World In Unity To Kill Biafrans Over Their Oil

                          
      World In Unity To Kill Biafrans Over Their Oil

Germany Begins Supply Of Military Hardware To Nigeria

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• Jun 07, 2016
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The German government said Monday night that it would commence the supply of military hardware to support Nigeria’s effort to address security challenges in its North East and Niger Delta regions, before the end of 2016.

Permanent Secretary, German Foreign Office, Mr. Markus Elderer, stated this in Abuja at the meeting of defence session of the Nigeria-Germany Bi-National Commission.

He said the decision to support Nigerian security forces towards addressing security challenges was at the instance of a request by President Muhammadu Buhari at the last G-7 summit hosted by Germany.

The German official said the equipment involved comprised ground surveillance equipment, anti-mine equipment, gun boats and others adding that Germany would commence the supply of the equipment as soon as the aid agreement was signed between the representatives of both countries.

Elderer said the military aid to Nigeria would also include training of Nigerian military personnel especially military engineers in the handling and maintenance of the equipment.

“It was during the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Germany at the occasion of the G-7 summit that it was decided that we will very practically help to address Nigeria’s security concerns” he said.

“The Nigerian government requested equipment support and military training so we are incorporating all of these in this agreement.

“We are doing this through training, through equipment supply like the ground radar system, mine clearing equipment and mobile health units for the security forces in order for them to carry out these difficult tasks of combating terrorism.

“We are almost at the finishing line and we are just waiting the signing of the agreement so that we can begin implementation, I think everything will be done this year” he said.
Elderer identified other aspects of the agreement as bio-security, mopping of small arms in the country, police training and health support.
In his address, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Amb. Danjuma Sheni noted that the efforts of the German government to support Nigeria’s quest for peace and security in the sub region was laudable.
He said Nigeria would leverage on the opportunities created through the Nigeria-Germany Bi-National Commission to boost other aspects of relations that was beneficial to both countries.
Sheni said the secretariat of the commission was working tirelessly to ensure that the agreement was signed before the end of June.

Nigeria: Killing of unarmed pro-Biafra supporters by military must be urgently investigated

10 June 2016

An on-the-ground investigation by Amnesty International has confirmed that the Nigerian army gunned down unarmed people ahead of last month’s planned pro-Biafran commemoration events in Onitsha, Anambra state.

Evidence gathered from eyewitnesses, morgues and hospitals confirms that between 29-30 May 2016, the Nigerian military opened fire on members of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB), supporters and bystanders at three locations in the town.

“Opening fire on peaceful IPOB supporters and bystanders who clearly posed no threat to anyone is an outrageous use of unnecessary and excessive force and resulted in multiple deaths and injuries. In one incident one person was shot dead after the authorities burst in on them while they slept,” said M.K. Ibrahim, Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

Opening fire on peaceful IPOB supporters and bystanders who clearly posed no threat to anyone is an outrageous use of unnecessary and excessive force and resulted in multiple deaths and injuries.

M.K. Ibrahim, Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria

“These shootings, some of which may amount to extrajudicial executions, must be urgently and independently investigated and anyone suspected of criminal responsibility must be brought to justice.”

The exact number of deaths is unknown, partly due to the fact that the Nigerian army took away corpses and the injured.

In one incident one person was shot dead after the authorities burst in on them while they slept

MK Ibrahim

Amnesty International has received reports from various sources on the ground alleging that at least 40 people were killed and more than 50 injured.

After visits to hospitals and morgues, the organization has confirmed - based on this initial investigation - that at least 17 people were killed and nearly 50 injured. The real number is likely to be higher.

Some of the dead and injured IPOB supporters seen by an Amnesty International researcher were shot in the back, an indication that they were fleeing the scene when they were shot.

The leadership of IPOB claim more than 50 of their members were killed. The Nigerian army has said in a statement that they acted in self-defence, and five IPOB members were killed. However, Amnesty International has seen no evidence that the killings were necessary to protect life. Although the police also claim that IPOB supporters killed two policemen the next day in neighbouring Asaba, Delta state, Amnesty International cannot confirm this claim. However, such killings would not substantiate the army’s argument they acted in self-defence. 

A joint security operation was carried out by the Nigerian army, police and navy between the night of 29 May and throughout 30May, apparently intended to prevent a march by IPOB members from the Nkpor motor park to a nearby field for a rally. Before the march began the military raided homes and a church where IPOB members were sleeping.

