. The machine does other things and there is hope that Emeka’s innovation will help Nigeria’s struggling economy.
“The young man shared a posting, stating what the list of things the machine can do with photos of the invention on his Facebook page. On the Facebook post, the young Nigerian man reported that the machine transforms hydrocarbon related wastes like plastic, nylon and so on.”
THE CHECK
Independent findings by TheICIR confirmed that Mr. Ugwueze actually fabricated the machine and posted it on his Facebook page on October 31, 2018 (about 20 months ago).
Ugwueze in an interview with The ICIR said: “Yeah, it’s true, it can make diesel, petrol, kerosene. A single machine can do all that depending on the design but we found out that the efficiency can be low. So now, we’ve decided to split them so that they (machines) do single thing. For instance, if we want to transform the plastics into pavement blocks or whatever, each one has its own different machine that does that.
“The one that converts plastics to petrol, diesel or whatsoever in that regard is more complex. So, it’s a different machine for that. But technology has made it possible that we can incorporate so many things into one; it’s just like combining two different machines into one.”
When asked if he knew why the platform decided to republish his Facebook post of about two years as fresh report, Ugwueze said: “I don’t know, I don’t know.”
“Whatever they posted there was actually an earlier design. The improved one (machine) we’ve been working on is still doing same thing. But we’re just trying to increase its efficiency,” he said.
Ugwueze added: “at some point, I just talk less and no longer post them (online). They didn’t reach out to me; but what they published wasn’t far from the truth.” He noted that he has improved on the designs published by the platform, adding “but I have kept it personal.”
Further investigation by The ICIR revealed that there are actually incinerating plants or machines that recycle plastics through chemical processes such as gasification and pyrolysis.
Gasification and pyrolysis are completely different processes to simply incinerating the plastic. Gasification and pyrolysis can produce electricity or fuels, and provide more flexible ways of storing energy than incineration, Muxina Konarova, a senior Research Fellow at The University of Queensland, Australia wrote in theconversation.com
She added that gasification involves heating the waste plastic with air or steam, to produce valuable industrial gas mixtures called “synthesis gas”, or syngas. “This can then be used to produce diesel and petrol, or burned directly in boilers to generate electricity.”
“In pyrolysis, plastic waste is heated in the absence of oxygen, which produces mixture of oil similar to crude oil. This can be further refined into transportation fuels,” she opined.
PHOTO CREDITS: Theconversation.com
Dr. Anjan Ray, Director, CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum, also pointed out that “The fuel obtained from conversion of plastic is completely environmentally friendly due to absence of any toxic substances. Apart from producing petroleum and diesel, this technology will also ensure that urban and semi-urban areas become plastic free, as instead of disposing plastics as waste, they can be converted to fuel.”
“Countries like Japan, Germany and the United States have already implemented the plastic to fuel conversion process with much success. These three also have been successful in creating business models out of the conversion process, resulting in the conversion model becoming a profitable business one,” Saptarshi Dutta also wrote on NDTV.com.
Estimates show that less than 5% of the plastic manufactured each year is recycled, with production of the material set to increase by 3.8% every year until 2030, adding to the 6.3 billion tonnes churned out since production began 60 years ago, according to the National Geographic (NatGeo) channel.
The ICIR reports that the plastics-to-fuel ecosystem if supported could provide major economic benefits to the nation, not only through job creation but also by curbing environmental pollution.
THE VERDICT
The claim was TRUE, however Legit.ng was re-circulating the Facebook post earlier made about two years ago by Mr. Ugwueze as fresh news. And this is MISLEADING.
THE Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) in the United States (US) on Sunday shared that it had found the lifeless body of 19-year-old Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist, Oluwatoyin Salau, nine days after she was declared missing.
In a statement shared on its Facebook page, the TPD disclosed that the deceased was found during the late hours of June 13, alongside another dead body, stating that both deaths would be investigated as homicides.
It further disclosed that preliminary investigations had revealed a suspect, who has since been apprehended. The identity of the suspect is yet to be released by the police.
Controversy had trailed the disappearance of Salau who went missing on June 6, in Tallahassee, Florida, US, after she shared a series of tweets in which she disclosed that she was sexually assaulted by a yet-to-be known man.
In her Twitter post, Salau, shared details of the assault, describing her abuser as a mid-40s black man who had posed as a good samaritan wanting to help with her homeless situation.
“Anyways I was molested in Tallahassee, Florida by a black man this morning at 5:30 on Richview and Park Ave. The man offered to give me a ride to find someplace to sleep and recollect my belongings from a church I refuged to a couple days back to escape unjust living conditions.
“He came disguised as a man of God and ended up picking me up from nearby Saxon Street. I entered his truck only because I carry anything to defend myself not even a phone (which is currently at the church) and I have poor vision. I trusted the holy spirit to keep me safe,” Salau’s post read.
