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Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts

NIGERIA IS ABOUT TO SNAP; THE UN MUST ACT NOW TO AVERT CATASTROPHE - NINAS

NIGERIA IS ABOUT TO SNAP; THE UN MUST ACT NOW TO AVERT CATASTROPHE - NINAS

(Being a Letter Addressed to United Nations Security Council, the Trusteeship Council and the General Assembly, September 14, 2021 by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination, (NINAS), at the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.


PROTOCOLS.


1.    We, the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria gather today at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York to alert the UN, and the rest of the Global Community that the Union of Nigeria has failed irredeemably; and is now at the verge of a Violent Disintegration with Catastrophic Consequences for Global Peace, and Security as our population of over 200 million would become an Instant Global Refugee Nightmare.

 

2.    Amidst the extraordinary difficulties inflicted by the imposition and enforcement of Sharia by a section of Nigeria in a supposedly Secular Union, the immediate reason for this looming catastrophe is the Cocktail of Mass Killing, Kidnapping and General Banditry being orchestrated against the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria by an invading Fulani Militia masquerading as Herdsmen in an undisguised Ethnic Cleansing Campaign that progressively demonstrate the Complicity of the Federal Government of Nigeria headed by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani man, who as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria is also the Life Grand Patron of the notorious Myetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria; that proudly takes responsibility for the Murderous Exploits of the Fulani Herdsmen  Militia designated the Fourth Most Deadly Terror Group.

 

3.    Compounding their impunity, the same Myetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association at a recent Press Conference organised to mock the Planned NINAS Million-Man Freedom March to the UN, boasted to be in control of the UN through their daughter, Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General at the UN. An indication that (Amina Mohammed) nominated to that Exalted UN Position by the Fulani President of Nigeria Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, is in some way a part of the Grand Protection Design for the Fulani Herdsmen in their Bloody, Onslaught against the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria.

 

4.    It will be recalled that following widespread extrajudicial killings in Nigeria, the UN in August of 2019, dispatched a Special Rapporteur Mission to Nigeria led by Agnes Callamard. The Damning Verdict of that Rapporteur Mission was that the widespread extrajudicial killings were flowing from the Unitary Constitutional Arrangements of Nigeria, which operates as a PRESSURE-COOKER FOR INJUSTICE and that Nigeria under that Constitution is a Danger to Global Peace and Security. The Report warned that unless something is done urgently, Nigeria would Snap, plunging its 200 million Population into turmoil that will trigger a Large-Scale Refugee Crisis of unprecedented magnitude at a time the Global Terror Networks, ISIS, ISWAP and AL-Qaeda are already converging in Nigeria.

 

5.    It will be recalled that in furtherance of the Repudiation and Rejection of the Unitary Constitution of Nigeria (1999), and the Toxic Union it foists, the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (being the South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria) on December 16, 2020 Declared a Constitutional Force Majeure, raising a Union Dispute with 5-Point Demand for the termination of the operation of the aforementioned imposed Constitution; for the immediate commencement of remediation of the Long-Standing Grave Constitutional Grievances of Nigeria’s Constituent Components, failing which the Peoples of the Alliance Territory would Reconsider their Allegiance to that Constitution. The Key Highlights of the five-point demand include the suspension of the further elections (Particularly the 2023 Elections), under the repudiated 1999 constitution as well as the initiation of a time-bound transitioning arrangement to mid-wife the emergence of fresh constitutional protocols founded on the sovereignty and self-determination rights of the constituent components of Nigeria. An Online Petition conveying the Demands of that Constitutional Force Majeure Proclamation, is currently before the UN Security Council.

 

6.    That Nigeria has failed as a State is no longer a Subject for Debate, having emerged the Global Poverty Capital, and Playing Host to Two of the World’s Top Four Most Deadly Terrorists Organisation, with Three-quarters of the Constituent Components (South and Middle-Belt) Seeking Urgent Extrication by Way of Referendums from what has become a Union of Death. Looking back at the recent turn of events in Afghanistan, this Freedom March to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, is to alert the Global Community of the rapidly degenerating situation of Nigeria, and to invite United Nations, particularly the Security Council, and Trusteeship Council, to initiate Urgent Steps to Arrest Nigeria’s Descent into Chaos, as besieged communities drift dangerously to self-help.


*For and on behalf of the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination*

 


*Professor Yusuf Turaki*


*Elder T.K Ogoriba*  


*Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki* 


*Tony Nnadi*

(Secretary-General, NINAS)


*Professor Banji Akintoye*

(Chairman, NINAS)


Prof Banji Akintoye





 

(Being a Letter Addressed to United Nations Security Council, the Trusteeship Council and the General Assembly, September 14, 2021 by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination, (NINAS), at the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.


PROTOCOLS.


1.    We, the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria gather today at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York to alert the UN, and the rest of the Global Community that the Union of Nigeria has failed irredeemably; and is now at the verge of a Violent Disintegration with Catastrophic Consequences for Global Peace, and Security as our population of over 200 million would become an Instant Global Refugee Nightmare.

 

2.    Amidst the extraordinary difficulties inflicted by the imposition and enforcement of Sharia by a section of Nigeria in a supposedly Secular Union, the immediate reason for this looming catastrophe is the Cocktail of Mass Killing, Kidnapping and General Banditry being orchestrated against the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria by an invading Fulani Militia masquerading as Herdsmen in an undisguised Ethnic Cleansing Campaign that progressively demonstrate the Complicity of the Federal Government of Nigeria headed by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani man, who as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria is also the Life Grand Patron of the notorious Myetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria; that proudly takes responsibility for the Murderous Exploits of the Fulani Herdsmen  Militia designated the Fourth Most Deadly Terror Group.

 

3.    Compounding their impunity, the same Myetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association at a recent Press Conference organised to mock the Planned NINAS Million-Man Freedom March to the UN, boasted to be in control of the UN through their daughter, Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General at the UN. An indication that (Amina Mohammed) nominated to that Exalted UN Position by the Fulani President of Nigeria Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, is in some way a part of the Grand Protection Design for the Fulani Herdsmen in their Bloody, Onslaught against the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria.

 

4.    It will be recalled that following widespread extrajudicial killings in Nigeria, the UN in August of 2019, dispatched a Special Rapporteur Mission to Nigeria led by Agnes Callamard. The Damning Verdict of that Rapporteur Mission was that the widespread extrajudicial killings were flowing from the Unitary Constitutional Arrangements of Nigeria, which operates as a PRESSURE-COOKER FOR INJUSTICE and that Nigeria under that Constitution is a Danger to Global Peace and Security. The Report warned that unless something is done urgently, Nigeria would Snap, plunging its 200 million Population into turmoil that will trigger a Large-Scale Refugee Crisis of unprecedented magnitude at a time the Global Terror Networks, ISIS, ISWAP and AL-Qaeda are already converging in Nigeria.

 

5.    It will be recalled that in furtherance of the Repudiation and Rejection of the Unitary Constitution of Nigeria (1999), and the Toxic Union it foists, the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (being the South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria) on December 16, 2020 Declared a Constitutional Force Majeure, raising a Union Dispute with 5-Point Demand for the termination of the operation of the aforementioned imposed Constitution; for the immediate commencement of remediation of the Long-Standing Grave Constitutional Grievances of Nigeria’s Constituent Components, failing which the Peoples of the Alliance Territory would Reconsider their Allegiance to that Constitution. The Key Highlights of the five-point demand include the suspension of the further elections (Particularly the 2023 Elections), under the repudiated 1999 constitution as well as the initiation of a time-bound transitioning arrangement to mid-wife the emergence of fresh constitutional protocols founded on the sovereignty and self-determination rights of the constituent components of Nigeria. An Online Petition conveying the Demands of that Constitutional Force Majeure Proclamation, is currently before the UN Security Council.

 

6.    That Nigeria has failed as a State is no longer a Subject for Debate, having emerged the Global Poverty Capital, and Playing Host to Two of the World’s Top Four Most Deadly Terrorists Organisation, with Three-quarters of the Constituent Components (South and Middle-Belt) Seeking Urgent Extrication by Way of Referendums from what has become a Union of Death. Looking back at the recent turn of events in Afghanistan, this Freedom March to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, is to alert the Global Community of the rapidly degenerating situation of Nigeria, and to invite United Nations, particularly the Security Council, and Trusteeship Council, to initiate Urgent Steps to Arrest Nigeria’s Descent into Chaos, as besieged communities drift dangerously to self-help.


*For and on behalf of the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination*

 


*Professor Yusuf Turaki*


*Elder T.K Ogoriba*  


*Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki* 


*Tony Nnadi*

(Secretary-General, NINAS)


*Professor Banji Akintoye*

(Chairman, NINAS)


Prof Banji Akintoye





 

UN Secretary-General's remarks to the Security Council on Afghanistan [as delivered]

UN Secretary-General's remarks to the Security Council on Afghanistan [as delivered]

The world is following events in Afghanistan with a heavy heart and deep disquiet about what lies ahead.

All of us have seen the images in real time.  Chaos.  Unrest.  Uncertainty.  And fear.

Much lies in the balance. The progress.  The hope.  The dreams of a generation of young Afghan women and girls, boys and men.    

At this grave hour, I urge all parties, especially the Taliban, to exercise utmost restraint to protect lives and to ensure that humanitarian needs can be met. 
 
Conflict has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. 

The capital city has seen a huge influx of internally displaced persons from provinces around the country where they felt insecure or fled during fighting.

I remind all parties of their obligation to protect civilians.
 
I call on all parties to provide humanitarians with unimpeded access to deliver timely and life-saving services and aid.

And I also urge all countries to be willing to receive Afghan refugees and refrain from any deportations. 
 
Now is the time to stand as one. 

The international community must be united and utilize all available instruments to ensure the following: 

First, we must speak with one voice to uphold human rights in Afghanistan.

I call upon the Taliban and all parties to respect and protect international humanitarian law and the rights and freedoms of all persons.  

We are receiving chilling reports of severe restrictions on human rights throughout the country.  

I am particularly concerned by accounts of mounting human rights violations against the women and girls of Afghanistan who fear a return to the darkest days. 

It is essential that the hard-won rights of Afghan women and girls are protected.

They are looking to the international community for support — the same international community that assured them that opportunities would be expanded, education would be guaranteed, freedoms would spread and rights would be secured.

Second, the international community must unite to make sure that Afghanistan is never again used as a platform or safe haven for terrorist organizations.

I appeal to the Security Council — and the international community as a whole —  to stand together, to work together and act together — and use all tools at its disposal to suppress the global terrorist threat in Afghanistan and to guarantee that basic human rights will be respected.

Regardless of who holds power, these two fundamental principles — in which our world has such a deep and abiding interest — must be upheld. 
 
The United Nations is committed to supporting Afghans.

We continue to have staff and offices in areas that have come under Taliban control.

I am relieved to report that in large measure, our personnel and premises have been respected.

We urge the Taliban to continue to do so and to honour the integrity and inviolability of diplomatic envoys and premises. 

The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan affects 18 million people — fully half of the country’s population.
It is vital that basic services continue to be provided.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Taliban said that they would work with existing institutions.  It is crucial that civil servant salaries continue to be paid, infrastructure is maintained, airports are reopened, and health and education services continue.   

The United Nations presence will adapt to the security situation. 

But above all, we will stay and deliver in support of the Afghan people in their hour of need. 

Looking ahead, I call for an immediate end to violence, for the rights of all Afghans to be respected and for Afghanistan to comply with all international agreements to which it is a party. 

Afghans are a proud people with a rich cultural heritage. They have known generations of war and hardship. 

They deserve our full support.   

The following days will be pivotal.

The world is watching.

We cannot and must not abandon the people of Afghanistan. 

Thank you.

The world is following events in Afghanistan with a heavy heart and deep disquiet about what lies ahead.

All of us have seen the images in real time.  Chaos.  Unrest.  Uncertainty.  And fear.

Much lies in the balance. The progress.  The hope.  The dreams of a generation of young Afghan women and girls, boys and men.    

At this grave hour, I urge all parties, especially the Taliban, to exercise utmost restraint to protect lives and to ensure that humanitarian needs can be met. 
 
Conflict has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. 

The capital city has seen a huge influx of internally displaced persons from provinces around the country where they felt insecure or fled during fighting.

I remind all parties of their obligation to protect civilians.
 
I call on all parties to provide humanitarians with unimpeded access to deliver timely and life-saving services and aid.

And I also urge all countries to be willing to receive Afghan refugees and refrain from any deportations. 
 
Now is the time to stand as one. 

The international community must be united and utilize all available instruments to ensure the following: 

First, we must speak with one voice to uphold human rights in Afghanistan.

I call upon the Taliban and all parties to respect and protect international humanitarian law and the rights and freedoms of all persons.  

We are receiving chilling reports of severe restrictions on human rights throughout the country.  

I am particularly concerned by accounts of mounting human rights violations against the women and girls of Afghanistan who fear a return to the darkest days. 

It is essential that the hard-won rights of Afghan women and girls are protected.

They are looking to the international community for support — the same international community that assured them that opportunities would be expanded, education would be guaranteed, freedoms would spread and rights would be secured.

Second, the international community must unite to make sure that Afghanistan is never again used as a platform or safe haven for terrorist organizations.

I appeal to the Security Council — and the international community as a whole —  to stand together, to work together and act together — and use all tools at its disposal to suppress the global terrorist threat in Afghanistan and to guarantee that basic human rights will be respected.

Regardless of who holds power, these two fundamental principles — in which our world has such a deep and abiding interest — must be upheld. 
 
The United Nations is committed to supporting Afghans.

We continue to have staff and offices in areas that have come under Taliban control.

I am relieved to report that in large measure, our personnel and premises have been respected.

We urge the Taliban to continue to do so and to honour the integrity and inviolability of diplomatic envoys and premises. 

The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan affects 18 million people — fully half of the country’s population.
It is vital that basic services continue to be provided.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Taliban said that they would work with existing institutions.  It is crucial that civil servant salaries continue to be paid, infrastructure is maintained, airports are reopened, and health and education services continue.   

The United Nations presence will adapt to the security situation. 

But above all, we will stay and deliver in support of the Afghan people in their hour of need. 

Looking ahead, I call for an immediate end to violence, for the rights of all Afghans to be respected and for Afghanistan to comply with all international agreements to which it is a party. 

Afghans are a proud people with a rich cultural heritage. They have known generations of war and hardship. 

They deserve our full support.   

The following days will be pivotal.

The world is watching.

