HURIWA demands probe of alleged secret burial of 105 soldiers

A non-governmental organisation, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has called for a transparent investigation of the widespread allegations of secret burial, by the military authority, of over 105 soldiers reportedly killed last week during an ambush by the armed Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State, North-East of Nigeria.

In a statement signed jointly by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf,  the group demanded a transparent and accountable investigation of the entire scenario; and for the Federal Government to give Nigerians a situation report of the current counter-terrorism war, including clear, unambiguous and verifiable evidence on the number of casualties, as a way of honouring  the heroes who have been killed while defending the territorial integrity of our fatherland.  

HURIWA said constitutional democracy thrives on freedom of information, and the active participation of all citizens in some ways in the administration of the country and stated that the alleged secret burial of such a huge number of soldiers, allegedly slaughtered on the line of national duty, must not be swept under the carpet as that would amount to disrespecting the dead.  “It would constitute grave disservice to Nigeria,” said the group, recalling that bodies of about 105 soldiers killed by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State have been reported to have been secretly buried by the Nigerian Army at the military cemetery in Maiduguri last week; and that the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari and the failure of the National Assembly to investigate these allegations were troubling and strange.

HURIWA quoted some online and print reports as saying that the decomposed bodies of the men who were killed in an encounter with the terrorists penultimate week’s Wednesday were brought to Maiduguri last Monday evening in body bags, and were confirmed by the Brigade Commander, Army Engineering Corps.

HURIWA recalled: “The military, in an attempt to cover up the development,” according to reporters, “has denied that any soldier was missing, and described an exclusive story published last Thursday by Premium Times as “a fabrication from the imagination of those sympathetic to Boko Haram ways of life.”

Military spokesman, Colonel Tukur Ismail Gusau, was said to have admitted that insurgents attacked the location of 157 Battalion last Wednesday, “but they were subsequently repelled by the gallant troops of the unit,” adding: “The unit’s commanding officer remained in contact with his Brigade Commander.”

However, the rights group said the United Nations Organisation  (UNO),  African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); credible international and national civil society groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria (NHRC) and respected Nigeria-based, etc, should be constituted into a panel of investigators, which must include the Red Cross/Red Crescent Society, faith-based organisations, and representatives of the Nigerian military to investigate the veracity or otherwise of the claims and counter-claims regarding the fate of the 105 soldiers that went missing and were reported widely to have been buried, after the decomposed remains were allegedly found by Nigerian military hierarchy.

It noted: “This allegation, if proven, could mean that those responsible for this show of shame should be prosecuted for perjury since the military chiefs swore to an oath of office: to be truthful, and bear true allegiance to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the supreme law recognise the people of Nigeria as the owners of the sovereignty of Nigeria from where authority and legitimacy are donated to those holding public offices in trust for Nigerians.

“The Federal Government must come clean on this allegation and, indeed, Nigeria should erect national monuments where the names of all the soldiers and innocent Nigerians slaughtered by Boko Haram terrorists in the last three years of vicious circles of deadly terrorism are inscribed and a day of national honour set aside as a national memorial for these gallant and very courageous Nigerians who have suffered and paid the ultimate prize for fatherland.

“If, indeed, 105 soldiers were killed and secretly buried, then those officials who made this decision must be prosecuted for duping Nigerians and for concealing vital information from the good people of Nigeria who are the real owners of our sovereignty.”

•Photo shows Chief of Army Staff, Gen. TY Buratai.

Opinion: Enugu Children Can Now Rejoice

By Emmanuel Onwubiko (GVE) – In 2003 the Nigerian legislators whose global reputation  was then very  notorious for being some of the most overpaid political office holders Worldwide did the unthinkable -they passed a national law that guarantees the human rights of Children.