IPOB supporters told Amnesty International that hundreds of people who had come from neighbouring states, were asleep in the St Edmunds Catholic church when soldiers stormed the compound on 29 May.

I saw one boy trying to answer a question. He immediately raised his hands, but the soldiers opened fire…He lay down, lifeless. I saw this myself

Witness to the shootings

A 32-year-old hair dresser who was in the church told Amnesty International: “At about midnight we heard someone banging the door. We refused to open the door but they forced the door open and started throwing teargas. They also started shooting inside the compound. People were running to escape. I saw one guy shot in the stomach. He fell down but the teargas could not allow people to help him. I did not know what happened to the guy as I escaped and ran away.”

Another witness told Amnesty International that on the morning of 30 Mayhe saw soldiers open fire on a group of around 20 men and boys aged between 15 and 45 at the Nkpor Motor Park on the morning of 30 May. He says that five of them were killed.“I stood about two poles [approximately 100 metres] away from where the men were being shot and killed. I couldn’t quite hear what they were asking the boys, but I saw one boy trying to answer a question. He immediately raised his hands, but the soldiers opened fire…He lay down, lifeless. I saw this myself.”

The witness described how military officers loaded men with gunshot wounds into one van, and what appeared to be corpses into another.

Later that morning, another witness described how police shot a child bystander as a group of young men protested the shootings, blocking a road and burning tyres along the Eke-Nkpor junction.

He told Amnesty International: “I heard a police siren and everybody started running helter-skelter. I ran away with other people, but before we left, the police fired tear gas at us and shot a boy in my presence. He was just hawking in the street. He wasn’t even there to protest,” he said.

An Amnesty International researcher visited three hospitals in Onitsha and surrounding towns and saw 41 men being treated for gunshot wounds in the stomach, shoulder, leg, back and ankle. The researcher also visited mortuaries in Onitsha and saw five corpses with bullet wounds, all brought in by IPOB members on 30 May.

Amnesty International has been informed that many of those killed or injured are still held by the military and police. Several witnesses said that the military loaded corpses in their vehicles and took them to Onitsha military barracks. Amnesty International was not able to confirm this.

One witness told Amnesty International that around 30 people were held in the military barracks, while another witness said 23 people who were held in State Criminal Investigation Department were brought to court.

Following the shootings, the military told media sources that the soldiers only opened fire after being shot at first, but Amnesty International’s research has found no evidence to support this. All the people the organization interviewed said that the protesters were not armed; one young man said that he threw stones at the police and military after they shot teargas at the IPOB members. He said the military then fired live ammunition in return.

This is not the first time that IPOB supporters have died at the hands of the military. It is becoming a worrying pattern and this incident and others must be immediately investigated

MK Ibrahim

Information gathered by Amnesty International indicates that the deaths of supporters and members of IPOB was the consequence of excessive, and unnecessary use of force.

International law requires the government to promptly investigate unlawful killings with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice. Amnesty International is also calling for those IPOB supporters still held in detention without charge to be either immediately charged or released.

“This is not the first time that IPOB supporters have died at the hands of the military. It is becoming a worrying pattern and this incident and others must be immediately investigated,” said M. K. Ibrahim.

“In addition there must be an end to the pattern of increased militarization of crowd control operations as soldiers are frequently deployed to undertake routine policing functions.”  

Background

Amnesty International interviewed 32 witnesses between 1-3 June in Onitsha and an additional five people on the phone.

The IPOB members had informed the Anambra State Police Commissioner of their plans for Biafra Remembrance day and requested for security to be provided for the procession.

Amnesty International has been conducting research into violence and killings of IPOB members and supporters in south east Nigeria since January 2016. A comprehensive report will be published in the near future.

The organization’s research shows that since August 2015, there have been at least five similar incidents in Onitsha alone where the police and military shot unarmed IPOB members and supporters. Amnesty International has documented cases of alleged unlawful killings by the Nigerian army between August 2015 and May 2016.

In August 2015, military officers opened fire on peaceful supporters of IPOB calling for an independent Biafran state. The killings and mass arrests of members and supporters of IPOB by a joint military and police operations continued in October, November and December 2015.