We cannot and must not abandon the people of Afghanistan. 

Thank you.

Russia says emergency UN meeting on Afghanistan is planned

Russia says emergency UN meeting on Afghanistan is planned


Russia, a permanent member of the UNSC is working with other countries to hold an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan as the Taliban continues its military takeover of the country, foreign ministry official Zamir Kabulov told Russian news agencies.

“We are working on this,” Kabulov said.

Mr Kabulov also said Moscow does not plan to evacuate its embassy in Kabul, saying the Taliban had offered Russia and other countries -- which he did not name -- security assurances for their missions in Afghanistan.

Leonid Slutsky, foreign affairs chief in the lower house of the Russian parliament, said the situation in Afghanistan required the "immediate intervention" of the UN Security Council.

It is important to prevent a new humanitarian catastrophe," he said, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

The US and other countries rushed to evacuate their citizens from the capital as Taliban fighters stood on the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday.

Talks between the Talibans and Afghan Government for peaceful transfer and takeover of government is underway as the Taliban fighters encircled the capital Kabul already.

 Kabulov said Moscow does not plan to evacuate its embassy in Kabul, saying Taliban had offered security assurances.

Zamir Kabulov is a Russian diplomat and Russian Presidential envoy to Afghanistan. He previously served the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan until September 21, 2009.

Russia, a permanent member of the UNSC is working with other countries to hold an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan as the Taliban continues its military takeover of the country, foreign ministry official Zamir Kabulov told Russian news agencies.

“We are working on this,” Kabulov said.

Mr Kabulov also said Moscow does not plan to evacuate its embassy in Kabul, saying the Taliban had offered Russia and other countries -- which he did not name -- security assurances for their missions in Afghanistan.

Leonid Slutsky, foreign affairs chief in the lower house of the Russian parliament, said the situation in Afghanistan required the "immediate intervention" of the UN Security Council.

It is important to prevent a new humanitarian catastrophe," he said, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

The US and other countries rushed to evacuate their citizens from the capital as Taliban fighters stood on the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday.

Talks between the Talibans and Afghan Government for peaceful transfer and takeover of government is underway as the Taliban fighters encircled the capital Kabul already.

 Kabulov said Moscow does not plan to evacuate its embassy in Kabul, saying Taliban had offered security assurances.

Zamir Kabulov is a Russian diplomat and Russian Presidential envoy to Afghanistan. He previously served the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan until September 21, 2009.

ODUDUWA REPUBLIC: Why Millions of Us must sign the petition to effect referendums? - Akintoye

ODUDUWA REPUBLIC: Why Millions of Us must sign the petition to effect referendums? - Akintoye


An emeritus Professor of History, Banji Akintoye, has called on Yoruba people to sign the petition for a referendum by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination.


Akintoye, who was a member of the upper legislative chamber during the Second Republic, said signing the petition would aid the agitation for Yoruba Nation before the Nigerian government as well as international bodies.

Akintoye, who is the Chairman of NINAS, said this in a statement he signed and made available to journalists on Wednesday by his Communications Manager, Mr Maxwell Adeleye.

He explained that a referendum was like an election but the people would not vote for a candidate or a party but a proposition.

The statement read, “We the Yoruba people must now move forward to accomplish our Yoruba Nation’s self-determination by holding a referendum. A referendum is exactly like a regular election in which people line up at voting stations to vote for a candidate.

“I want the Yoruba Republic separate from Nigeria. Each voter will be able to vote YES or NO. That is the Yoruba Nation Referendum.

“But we Yoruba need to take some steps before we can get to our referendum. The first step is to make a strong statement loud and clear that we Yoruba want a referendum. The best peaceful way to make that statement is to circulate a petition among us that we want a referendum

“Already some patriots under the umbrella of NINAS have now started to circulate a petition that we Yoruba, Igbo, Niger/Delta and Middle-Belt want a referendum.

“I urge all the millions of Yoruba people within and beyond Nigeria to vote in support of that petition. Sign in the petition that you want the Yoruba Nation so we can use the petition supported by millions of us as a weapon to get our referendum.

“We might use the petitions to pressurise the Federal Government (that is the National Assembly and the Federal Executive) to grant us our referendum. However, the chances are that the Federal Ģovernment will answer no.

“Alternatively, we might take our petition to our state government and demand that they should gŕant us our referendum. Since our state governments are our own elected governments, we have a much better chance to compel them to do what we will want. What we will need is intense pressure persistently applied. We must not take no for answer.

“Finally, we can take our petition to the United Nations and demand of them to come and arrange our referendum. The United Nations has carried out referendums in many parts of the world. One such referendum made it possible for South Sudan to break away from the Republic of Sudan. Another made it possible for Timor Les to break away from Indonesia.

“Therefore, our petition supported by millions of us is a great weapon to get our referendum. So, we Yoruba must all make a rush to vote for the petition that is now being circulated by NINAS.”


Sign today: LINK TO THE DEMAND FOR REFERENDUMS

Punch


An emeritus Professor of History, Banji Akintoye, has called on Yoruba people to sign the petition for a referendum by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination.


Akintoye, who was a member of the upper legislative chamber during the Second Republic, said signing the petition would aid the agitation for Yoruba Nation before the Nigerian government as well as international bodies.

Akintoye, who is the Chairman of NINAS, said this in a statement he signed and made available to journalists on Wednesday by his Communications Manager, Mr Maxwell Adeleye.

He explained that a referendum was like an election but the people would not vote for a candidate or a party but a proposition.

The statement read, “We the Yoruba people must now move forward to accomplish our Yoruba Nation’s self-determination by holding a referendum. A referendum is exactly like a regular election in which people line up at voting stations to vote for a candidate.

“I want the Yoruba Republic separate from Nigeria. Each voter will be able to vote YES or NO. That is the Yoruba Nation Referendum.

“But we Yoruba need to take some steps before we can get to our referendum. The first step is to make a strong statement loud and clear that we Yoruba want a referendum. The best peaceful way to make that statement is to circulate a petition among us that we want a referendum

“Already some patriots under the umbrella of NINAS have now started to circulate a petition that we Yoruba, Igbo, Niger/Delta and Middle-Belt want a referendum.

“I urge all the millions of Yoruba people within and beyond Nigeria to vote in support of that petition. Sign in the petition that you want the Yoruba Nation so we can use the petition supported by millions of us as a weapon to get our referendum.

“We might use the petitions to pressurise the Federal Government (that is the National Assembly and the Federal Executive) to grant us our referendum. However, the chances are that the Federal Ģovernment will answer no.

“Alternatively, we might take our petition to our state government and demand that they should gŕant us our referendum. Since our state governments are our own elected governments, we have a much better chance to compel them to do what we will want. What we will need is intense pressure persistently applied. We must not take no for answer.

“Finally, we can take our petition to the United Nations and demand of them to come and arrange our referendum. The United Nations has carried out referendums in many parts of the world. One such referendum made it possible for South Sudan to break away from the Republic of Sudan. Another made it possible for Timor Les to break away from Indonesia.

“Therefore, our petition supported by millions of us is a great weapon to get our referendum. So, we Yoruba must all make a rush to vote for the petition that is now being circulated by NINAS.”


Sign today: LINK TO THE DEMAND FOR REFERENDUMS

Punch

CAPITAL NO AGAINST US-CUBA BLOCKADE: CUBA WON THE VOTE FOR THE 29TH CONSEQUTIVE TIME AT THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON VOTES AGAINST THE AMERICAN BLOCKADE

CAPITAL NO AGAINST US-CUBA BLOCKADE: CUBA WON THE VOTE FOR THE 29TH CONSEQUTIVE TIME AT THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON VOTES AGAINST THE AMERICAN BLOCKADE

 


*AGAIN, CUBA WON THE VOTE FOR THE 29TH CONSEQUTIVE TIME AT THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON VOTES AGAINST THE US CRIMINAL BLOCKADE! THIS TIME, IT IS 184 COUNTRIES YES TO LIFTING THE BLOCKADE, AS AGAINST 2 COUNTRIES - USA & ISRAEL'S NO AND 3 COUNTRIES - BRAZIL, COLOMBIA & UKRAINE ABSTENTION! NOW WITH THIS CONSISTENT REJECTION OF THE FEW MIGHT BY THE REST OF THE WORLD, WHERE SHOULD THE WORLD GO FROM HERE?*

*IT IS EITHER WE HAVE A UNITED NATIONS IN THE TRUE SENSE OF IT, IN WHICH ITS DECISION SHOULD BE RESPECTED BY ALL OR:*

*THE UN SHOULD CEASE TO EXIST AS A UNITED BODY, OR:*

 *IT EXISTS AS A UNITED IMPERIALIST OF USA & ISRAEL (UIUI),*

*WHILE THE REST OF THE 184 COUNTRIES CHART A NEW WORLD BODY DEVOID OF VETO POWER!*

 *THERE SHOULD BE NO EXCUSE ANY LONGER FOR COUNTRIES THAT VOTED YES, NOT TO DARE THE US ESTABLISHMENT TO RELATE FREELY WITH CUBA ON TRADE, FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS!*

*IT'S TIME FOR HUMANITY TO CHALLENGE & DEFEAT THE HEGEMONY OF UNIPOLAR WORLD ON ALL FRONTS & BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!


Comrade Abiodun Aremu

 


*AGAIN, CUBA WON THE VOTE FOR THE 29TH CONSEQUTIVE TIME AT THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON VOTES AGAINST THE US CRIMINAL BLOCKADE! THIS TIME, IT IS 184 COUNTRIES YES TO LIFTING THE BLOCKADE, AS AGAINST 2 COUNTRIES - USA & ISRAEL'S NO AND 3 COUNTRIES - BRAZIL, COLOMBIA & UKRAINE ABSTENTION! NOW WITH THIS CONSISTENT REJECTION OF THE FEW MIGHT BY THE REST OF THE WORLD, WHERE SHOULD THE WORLD GO FROM HERE?*

*IT IS EITHER WE HAVE A UNITED NATIONS IN THE TRUE SENSE OF IT, IN WHICH ITS DECISION SHOULD BE RESPECTED BY ALL OR:*

*THE UN SHOULD CEASE TO EXIST AS A UNITED BODY, OR:*

 *IT EXISTS AS A UNITED IMPERIALIST OF USA & ISRAEL (UIUI),*

*WHILE THE REST OF THE 184 COUNTRIES CHART A NEW WORLD BODY DEVOID OF VETO POWER!*

 *THERE SHOULD BE NO EXCUSE ANY LONGER FOR COUNTRIES THAT VOTED YES, NOT TO DARE THE US ESTABLISHMENT TO RELATE FREELY WITH CUBA ON TRADE, FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS!*

*IT'S TIME FOR HUMANITY TO CHALLENGE & DEFEAT THE HEGEMONY OF UNIPOLAR WORLD ON ALL FRONTS & BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!


Comrade Abiodun Aremu

COALITION OF NIGERIANS AGAINST AMERICAN BLOCKADE OF CUBA ASKS NIGERIA'S FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO VOTE AGAINST BLOCKED

COALITION OF NIGERIANS AGAINST AMERICAN BLOCKADE OF CUBA ASKS NIGERIA'S FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO VOTE AGAINST BLOCKED


The coalition of Nigerian Movements Against the US-CUBA blocked has in a letter to the NIGERIA'S federal government demanded the country voted against the blockade at the UN general assembly.


In a letter tittles " Need for Nigeria to vote for an end to the blockade of Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly"  addressed to Geoffrey Onyeama who is the incumbent Honourable Minister of the country's foreign affairs ministry, the coalition expresses desire and the hope of millions of the Nigerian people that the country should vote at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 for the resolution demanding a final end to the blockade against Cuba imposed by the United States since February 7, 1962.


The coalition said: " This final push is necessary because the American establishment has treated with contempt, the 28 resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly condemning the blockade".



Read the full letter: 

NIGERIA MOVEMENT

OF SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA

c/o Pascal Bafyau Labour House, NLC Headquarters, FCT Abuja

E-mail: [email protected]

22ND JUNE 2021

WE ARE A COALITION OF NIGERIANS AGAINST AMERICAN BLOCKADE OF CUBA!

COPIED: The United Nations General Assembly, c/o UN Office, Abuja-Nigeria.

His Excellency Geoffrey Onyeama.

The Honourable Minister

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Tafawa Balewa building

Federal Secretariat

Central Business District

Abuja- Nigeria.

Your Excellency,

Need for Nigeria to vote for an end to the blockade of Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly

We, a coalition comprising the two labour centres in the country; the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), radical progressive groups, intellectuals in the Academic unions, Civil Society and Human Rights organisations organised as the Nigerian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, bring you greetings.

We write to express our desire and the hope of millions of the Nigerian people that our country should vote at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 for the resolution demanding a final end to the blockade against Cuba imposed by the United States since February 7, 1962. This final push is necessary because the American establishment has treated with contempt, the 28 resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly condemning the blockade.

Your Excellency, Nigeria as a country has consistently voted against the blockade, and at this final stage, we need to make our vote emphatic. This will be in line with the February 7, 2021 Resolution of the African Union (AU) Heads of State Summit, which in declaring “its solidarity with the People of Cuba” also expressed: “serious concern about the continuous and illegal Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.”

Needless to remind Your Excellency that Nigeria’s principled opposition against the blockade is basically in line with the very reason why the United Nations was established in 1945. Specifically, the United Nations Charter and Resolutions (Chapter 1, Article 1, part 2) states that the purpose of the UN Charter is: "To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace."

The right of all countries to self-determination which the US is challenging by its unilateral blockade of Cuba for six decades now, is sacrosanct. It was this principle Nigeria stood for in ensuring independence for all countries particularly in the bloody liberation wars in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. We need not remind ourselves of the fact that thousands of Cuban youths laid down their precious lives on the African soil fighting the forces of Apartheid and militarily defeating them to ensure the liberation of our continent.

Your Excellency, the US blockage against Cuba is tantamount to genocide as it blocks that country from free trade including freely importing and exporting goods, using credit from financial institutions or import life-saving medicines including for the Covid-19 pandemic. At the outbreak of the pandemic, the Chinese business mogul, Jack Ma sent life-saving medicines and emergency Covid-19 materials to various countries including Nigeria and Cuba. While all beneficiary countries received the aid, Cuba was denied because the American embargo forbids airlines delivering such aid to the Cubans.

In financial terms, the accumulated quantifiable cost of the blockade to Cuba over the past sixty years is $1,098,008,000,000. No country can be subjected to such haemorrhage and remain financially healthy.