Enugu school children saying prayers at school assembly

Few months after this international feat was achieved, the Yerima Bakwura who proceeded to be elected Senator after serving two terms as Zamfara State governor made nonsense of this law when he defied logic and good reasoning and in clear breach of the law just passed by the National Assembly reportedly imported a teenage bride from Egypt and went into marriage in Abuja even when the Child Rights Act forbids marriage to such an underage. The bride was speculated to be between 13 or 15 years. Sani Yerima was never charged to court for this breach thus rubbishing the institution such as NAPTIP set up to enforce the provisions of this law that relates to Child marriage. The then Federal Attorney General was accused of aiding and abetting the violation of the Child Rights law for some unknown reasons. Senator Sani Yerima’s alleged breach of this law coupled with some wrong insinuations about the law by some overzealous religious extremists created some hiccups for the smooth passage of the Child Rights Act of 2003. The failure of the office of Federal Attorney General and that of the anti human trafficking agency known as NAPTIP to wage enlightenment programme on the merits of this model law did not motivate some conservative people in some state to support the domestication of the Child Rights Act.

Sadly this good piece of legislation still needed to be domesticated by the 36 States that constitute the Federation of Nigeria. ThisCHILD RIGHTS ACT specifically protects Children from such bad practices like early child marriage but female genital mutilation wasn’t included as a strategic component of this law. This is one lacuna that makes it imperfect but all in all the version passed in 2003 as Child Rights Act can be rated as one of the best things to happen to the Nigerian Children.

Asked to give her opinion on the state of Child Rights in Nigeria, a Child and Gender Rights campaigner and Lawyer Sylvia Nneka Okonkwo (Miss) stated as follow: “although children all over the world are seen as the leaders of tomorrow, they are yet to be accorded the relevant and necessary attention they deserve“.

She continued: “Millions of them across the world suffer, treated with reckless abandon and impunity, or sold into child slavery.”

But all these scenarios are about to change at least for the millions of Children in Enugu State going by the recent information that the Wife of the State Governor Mrs. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has intensified advocacy and lobby for the State Assembly to pass a broader and more comprehensive version of the Child Rights Act sooner than expected. The news that Enugu hasn’t passed this law since 2003 is pathetic but it’s better late than never.

It seems the Enugu State administration has come to deliver only the best and qualitative version of Child Rights Act which may in some ways provide a guide for the eventual better and further amendments of certain provisions that are lacking in substance in the national version of the Child Rights Act which was passed into Law in 2003 in Abuja.

Understandably, Enugu is the spiritual and regional capital of the Igbo speaking nationality that make up the South East of Nigeria so I guess that the Wife of the Enugu State governor has realized that only the best version of the Child Rights Act is good for that beautiful coal city state.

Broadly speaking, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) outlines the human rights to be respected and protected for every child under 18years and requires that these rights be implemented.

Against this background, a draft of the Child Rights Bill aimed at principally enacting into Law in Nigeria and principles enshrined in the conventions on the Rights of the child commenced in Ernest.

It was after about 10 years with several Heads of Government and heated debates by the parliamentarians that the bill was eventually passed into Law by the National Assembly on July 2003, assented by the President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on September 2003.

The African Union Charter on Rights and welfare of a Child (1990) as well as the Nigerian Child Rights Act 2003 serve as a ground- breaking legal instruments that have been enacted, serve as veritable legislative foundation for a more secured society and improved welfare conditions for the Nigerian Child. These are the precise assessment given by legal scholars in several scholarly opinions expressed which are in substantial correspondence with the views of Human rights Writers association of Nigeria which also has the thematic mandate of defending child rights in all ramifications.

Both legislations adequately crafted and duly signed into Law at respective levels of governance that is both African-wide or the continental and national levels hold a very high level of promise for the entire children’s populace in the country when duly implemented, according to the views of those who are conversant with the tenets and principles of the guaranteed rights of Children worldwide.

Specific areas addressed by the Act as ways of improving living conditions of the Nigerian Child includes outright banning of child marriage and betrothal, exploitative labor, and all other forms of child exploitation as well as improved health care provision for the children. These provisions are however flagrantly violated by persons with opaque religious theories that are so medieval and primitive.

The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) protested the attempt of the Nigerian State to impose the Child Rights Act passed by the National Assembly in 2003, on state assemblies.

According to a known Northern daily on August 22nd, 2005, the SCSN was reported to be opposed to “any law that seeks equality of rights to male and female children, which ousts the jurisdiction of Shari’ah courts on all matters affecting children, is unacceptable to Muslims”. But I asked are these people living in primitive times that they think male and female children created by one God should not enjoy the same universal rights?

