Our quit notice to northerners, Yoruba stands – Niger Delta militants

​The Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators has said that despite the volte-face by the Arewa youths on the quit notice to the Igbo in the North, it will stand on its position that the northerners and the Yoruba in the oil-rich region must leave before October 1, 2017.

The militants, who spoke through an electronic mail made available to our correspondent on Sunday, rejected the call for the arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

They maintained that call for Kanu’s arrest was used to replace the withdrawal of the quit notice earlier issued to Igbo people living in the North, adding the government and security agencies headed by northerners ignited the quit notice fire.

John Duku of the Niger Delta Watchdogs and Convener of the Coalition; Ekpo Ekpo of the Niger Delta Volunteers; Osarolor Nedam of Niger Delta Warriors; and Henry Okon Etete of the Niger Delta Peoples Fighters were among those who signed the statement.

Others are Asukwo Henshaw of the Bakassi Freedom Fighters; Ibinabo Horsfall of the Niger Delta Movement for Justice; Duke Emmanson of Niger Delta Fighters Network; Inibeghe Adams of Niger Delta Freedom Mandate and Ibinabo Tariah of the Niger Delta Development Network.

Part of the statement by the agitators read, “It is our avowed determination to ensure that the Niger Delta remains focussed on our demands for a total overhaul of the basis of our unity. We have therefore resolved to stand by our previous demands as follows:

“That the northerners and Yoruba should leave the Niger Delta before October 1, 2017; return of all the oil blocs own by northerners and Yoruba to Niger Delta people. Relocation of the oil and gas companies headquarters to their operational base as well as relocation of NNPC headquarters, all other offices that has to do with oil and gas; replacement of the Group Managing Director of NNPC.

“We reaffirm our resolve for the declaration of the Niger Delta Republic on 1st October, 2017. We reaffirm our resolve to resume attack on all the oil blocs that are owned by the northerners and Yoruba in the Niger Delta from September 10, 2017.

“We hereby call on PENGASSAN, NUPENG and international communities to withdraw their members/expatriates from such oil wells/blocs as we shall not spare any person found in such platforms, including NNPC offices in Abuja and Lagos, oil companies’ headquarters outside the Niger Delta region.”

Biafra: Nnamdi Kanu dares Buhari, says “anyone who tries to arrest me will die”

The Leader of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has warned that anyone who tries to arrest him will die.

Kanu stated this in reaction to the call of the federal government, that his bail should be revoked.

He was granted bail on April 25, but the IPOB head has flouted all the bail conditions, prompting the calls for his arrest.

Speaking on Sunday at Boys Technical College (BTC) in Aba, Abia state, Kanu paid tribute to those reportedly killed at National High School by security agencies.

“Where we are, is Biafra Land. Aba is the spiritual capital of Biafra land. We started in Aba in 2015 at CKC (Christ the King Catholic Cathedral),” Kanu said.

“That day, heaven authenticated our move that IPOB will restore Biafra and that’s what we’ve come to do. We died in Aba; at National High School.

“They shot and killed us in other places in Biafra land when they were protesting for my release. As our people rest in the grave, we’ll never rest until Biafra is restored. I don’t care what they say in Abuja. I don’t give a damn what they say in Lagos.

“I’m a Biafran and we are going to crumble the zoo. Some idiots who are not educated said that they’ll arrest me, and I ask them to come. I’m in Biafra land. If any of them leaves Biafra land alive know that this is not IPOB. Tell them that’s what I said.

“Tell Buhari that I’m in Aba and any person who comes to arrest Nnamdi Kanu in Biafra land will die here. I’ll never go on exile I assure you.

“Some people talk about restructuring, are we doing restructuring of Nigeria now? Are we doing fiscal federalism? Are we doing devolution? What we want is Biafra!

“Forget all the nonsense they write about us. We are not slowing down and no man born of a woman can stop us.

“They thought we are joking and God gave us a simple message that no one can stop us. The movement to restore Biafra is unstoppable.

“The message of heaven is what I bring to you. Don’t be afraid. The plans of our enemies are not going to be actualized. The enemies are planning, but we are formidable.