Describing the alleged sexual assault incident, Salau said the man used her body for his pleasure while she laid faced down on his couch, only finding a way to escape after he fell asleep.
“He then asked me if I wanted a massage at this moment his roommate who was in the house was asleep. I was laying on my stomach trying to calm myself down from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. He started touching my back and rubbing my body, using my body until he climaxed and then went to sleep.
“Before I realized what happened to me I looked over and his clothes were completely off. Once I saw he was asleep I escaped from the house and started walking from Richview Road to anywhere else,” Salau’s final tweet before her disappearance read.
Salau reported the case to the police shortly before she went missing.
Several days passed before her lifeless body was found on the road.
The police said: “At approximately 9:15 pm Saturday night, June 13th, TPD investigators arrived in 2100 block of Monday Road in the course of a follow-up investigation in a missing person case. During the course of the investigation, two deceased people were located in the area.”
One of the bodies was identified as Salau.
The death of the BLM activist has sparked several reactions on social media, with many calling for justice and answers over what happened to the girl who fought against racism.
Having joined protests driving the message about the importance of black people’s lives in America, Salau’s last days were lived fighting perceived oppression and racial injustice.
According to a friend of the deceased, identified as Ashley on Twitter, a protest demanding justice for Toyin and celebrating her strength as an activist is to be held on Friday.
“There is going to be a major protest Friday in honor of Toyin’s memory and strength. Also Friday weeks ago was her first time protesting. The details are coming out soon,” Ashley tweeted.
In the interim, a petition has been set up on behalf of Salau to gain the attention of the Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis and TPD to investigate what friends and supporters of the deceased described a crime.
THE IMO state chairman of the COVID-19 task force, Professor Maurice Iwu has announced the death of a woman who has died of the coronavirus infection after giving birth to twins on Monday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the state to 4.
Confirming the incident to Channels Television, Professor Iwu said the woman was delivered of a set of twins but after delivery, she couldn’t survive it.
Although the woman’s details are unknown, the deceased was said to have been receiving treatment in the isolation centre after testing positive for the coronavirus disease a few days ago.
According to Iwu, the babies were however fortunate as to have tested negative for the virus.
While warning against rumours that COVID-19 is not real, he urged indigenes of the state to continue to comply with precautionary measures put in place by the state government to contain the spread of the virus.
Iwu also noted that COVID-19 cases keep increasing by the day due to an increase in sample testing in the state.
THE Nigerian Minister of Power, Sale Mamman has on Monday announced the appointment of Nnaemeka Eweluka as the Managing Director of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET).
His appointment was announced through a statement by the Special Adviser on Media & Communications to Mamman, Aaron Artimas.
Eweluka, prior to his appointment was the NBET General Counsel and Secretary.
Artimas noted that Eweluka’s appointment came after President Muhammadu Buhari had approved his nomination.
Eweluka was profiled by Artimas as a lawyer with experience in both private and public sector across academics and the power sector.
According to Artimas, Eweluka is an expert in privatisation and legal energy reforms.
The statement read that the immediate former managing director of NBET Marilyn Amobi is to handover to Eweluka with immediate effect.
Amobi was also directed to go on terminal leave after handing over to the new NBET boss.
Several controversies have characterised Amobi’s tenure as the NBET boss.
Minister of Power, Mamman had sacked her in January before she was eventually reinstated by President Buhari.
The House of Representatives is currently probing Amobi for alleged N90 billion fraud committed through abuse of office and flouting the Public Procurement Act (PPA).
The ICIRreported that a report by the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) indicted Amobi of N517 million contract splitting to waive approval from higher authorities.
THE Federal Government of Nigeria has suspended the airline whose jet was used to convey Nigerian artist, Naira Marley to a concert in Abuja on Friday.
Sirika Hadi, Minister for Aviation confirmed the suspension of Execujet Services during the presidential task force briefing on COVID-19 on Monday.
He said operations of the flight company have been suspended indefinitely, and will also be fined.
Sirika disclosed that the flight was approved for a different purpose which was to convey a judge, Justice Adefope Okoj to Abuja and back to Lagos on official assignment.
“The operation is a clear violation of our approvals which we take seriously, it seems this is becoming a norm, it’s the second time,” the Minister said.
“Execujet services are hereby suspended indefinitely, we’ll also fine them maximally according to the law,” he announced.
According to him, the Captain of the flight will also be sanctioned for giving wrong information to the Control Tower.
“It seems also that the people are not tired trying our resolve,” Sirika said, adding ” governance is a serious matter…going forward, we will put stricter mechanism in place to prevent this from happening again.”
It will be recalled that Federal Capital Territory Administration sealed offJabi Lake Mall on Sunday for two weeks over Naira Marley’s concert which violated the government’s ban on public gathering.
When The ICIR reached out to the official number on Execujet Services website for comment, the official of the airline who answered the call declined comment because he was not authorised to talk concerning the suspension of the aviation company.