At the state level, there are already 24 states of the federation that have domesticated this Act,(Abia,Akwa Ibom,Anambra,Benue,Cross River, Delta,Edo,Ekiti,Imo,Jigawa,kwara,kogi,Lagos, Nassarawa,Ogun,Ondo,Osun,Oyo,Plateau, Rivers and Taraba.)

However there is still hardly any state in the federation today that numerous abuses and violations of domesticated laws are not seen, according to observations by the gender and child rights activist Miss Sylvia Okonkwo.

The implication of this passage ordinarily would mean that children are well protected and a breach of such acts attracts a punishment to the offender, even in those states where the bill has been passed, to what extent are the Child Rights protected and enforced? This is a million dollar question.

Millions of Nigerian Children lack the services of good health care and Good Health has become increasingly elusive.

Child labor is rampant in many States of the Nigerian Federation from East to West and to North. There’s no State where Children are not used to hawk wares and foodstuffs during school hours. In Northern Nigeria prior to the establishment by the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan administration of almajiri schools there were an estimated 10 million Children out of school.

In Akwa Ibom, even where the Child Rights Act has been passed by the state Assembly, children are still branded witches and wizards and beaten and starved. In virtually all of these states, there exists a record of one instance of child abuse or the other.

A UNICEF Communication Officer(Media and External Relations) Mr. Geoffrey Njoku,said most states that have assented to Child Rights  Law appear reluctant to enforce it because they believe that “it would make children grow wild, and this is not true, “he added.

The same misconception probably is the root of reluctance to pass the Bill by states like,Adamawa,Bauchi,Borno,Enugu,Gombe,Kaduna, Kano,Katsina,kebbi,Niger,Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara. But the current Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi led Enugu State government has started the process of passing this law and the First lady of Enugu State is the amazon championing this advocacy process.

A way to provide advocacy support for the Enugu State administration so the Child Rights law is domesticated is to call on the National Leaders, Presidency, Legislative, and Judiciary along with all stakeholders to increase their engagement on issues pertaining to welfare of children to brace up their activities in ensuring that no child of school age is left out of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme. The National Human Rights Commission must wake up and fulfill her national mandate by rapidly joining the Wife of Enugu State governor to ensure a smooth domestication of this good law.

Where there are existing gaps in the established implementing institutions or bodies of such legislation, adequate departments or agencies should be set up that can sufficiently address and redress the numerous plights and challenges of the Nigerian Child, so opined experts. I think that the Wife of the President Mrs. Aisha Buhari should be supported in her publicly pronounced zeal to fight to stop early marriage and by so doing popularize the enforcement of the Child Rights Act.

Advocacy is widely accepted as the only way out, awareness campaign on content of Child Rights Act, with proper understanding of the Act should be activated by credible civil society groups and Non Governmental organizations and the Wife of the President should support this move.

THE wife of the Enugu State Governor, Mrs. Monica Ugwuanyi has disclosed her commitment to the domestication of the Child Rights act in the state as passed into law by the Federal Government in 2003. Mrs. Ugwuanyi noted that she would collaborate with the State Ministry of Gender Affairs to fast track the domestication of the said law to alleviate problems of children in the state.

This good steps should be broadly supported. Faith based and community based groups should provide support for the smooth domestication of this Child Rights Act in Enugu State.

*Emmanuel Onwubiko is Head of Human rights Writers association of Nigeria and blogs @www.huriwa.blogspot.com, www.rightsassociationngr.com, www.huriwa.org.

My book WHO CARES ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS? hits Australia

My book WHO CARES ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS? hits Australia. .. Dr Fleay: An International scholar with Centre for human rights education Curtin University Australia receives a copy of the book.