“We are going to boycott Anambra state election. After Anambra 2017, in 2019, there’ll be no elections in Biafra land. Signed and sealed. My message is that there’ll not be election in Biafra land ever again until they give us date for referendum.”

Biafrexit: Implications of US Law Suits Against Nigeria’s Gen. Buratai, Others

A landmark civil damages and human rights lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against sixteen Nigerian officials for their direct or indirect complicity and in the extrajudicial killings or torture of Igbos who were protesting marginalization based on their ethnicity, political viewpoint or religion. The Igbos organized themselves as the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), which is as nonviolent as, if not as symbolic as – for instance – the ‘agitation’ for Republic of Texas, or of California in USA; and even Scotland that its own Premier is the one leading the charge for a referendum of autonomy from Britain. In all these cases, the agitators are not being shot at, tortured or killed by the army and police.

I determined from my inquiries that service of the summons and complaint, as well as the initial orders has been accomplished by certified international courier on all defendants. They are currently in default for failure to file a response within 21 days of service as stipulated in pertinent United States federal rules of civil procedure. The lead defendant is Nigeria’s army chief, General Tukur Buratai.

The claims of the plaintiffs are grounded under two muscular United States’ statutes – the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA or ATS – the Alien Tort Statute); and the Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Both laws have extraterritorial reach, meaning that they allow US federal courts to assert long-arm jurisdiction that extends beyond the borders of United States.

Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) provides that ‘the district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort (or civil wrong) committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States’. Since 1980, courts have interpreted this statute to allow foreign citizens to seek remedies in US courts for human rights violations for conduct committed outside the United States.

Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 is a statute that permits civil suits in the United States against foreign individuals who – acting in an official capacity for any foreign nation – committed torture and/or extrajudicial killing.

Both laws, especially the TVPA endow individuals or their legal representatives to sue foreign individuals, including officials, to collect damages for extrajudicial killings or torture committed “under color of foreign law.”

In the instant case, the plaintiffs already won first round as the United States District Court has granted them leave to file anonymously as “John Does” after making a ruling that they have a well-founded fear of retribution/persecution by the government of Nigeria or its agents or officials if their identities were disclosed. Violence against Igbos by individuals in the military/police and directed and encouraged by their superiors is notorious and well-known to the international community.

The defendants would be foolhardy to believe this lawsuit will be difficult to win in the United States or stultify and drag on as might have been expected if filed in Nigeria. Judicial independence and the rule of law, as well as speedy trials are the hallmarks of United States jurisprudence. There are legions of US judicial precedents pointing to the high likelihood of a summary judgment for the plaintiffs.

Defendants will have no defense of official immunity because they are being sued in their individual capacities and as officials who purportedly ‘acted under color of law’. They are not sovereigns or diplomats. Further, extrajudicial killings or torture are crimes against humanity. Upon the prompting of the aggrieved, US courts will task any foreign government officials that perpetrate atrocities of the kind visited on the Igbos of Nigeria. It’s not a secret that Nigerian officials had, in the past, engaged in misconducts that resulted in monetary judgments against them – in the millions of dollars – in the United States. This case appears bound for the same predictable result, unless handled differently from the inexplicable bravado and laches that doomed Nigeria in the previous suits preferred against its officials in the United States.

The factual case against the defendants is convincing. All Nigerians know of the widespread beatings and slaughter of Igbos by elements of Nigerian security forces for merely and peacefully exercising their fundamental human right to protest marginalization and urge a new political dispensation. Indeed, beyond Nigeria, Amnesty International and other credible foreign sources have confirmed those killings and torture; and to be sure – their reports will be deemed probative and admissible under standards of evidence long established in US federal courts in cases of this nature. Plus, plaintiffs are all on standby in the United States to air their tearful testimonies in open court. It even makes it worse that the Nigerian army is reported to be denying and covering up an atrocity that was so open and notorious.