On 17 December 2015 for example, the military killed five people when they opened fire on members of the IPOB who were demonstrating in Onitsha in a celebration of a court order for the release of their purported leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

In February 2016, the Nigerian military used excessive force to disperse a peaceful gathering in a school compound in Aba. At least nine people were killed and many more injured.

The Nigerian government has not conducted any independent investigation into any of these incidents.

The right to peaceful assembly and association, as well as the right of freedom of expression, is protected by the Nigerian constitution. International human rights standards also require that law enforcement officials must, as far as possible, apply nonviolent means. The intentional lethal use of firearms is only permissible when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.

15Jun, 2016  by Global Reporters

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By Iyoha John Darlington 

May 30, 1967, goes down in history the birth of a nation east of The Niger was declared but the forces of tyranny and dissent voices on the other side of the table declared a war to ‘reunite’ the country, not a war borne out of love for the separated brothers but a war to reclaim and survive on the treasure beneath their land . This war, I dare say, cost over two million lives.This writer probably still in the crawling stage saw what hitherto stood as houses and humans reduced to debris and a scene of carnage by dangerously powerful explosives, the Niger Bridge linking the East with the defunct Mid-West was blown up in the heat of the war to cut off troops’ movement from Nigeria to the East, the epicentre of the Biafra- Nigerian revolution.

The reactionaries as they were labelled fought doggedly to ensure the sovereign state of Biafra was sustained amid bombings and the resultant genocide being committed by the Nigerian government. All these happened in the Gowonist days!

The desire to secede from Nigeria at the period under sad review after the peace brokered to suspend hostilities by the two belligerents have again resurfaced by an acute marginalisation of the people of the region.
There has been agitation in the region today and this agitation has given birth to many pro-Biafran groups all speaking with one accord to secede from the federation of Nigeria. This is a nation comprising a down-trodden and marginalised people. The people have suffered so many deprivations and have indeed become strangers in their own land with attacks and killings capable of reducing them to extinction thus reigniting separatist feelings and aspirations.
This has given birth to a Moses in the person of a young revolutionary to free his people from the yoke and bondage imposed on them by Nigerian overlords who see them as nothing but worthless species. 

Only on Thursday last week, a woman from the region was decapitated by Muslim faithful in the desert city of Kano with the culprits alleging blasphemy but investigations so far have shown that late Mrs Bridget did not speak blasphemy after all! The cold-blooded murder is none other than their usual gimmick to unleash their hatred on the people from the region, in fact, events and happenings have shown that to be identified as Nigerian of Igbo extraction is almost tantamount to a crime.

Only yesterday, June 9, 2016, an irate mob again attacked a Christian carpenter , slashed off his ear for having lunch accusing him of non-observance of the holy month of Ramadan when as a matter of fact they do not profess the same faith. This victim, reports say, is also from that region and as soon as the news of the ill-conceived attack was noised about , people from the region voiced solidarity with the devil-may-care hoodlums who are none other than products of misbegotten Homo-sapiens marvelously evocative of an extinct barbarian tribe. This incident again took place in one of northern Nigeria’s desert cities located in the north-central parts of the country.
The Igbos, I dare say, have indeed become endangered species in a false union. There is no denying the fact that they run the risk of total extinction if the present trend continues.
While in their own land, a band of marauders led an armed invasion and had many of them butchered to death in Enugu State. This incident took place about two months ago when Nimbo community was sacked by armed Fulani nomads leaving behind sorrow, tears and blood and this harrowing incident triggered off a mass exodus from the community with promises from the Abuja regime that the perpetrators would be fished out and brought to justice but up till now none of them has been apprehended to answer for that heinous crime as everything appears shrouded in secrecy.

Then came the late Biafran warlord Odumegwu Ojukwu who probably saw tomorrow and took steps to liberate his people from the claws and bondages of the Nigerian state. He doubtless reincarnated in the illegally detained Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the director of a pirate radio station.
For exercising his freedom of speech, the Nigerian Pharoah accused him of having committed an ”irredeemable mortal sin”. Against every voice of reason to release the young man from detention when some erudite judges have ordered, he decided to stand pat until his diabolic whims and caprices are carried out and like Nicolo Machiavelli, he bestrides the Nigerian world like a colossus dictates to all and sundry no matter whose ox is gored.