Poor condition of the Uga/Anambra/Arondizuogu /Okigwe Imo State Federal High Way

As at Yesterday this was the Uga/Anambra/Arondizuogu /Okigwe Imo State Federal High Way...this is no doubt a shame of a nation which must be redressed immediately - photos are courtesy of Arondizuogu Heritage Foundation :

More images of the  Uga/Anambra/Arondizuogu /Okigwe Imo State Federal High Way

Resurgence of Biafra and SOUTH EAST's INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIT

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

The South East geopolitical zone made up of about five States namely Imo, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi and Abia States is the heartland of the Igbo speaking nationality. This zone can boast of producing some of the finest intellectuals and top flight technocrats spread all over the world who are vastly respected in their diverse fields of calling.

The zone produces arguably the highest percentage of undergraduate university applicants which goes to show the elevated scale in which learning and intellectualism has reacted among the people of these vast geopolitical area.

But one thing the South East geopolitical area lacks is the needed and necessary federal presence and the strategic infrastructure that would enable the people to harness their natural and human resources to achieve collective economic growth and advancement of the area.

Any wonder then that the South East of Nigeria is boiling with civil unrest by concerned youth demanding fundamental redress of these systemic imbalances in the body politics?  Youth under the aegis of the Indigenous People of Biafra  (IPOB) have protested on the streets of major South East states and even as far as Abuja; Port Harcourt in Rivers State and Asaba in Delta State including parts of Warri to demand the release of Mr Nnamdi Kanu the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Director of the Europe Based Radio Biafra who has been under detention with the Department of State Service even against two express orders of the competent court of law granting him bail. Nnamdi Kanu and his supporters are also unhappy with how the Nigerian State has marginalised the South East of Nigeria in the redistribution of national wealth. 

Last week, I embarked on a two day scientific study of the current state of infrastructure in the South East with visits to Enugu, Onitsha, Okigwe and Aba with whistle stops at Owerri and Umuahia and without mincing words I can state categorically that South Eastern Nigeria suffers from monumental deficit of infrastructure far worse than what obtains in the other geopolitical zones which I have had the privileged to have lived and worked for years.

Apart from poor road infrastructure affecting virtually the entire federal states and local government owned and maintained roads, there is the more serious problem of erosion which poses greater environmental threats to several communities including the home town of Nigeria’s second Republic vice President DR. Alex Ekwueme (Oko, Orumba North Local government in old Aguata, Anambra State).

Deadly gullies of huge proportions have enveloped other communities such as Uturu and Isukwuato all in Abia State. The question on the lips of most people interviewed is why the infrastructure in the South East have been allowed to deteriorate to this sorry state and people are asking whether the South East has political leadership that is charismatic, patriotic, selfless, nationalistic and corruption-free that can speak the mind of the South East and attract equitable federal development to the zone.

Interacting with people in the rural communities visited last week, came out with the impression that the people of the South East are totally disappointed with the political leaders from the zone who have consistently betrayed the collective aspirations of the people for their selfish pecuniary goals.

Not long ago the Vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo visited parts of South East of Nigeria and lamented the poor state of infrastructures even as he promised that the Nigerian State would redress these imbalances but shortly after this pontification and shedding of crocodile tears by the Vice president this same Government has passed on contradictory directives on the implementation and completion of the second River Niger Bridge.  There's a wide ranging fear that the 2019 completion period for that very strategic project may not be met and indeed critical minded observers have asked questions regarding the propriety of building the second Niger Bridge at the prohibitive high cost and to thereafter tax the road users to pay levies for using the Bridge in what is seen as the first in Nigeria whereby citizens are extremely taxed to build public infrastructures.  This marginalisation must stop.

        

* Emmanuel Onwubiko, Head, HUMAN Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria blogs @www.huriwa.blogspot.com.      

BOY, 3, ABDUCTED WHILE PLAYING WITH PEERS

A three-year-old boy, Master Olarenwaju Obazua, has been abducted from his father’s compound while playing with other children. Olarenwaju was abducted by about 6:30 pm on November 21 at No. 5, John Ladipo Street, Ajegunle in Apapa area of Lagos State. The victim’s mother, Mrs Maria Obazua, said the family had been facing emotional distress since the only son among three siblings was kidnapped.

She said: “It was around 6:30 pm on Saturday, Olarenwaju was playing with other children in front of our compound.

After a while, I went to check him but he was nowhere to be found, that was how we started looking for him since that day.” The mother of three said the family had not received any call from the abductors since then.