It doesn’t make it any better that the Nigerian government – so far – appears to have condoned the wanton killings by failing to publicly discipline the officers that pulled the trigger or the commanders that gave the order. It’s even worse that President Buhari, upon his return from vacation, reportedly ordered his troops to renew their crackdown on Igbo protesters. That VP Osibanjo gave no such orders when Buhari was away is noticeably demonstrative of the widespread notion that Buhari – a Fulani core Muslim – has profiled the Christian Igbos for persecution because of their ethnicity, their love of freedom, and the perception that they did not vote for him in the 2015 election that saw him to power.

At present, the savage mentality that is directed against Igbos in Nigeria of this era is widespread and underscored by the notorious threat to expel or destroy millions of Igbos and seize their properties in the Muslim northern states of Nigeria if they refused to surrender their right to reside and work peacefully in that part of the country. And the federal, state, and local governments appear as spectators to the looming genocide – a spectacle that is not lost on a wary international community; and which might as yet make Nigeria a ‘state actor’ in the ultimate fallouts. Such fallouts will surely raise the specter of an International Criminal Court intervention that may engulf the present crop of Nigerian leadership at the very top.

The Nigerian defendants are mistaken if they believe they can defend from the safe confines of Nigeria. If the case goes to trial, they will be required – under penalty of default or even contempt – to appear in a United States court to testify under oath and dangerously probing cross-examination that will dwell on the details of the Igbo killings and the complicity of other unnamed Nigerian officials, which shall include whether they received their orders from the presidential levels of security leadership to use lethal force on unarmed protesters. This evidence could be used in a sequel criminal prosecution before the International Criminal Court or a special court of the likes employed in the prosecution and conviction of Chad’s former dictator, Hissene Habre in Senegal. The State governors – of Abia and Anambra – where these killings largely occurred will also be ensnared by virtue of being the ‘chief security officers’ of their States. Those two governors are also listed as defendants.

If the defendants refuse to appear, default judgments will be entered against them, in addition to the prospects of undefended huge damage awards that will run in the millions of dollars. The ultimate loser – diplomatically and financially – will be the Nigerian and State governments that presumably control the officials who acted under color of state law when the Igbo killings occurred. In the end, it may snowball to the government of Nigeria being listed as a state sponsor of terrorism in the same manner as was done with Sudan, etc. In the interim and despite the continuing menace of Boko Haram, the United Nations Security Council (or the US – under the Leahy Act) could vote an arms embargo on Nigeria to prevent the diversion of military weapons that could be geared to perpetrating more official violence against the Igbo people.

Christian lobby groups in the United States were largely responsible for making Sudan a pariah state, which culminated in the creation of South Sudan through a referendum organized and supervised by the United Nations. Like Nigeria, Sudan also fancied itself indissoluble just because its Constitution said so. That same political dynamic will be at work against Nigeria if the TVPA/ATCA litigation is not resolved amicably before Nigeria’s dirty linen is exposed at trial in an open United States courtroom for the entire world to see.

Better yet, there’s a third way – a time honored window of opportunity the defendants can exploit to end the case early and avoid the severe rigors of a foreign trial. US trial lawyers and the courts within which they operate are known to have a proclivity for encouraging any alternative dispute resolution path that brings closure through a pre-trial fair settlement of suits. Though this suit has progressed to a point of some disadvantage to the defendants, it’s not too late for them to begin now to seek out plaintiffs’ lawyers and start talking to them.

Quit Notice: Rights Group considers genocide threat for ICC

A Human Rights group, Streetlaw Africa Incorporated, has threatened to drag the federal government, its officials and leaders of Arewa youths to the International Criminal Court, ICC, at Hague, Holland, if the federal High court in Abuja fail to attend to two suits it filed against the government and persons on the threat of genocide to Ndigbo residing in parts of northern Nigeria.

The group said it has perceived attempts by the Nigerian courts to evade prosecutions of the respondents, noting that the treat is real and orchestrated plot to repeat the genocide the northerners executed on the people of Eastern Nigeria from 1966 to 1970 when the civil war ended.

It went further to recount that even after the civil war ended in Nigeria, the northerners continued genocides on Easterners in different dimensions such as in the 2011 general election when Igbos were massacred for no just cause.