Your Excellency, we urge our country not just to vote to tear down the walls of the American blockade, but also to give leadership to the African continent in delivering a strong ‘Yes’ vote against this unilateral and inhuman blockade against a sister country with ancestral roots in Africa.

As we look forward to positive results in this universal struggle for human liberation, please accept our high regards.

FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE COALITION OF NIGERIANS AGAINST AMERICAN BLOCKADE OF CUBA.

Comrade Abiodun Aremu

For and on behalf of the Nigerian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba


The coalition of Nigerian Movements Against the US-CUBA blocked has in a letter to the NIGERIA'S federal government demanded the country voted against the blockade at the UN general assembly.


In a letter tittles " Need for Nigeria to vote for an end to the blockade of Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly"  addressed to Geoffrey Onyeama who is the incumbent Honourable Minister of the country's foreign affairs ministry, the coalition expresses desire and the hope of millions of the Nigerian people that the country should vote at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 for the resolution demanding a final end to the blockade against Cuba imposed by the United States since February 7, 1962.


The coalition said: " This final push is necessary because the American establishment has treated with contempt, the 28 resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly condemning the blockade".



Read the full letter: 

NIGERIA MOVEMENT

OF SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA

c/o Pascal Bafyau Labour House, NLC Headquarters, FCT Abuja

E-mail: [email protected]

22ND JUNE 2021

WE ARE A COALITION OF NIGERIANS AGAINST AMERICAN BLOCKADE OF CUBA!

COPIED: The United Nations General Assembly, c/o UN Office, Abuja-Nigeria.

His Excellency Geoffrey Onyeama.

The Honourable Minister

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Tafawa Balewa building

Federal Secretariat

Central Business District

Abuja- Nigeria.

Your Excellency,

Need for Nigeria to vote for an end to the blockade of Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly

We, a coalition comprising the two labour centres in the country; the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), radical progressive groups, intellectuals in the Academic unions, Civil Society and Human Rights organisations organised as the Nigerian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba, bring you greetings.

We write to express our desire and the hope of millions of the Nigerian people that our country should vote at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 for the resolution demanding a final end to the blockade against Cuba imposed by the United States since February 7, 1962. This final push is necessary because the American establishment has treated with contempt, the 28 resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly condemning the blockade.

Your Excellency, Nigeria as a country has consistently voted against the blockade, and at this final stage, we need to make our vote emphatic. This will be in line with the February 7, 2021 Resolution of the African Union (AU) Heads of State Summit, which in declaring “its solidarity with the People of Cuba” also expressed: “serious concern about the continuous and illegal Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.”

Needless to remind Your Excellency that Nigeria’s principled opposition against the blockade is basically in line with the very reason why the United Nations was established in 1945. Specifically, the United Nations Charter and Resolutions (Chapter 1, Article 1, part 2) states that the purpose of the UN Charter is: "To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace."

The right of all countries to self-determination which the US is challenging by its unilateral blockade of Cuba for six decades now, is sacrosanct. It was this principle Nigeria stood for in ensuring independence for all countries particularly in the bloody liberation wars in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. We need not remind ourselves of the fact that thousands of Cuban youths laid down their precious lives on the African soil fighting the forces of Apartheid and militarily defeating them to ensure the liberation of our continent.

Your Excellency, the US blockage against Cuba is tantamount to genocide as it blocks that country from free trade including freely importing and exporting goods, using credit from financial institutions or import life-saving medicines including for the Covid-19 pandemic. At the outbreak of the pandemic, the Chinese business mogul, Jack Ma sent life-saving medicines and emergency Covid-19 materials to various countries including Nigeria and Cuba. While all beneficiary countries received the aid, Cuba was denied because the American embargo forbids airlines delivering such aid to the Cubans.

In financial terms, the accumulated quantifiable cost of the blockade to Cuba over the past sixty years is $1,098,008,000,000. No country can be subjected to such haemorrhage and remain financially healthy.

Your Excellency, we urge our country not just to vote to tear down the walls of the American blockade, but also to give leadership to the African continent in delivering a strong ‘Yes’ vote against this unilateral and inhuman blockade against a sister country with ancestral roots in Africa.

As we look forward to positive results in this universal struggle for human liberation, please accept our high regards.

FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE COALITION OF NIGERIANS AGAINST AMERICAN BLOCKADE OF CUBA.

Comrade Abiodun Aremu

For and on behalf of the Nigerian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba

For the Tribes & Religionists in Nigeria: 7 Fatal Delusions Among Southerners

For the Tribes & Religionists in Nigeria: 7 Fatal Delusions Among Southerners

7 FATAL DELUSIONS AMONG SOUTHERNERS


by


Moses Oludele Idowu


"A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."

       - Saul Bellow


A delusion is a serious thing. It is worse than deception and much more fatal in its consequences.

  The word delusion comes from the Latin word _delusio_- which means "a false belief that is resistant to confrontation with actual facts."

  That is the best definition of delusion that I can find.


Let me give one major example of delusion in History and the fatal consequences it brought.

  During the invasion of Palestine by the Roman Army under Titus in 68 A.D the Jews succumbed to delusion that proved to be fatal.

  After resisting the Romans stoutly for two years the siege finally succeeded in 70 A.D when the Roman legions poured in to deal with this troublous race. By now there was no more food and as Josephus, the famous Jewish historian narrated even people were eating raw grass or anything they could find. Still they refused to surrender and fought on defending their Holy City and most especially their Holy Temple.

   By now the Christians, the Sect of the Nazarene, as they were called had deserted knowing that Christ had already prophesied this thing must come to pass - thus causing the eternal distrust and rift which still exists between Jews and Christian relations till today. But the Jewish patriots and nationalists fought on to the last and to their ruin.

   It was here the major fatal delusion was enacted.

  The Roman soldiers now inside the battle now finally shifted to the Temple. Believing that the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob; the God of the holy prophets, Moses and Elijah  would save the Temple and even them and remember His Covenant with their fathers many ran into the Temple as shield.

   But the day of the Temple has gone. A new Dispensation had dawn where God no longer dwells in physical temples but in living temples built with living stones, a house made without hands. He now lives in humans created in His Own Image. Thus rushing to the Temple for salvation before the Romans was a delusion, a fatal delusion.

It was here most Jews perished defending the Temple and using it as a defense. The Romans slaughtered on and set the Temple ablaze. They expected God to show up and defend His Temple but He didn't because the nation herself had committed sins by crucifying an innocent person and the day of revenge had come. Looking to the Temple for protection was a delusion.

   Today a gargantuan mosque stands around the very spot where that Temple once stood.


I have prefaced this essay with this story because it seems people rarely learn from History. It seems to me that another group of people are about to suffer very soon as a result of grand delusions - false beliefs that are resistant to confrontation with facts. And most Southerners presently suffer from these delusions.

   They are seven in all and I will briefly go over them because of time and space.


1. THAT BRITAIN WILL INTERVENE IN NIGERIA OR RESTRAIN MUHAMMADU BUHARI


The first delusion is that Britain, that treacherous nation called Britain will intervene in Nigeria and help us in anyway.

   When the National Christian Elders Forum wrote to  British Parliament I noted this in an article. It is a mistake to.think or expect that Britain will enter Nigeria or intervene in any way that will help the South against the North. It won't happen.

   To think that Britain or the British will come here to help the South is a delusion.

   They wont.

British design originally is that the North will rule and dominate the South not vice versa. Their sympathy was and still is with the North not the South. If you dont know this then you don't know much about Nigerian History or you probably forgot what you learned. Thus I consider it a mistake to report Buhari to Britain. It is like reporting the Italian  Brigades to the Bader  Meinoff gang or reporting the Hamas of Palestine to the Hezbollah of Lebanon.

   It is a waste of time.


2. THAT THE UNITED STATES UNDER JOE BIDDEN WILL INTERVENE IN NIGERIA IF THERE IS A CONFLICT


Another terrible delusion among most Southerners is that America would come here to intervene if there is trouble between North and South or even a Civil War.

   They won't.

When Buhari requested Americans to site the headquarters of their African Command closer here to help us I wrote: WHY AMERICAN'S WONT COME HERE

  They could go to Egypt or even South Africa, Lebanon, etc but not Nigeria.

   I know how America works. I have read about that nation, her politics, power play, history, Literature, religion etc for several years and I can tell you one thing: Americans won't come here.

   You may continue to delude yourself yo the contrary.


3. THAT THE UNITED NATIONS WILL DO ANYTHING IF WAR BREAKS OUT OR SEND A PEACE- KEEPING FORCE HERE


The worst of all these delusions and the most dangerous is the over reliance on the United Nations by the Ethnic Nationalist Agitators. They seem to have an unbending belief in the United Nation to give them the Oduduwa Republic and Biafra and Middle Belt etc.

   Is it that our learned people and scholars do not understand how the world works? And how the United Nations especially works? Who will enforce the decree of the United Nations?

   Of what use is a United Nations without the support of America and Britain? How many of the Security Council members of the UN has the military power to enforce a decision of UN in Nigeria? So if the North or Nigeria occupies the new Biafra nation or Oduduwa nation who will throw them out? Or you think it is like Kuwait that America would go to throw away Iraq? There is nothing you have that America needs.

   That is why I considered this the greatest of the delusions and the one that will prove most fatal.

   I expected that someone working on an Oduduwa Republic would have its own People's Militia at the ready -  just in case.

   Today I can see nothing.

General Togun alerted us yesterday that an invasion of the Southwest is imminent. And barring a divine intervention we may face this course soon.

   But you should have foreseen this coming and prepared for.this.

   Three years ago I warned the Yoruba in particular and the Southerners in general to set up their own People's Militia. How many paid heed to it. Now I am afraid it is now late - too late for the Yorubas. You are surrounded.

   United Nations won't help you in what is coming because without the firepower of the Americans United Nations is nothing especially when it comes to a populous nation like Nigeria and Americans won't come here except probably to evacuate their citizens and embassy staff.

   The United Nations could have stopped the genocide in Rwanda or at  least mitigated it, what did the body do? French Army watched as one African tribe massacred another in one week of madness without using force to intervene or stop the madness.

   United Nations is as strong as America and Britain decide to make it. All the Resolutions made by UN against Israel how many of them have been enforced? Who will enforce them without America the only super power now on the planet?

  That is why I think the South is making a terrible mistake in strategy.

   That the UN intervened in Sudan and split the nation does not mean they would do the same here. Sudan is not Nigeria and Nigeria is not Sudan.


4. THAT WRITING LETTERS OR STAGING PROTESTS WILL CHANGE THE BUHARI ADMINISTRATION OR CAUSE IT TO MOVE AGAINST THE FULANI HERDSMEN OR BANDITS


A palace razed in IGANAGN,
Oyo state by FULANI Invaders

There is a belief that Muhammadu Buhari is not really aware of what is going on and that much of this information do not get to him. That the President is actually a good man but with bad advisers... And so on. I.consider these to be pernicious nonsense.

   I do not have the luxury of time to probe this deeply here.

  However there is a common mistake Nigerians often make which brought us here to begin with. People confuse knowledge with attitude. Knowledge or know- how is one thing and culture, attitude or behaviour is another. You can teach a man who doesn't know if he is willing to learn but it is difficult to change a man - and a man above 70 for that matter - of his beliefs, culture, attitude and dispositions.

   Buhari's insularity and provincialism fuel his attitude to even State affairs and these are the product of his Islamic fundamentalist belief system and Wahabist ideology. It is not that he is not aware that the Constitution provides for ethnic balancing in the area of appointments to strategic positions and offices. He knows. But as an Islamic fundamentalist he doesn't believe that a Muslim is equal or should have equal representation with a non- Muslim. 

  He did it in 1984 all the three topmost positions in the Supreme Military Council, - Head of State, his deputy and the Chief of Staff were all Muslims. He has done it in 2015 appointments and has worsened even in the 2019.

  This man cannot change and will never be changed.

  Thinking that he would change in 2019 brought Nigeria to.this mess when we have the opportunity through that singular election to change the narrative. Thus, writing letters, organising protests etc would change nothing. Buhari would do nothing against the Fulani herdsmen and bandits even if they became more brutal than they presently are.

   It is left for you to find answers for.yourself.


5. THAT ANYTHING SHORT OF FORCE, ADEQUATE, PROPORTIONATE, DEFINITE FORCE CAN STOP THE FULANI HERDSMEN IN THEIR TEMPORARY MISSION OF HARASSING, EXTORTION AND TERRORISM; AND IN THEIR LARGER ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF TOTAL INVASION, RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL HEGEMONY AND IMPOSITION OF THEIR WAY OF LIFE ON OTHER ETHNIC NATIONALITIES


I will give you one sign so that you may know this people are being guided and up to an agenda.

  Shortly after Buhari became President and all the security apparatus fell in their hands the Fulani herdsmen went haywire and began to attack other Nigerians - farmers and travelers alike. As they were attacking on the road way so they were attacking in the farms.

  Then suddenly something happened. I am not sure Nigerians notice because we are a people without understanding and perception but at least one NIGERIAN noticed and wrote about it in the Guardian newspaper.

  What was it?

  Shortly before the election of 2019 just about the time when campaigns began the Fulani herdsmen stopped their atrocities.It was like a ceasefire in war.  It was a coordinated approach. All across the nation you couldn''t hear of a single attack either against farmers or travelers while the campaign to return Buhari to power was going on.

   You may again go and check the newspapers of the period, you can't read of any Fulani attack against anyone.

  Why?

  It now seems they deliberately managed themselves so that Buhari could get a second term, so that Nigerians won't notice anything. 

   Now that Buhari is on for the second time they have resumed their atrocities. This singular incident shows me conclusively that this people are being coordinated somewhere and up to some purpose. United by their common belief and entrenched in their religion - a religion that does not see anything wrong with bloodshed, slavery of infidels, war- mongering and even plunder - they march on to execute their larger purpose.

   Now famine is imminent in the South.

Now most Southern states are surrounded. A siege is the first stage in the declaration of war among the ancients. That is now happening. Farmers cannot go to farm, prices of foodstuff continue to skyrocket. The war has started but Southerners enslaved by too much book learning are still embroiled in Conferences, seminars, symposium, fantasia, papers... While every day their choices become narrower and narrower.

   Barring the special grace of God and divine intervention nothing can stop the Fulani herdsmen in their sinister course except equal, proportionate force.

   If as Newton shows that "to every action there is equal and opposite reaction" then it is left for the different ethnic nationalities to plan their counter - action or reaction that is equal and formidable to this existential threat to their collective survival. Buhari would do nothing about it and his government would do nothing. Either you act now or you wait for the UN at your own perils.