She added: “His father has reported the case at the police station at Trinity and Area ‘B’ Command, Apapa. We have placed his pictures at different police stations, seeking information concerning his whereabouts, but till today we have had no response.” One of the neighbours, who identified herself as Nkechi, recounted the ordeal of the victims’ parents.

She said: “If the abductors had contacted the parents, we would have known what they wanted. Nobody has been contacted. The kidnappers should consider the plight of the child and the emotional trauma the family has been going through and set him free.” Olarenwaju was said to be a pupil at Pricilla Nursery and Primary School, Ajegunle.

When contacted on the phone, state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Joseph Offor, said he would find out. Offor later said the DPO in charge of Ajegunle said the matter was not reported.

www.newtelegraphonline.com

AS NIGERIA OUTSOURCES MEDIA PUBLICATION

By Emmanuel Onwubiko                     

The emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29th 2015 as the newly inaugurated President for the next four years was significant in a few ways that merits a quick highlight herein. First, President Muhammadu Buhari came with a new political cliche of change mantra. Secondly, Nigerians were told that within the framework of this change mantra that government business won't be done in the business as usual fashion and that transparency and accountability would be the watchwords.

Anyway, few public debates that preceded the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to partially make good his resolve to publicly publish his assets declaration go to show that achieving fundamental change of mindset amongst political office holders in Nigeria is never going to be a tea party. Vociferous members of the organized civil society community persistently shouted from the rooftops practically before President Muhammadu Buhari accepted to release in piecemeal the assets declarations he and his Vice filed before the Code of Conduct Bureau. The current administration is again in the public eyes for disclosing partially a rash decision devoid of transparency to hire some foreign media workers to churn out a publication that would strictly be a public relations gambits on the Nigerian economy even when from abundance of empirical evidence Nigeria is blessed with good enough Media experts and consultants that can as well implement this undertaken if hired. More so the current Nigerian Government in doing this outsourcing didn't to the best of my knowledge advertise and invited public bidding for this job which from every indications will cost the country a huge chunk of cash going by the job specifications highlighted in the published story which emanated from the signing of memorandum event that happened in the Presidency few days back.               

 Specifically, in the public relations statement issued by the Presidential Adviser on Media and Publicity and published extensively by a national paper, Nigerians were told that a leading research firm (how and who rated the firm is opaque) and publisher of yearly economic resources on national economies, The Business Year (TBY), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Presidency of Nigeria.

In the MoU, signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, on behalf of the government, agreed that:

• The Presidency of the Republic of Nigeria will be designated the official partner of TBY for production of The Business Year: Nigeria 2016.

• The Presidency and the TBY team will work in partnership to produce a comprehensive new edition – TBY’s second publication on Nigeria’s economy.

• With the Presidency’s support and guidance, TBY will examine all major sectors of the economy as well as present the goals and ambitions of President Buhari’s new administration.

• The Business Year: Nigeria 2016 will examine all of the major sectors of the economy through interviews with business leaders and the captains of industry that are powering economic growth and diversification. TBY will survey the energy sector and highlight companies that have dynamically adapted to low oil prices. Special attention will be paid to the telecommunications sector, whose tech-based solutions are driving Nigeria’s ambition for greater transparency.

• As well as highlighting landmark projects, TBY will investigate the investment climate within Africa’s largest economy and provide useful information about the country’s legal and tax structures. The Business Year: Nigeria 2016 will be presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, giving a global platform from where to outline the multitude of opportunities developing in Africa’s largest economy.

• With more than 150 exclusive interviews, The Business Year: Nigeria 2016 will be the most comprehensive publication of its kind on the Nigerian economy and an invaluable tool for investors seeking opportunities in the region. TBY’s interviewees, readers, and partners comprise an international network of thought-leaders helping to define the future of the global economy. In addition to widely circulated digital versions available on iPad, iPhone, and Android applications. Physical copies reach over 97,700 subscribers worldwide.

*Emmanuel Onwubiko is Head of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria and blogs @www.huriwa.blogspot.com; www.rightsassociationngr.com, www.huriwa.org.