It therefore noted that it would be even more suicidal for the Igbo race to keep quiet until they are slaughtered in droves again in Nigeria.

In a world press statement in Enugu, yesterday, the Director of Streetlaw Africa Incorporated, Mr. Egechukwu Obetta, recalled that he had on July 11 2017filed three suits at the Abuja Federal High Court, FHC, and ECOWAS Court, respectively, on behalf of all Indigenes of the South East Zone of Nigeria resident in the Northern parts of Nigeria.

The three suits, according to Obetta sought for a Motion for an Order of Mandamus of the FHC, compelling the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to arrest and prosecute within 7 days, all such Persons led by one AlhajiYerima Shettima under the aegis of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, who on June 6 2017, issued a treasonable notice to Ndigbo in the North, to vacate the region before the October 1, 2017.

The suit also seeks for a Fundamental Rights Enforcement against Alhaji Yerima Shettima, the IGP and the Federal Government of Nigeria, to enforce the Fundamental Rights of Ndigbo in the North, to move freely throughout Nigeria, and to reside in any part thereof, as guaranteed them under Section 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

Obetta disclosed that the same Fundamental Rights Enforcement Suit was filed at the ECOWAS court.

The Human Rights lawyer said: “I hereby put the above Respondents on Notice that if it pleases the honourable Court to grant the above Mandamus Order as prayed, and the IGP fails and neglects to comply with such Order of Mandamus of the FHC within the timeline thereon specified, I would have no other choice than to proceed to the International Criminal Court, ICC, in the Hague, Holland, to press Criminal Charges against them, of aiding and abetting a second Genocide against the Ndigbo in the North, the first Genocide having taken place in 1966 with no one held to account in that regard, till date.

“My Criminal Suit for such second Genocide against Ndigbo in the North, will be filed against Alhaji YerimaShettima; The IGP; The Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, as the Chief Law Officer of Nigeria; Prof Ango Abdullahi and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as the Acting President of Nigeria when the June 6 2017 threat of a second Genocide against Ndigbo in the North, was issued.

“The IGP, AGF and Prof Yem iOsinbajo would be charged before the ICC as above stated, for looking the other way, and deliberately failing/neglecting to arrest and prosecute Prof Ango Abdullahi, Alh. Yerima Shettima and his group since the June 6 2017 when this despicable threat was issued against Ndigbo in the North; and thereby aiding, abetting, condoning and encouraging a second genocide against Ndigbo in the North.”

Obetta said that should it become necessary to proceed to the ICC due to a refusal by the IGP to promptly comply with the Order of Mandamus, nothing will stop his group from revisiting and pressing Charges at the said ICC, against all the Ringleaders of the 1966 Genocide against Ndigbo in the North.

He said: “It has just been announced with cynical fanfare, that the above AYCF has ‘suspended’ its ‘Quit Notice’ against Ndigbo in the North. I hereby wish to make it categorically clear that this so-called suspension of the Quit Notice cannot in law, extinguish the grave offence committed by Alhaji Yerima and his Group against Ndigbo in the North, on June 6 2017. Alh. Yerima must be arrested and prosecuted alongside other Ring-Leaders of the AYCF, for their treasonable threat against Ndigbo, to quit the North before October 1 2017. Nothing short of such Arrest and Prosecution will suffice to settle the 3 Suits, as filed.

“It is no longer News that the cynical silence and manifest bias of the FGN and its Agencies since the June 6 2017 when the Treasonable Threat against Ndigbo was issued, has encouraged and opened a floodgate of ‘Hate Speeches and Songs’ currently awash on the Internet.

“Ndigbo in the North and indeed all over Nigeria, have been the butt/victims of cynicism, oppression, repression and Extreme Marginalization since the end of the Civil War on January 151970. Ndigbo in the North have ever since, been serially and severally attacked and massacred at the slightest pretext, by Northern Elements such as the Alh. Shettima’s AYCF.