6. THAT THE WORLD WILL INTERVENE IF A CIVIL WAR  BREAKS OUT BETWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTH OR BETWEEN FULANIS AND YORUBAS


This is another fallacy based on delusions of grandeur. Which "world" are you talking about?

  The world of the black man or the white man? The world of the developed nations or the backward Third World nations?

   During the Civil War how many nations came here?

  They only sold arms to us.

 Only on the side of Biafra that France and Israel actually actively participated. They didn't send soldiers only logistical support.

  That was then.

The world has since changed even worse than then.

   No one will come here except to sell arms. The resulting demographic disaster doesn't worry the developed nations so long it does not endanger the white skin. They may even be happy secretly about it.



7. THAT CHRISTIANITY IS AGAINST WAR AND SELF -DEFENSE


This will be the most fatal of all the delusions to the South. Since most Christians live or reside in the South.

  Leading this fallacious and illogical position is the Church of Rome and mostly espoused by its exegetes the most notable of which is Bishop Kukah.

 It is held by Catholic Church School of theology that peaceful non- resistance is the way out and the Christian standard.

   I stand here to say that the Bible either in the New Testament or Old Testament knows nothing like pacifism or peaceful non- resistance in the face of extreme aggression and existential threat of genocide against an entire race or tribe battling for collective survival.

  I stand here to state and to challenge anyone who has a contrary idea to a debate that neither the New Testament nor Church History knows anything as pacifism or peaceful non- resistance in the face of a genocide against an entire people groups or whole races.

  I would be glad if anyone can accept my offer for a debate on any platform.

  The Bible and Historical Theology never condemned self- defense or engagement in "a just war"- a war to remove the cause of aggression and to punish evil. From Cicero to Augustine, from Aquina to Calvin and Luther, all the great exegetes and authorities of Theology are agreed that it is proper for a people facing existential danger of survival to defend themselves with any and every weapon they can lay their hands on.

  I have read Bishop Kukah on this peaceful non- resistance but I don't know where the modern Catholic system got this. None of you in the entire Nigerian Roman Catholic Church is more Catholic than Aquina and none of you is as saintly as Augustine who first laid the theology of Just War that became the governing premises of the Western nations and Civilization till today.

  The madness in man must sometimes be answered not with persuasion or pleading but with greater madness. This is what prompted the Crusades although today we have distorted their History and Islam and apologists of Islam and their new found allies in the Western universities and leftist revisionist historians now mouth plenty of nonsense about the Crusaders forgetting it was the same type of provocations that triggered that Movement. The madness presently going on in Nigeria will not end until it is confronted with an equal madness from the other side. Sometimes it takes madness to cure madness. That is the great lesson of the Crusades.

   Most of the foolish things people say to justify peaceful non- resistance are neither scriptural not logical.

  If Jesus was so much against self - defense, as the authors of non- resistance tell us, what were two of his Disciples doing with swords on the night of His betrayal? A sword is not an object of decoration or ornament in First Century Palestine, it is an instrument of war. It is them what AK-47 is to us today.

  Let the pacifists answer that charge.

  I am aware that people are fasting and praying. I salute you all. I am praying too. But as in the days of Nehemiah don't just pray alone plan too with weapons girded around you and be prepared "with fire and with thunder."

I will not endanger anyone and I will do no evil to anyone but anyone who intends or plans to remove me from the land of my fathers before my time from whatever religion or tribe will have himself to blame if I be a servant of the Most High God.

   Every ethnic nationality has a right to defend itself, raise her own militia to defend its people and spaces and land. Even churches ought to raise their own militia to.defend the people who worship or come to worship there.

  Enough of using CHRISTIANITY to justify a system of unrighteousness or prop a structure of iniquity. There is nothing in Apostolic CHRISTIANITY that forbids a whole tribe or people groups from standing up for their lives against an aggressive enemies with a history of genocide and blood stains.

   It is time for a Liberation Theology in Nigeria and even more Confrontation Theology. The minds of Christians in this nation need to be liberated from religion and slavery.

  That will soon be done. That is a major task ahead. Slaves won't survive what is coming, only sons will.


©️ Moses Oludele Idowu

         June 5, 2021

     All Rights Reserved

7 FATAL DELUSIONS AMONG SOUTHERNERS


by


Moses Oludele Idowu


"A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."

       - Saul Bellow


A delusion is a serious thing. It is worse than deception and much more fatal in its consequences.

  The word delusion comes from the Latin word _delusio_- which means "a false belief that is resistant to confrontation with actual facts."

  That is the best definition of delusion that I can find.


Let me give one major example of delusion in History and the fatal consequences it brought.

  During the invasion of Palestine by the Roman Army under Titus in 68 A.D the Jews succumbed to delusion that proved to be fatal.

  After resisting the Romans stoutly for two years the siege finally succeeded in 70 A.D when the Roman legions poured in to deal with this troublous race. By now there was no more food and as Josephus, the famous Jewish historian narrated even people were eating raw grass or anything they could find. Still they refused to surrender and fought on defending their Holy City and most especially their Holy Temple.

   By now the Christians, the Sect of the Nazarene, as they were called had deserted knowing that Christ had already prophesied this thing must come to pass - thus causing the eternal distrust and rift which still exists between Jews and Christian relations till today. But the Jewish patriots and nationalists fought on to the last and to their ruin.

   It was here the major fatal delusion was enacted.

  The Roman soldiers now inside the battle now finally shifted to the Temple. Believing that the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob; the God of the holy prophets, Moses and Elijah  would save the Temple and even them and remember His Covenant with their fathers many ran into the Temple as shield.

   But the day of the Temple has gone. A new Dispensation had dawn where God no longer dwells in physical temples but in living temples built with living stones, a house made without hands. He now lives in humans created in His Own Image. Thus rushing to the Temple for salvation before the Romans was a delusion, a fatal delusion.

It was here most Jews perished defending the Temple and using it as a defense. The Romans slaughtered on and set the Temple ablaze. They expected God to show up and defend His Temple but He didn't because the nation herself had committed sins by crucifying an innocent person and the day of revenge had come. Looking to the Temple for protection was a delusion.

   Today a gargantuan mosque stands around the very spot where that Temple once stood.


I have prefaced this essay with this story because it seems people rarely learn from History. It seems to me that another group of people are about to suffer very soon as a result of grand delusions - false beliefs that are resistant to confrontation with facts. And most Southerners presently suffer from these delusions.

   They are seven in all and I will briefly go over them because of time and space.


1. THAT BRITAIN WILL INTERVENE IN NIGERIA OR RESTRAIN MUHAMMADU BUHARI


The first delusion is that Britain, that treacherous nation called Britain will intervene in Nigeria and help us in anyway.

   When the National Christian Elders Forum wrote to  British Parliament I noted this in an article. It is a mistake to.think or expect that Britain will enter Nigeria or intervene in any way that will help the South against the North. It won't happen.

   To think that Britain or the British will come here to help the South is a delusion.

   They wont.

British design originally is that the North will rule and dominate the South not vice versa. Their sympathy was and still is with the North not the South. If you dont know this then you don't know much about Nigerian History or you probably forgot what you learned. Thus I consider it a mistake to report Buhari to Britain. It is like reporting the Italian  Brigades to the Bader  Meinoff gang or reporting the Hamas of Palestine to the Hezbollah of Lebanon.

   It is a waste of time.


2. THAT THE UNITED STATES UNDER JOE BIDDEN WILL INTERVENE IN NIGERIA IF THERE IS A CONFLICT


Another terrible delusion among most Southerners is that America would come here to intervene if there is trouble between North and South or even a Civil War.

   They won't.

When Buhari requested Americans to site the headquarters of their African Command closer here to help us I wrote: WHY AMERICAN'S WONT COME HERE

  They could go to Egypt or even South Africa, Lebanon, etc but not Nigeria.

   I know how America works. I have read about that nation, her politics, power play, history, Literature, religion etc for several years and I can tell you one thing: Americans won't come here.

   You may continue to delude yourself yo the contrary.


3. THAT THE UNITED NATIONS WILL DO ANYTHING IF WAR BREAKS OUT OR SEND A PEACE- KEEPING FORCE HERE


The worst of all these delusions and the most dangerous is the over reliance on the United Nations by the Ethnic Nationalist Agitators. They seem to have an unbending belief in the United Nation to give them the Oduduwa Republic and Biafra and Middle Belt etc.

   Is it that our learned people and scholars do not understand how the world works? And how the United Nations especially works? Who will enforce the decree of the United Nations?

   Of what use is a United Nations without the support of America and Britain? How many of the Security Council members of the UN has the military power to enforce a decision of UN in Nigeria? So if the North or Nigeria occupies the new Biafra nation or Oduduwa nation who will throw them out? Or you think it is like Kuwait that America would go to throw away Iraq? There is nothing you have that America needs.

   That is why I considered this the greatest of the delusions and the one that will prove most fatal.

   I expected that someone working on an Oduduwa Republic would have its own People's Militia at the ready -  just in case.

   Today I can see nothing.

General Togun alerted us yesterday that an invasion of the Southwest is imminent. And barring a divine intervention we may face this course soon.

   But you should have foreseen this coming and prepared for.this.

   Three years ago I warned the Yoruba in particular and the Southerners in general to set up their own People's Militia. How many paid heed to it. Now I am afraid it is now late - too late for the Yorubas. You are surrounded.

   United Nations won't help you in what is coming because without the firepower of the Americans United Nations is nothing especially when it comes to a populous nation like Nigeria and Americans won't come here except probably to evacuate their citizens and embassy staff.

   The United Nations could have stopped the genocide in Rwanda or at  least mitigated it, what did the body do? French Army watched as one African tribe massacred another in one week of madness without using force to intervene or stop the madness.

   United Nations is as strong as America and Britain decide to make it. All the Resolutions made by UN against Israel how many of them have been enforced? Who will enforce them without America the only super power now on the planet?

  That is why I think the South is making a terrible mistake in strategy.

   That the UN intervened in Sudan and split the nation does not mean they would do the same here. Sudan is not Nigeria and Nigeria is not Sudan.


4. THAT WRITING LETTERS OR STAGING PROTESTS WILL CHANGE THE BUHARI ADMINISTRATION OR CAUSE IT TO MOVE AGAINST THE FULANI HERDSMEN OR BANDITS


A palace razed in IGANAGN,
Oyo state by FULANI Invaders

There is a belief that Muhammadu Buhari is not really aware of what is going on and that much of this information do not get to him. That the President is actually a good man but with bad advisers... And so on. I.consider these to be pernicious nonsense.

   I do not have the luxury of time to probe this deeply here.

  However there is a common mistake Nigerians often make which brought us here to begin with. People confuse knowledge with attitude. Knowledge or know- how is one thing and culture, attitude or behaviour is another. You can teach a man who doesn't know if he is willing to learn but it is difficult to change a man - and a man above 70 for that matter - of his beliefs, culture, attitude and dispositions.

   Buhari's insularity and provincialism fuel his attitude to even State affairs and these are the product of his Islamic fundamentalist belief system and Wahabist ideology. It is not that he is not aware that the Constitution provides for ethnic balancing in the area of appointments to strategic positions and offices. He knows. But as an Islamic fundamentalist he doesn't believe that a Muslim is equal or should have equal representation with a non- Muslim. 

  He did it in 1984 all the three topmost positions in the Supreme Military Council, - Head of State, his deputy and the Chief of Staff were all Muslims. He has done it in 2015 appointments and has worsened even in the 2019.

  This man cannot change and will never be changed.

  Thinking that he would change in 2019 brought Nigeria to.this mess when we have the opportunity through that singular election to change the narrative. Thus, writing letters, organising protests etc would change nothing. Buhari would do nothing against the Fulani herdsmen and bandits even if they became more brutal than they presently are.

   It is left for you to find answers for.yourself.


5. THAT ANYTHING SHORT OF FORCE, ADEQUATE, PROPORTIONATE, DEFINITE FORCE CAN STOP THE FULANI HERDSMEN IN THEIR TEMPORARY MISSION OF HARASSING, EXTORTION AND TERRORISM; AND IN THEIR LARGER ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF TOTAL INVASION, RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL HEGEMONY AND IMPOSITION OF THEIR WAY OF LIFE ON OTHER ETHNIC NATIONALITIES


I will give you one sign so that you may know this people are being guided and up to an agenda.

  Shortly after Buhari became President and all the security apparatus fell in their hands the Fulani herdsmen went haywire and began to attack other Nigerians - farmers and travelers alike. As they were attacking on the road way so they were attacking in the farms.

  Then suddenly something happened. I am not sure Nigerians notice because we are a people without understanding and perception but at least one NIGERIAN noticed and wrote about it in the Guardian newspaper.

  What was it?

  Shortly before the election of 2019 just about the time when campaigns began the Fulani herdsmen stopped their atrocities.It was like a ceasefire in war.  It was a coordinated approach. All across the nation you couldn''t hear of a single attack either against farmers or travelers while the campaign to return Buhari to power was going on.

   You may again go and check the newspapers of the period, you can't read of any Fulani attack against anyone.

  Why?

  It now seems they deliberately managed themselves so that Buhari could get a second term, so that Nigerians won't notice anything. 

   Now that Buhari is on for the second time they have resumed their atrocities. This singular incident shows me conclusively that this people are being coordinated somewhere and up to some purpose. United by their common belief and entrenched in their religion - a religion that does not see anything wrong with bloodshed, slavery of infidels, war- mongering and even plunder - they march on to execute their larger purpose.

   Now famine is imminent in the South.

Now most Southern states are surrounded. A siege is the first stage in the declaration of war among the ancients. That is now happening. Farmers cannot go to farm, prices of foodstuff continue to skyrocket. The war has started but Southerners enslaved by too much book learning are still embroiled in Conferences, seminars, symposium, fantasia, papers... While every day their choices become narrower and narrower.

   Barring the special grace of God and divine intervention nothing can stop the Fulani herdsmen in their sinister course except equal, proportionate force.

   If as Newton shows that "to every action there is equal and opposite reaction" then it is left for the different ethnic nationalities to plan their counter - action or reaction that is equal and formidable to this existential threat to their collective survival. Buhari would do nothing about it and his government would do nothing. Either you act now or you wait for the UN at your own perils.



6. THAT THE WORLD WILL INTERVENE IF A CIVIL WAR  BREAKS OUT BETWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTH OR BETWEEN FULANIS AND YORUBAS


This is another fallacy based on delusions of grandeur. Which "world" are you talking about?

