Saturday 30 January 2016

Biafra: Dutch Lawyer takes Buhari to ICC



News24Nigeria
Lagos – A Dutch lawyer has filed a complainant against President Muhammadu Buhari at the International Criminal Court (ICC), in The Hague, accusing him of war crimes,Newsweek reports.

This follows protests demanding the independence of Biafra. The demonstrations have turned violent in recent months, particularly in Onitsha, where killings were reported at the commercial, educational and religious centre in Anambra State in December.

Goran Sluiter, a lawyer at Dutch human rights legal firm Prakken d’Oliveira, filed the complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Friday, the report said.

Sluiter claimed violence had intensified against Biafrans since Buhari became president.

Reports indicate that at least 200 people have been detained across the country since Biafrans started demonstrating three months ago. The protests began after intelligence agents detained the director of banned Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, on October 17. He was initially accused of criminal conspiracy and hate speech but the charges were escalated to terrorism and financing terrorism.
posted from Bloggeroid

Friday 29 January 2016

THE IPOB LEADER AND THE DIRECTOR OF RADIO BIAFRA DENIED BAIL

The hope  of the Director of Radio Biafra and leader of Indeginous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, to enjoy temporary freedom was dashed on Friday, as a Federal High Court in Abuja denied him and his co-accused bail, opting to give them accelerated hearing.

Kanu and two other accused persons are standing trial on charges of treason over their agitation for the creation of the Republic of Biafra.

At the resume hearing of their case on Friday, ‎Justice John Tsoho, while ruling on their bail applications, held that the accused persons were not entitled to bail because they could not convince the court that they would not continue to commit the alleged crime for which they were being prosecuted.

Fualting the argument of the defence, the judge held that the charges were not trumped up ones and that the accused persons, through counter affidavit had only succeeded in saying that the agitation for the creation of the Republic of Biafra is their birthright.

The judge further ruled that since Kanu had admitted to being a dual citizen of Nigeria and Britain, the likelihood of jumping bail was high.

The judge, while denying the bail application, said he would order an accelerated hearing, even if it is on daily basis.

Justice Tsoho, who adjourned the case to February 9,10,11 and 12, ordered that Kanu and his co-accused persons remain in Kuje prison throughout their trial.
posted from Bloggeroid

Thursday 28 January 2016

WHO: Zika Virus Seen Spreading throughout America

CCTVCCTV.com.comThe World Health Organization says the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease suspected of causing serious birth defects, is expected to spread to all countries in the Americas except Canada and Chile.
Zika has suspected but unproven links to microcephaly, when babies born to women infected during pregnancy have abnormally small heads. The condition is associated with incomplete brain development.
Brazil is by far the hardest hit. There, more than a million people have contracted Zika, with reports of nearly 4,000 babies born with microcephaly.

Tuesday 26 January 2016

Naira Devaluation Inevitable American Government

According to US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, the Nigerian government's foreign exchange policies over the past year are hindering the ability of US companies to do business in Nigeria.

US companies have “been quite explicit it’s a barrier to trade,” Pritzker said in an interview on Monday in Lagos.


The CBN, with Buhari’s backing, has tried stop the currency weakening amid a rout in prices of oil, by restricting imports and foreign exchange trading.

The apex bank has pegged the naira at 197-199 since March and foreign investors have sold naira bonds and stocks to avoid a devaluation they see as all but inevitable. Experts say the currency will weaken 20% to 249.5 per dollar in three months, while the black market rate fell to a record 305 this month.

The policies also hurt Nigerian manufacturers because they import about 52% of their inputs and need dollars to pay for those, she said.

“It sounds like you’re starting to see factory lay-offs,” Pritzker said. “That’s not good for Nigeria. And, of course, President Buhari is focused on inclusive growth. So, pointing out some of the contradictions between objectives and policies is part of the conversation we’ll have.”

Pritzker said she will raise the issue with President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja, the capital, on Tuesday.




Wednesday 20 January 2016

KADUNA, PORT HARCOURT OIL REFINERIES SHUT DOWN DUE MILLITANCY

The effect of the renewed attack by Niger Delta militants may have started taking its toll on the nation’s oil and gas industry, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Wednesday, announced the shut down of the two refineries in Port Harcourt and the one in Kaduna.
According to a statement by the NNPC, the refineries were shut due to sabotage to crude pipelines. “The plants were shut on Sunday because o.
breaches to the Bonny-Okrika supply line to Port Harcourt and the Escravos-Warri pipeline to Kaduna
“In response to the unexpected setback, we have activated comprehensive remedial measures to sustain the prevailing stability in the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.”
The millitants resumed attacks on oil facilities shortly after a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a former Niger Delta millitant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, also known as “Tompolo”, for his failure to appear before it in N34 billion fraud and money laundering case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
It is believed  that millitants loyal to Tompolo are behind the renewed attacks though the former warlord dissociated himself from them.