Kanu had only broadcasted via that medium to draw the attention of the world to the bondage of his people in the false contraception Nigeria. He has never been engaged in armed struggle to warrant undue incarceration by the Nigerian authorities. Prof. Wole Soyinka also ran a pirate radio station christened – Radio Kudirat – in the dark days of Abacha’s rule.
The illegally detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) has only spoken for the freedom of his people from the bondage imposed on them by Nigerian overlords from the north who see them as nothing but objects of destruction.

The Nigerian Pharoah must be told in clear terms that he can not fight and get victory over the Lord’s Army in Nigeria domiciled on the east of The Niger. The time for liberation has come and that, beyond all question, remains Nnamdi Kanu’s bounden duty. President Buhari must be reminded under the existing circumstances of the events that preceded the declaration of the historic Edit Of Milan. A similar scenario appears at play in Nigeria.
History, they say ,often repeats itself. Emperor Constantine fought to suppress the Primitive Community whose efforts reportedly hit the brick wall. He had no option but to submit to a Superior Force which in earnest brought about the aforementioned historic Edit somewhere in the Old World.
A series of devastating plague has today invaded Nigeria and he appears coy about this young man’s freedom. It is unfortunate he has refused to see the evil handwriting on the wall that fighting God’s own people often spells doom and that is what is on the ground today.
As it stands, Nigeria has never been so divided. There is militancy here and there. Boko Haram militants hold sway in the country’s N’East. Nomadic armed herders often invade the Middle Belt and Southern Nigerian communities. Many people have been killed and maimed under his watch which is gradually precipitating a political crisis.
Avengers threaten missile launch to hit selected targets thus bringing about the seeming escape from the country of Nigeria’s Chief Representative to the world under the guise of seeking medical attention overseas thus leaving behind a pauperized citizenry with pangs of hunger staring ominously in the face amid missile launch threat that now hangs over their heads like the ancient sword of Damocles.
Oh, what a country! I ask the directionless and visionless Nigerian Pharoah yet again, whither are we bound?

US Government 

Releases Gory Report 

on Nigeria : Accuses 

Nigerian Army And 

Police Of Extra-

Judicial Killings

United States has released yet another gory and nauseating detailed report on Nigeria, accusing the government at all levels of injustice, brutality and inflicting pain on poor Nigerians.The report, which was released by the United States Department of States, accused the Nigerian police, DSS and the military of gross abuse of power which include citizens brutality, arbitrary detention, bribery among other scandals.

It also revealed that 69 percent of persons in prison across the country are awaiting trial – blaming the situation on lack of judicial capacity and corruption. While explaining that the insurgency in the Northeast has rendered many hopeless, US accused the Boko haram militants of committing pogrom in which more than 20,000 people have been killed and maimed with permanent injury.

“The most serious human rights abuses included those committed by Boko Haram, which conducted numerous attacks on government and civilian targets that resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries, widespread destruction, the internal displacement of an estimated 1.8 million persons, and the external displacement of 220,000 Nigerian refugees to neighboring countries”, the report said.

It pointed out that in response to Boko Haram violent attacks, and at times to crime and insecurity in general, “security services perpetrated extrajudicial killings, and engaged in torture, rape, arbitrary detention, mistreatment of detainees, and destruction of property”.“The country also suffered from widespread societal unrest, including ethnic, regional, and religious violence.

Other serious human rights problems included vigilante killings; prolonged pretrial detention, often in facilities with poor conditions; denial of fair public trial; executive influence on the judiciary; infringement on citizens’ privacy rights; and restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and movement. There were reports during the year of official corruption; violence against women and children, including female genital mutilation/cutting; infanticide; sexual exploitation of children; trafficking in persons; early and forced marriages; discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; discrimination based on ethnicity, regional origin, religion, and disability; forced and bonded labor; and child labour”.

The report pointed out that impunity remained widespread at all levels of government; saying “although President Buhari’s administration began initial steps to curb corruption, authorities did not investigate or punish the majority of cases of police or military abuse”.“Boko Haram perpetrated numerous attacks, often directly targeting civilians.

The group, which recruited and forcefully conscripted child soldiers, carried out bombings–including suicide bombings–and attacks on population centers in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kano, Plateau, and Yobe States. In some cases, the group employed women and children as suicide bombers. The government investigated these attacks but prosecuted only a few members of Boko.