  The world of the black man or the white man? The world of the developed nations or the backward Third World nations?

   During the Civil War how many nations came here?

  They only sold arms to us.

 Only on the side of Biafra that France and Israel actually actively participated. They didn't send soldiers only logistical support.

  That was then.

The world has since changed even worse than then.

   No one will come here except to sell arms. The resulting demographic disaster doesn't worry the developed nations so long it does not endanger the white skin. They may even be happy secretly about it.



7. THAT CHRISTIANITY IS AGAINST WAR AND SELF -DEFENSE


This will be the most fatal of all the delusions to the South. Since most Christians live or reside in the South.

  Leading this fallacious and illogical position is the Church of Rome and mostly espoused by its exegetes the most notable of which is Bishop Kukah.

 It is held by Catholic Church School of theology that peaceful non- resistance is the way out and the Christian standard.

   I stand here to say that the Bible either in the New Testament or Old Testament knows nothing like pacifism or peaceful non- resistance in the face of extreme aggression and existential threat of genocide against an entire race or tribe battling for collective survival.

  I stand here to state and to challenge anyone who has a contrary idea to a debate that neither the New Testament nor Church History knows anything as pacifism or peaceful non- resistance in the face of a genocide against an entire people groups or whole races.

  I would be glad if anyone can accept my offer for a debate on any platform.

  The Bible and Historical Theology never condemned self- defense or engagement in "a just war"- a war to remove the cause of aggression and to punish evil. From Cicero to Augustine, from Aquina to Calvin and Luther, all the great exegetes and authorities of Theology are agreed that it is proper for a people facing existential danger of survival to defend themselves with any and every weapon they can lay their hands on.

  I have read Bishop Kukah on this peaceful non- resistance but I don't know where the modern Catholic system got this. None of you in the entire Nigerian Roman Catholic Church is more Catholic than Aquina and none of you is as saintly as Augustine who first laid the theology of Just War that became the governing premises of the Western nations and Civilization till today.

  The madness in man must sometimes be answered not with persuasion or pleading but with greater madness. This is what prompted the Crusades although today we have distorted their History and Islam and apologists of Islam and their new found allies in the Western universities and leftist revisionist historians now mouth plenty of nonsense about the Crusaders forgetting it was the same type of provocations that triggered that Movement. The madness presently going on in Nigeria will not end until it is confronted with an equal madness from the other side. Sometimes it takes madness to cure madness. That is the great lesson of the Crusades.

   Most of the foolish things people say to justify peaceful non- resistance are neither scriptural not logical.

  If Jesus was so much against self - defense, as the authors of non- resistance tell us, what were two of his Disciples doing with swords on the night of His betrayal? A sword is not an object of decoration or ornament in First Century Palestine, it is an instrument of war. It is them what AK-47 is to us today.

  Let the pacifists answer that charge.

  I am aware that people are fasting and praying. I salute you all. I am praying too. But as in the days of Nehemiah don't just pray alone plan too with weapons girded around you and be prepared "with fire and with thunder."

I will not endanger anyone and I will do no evil to anyone but anyone who intends or plans to remove me from the land of my fathers before my time from whatever religion or tribe will have himself to blame if I be a servant of the Most High God.

   Every ethnic nationality has a right to defend itself, raise her own militia to defend its people and spaces and land. Even churches ought to raise their own militia to.defend the people who worship or come to worship there.

  Enough of using CHRISTIANITY to justify a system of unrighteousness or prop a structure of iniquity. There is nothing in Apostolic CHRISTIANITY that forbids a whole tribe or people groups from standing up for their lives against an aggressive enemies with a history of genocide and blood stains.

   It is time for a Liberation Theology in Nigeria and even more Confrontation Theology. The minds of Christians in this nation need to be liberated from religion and slavery.

  That will soon be done. That is a major task ahead. Slaves won't survive what is coming, only sons will.


©️ Moses Oludele Idowu

         June 5, 2021

     All Rights Reserved

Iran tensions at heart of UN nuclear watchdog meeting as Zarif says western powers start on wrong note for supporting US

Iran tensions at heart of UN nuclear watchdog meeting as Zarif says western powers start on wrong note for supporting US


Tehran last week said it will  limit inspections by the UN's nuclear watchdog into it's nuclear programs.


According to AFP report, the iran's new decision will be at the heart of a meeting of UN's Nuclear Watchdog board of governors on Monday, with some members mulling a formal rebuke to Tehran.


The report indicated that Western countries will be trying to find a way of censuring Iran without jeopardising fragile efforts to revive the 2015 deal between Tehran and major powers on its nuclear programme.


The possibility of a resolution criticising Iran being passed at the board attracted sharp diplomatic comment in the run-up to the meeting.


Meanwhile Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that  the Western powers have started again on a wrong note by supporting United state.


"The Europeans have started a wrong move by supporting the US in the board of governors," he said.


"We think this move will lead to the situation becoming disorganised," he said, according to the official Irna agency.


While President Joe Biden has said he is willing to bring the United States back to the 2015 deal, on Sunday Iran said the time was "not suitable" to hold an informal meeting with the US and the remaining parties to the accord -- France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia.


Diplomatic sources say that no decision has yet been taken by European states on whether or not to put forward a resolution as Iran will only be discussed later in the week at the meeting, being held via videoconference.


- 'Unfortunate miscalculation' -


Russia has made clear its opposition to the prospect of a resolution criticising Iran.


Russian ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted on Monday that such a move would be an "unfortunate miscalculation".


Earlier he had said that "the common responsibility of all 35 Governors is to ensure that the debates (even heated) do not negatively affect diplomatic efforts aimed at full restoration of #JCPOA," using the formal name for the 2015 deal.


Russia's deputy foreign minister also blasted Washington for US strikes on Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria last week, saying the move threatened to scupper talks.


"There is no doubt that influential forces in Washington have taken steps in order to derail this meeting," Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by Russian state news agency TASS as saying.


The JCPOA was sent into disarray when former US President Donald Trump dramatically withdrew from it in 2018 and went on to impose swingeing economic sanctions on Iran which Tehran called Economic Terrorism against the iranians.


"We are running against time," Ulyanov said.


Zarif said that Iran hoped "that reason will prevail" at this week's meeting.


"If it does not we do have solutions," he said, without specifying what these were.


In a document circulated to IAEA member states ahead of this week's meeting, the Iranian mission to the organisation said a critical resolution would be "counterproductive and destructive".


The document also said the introduction of such a resolution would mark the "end" of the agreement reached with the IAEA last month to mitigate the impact of reduced inspections.


Under that temporary three-month arrangement, Iran has pledged to keep recordings "of some activities and monitoring equipment" and hand them over to the IAEA when US sanctions are lifted.


If a resolution censuring Iran is passed, it would be the first such resolution since June, which was itself the first in eight years.


- 'Time bought' by deal -


Diplomatic sources say the Iranian attempt at "blackmail" over a possible resolution has gone down badly among European states.


The latest tensions come after weeks in which Iran has continued breaking the limits laid down in the 2015 deal, for example by enriching uranium to 20 percent and producing uranium metal.


Tehran insists it has the right to take these steps in retaliation for American sanctions, and that the measures can be reversed as soon as sanctions are lifted.


According to Kelsey Davenport, director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association think-tank, "the US would be foolish to waste the time bought" by the temporary agreement hammered out between Iran and the IAEA.


"It would be positive to have a concrete reciprocal action from the US acknowledging that Iran showed some restraint by negotiating this technical understanding," she said.


"It is manageable in the short term but if drags on too long, it will start impacting the future of the nuclear deal and it will erode confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme," Davenport told AFP.




Tehran last week said it will  limit inspections by the UN's nuclear watchdog into it's nuclear programs.


According to AFP report, the iran's new decision will be at the heart of a meeting of UN's Nuclear Watchdog board of governors on Monday, with some members mulling a formal rebuke to Tehran.


The report indicated that Western countries will be trying to find a way of censuring Iran without jeopardising fragile efforts to revive the 2015 deal between Tehran and major powers on its nuclear programme.


The possibility of a resolution criticising Iran being passed at the board attracted sharp diplomatic comment in the run-up to the meeting.


Meanwhile Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that  the Western powers have started again on a wrong note by supporting United state.


"The Europeans have started a wrong move by supporting the US in the board of governors," he said.


"We think this move will lead to the situation becoming disorganised," he said, according to the official Irna agency.


While President Joe Biden has said he is willing to bring the United States back to the 2015 deal, on Sunday Iran said the time was "not suitable" to hold an informal meeting with the US and the remaining parties to the accord -- France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia.


Diplomatic sources say that no decision has yet been taken by European states on whether or not to put forward a resolution as Iran will only be discussed later in the week at the meeting, being held via videoconference.


- 'Unfortunate miscalculation' -


Russia has made clear its opposition to the prospect of a resolution criticising Iran.


Russian ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted on Monday that such a move would be an "unfortunate miscalculation".


Earlier he had said that "the common responsibility of all 35 Governors is to ensure that the debates (even heated) do not negatively affect diplomatic efforts aimed at full restoration of #JCPOA," using the formal name for the 2015 deal.


Russia's deputy foreign minister also blasted Washington for US strikes on Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria last week, saying the move threatened to scupper talks.


"There is no doubt that influential forces in Washington have taken steps in order to derail this meeting," Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by Russian state news agency TASS as saying.


The JCPOA was sent into disarray when former US President Donald Trump dramatically withdrew from it in 2018 and went on to impose swingeing economic sanctions on Iran which Tehran called Economic Terrorism against the iranians.


"We are running against time," Ulyanov said.


Zarif said that Iran hoped "that reason will prevail" at this week's meeting.


"If it does not we do have solutions," he said, without specifying what these were.


In a document circulated to IAEA member states ahead of this week's meeting, the Iranian mission to the organisation said a critical resolution would be "counterproductive and destructive".


The document also said the introduction of such a resolution would mark the "end" of the agreement reached with the IAEA last month to mitigate the impact of reduced inspections.


Under that temporary three-month arrangement, Iran has pledged to keep recordings "of some activities and monitoring equipment" and hand them over to the IAEA when US sanctions are lifted.


If a resolution censuring Iran is passed, it would be the first such resolution since June, which was itself the first in eight years.


- 'Time bought' by deal -


Diplomatic sources say the Iranian attempt at "blackmail" over a possible resolution has gone down badly among European states.


The latest tensions come after weeks in which Iran has continued breaking the limits laid down in the 2015 deal, for example by enriching uranium to 20 percent and producing uranium metal.


Tehran insists it has the right to take these steps in retaliation for American sanctions, and that the measures can be reversed as soon as sanctions are lifted.


According to Kelsey Davenport, director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association think-tank, "the US would be foolish to waste the time bought" by the temporary agreement hammered out between Iran and the IAEA.


"It would be positive to have a concrete reciprocal action from the US acknowledging that Iran showed some restraint by negotiating this technical understanding," she said.


"It is manageable in the short term but if drags on too long, it will start impacting the future of the nuclear deal and it will erode confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme," Davenport told AFP.



WHO Teams probing COVID-19 origins in Wuhan set to brief media

WHO Teams probing COVID-19 origins in Wuhan set to brief media


An expert team from the World Health Organisation (WHO) that has spent the last four weeks in the Chinese city of Wuhan, investigating the origins of the coronavirus disease, is expected to brief the media on Tuesday.

The WHO team is set to present its findings at a news conference that begins at 08.00 GMT at the Hilton Optics Valley Hotel in Wuhan.

During their visit to Wuhan, which was the world’s first COVID-19 hotspot, WHO experts toured the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Huanan market where the first known cases were identified.

The team also visited a hospital where the first COVID-19 patients were treated.

Participants in the WHO visit spent 14 days in quarantine upon their arrival in the Chinese city one month ago.

Vladimir Dedkov, a Russian expert participating in the WHO mission, said this past week that it was unlikely the disease could have spread from Wuhan’s virology institute.

(NAN)

An expert team from the World Health Organisation (WHO) that has spent the last four weeks in the Chinese city of Wuhan, investigating the origins of the coronavirus disease, is expected to brief the media on Tuesday.

The WHO team is set to present its findings at a news conference that begins at 08.00 GMT at the Hilton Optics Valley Hotel in Wuhan.

During their visit to Wuhan, which was the world’s first COVID-19 hotspot, WHO experts toured the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Huanan market where the first known cases were identified.

The team also visited a hospital where the first COVID-19 patients were treated.

Participants in the WHO visit spent 14 days in quarantine upon their arrival in the Chinese city one month ago.

Vladimir Dedkov, a Russian expert participating in the WHO mission, said this past week that it was unlikely the disease could have spread from Wuhan’s virology institute.

(NAN)

SERAP drags FG to UN over Sowore, others’ detention

SERAP drags FG to UN over Sowore, others’ detention


Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sent a complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention over the detention of a human rights activist and publisher of Saharareporters, Omoyele Sowore, and four other activists for protesting on New Year Eve protest.


It was reported on this platform that Sowore, Juwon Sanyaolu, Peter Williams, Emmanuel Bulus and Damilare Adenola. were on Monday ordered to be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre by a Magistrates’ Court in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja pending the consideration of their bail applications on Tuesday (today).


They were earlier arrested for holding a protest against bad governance on New Year’s Eve in Abuja and subsequently taken to a police unit infamously known as ‘Abattoir’ in the Lokogoma area of the FCT.


SERAP in a statement on Tuesday by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said the complaint was sent to the UN body on Monday, January 4.


The organisation demanded the release of the detained activists and a probe into their arrest and detention.


Part of the statement read, “The detention of Omoyele Sowore and four other activists constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of their liberty because it does not have any legal justification. The detention also does not meet minimum international standards of due process.

“The arrest, continued detention and torture and ill-treatment of Mr Sowore and four other activists solely for peacefully exercising their human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly is a flagrant violation of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 (as amended) and international human rights law. They are now facing bogus charges simply for exercising their human rights.


“We urge the Working Group to request the Nigerian government to investigate and hold accountable all police officers and security agents suspected to be responsible for the unlawful arrest, continued detention, and torture and other ill-treatment of Mr Sowore and four other activists.”


The organisation also wants the Federal Government to award Sowore and four other activists compensation “for the violations they suffered as a result of their unlawful arrest, arbitrary detention, torture, and other ill-treatment.”


Source: Punch


Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sent a complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention over the detention of a human rights activist and publisher of Saharareporters, Omoyele Sowore, and four other activists for protesting on New Year Eve protest.


It was reported on this platform that Sowore, Juwon Sanyaolu, Peter Williams, Emmanuel Bulus and Damilare Adenola. were on Monday ordered to be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre by a Magistrates’ Court in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja pending the consideration of their bail applications on Tuesday (today).


They were earlier arrested for holding a protest against bad governance on New Year’s Eve in Abuja and subsequently taken to a police unit infamously known as ‘Abattoir’ in the Lokogoma area of the FCT.


SERAP in a statement on Tuesday by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said the complaint was sent to the UN body on Monday, January 4.


The organisation demanded the release of the detained activists and a probe into their arrest and detention.


Part of the statement read, “The detention of Omoyele Sowore and four other activists constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of their liberty because it does not have any legal justification. The detention also does not meet minimum international standards of due process.

“The arrest, continued detention and torture and ill-treatment of Mr Sowore and four other activists solely for peacefully exercising their human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly is a flagrant violation of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 (as amended) and international human rights law. They are now facing bogus charges simply for exercising their human rights.


“We urge the Working Group to request the Nigerian government to investigate and hold accountable all police officers and security agents suspected to be responsible for the unlawful arrest, continued detention, and torture and other ill-treatment of Mr Sowore and four other activists.”


The organisation also wants the Federal Government to award Sowore and four other activists compensation “for the violations they suffered as a result of their unlawful arrest, arbitrary detention, torture, and other ill-treatment.”


Source: Punch

ICC investigates Nigerian military, Boko Haram for war crimes, torture, others

ICC investigates Nigerian military, Boko Haram for war crimes, torture, others

 Adelani Adepegba, Abuja


The International Criminal Court has concluded plans to investigate the military and the Boko Haram insurgents for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC stated that it has found a reasonable basis to believe that members of the Nigerian security forces and the insurgents have committed murder, rape, torture, and cruel treatment, including enforced disappearance and hostage-taking.

The ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, disclosed on Friday, that preliminary investigations also indicate that the military equally carried out the forcible transfer of population; outrages upon personal dignity; intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population and individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities.

The Prosecutor’s Office has investigated war crimes in multiple jurisdictions since 2003, including in Uganda; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Darfur, Sudan; the Central African Republic Kenya; Libya; Côte d’Ivoire; Mali; Georgia, Burundi Bangladesh/Myanmar and Afghanistan.

Bensouda in a statement also alleged that the troops engaged in unlawful imprisonment; conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years into the armed forces and using them to participate actively in hostilities; persecution on gender and political grounds; and other inhumane acts.

The statement titled, ‘Statement of the Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, on the conclusion of the preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria,’ followed the conclusion of the preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria, which commenced since 2010.

The prosecutor explained that the statutory criteria for opening an investigation into the security situation had been met, paving the way for a full-blown probe of the allegations against the members of the security forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the North-East.

This is happening five days after Amnesty International said that the military and the insurgents have killed many aged citizens at disproportionate levels due to their inability to flee attack

In a 67-page report titled ‘My heart is in pain: Older people’s experience of conflict, displacement, and detention in North-East Nigeria’, the rights group disclosed that older people were killed both by the terrorist group and the militay.

The officer of the ICC prosecutor had announced its findings on crimes in Nigeria since 2013 and about two months ago, promised to conduct a preliminary investigation into the conduct of security operatives in the country.

Bensouda disclosed that the duration of the preliminary examination, open since 2010, was due to the priority given by her Office in supporting the Nigerian authorities in investigating and prosecuting the crimes domestically.

She said, “While my Office recognises that the vast majority of criminality within the situation is attributable to non-state actors, we have also found a reasonable basis to believe that members of the Nigerian Security Forces have committed the following acts constituting crimes against humanity and war crimes: murder, rape, torture, and cruel treatment; enforced disappearance; forcible transfer of population; outrages upon personal dignity; intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such and against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities; unlawful imprisonment; conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces and using them to participate actively in hostilities; persecution on gender and political grounds; and other inhumane acts.”

The prosecutor noted that her office had concluded that there was a reasonable basis to believe that members of Boko Haram and its splinter groups similarly committed various war crimes including sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and forced marriage; enslavement; torture; cruel treatment; outrages upon personal dignity; taking of hostages; intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population or individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities.

 

She further accused the sect of intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in humanitarian assistance; intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to education and places of worship and similar institutions; conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed groups and using them to participate actively in hostilities; persecution on gender and religious grounds; and other inhumane acts.


Bensouda stated that the allegations are sufficiently grave to warrant investigation by her Office, both in quantitative and qualitative terms, noting that she would provide further details in the forthcoming annual Report on Preliminary Examination Activities.


Source: Punch




 Adelani Adepegba, Abuja


The International Criminal Court has concluded plans to investigate the military and the Boko Haram insurgents for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC stated that it has found a reasonable basis to believe that members of the Nigerian security forces and the insurgents have committed murder, rape, torture, and cruel treatment, including enforced disappearance and hostage-taking.

The ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, disclosed on Friday, that preliminary investigations also indicate that the military equally carried out the forcible transfer of population; outrages upon personal dignity; intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population and individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities.

The Prosecutor’s Office has investigated war crimes in multiple jurisdictions since 2003, including in Uganda; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Darfur, Sudan; the Central African Republic Kenya; Libya; Côte d’Ivoire; Mali; Georgia, Burundi Bangladesh/Myanmar and Afghanistan.

Bensouda in a statement also alleged that the troops engaged in unlawful imprisonment; conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years into the armed forces and using them to participate actively in hostilities; persecution on gender and political grounds; and other inhumane acts.

The statement titled, ‘Statement of the Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, on the conclusion of the preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria,’ followed the conclusion of the preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria, which commenced since 2010.

The prosecutor explained that the statutory criteria for opening an investigation into the security situation had been met, paving the way for a full-blown probe of the allegations against the members of the security forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the North-East.

This is happening five days after Amnesty International said that the military and the insurgents have killed many aged citizens at disproportionate levels due to their inability to flee attack

In a 67-page report titled ‘My heart is in pain: Older people’s experience of conflict, displacement, and detention in North-East Nigeria’, the rights group disclosed that older people were killed both by the terrorist group and the militay.

The officer of the ICC prosecutor had announced its findings on crimes in Nigeria since 2013 and about two months ago, promised to conduct a preliminary investigation into the conduct of security operatives in the country.

Bensouda disclosed that the duration of the preliminary examination, open since 2010, was due to the priority given by her Office in supporting the Nigerian authorities in investigating and prosecuting the crimes domestically.

She said, “While my Office recognises that the vast majority of criminality within the situation is attributable to non-state actors, we have also found a reasonable basis to believe that members of the Nigerian Security Forces have committed the following acts constituting crimes against humanity and war crimes: murder, rape, torture, and cruel treatment; enforced disappearance; forcible transfer of population; outrages upon personal dignity; intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such and against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities; unlawful imprisonment; conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces and using them to participate actively in hostilities; persecution on gender and political grounds; and other inhumane acts.”

The prosecutor noted that her office had concluded that there was a reasonable basis to believe that members of Boko Haram and its splinter groups similarly committed various war crimes including sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and forced marriage; enslavement; torture; cruel treatment; outrages upon personal dignity; taking of hostages; intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population or individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities.

 

She further accused the sect of intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in humanitarian assistance; intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to education and places of worship and similar institutions; conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed groups and using them to participate actively in hostilities; persecution on gender and religious grounds; and other inhumane acts.


Bensouda stated that the allegations are sufficiently grave to warrant investigation by her Office, both in quantitative and qualitative terms, noting that she would provide further details in the forthcoming annual Report on Preliminary Examination Activities.


Source: Punch




SERAP Drags Buhari Government, Military To ICC Over Shooting Of #EndSARS Protesters

SERAP Drags Buhari Government, Military To ICC Over Shooting Of #EndSARS Protesters

A non governmental, non profit and non political organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent a petition to Mrs Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor, International Criminal Court (ICC), urging her to “promptly investigate reports that Nigerian authorities, military, and some politicians have used/ and are using thugs, soldiers and security agents to intimidate, harass, attack and kill #EndSARS peaceful protesters in several parts of Nigeria, including Abuja, Lagos, Edo, Osun, Plateau, and Kano states.” SERAP urged Mrs Bensouda to “push for those suspected to be responsible for these crimes, mostly security officials, soldiers, some politicians and other actors who directly or indirectly have individually and/or collectively contributed to the attacks, deaths, and injuries, and are therefore complicit in the crimes, to be tried by the ICC.”

In the petition dated 21 October 2020 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “The Nigerian authorities over the years have been unwilling and/or unable to prosecute suspected perpetrators of the killing of protesters, which in turn has promoted a culture of impunity and emboldened authorities, the military, politicians and their accomplices who continue to commit human rights crimes against protesters.”

SERAP said: “The violent attacks on peaceful protesters in Lekki, Alausa, and other parts of the country suggest the lack of political will by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to respect people’s human rights, including the rights to life, dignity of the human person, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.”

According to SERAP: “The repeated attacks on peaceful protesters suggest the misuse of the military and security agents by the Nigerian authorities and the failure to apply criminal sanctions to suspected perpetrators.”

The petition, read in part: “Without accountability for these serious human rights crimes against peaceful protesters, the victims will continue to be denied access to justice, and impunity of perpetrators will remain widespread and the result will continue to be a vicious cycle of violence against Nigerians.”

“Nigerian authorities, military, and some politicians have failed abysmally to ensure the enjoyment of the rights to life, dignity, freedom of expression, and peaceful protest by the people. These events suggest criminal conduct within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”

“SERAP believes that violence against protesters gives rise to the individual criminal responsibility of those suspected of perpetrating and/or failing to address the problem. as entrenched in the Rome Statute.”

“The incidents of intimidation, harassment attacks, and killings of peaceful protesters also strike at the integrity of the democratic process and seriously undermine President Muhammadu Buhari’s oft-expressed commitment to human rights and the rule of law, and to end impunity of perpetrators.”

“Persistent attacks on peaceful protesters by Nigerian authorities, military, security agents and some politicians seriously undermine the people’s right to participate in their own government, and have resulted in serious human rights crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”

“Ending impunity for attacks on peaceful protesters would improve respect for human rights in the country, and empower the citizens to hold their leaders to account. Unless the citizens are freely allowed to exercise their right to protest, the pervasive culture of impunity will continue to flourish in the country.”

“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has repeatedly failed to address these grave human rights violations, which amount to crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”

“The use of thugs and soldiers against peaceful protesters have resulted in several deaths and injuries. Nigerian authorities have failed and/or neglected to prevent these crimes against peaceful protesters.”

“Nigeria is a state party to the Rome Statute and deposited its instrument of ratification on 27 September 2001. It is therefore important to promptly investigate allegations of killings and other attacks on peaceful protesters if the ICC is to contribute to preventing escalations in the coming days, months and years.”

“The CCTV monitoring cameras at the Lekki toll gate and street lights were reportedly turned off before soldiers opened fire on peaceful protesters. This suggests a deliberate ploy by the authorities to cover up these crimes against humanity.”

“Nigerian authorities, military, and politicians have failed to understand the seriousness of killings of peaceful protesters, and have been complicit in the commission of these crimes.”

“According to our information, Nigerian authorities, military, and some politicians have used thugs, the police and soldiers to intimidate, harass, attack and shoot at peaceful protesters campaigning against police brutality across several parts of the country including Abuja, Lagos, Edo, Oyo, Osun, Plateau, and Kano states.”

“The protests began on October 8, 2020, calling on the authorities to abolish an abusive police unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). Just last night, several people taking part in the #EndSARS peaceful protests at the Lekki Toll Gate, and Alausa in Lagos were reportedly shot dead or wounded by soldiers. Several journalists covering the protests have been severely attacked.”

“Nigerian authorities have shot tear gas, water cannons, and live rounds at protesters, reportedly killing at least 60 people and wounding several others. According to Amnesty International, on October 10, Jimoh Isiaka was allegedly killed when police opened fire to disperse protesters in Ogbomosho, Oyo state.”

“At least two other people were killed the following day in protests against Isiaka’s death. On October 12, police officers in Surulere, Lagos, reportedly opened gunfire to disperse protesters, killing 55-year-old Ikechukwu Ilohamauzo.”

“On October 15, the Nigerian army warned ‘subversive elements and troublemakers’ to desist and offered to ‘support the civil authority in whatever capacity to maintain law and order.’ The Nigerian military has also been complicit in human rights abuses, including the use of lethal force against peaceful protesters.”

“Nigeria has a long history of systematic and widespread attacks on peaceful protesters especially since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed power in May 2015. Nigerian authorities have failed to ensure justice for the killings of protesters. Hundreds of members of the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were killed by the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State on December 12, 2015.”

“The Rome Statute in article 7 defines “crime against humanity” to include “inhumane acts causing great suffering or injury,” committed in a widespread or systematic manner against a civilian population. The common denominator of crimes against humanity is that they are grave affronts to human security and dignity.”

“The consequences of persistent violence, attacks, and killings of peaceful protesters in Nigeria are similar to those of the offences in article 7(1). Senior government officials, the military, and some politicians know well or ought to know that their failure to prevent these crimes will violate Nigerians’ human rights and dignity.”

“SERAP considers the apparent failure of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to prevent widespread and systematic attacks on peaceful protesters and the killing of protesters as amounting to complicity under the Rome Statute. SERAP, therefore, believes that the widespread and systemic nature of the problem fits the legal requirements of violence against the Nigerian people and crime against humanity.”

“The national authorities of the Court’s States Parties form the first line of defense in addressing the crime against humanity during protests, as they shoulder the primary responsibility for the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of the crime. But Nigerian authorities have been unwilling or unable to address the problem of attacks on peaceful protesters, and end the crimes against humanity.”

“SERAP urges you to investigate the killing of protesters, and other attacks perpetrated against protesters, and if there is sufficient admissible evidence prosecute officials, soldiers and any politicians for allegations of killing and violence against protesters, as provided for under the Rome Statute, and other relevant treaties, to deter the crimes and end impunity in the country.”

“SERAP believes that substantial grounds exist to warrant the intervention of the Prosecutor in this case. Under Article 17 of the Rome Statute, the Court is a court of last resort, expected to exercise its jurisdiction only if states themselves are unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate and prosecute international crimes.”

“Also, pursuant to the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor has the power to intervene in a situation under the jurisdiction of the Court if the Security Council or state parties refer a situation or if the information is provided from other sources such as the information SERAP is providing in this case.”

SERAP, therefore, urged the ICC to:


1. Urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the widespread and systematic problem of attacks on protesters, with a view to determining whether these amount to violence against the Nigerian people and crime against humanity within the Court’s jurisdiction. In this respect, we also urge you to invite representatives of the Nigerian government, the military to provide written or oral testimony at the seat of the Court, so that the Prosecutor is able to conclude since available information whether there is a reasonable basis for an investigation, and to submit a request to the Pre-Trial Chamber for authorization of an investigation;

2. Bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for widespread and systematic attacks on peaceful protesters across the country;

3. Urge the Nigerian government to fulfil its obligations under the Rome Statute to cooperate with the ICC; including complying with your requests to arrest and surrender suspected perpetrators of the widespread and systematic crime of violence against peaceful protesters, testimony, and provide other support to the ICC;

4. Compel the Nigerian authorities to ensure that Nigerians are afforded their right to life, dignity, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association, and ensure reparations to victims, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, and guarantee of non-repetition.


A non governmental, non profit and non political organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent a petition to Mrs Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor, International Criminal Court (ICC), urging her to “promptly investigate reports that Nigerian authorities, military, and some politicians have used/ and are using thugs, soldiers and security agents to intimidate, harass, attack and kill #EndSARS peaceful protesters in several parts of Nigeria, including Abuja, Lagos, Edo, Osun, Plateau, and Kano states.” SERAP urged Mrs Bensouda to “push for those suspected to be responsible for these crimes, mostly security officials, soldiers, some politicians and other actors who directly or indirectly have individually and/or collectively contributed to the attacks, deaths, and injuries, and are therefore complicit in the crimes, to be tried by the ICC.”

In the petition dated 21 October 2020 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “The Nigerian authorities over the years have been unwilling and/or unable to prosecute suspected perpetrators of the killing of protesters, which in turn has promoted a culture of impunity and emboldened authorities, the military, politicians and their accomplices who continue to commit human rights crimes against protesters.”

SERAP said: “The violent attacks on peaceful protesters in Lekki, Alausa, and other parts of the country suggest the lack of political will by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to respect people’s human rights, including the rights to life, dignity of the human person, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.”

According to SERAP: “The repeated attacks on peaceful protesters suggest the misuse of the military and security agents by the Nigerian authorities and the failure to apply criminal sanctions to suspected perpetrators.”

The petition, read in part: “Without accountability for these serious human rights crimes against peaceful protesters, the victims will continue to be denied access to justice, and impunity of perpetrators will remain widespread and the result will continue to be a vicious cycle of violence against Nigerians.”

“Nigerian authorities, military, and some politicians have failed abysmally to ensure the enjoyment of the rights to life, dignity, freedom of expression, and peaceful protest by the people. These events suggest criminal conduct within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”

“SERAP believes that violence against protesters gives rise to the individual criminal responsibility of those suspected of perpetrating and/or failing to address the problem. as entrenched in the Rome Statute.”

“The incidents of intimidation, harassment attacks, and killings of peaceful protesters also strike at the integrity of the democratic process and seriously undermine President Muhammadu Buhari’s oft-expressed commitment to human rights and the rule of law, and to end impunity of perpetrators.”

“Persistent attacks on peaceful protesters by Nigerian authorities, military, security agents and some politicians seriously undermine the people’s right to participate in their own government, and have resulted in serious human rights crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”

“Ending impunity for attacks on peaceful protesters would improve respect for human rights in the country, and empower the citizens to hold their leaders to account. Unless the citizens are freely allowed to exercise their right to protest, the pervasive culture of impunity will continue to flourish in the country.”

“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has repeatedly failed to address these grave human rights violations, which amount to crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”

“The use of thugs and soldiers against peaceful protesters have resulted in several deaths and injuries. Nigerian authorities have failed and/or neglected to prevent these crimes against peaceful protesters.”

“Nigeria is a state party to the Rome Statute and deposited its instrument of ratification on 27 September 2001. It is therefore important to promptly investigate allegations of killings and other attacks on peaceful protesters if the ICC is to contribute to preventing escalations in the coming days, months and years.”

“The CCTV monitoring cameras at the Lekki toll gate and street lights were reportedly turned off before soldiers opened fire on peaceful protesters. This suggests a deliberate ploy by the authorities to cover up these crimes against humanity.”

“Nigerian authorities, military, and politicians have failed to understand the seriousness of killings of peaceful protesters, and have been complicit in the commission of these crimes.”

“According to our information, Nigerian authorities, military, and some politicians have used thugs, the police and soldiers to intimidate, harass, attack and shoot at peaceful protesters campaigning against police brutality across several parts of the country including Abuja, Lagos, Edo, Oyo, Osun, Plateau, and Kano states.”

“The protests began on October 8, 2020, calling on the authorities to abolish an abusive police unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). Just last night, several people taking part in the #EndSARS peaceful protests at the Lekki Toll Gate, and Alausa in Lagos were reportedly shot dead or wounded by soldiers. Several journalists covering the protests have been severely attacked.”

“Nigerian authorities have shot tear gas, water cannons, and live rounds at protesters, reportedly killing at least 60 people and wounding several others. According to Amnesty International, on October 10, Jimoh Isiaka was allegedly killed when police opened fire to disperse protesters in Ogbomosho, Oyo state.”

“At least two other people were killed the following day in protests against Isiaka’s death. On October 12, police officers in Surulere, Lagos, reportedly opened gunfire to disperse protesters, killing 55-year-old Ikechukwu Ilohamauzo.”

“On October 15, the Nigerian army warned ‘subversive elements and troublemakers’ to desist and offered to ‘support the civil authority in whatever capacity to maintain law and order.’ The Nigerian military has also been complicit in human rights abuses, including the use of lethal force against peaceful protesters.”

“Nigeria has a long history of systematic and widespread attacks on peaceful protesters especially since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed power in May 2015. Nigerian authorities have failed to ensure justice for the killings of protesters. Hundreds of members of the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were killed by the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State on December 12, 2015.”

“The Rome Statute in article 7 defines “crime against humanity” to include “inhumane acts causing great suffering or injury,” committed in a widespread or systematic manner against a civilian population. The common denominator of crimes against humanity is that they are grave affronts to human security and dignity.”

“The consequences of persistent violence, attacks, and killings of peaceful protesters in Nigeria are similar to those of the offences in article 7(1). Senior government officials, the military, and some politicians know well or ought to know that their failure to prevent these crimes will violate Nigerians’ human rights and dignity.”

“SERAP considers the apparent failure of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to prevent widespread and systematic attacks on peaceful protesters and the killing of protesters as amounting to complicity under the Rome Statute. SERAP, therefore, believes that the widespread and systemic nature of the problem fits the legal requirements of violence against the Nigerian people and crime against humanity.”

“The national authorities of the Court’s States Parties form the first line of defense in addressing the crime against humanity during protests, as they shoulder the primary responsibility for the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of the crime. But Nigerian authorities have been unwilling or unable to address the problem of attacks on peaceful protesters, and end the crimes against humanity.”

“SERAP urges you to investigate the killing of protesters, and other attacks perpetrated against protesters, and if there is sufficient admissible evidence prosecute officials, soldiers and any politicians for allegations of killing and violence against protesters, as provided for under the Rome Statute, and other relevant treaties, to deter the crimes and end impunity in the country.”

“SERAP believes that substantial grounds exist to warrant the intervention of the Prosecutor in this case. Under Article 17 of the Rome Statute, the Court is a court of last resort, expected to exercise its jurisdiction only if states themselves are unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate and prosecute international crimes.”

“Also, pursuant to the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor has the power to intervene in a situation under the jurisdiction of the Court if the Security Council or state parties refer a situation or if the information is provided from other sources such as the information SERAP is providing in this case.”

SERAP, therefore, urged the ICC to:


1. Urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the widespread and systematic problem of attacks on protesters, with a view to determining whether these amount to violence against the Nigerian people and crime against humanity within the Court’s jurisdiction. In this respect, we also urge you to invite representatives of the Nigerian government, the military to provide written or oral testimony at the seat of the Court, so that the Prosecutor is able to conclude since available information whether there is a reasonable basis for an investigation, and to submit a request to the Pre-Trial Chamber for authorization of an investigation;

2. Bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for widespread and systematic attacks on peaceful protesters across the country;

3. Urge the Nigerian government to fulfil its obligations under the Rome Statute to cooperate with the ICC; including complying with your requests to arrest and surrender suspected perpetrators of the widespread and systematic crime of violence against peaceful protesters, testimony, and provide other support to the ICC;

4. Compel the Nigerian authorities to ensure that Nigerians are afforded their right to life, dignity, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association, and ensure reparations to victims, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, and guarantee of non-repetition.


UN peacekeeper killed in Mali roadside bomb

UN peacekeeper killed in Mali roadside bomb

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AFP: A UN peacekeeper was killed in northern Mali and another seriously wounded after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb on Thursday, the UN mission said.

The blast occurred some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the northern city of Kidal, in the latest violence to hit the conflict-ridden Sahel state.

A teacher in the nearby town of Anefis told AFP that an Egyptian contingent of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali had been protecting a supply convoy when it hit the landmine.

Mali has been struggling to contain a jihadist insurgency that first emerged in the north in 2012, and has since spread to the centre of the country and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.


Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in the conflict to date, and hundreds of thousands have had to flee their homes.

The United Nations has some 13,000 troops deployed in Mali as part of its peacekeeping mission -- known as Minusma.

Over 220 UN peacekeepers have lost their lives in Mali since first deploying in 2013.

Minusma head Mahamat Saleh Annadif condemned Thursday's attack, saying in a statement that the peacekeepers "will not be intimidated".

"I recall that attacks against UN peacekeepers can constitute war crimes under international law," he said.


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AFP: A UN peacekeeper was killed in northern Mali and another seriously wounded after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb on Thursday, the UN mission said.

The blast occurred some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the northern city of Kidal, in the latest violence to hit the conflict-ridden Sahel state.

A teacher in the nearby town of Anefis told AFP that an Egyptian contingent of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali had been protecting a supply convoy when it hit the landmine.

Mali has been struggling to contain a jihadist insurgency that first emerged in the north in 2012, and has since spread to the centre of the country and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.


Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in the conflict to date, and hundreds of thousands have had to flee their homes.

The United Nations has some 13,000 troops deployed in Mali as part of its peacekeeping mission -- known as Minusma.

Over 220 UN peacekeepers have lost their lives in Mali since first deploying in 2013.

Minusma head Mahamat Saleh Annadif condemned Thursday's attack, saying in a statement that the peacekeepers "will not be intimidated".

"I recall that attacks against UN peacekeepers can constitute war crimes under international law," he said.


Russia has ‘no problem’ with selling S-400 system to Iran starting on October 19 says a report

Russia has ‘no problem’ with selling S-400 system to Iran starting on October 19 says a report


Iran’s Air Defence Troops already operate four battalions of upgraded S-300PMU2s, including launchers plus the accompanying target detection and designation radar equipment. Furthermore, the country’s domestic defence industries have created a range of first-rate air defence systems, including the Bavar 373 and the Khordad-3.

Moscow would have “no problem” selling its S-400 air defence system to Iran, Russian Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan has said.

“As you know, S-300s have already been delivered. Russia has no problem delivering S-400s to Iran. This was never a problem from the very beginning,” Dzhagaryan said, speaking to Iran’s Resalat newspaper in an interview published Saturday.

Commenting on “US threats” to try to extend the United Nations arms embargo against Tehran indefinitely, the diplomat stressed that Moscow would not be intimidated by US pressure, would make good on any commitments made, and would be willing to listen to offers from the Iranian side to buy Russian arms when the UN embargo expires on October 18.

Dzhagaryan also recalled that immediately after the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, Moscow “took a strong stance against the United States and called on the deal’s three European signatories to stand together with us.”

“But the issue I want to address is very important: the three European countries did not support the United States, but they also continue to criticize Iran’s activities in the region. On one hand, they say that the arms embargo against Iran should be lifted. On the other, they say that Iran should not continue its activities. The Russian side has said from the start that there would be no problems selling arms to Iran starting on October 19,” he reiterated.

Last month, after its attempts to extend the international arms embargo against Iran fell through at the UN, Washington threatened to impose the “full force” of secondary sanctions against any arms producer dealing with Iran.

S-400s for Iran?


Iran already has experience with Russian-made military equipment, including the S-300 air defence system. In August, Iranian Defence Minister Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami inspected a S-400 system during a trip to Russia for the ARMY-2020 military expo outside Moscow.

The S-400 is presently the most advanced road-mobile air-defence system in Russia’s arsenal, and is capable of shooting down everything from enemy planes, helicopters and drones to ballistic and cruise missiles at ranges up to 400 km.

In addition to Russia, the system is operated by China, Belarus and Turkey, with India expecting to receive several regiments of the system soon.

A 2019 assessment by the US Defence Intelligence Agency suggested that Iran may be interested in buying Russian S-400s, K-300P Bastion coastal defence systems, Su-30 fighters and T-90 main battle tanks once the embargo expires.

In September, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced that in addition to importing arms, the lifting of the embargo will enable Iran to export its military equipment abroad in full compliance with international law.

Over the past decade, Iran’s defence industry has taken major strides in the creation of advanced military hardware, ranging from missiles, tanks and aircraft to warships, radar systems and even domestically-produced satellites.

Iran’s new air defence equipment in particular proved its worth in June 2019, when a Khordad-3 medium-range missile system shot a stealthy $220 million US Global Hawk surveillance drone out of the sky after it illegally entered Iranian airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.


Source: Sputnik

Iran’s Air Defence Troops already operate four battalions of upgraded S-300PMU2s, including launchers plus the accompanying target detection and designation radar equipment. Furthermore, the country’s domestic defence industries have created a range of first-rate air defence systems, including the Bavar 373 and the Khordad-3.

Moscow would have “no problem” selling its S-400 air defence system to Iran, Russian Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan has said.

“As you know, S-300s have already been delivered. Russia has no problem delivering S-400s to Iran. This was never a problem from the very beginning,” Dzhagaryan said, speaking to Iran’s Resalat newspaper in an interview published Saturday.

Commenting on “US threats” to try to extend the United Nations arms embargo against Tehran indefinitely, the diplomat stressed that Moscow would not be intimidated by US pressure, would make good on any commitments made, and would be willing to listen to offers from the Iranian side to buy Russian arms when the UN embargo expires on October 18.

Dzhagaryan also recalled that immediately after the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, Moscow “took a strong stance against the United States and called on the deal’s three European signatories to stand together with us.”

“But the issue I want to address is very important: the three European countries did not support the United States, but they also continue to criticize Iran’s activities in the region. On one hand, they say that the arms embargo against Iran should be lifted. On the other, they say that Iran should not continue its activities. The Russian side has said from the start that there would be no problems selling arms to Iran starting on October 19,” he reiterated.

Last month, after its attempts to extend the international arms embargo against Iran fell through at the UN, Washington threatened to impose the “full force” of secondary sanctions against any arms producer dealing with Iran.

S-400s for Iran?


Iran already has experience with Russian-made military equipment, including the S-300 air defence system. In August, Iranian Defence Minister Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami inspected a S-400 system during a trip to Russia for the ARMY-2020 military expo outside Moscow.

The S-400 is presently the most advanced road-mobile air-defence system in Russia’s arsenal, and is capable of shooting down everything from enemy planes, helicopters and drones to ballistic and cruise missiles at ranges up to 400 km.

In addition to Russia, the system is operated by China, Belarus and Turkey, with India expecting to receive several regiments of the system soon.

A 2019 assessment by the US Defence Intelligence Agency suggested that Iran may be interested in buying Russian S-400s, K-300P Bastion coastal defence systems, Su-30 fighters and T-90 main battle tanks once the embargo expires.

In September, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced that in addition to importing arms, the lifting of the embargo will enable Iran to export its military equipment abroad in full compliance with international law.

Over the past decade, Iran’s defence industry has taken major strides in the creation of advanced military hardware, ranging from missiles, tanks and aircraft to warships, radar systems and even domestically-produced satellites.

Iran’s new air defence equipment in particular proved its worth in June 2019, when a Khordad-3 medium-range missile system shot a stealthy $220 million US Global Hawk surveillance drone out of the sky after it illegally entered Iranian airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.


Source: Sputnik

Moscow slams ‘disgraceful’ ban on founding OPCW chief, sacked under US pressure, from speaking at UN Security Council on Syria

Moscow slams ‘disgraceful’ ban on founding OPCW chief, sacked under US pressure, from speaking at UN Security Council on Syria

An ex-OPCW chief, sacked under US pressure, has been barred from briefing the UN Security Council about a controversial probe into an alleged 2018 chemical attack in Syria. Russia called it a “shame” and published his speech.


Jose Bustani, a Brazilian diplomat who led the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) from 1997 until 2002, was invited by Moscow to speak at a UN Security Council meeting about the so-called “Syrian chemical dossier,” but his appearance was blocked at the last minute by Belgium, Germany, Estonia, France, the US and the UK.

“What has happened now is yet more sad proof that Western delegations fear the uncomfortable truth,” Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, stressed while addressing the UN global body on Monday.

He said the six countries had “made history” because the Security Council has never voted “on the presence or absence of a briefer proposed by the [UNSC] president.” Prohibiting the former OPCW director general from speaking was a “shame and disgrace,” Nebenzia concluded, promising to publish Bustani’s statement after the meeting.

UK envoy Jonathan Allen said that Bustani is not in a position to “provide relevant knowledge or information.”


The Council today faced incredible disgrace when US, UK and other Western countries shamelessly tried to shut the mouth of former #OPCW Director General Jose #Bustani. This is a clear proof of how they in reality “care” for the truth and transparency #Syria#DoubleStandardshttps://t.co/0PMB3Iyg04— Dmitry Polyanskiy (@Dpol_un) October 5, 2020


Shortly afterwards, the undelivered speech appeared on the website of the Russian mission to the UN. In it, the sacked OPCW chief raised “serious questions” over “whether the independence, impartiality, and professionalism of some of the organization’s work is being severely compromised, possibly under pressure from some member states.”

As a major example, Bustani cited an OPCW investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Syrian city of Douma on April 7, 2018. Western governments, and media outlets, maintain that forces loyal to Damascus dropped two gas cylinders as part of an offensive against jihadist forces, killing scores of civilians.

The allegations were used as a pretext for a major US-led airstrike against Syrian government forces later that year. The OPCW launched a probe into the “chemical attack,” and in early March of 2019, the final report by the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) of the OPCW stated that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that canisters filled with “molecular chlorine” were dropped from Syrian aircraft in Douma.

The final report gave credence to the Western show of force by implicating the Syrian government of Bashar Assad in conducting the attack, which the Syrian authorities vehemently deny.

Shortly after the release of the OPCW report, an internal memo by OPCW engineers was leaked, suggesting the canisters were likely just placed at the site of the “attack,” and did not come from the skies. Still, the final report did not include such information, and a senior OPCW official reportedly ordered the removal of “all traces” of the dissenting opinion, according to WikiLeaks.

Months later, Bustani noted that he was invited to an expert panel which heard the testimony of an unnamed OPCW investigator, who came forward with damning evidence that his own organization had engineered a report based on a flawed conclusion and likely deliberately steered toward the outcome favored by the West.

That expert provided “compelling and documentary evidence of highly questionable, and potentially fraudulent conduct in the investigative process,” Bustani’s statement recalled. The Brazilian diplomat had been so stunned by the testimony that he personally called on the OPCW to be “resurrected to become the independent and non-discriminatory body it used to be.”

However, he continued, the chemical weapons watchdog did not respond to any calls for greater transparency about the controversial Douma investigation. The probe was “hidden behind an impenetrable wall of silence and opacity, making any meaningful dialogue impossible.”

In conclusion, Bustani called on Fernando Arias, the current OPCW chief, to hear the grievances of OPCW inspectors who voiced dissenting opinions on the Douma incident. They “have dared to speak out against possible irregular behavior in your organization,” Bustani argued, adding that it is “in the world’s interest that you hear them out.”

Bustani noted that he had been removed from his OPCW position “following a US-orchestrated campaign in 2002.” Back then, he was trying to send chemical weapons inspectors to Iraq prior to the 2003 US invasion there. A UN tribunal ruled that his sacking was unlawful.

Source: RT
An ex-OPCW chief, sacked under US pressure, has been barred from briefing the UN Security Council about a controversial probe into an alleged 2018 chemical attack in Syria. Russia called it a “shame” and published his speech.


Jose Bustani, a Brazilian diplomat who led the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) from 1997 until 2002, was invited by Moscow to speak at a UN Security Council meeting about the so-called “Syrian chemical dossier,” but his appearance was blocked at the last minute by Belgium, Germany, Estonia, France, the US and the UK.

“What has happened now is yet more sad proof that Western delegations fear the uncomfortable truth,” Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, stressed while addressing the UN global body on Monday.

He said the six countries had “made history” because the Security Council has never voted “on the presence or absence of a briefer proposed by the [UNSC] president.” Prohibiting the former OPCW director general from speaking was a “shame and disgrace,” Nebenzia concluded, promising to publish Bustani’s statement after the meeting.

UK envoy Jonathan Allen said that Bustani is not in a position to “provide relevant knowledge or information.”


The Council today faced incredible disgrace when US, UK and other Western countries shamelessly tried to shut the mouth of former #OPCW Director General Jose #Bustani. This is a clear proof of how they in reality “care” for the truth and transparency #Syria#DoubleStandardshttps://t.co/0PMB3Iyg04— Dmitry Polyanskiy (@Dpol_un) October 5, 2020


Shortly afterwards, the undelivered speech appeared on the website of the Russian mission to the UN. In it, the sacked OPCW chief raised “serious questions” over “whether the independence, impartiality, and professionalism of some of the organization’s work is being severely compromised, possibly under pressure from some member states.”

As a major example, Bustani cited an OPCW investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Syrian city of Douma on April 7, 2018. Western governments, and media outlets, maintain that forces loyal to Damascus dropped two gas cylinders as part of an offensive against jihadist forces, killing scores of civilians.

The allegations were used as a pretext for a major US-led airstrike against Syrian government forces later that year. The OPCW launched a probe into the “chemical attack,” and in early March of 2019, the final report by the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) of the OPCW stated that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that canisters filled with “molecular chlorine” were dropped from Syrian aircraft in Douma.

The final report gave credence to the Western show of force by implicating the Syrian government of Bashar Assad in conducting the attack, which the Syrian authorities vehemently deny.

Shortly after the release of the OPCW report, an internal memo by OPCW engineers was leaked, suggesting the canisters were likely just placed at the site of the “attack,” and did not come from the skies. Still, the final report did not include such information, and a senior OPCW official reportedly ordered the removal of “all traces” of the dissenting opinion, according to WikiLeaks.

Months later, Bustani noted that he was invited to an expert panel which heard the testimony of an unnamed OPCW investigator, who came forward with damning evidence that his own organization had engineered a report based on a flawed conclusion and likely deliberately steered toward the outcome favored by the West.

That expert provided “compelling and documentary evidence of highly questionable, and potentially fraudulent conduct in the investigative process,” Bustani’s statement recalled. The Brazilian diplomat had been so stunned by the testimony that he personally called on the OPCW to be “resurrected to become the independent and non-discriminatory body it used to be.”

However, he continued, the chemical weapons watchdog did not respond to any calls for greater transparency about the controversial Douma investigation. The probe was “hidden behind an impenetrable wall of silence and opacity, making any meaningful dialogue impossible.”

In conclusion, Bustani called on Fernando Arias, the current OPCW chief, to hear the grievances of OPCW inspectors who voiced dissenting opinions on the Douma incident. They “have dared to speak out against possible irregular behavior in your organization,” Bustani argued, adding that it is “in the world’s interest that you hear them out.”

Bustani noted that he had been removed from his OPCW position “following a US-orchestrated campaign in 2002.” Back then, he was trying to send chemical weapons inspectors to Iraq prior to the 2003 US invasion there. A UN tribunal ruled that his sacking was unlawful.

Source: RT

Accusations range on between Armenia, Azerbaijan as German Merkel calls for 'immediate ceasefire' in Karabakh fighting

Accusations range on between Armenia, Azerbaijan as German Merkel calls for 'immediate ceasefire' in Karabakh fighting

France urges international talks on Armenia-Azerbaijan clashes





Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other on Tuesday of firing into each other’s territory, far from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, as the worst spate of fighting since the 1990s raged for a third day and the civilian death toll mounted.

The forces of the two countries pounded each other with long range rockets and artillery in a new round of the decades-old conflict in the disputed region.

The fierce fighting, which continued for a third day on Tuesday, has killed dozens of soldiers and at least 11 civilians so far.

Dozens have been reported killed and hundreds wounded since the fierce clashes between Azerbaijan and its ethnic Armenian mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh broke out on Sunday in a new eruption of a decades-old conflict.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said 10 civilians had been killed by Armenian shelling since Sunday. There was no official information about casualties among Azeri servicemen.

The Armenian defense ministry said an Armenian civilian bus in Vardenis — a town in Armenia at the border with Azerbaijan and far from Nagorno-Karabakh — caught fire after being hit by an Azeri drone, but no one appeared to be hurt. It said it was making further checks.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a breakaway region that is inside Azerbaijan but is run by ethnic Armenians and is supported by Armenia. It broke away from Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s, but is not recognized by any country as an independent republic.

Any move to all-out war could drag in major regional powers Russia and Turkey. Moscow has a defense alliance with Armenia, which provides vital support to the enclave and is its lifeline to the outside world, while Ankara backs its own ethnic Turkic kin in Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged an immediate end to the fighting in the region of Nagorny Karabakh in phone calls with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, her spokesman said Tuesday. “The chancellor urgently called for an immediate cease-fire and a return to the negotiating table,” Steffen Seibert said.

Merkel spoke with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday and with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday, he added.

The so-called Minsk Group of mediators, led by France, Russia and the United States, “offers an appropriate forum” for dialogue, Merkel said in the calls.

The UN Security Council is due to hold emergency talks Tuesday behind closed doors on Nagorny Karabakh, diplomats said.

France has also said that it would call for talks among the ‘Minsk Group’ and mediates between Armenia and Azerbaijan – to try to resolve an escalating conflict between the two South Caucasus countries.

“We will trigger in the coming days a co-ordination of the Minsk Group to clear up what happened, who is responsible and find a way out,” an official at Macron’s office told Reuters on Tuesday.

Yerevan and Baku have been locked in a territorial dispute over the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorny Karabakh for decades, with deadly fighting flaring up last July and in 2016.


France urges international talks on Armenia-Azerbaijan clashes





Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other on Tuesday of firing into each other’s territory, far from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, as the worst spate of fighting since the 1990s raged for a third day and the civilian death toll mounted.

The forces of the two countries pounded each other with long range rockets and artillery in a new round of the decades-old conflict in the disputed region.

The fierce fighting, which continued for a third day on Tuesday, has killed dozens of soldiers and at least 11 civilians so far.

Dozens have been reported killed and hundreds wounded since the fierce clashes between Azerbaijan and its ethnic Armenian mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh broke out on Sunday in a new eruption of a decades-old conflict.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said 10 civilians had been killed by Armenian shelling since Sunday. There was no official information about casualties among Azeri servicemen.

The Armenian defense ministry said an Armenian civilian bus in Vardenis — a town in Armenia at the border with Azerbaijan and far from Nagorno-Karabakh — caught fire after being hit by an Azeri drone, but no one appeared to be hurt. It said it was making further checks.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a breakaway region that is inside Azerbaijan but is run by ethnic Armenians and is supported by Armenia. It broke away from Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s, but is not recognized by any country as an independent republic.

Any move to all-out war could drag in major regional powers Russia and Turkey. Moscow has a defense alliance with Armenia, which provides vital support to the enclave and is its lifeline to the outside world, while Ankara backs its own ethnic Turkic kin in Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged an immediate end to the fighting in the region of Nagorny Karabakh in phone calls with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, her spokesman said Tuesday. “The chancellor urgently called for an immediate cease-fire and a return to the negotiating table,” Steffen Seibert said.

Merkel spoke with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday and with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday, he added.

The so-called Minsk Group of mediators, led by France, Russia and the United States, “offers an appropriate forum” for dialogue, Merkel said in the calls.

The UN Security Council is due to hold emergency talks Tuesday behind closed doors on Nagorny Karabakh, diplomats said.

France has also said that it would call for talks among the ‘Minsk Group’ and mediates between Armenia and Azerbaijan – to try to resolve an escalating conflict between the two South Caucasus countries.

“We will trigger in the coming days a co-ordination of the Minsk Group to clear up what happened, who is responsible and find a way out,” an official at Macron’s office told Reuters on Tuesday.

Yerevan and Baku have been locked in a territorial dispute over the ethnic Armenian region of Nagorny Karabakh for decades, with deadly fighting flaring up last July and in 2016.


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