“Irrespective of all above atrocities daily committed against Ndigbo in Nigeria, the latter have remained calm and focused on their businesses and enterprises, which have contributed in no small measure to the economic and social development of Nigeria; all what they get in return is daily oppression, repression, extreme marginalization and sometimes outright massacre in the hands of misguided elements in the North.

“Worse still, the FGN which Constitutional Duty it is to safeguard the lives and property of Ndigbo throughout the Federation, has consistently looked the other way in the face of all above atrocities, thereby aiding, abetting, condoning and encouraging same.

“The 1966 Massacre of Igbos in the North, was not only condoned, but was celebrated by the eminent Northerners who indeed gloated openly, over the gruesome event.

“The 1966 Genocide against Igbos in the North, has since the end of Civil War, been swept under the carpet to the extent that it has been banned by the FGN, from being mentioned in history lessons in all Nigerian Schools. Furthermore, it is not even allowed to be mentioned in public and any such mention otherwise, is regarded by the Nigerian State, as Treason.

“Since 2015 when the incumbent FGN came to power, the cries and agitations of Ndigbo against above repression and marginalization have been equated to treason against the State, to the extent that unarmed and defenseless civilians have been severally shot at and killed by Soldiers of the Nigerian Army especially at Onitsha, Anambra State.

“A recent Report issued by Amnesty International says that not less than 150 such unarmed and defenseless civilians have been shot at and killed by Soldiers of the Nigerian Army especially at Onitsha, since 2015.

“It is extremely distressing that coming out of all the recent discourse across the Federation, (which Discourse has been ignited by the ongoing Agitations by Ndigbo), Prof YemiOsinbajo and all other eminent/elder Statesmen have obscenely remarked that in as much as Alh.Yerima Shettima’s quit notice to Ndigbo in the North is condemnable, the ongoing agitations by the same Ndigbo should stop forthwith.

“That is, they mean that the treason committed by Alh.Yerima Shettima on June 6 2017, is a befitting response to the agitations of Ndigbo, which agitations have since the end of the Civil War, been equated to treason in any event.

“This absurd, nonsensical, illogical, extremely insensitive and immoral position held as above by our elder statesmen, is akin to positing that a child who is being pummeled and brutalized by his older sibling, can only be rescued from his assailant when he stops crying. That is, for as long as the pummeled child continues to cry, the pummeling is justified and must continue!

“A Threat bordering on a flagrant violation of the Fundamental Rights of Ndigbo in the North, and a Notice to the latter, of a second Genocide against them should they fail to comply with such Threat, is regarded under the law as such Fundamental Right already violated, and the Genocide executed!

“Under the hallowed principle of ‘ubi jus ubiremedium’ it is hard to see how the agitations of an oppressed and marginalized people have violated the rights of any other Nigerian in any manner whatsoever. On the other hand, the above threat by Alh.Yerima Shettima and his group clearly violates the Fundamental Rights of Ndigbo in the North.

“Notwithstanding, the FGN has as above, perversely and consistently held that such agitations constitute an act of treason against the State, and therefore deserve to be met with threats of Genocide and Expulsion from the North, by Alh. Shettima and his ilk.”

Obetta congratulated the United Nations who issued a statement in Geneva last Friday calling on the FGN to immediately arrest members of the Arewa youth group.

He also called on all men of good conscience all over the World, including US President, UK Prime Minister and President of China Republic to turn their much eagerly awaited attention to the deplorable plight of Ndigbo in Nigeria, and bring their influence to bear, to save Ndigbo from imminent annihilation from the surface of the earth. “We must not allow ugly history to repeat itself in this generation,” he stated.

Tears!! Boy Shot Dead As Okorocha Orders Demolition Of Eke-Ukwu Market In Owerri (Graphic Photos)

According to reports coming in from Owerri, Imo state capital, there was a gun battle this morning following the demolition of popular Eke-Ukwu market. The incident reportedly happened following the massive deployment of soldiers around the market since yesterday evening. The elders, youths, women and traders of the Owerri Nchise, who claimed that the market is their ancestral market are stoutly resisting Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha led bulldozers.

A young boy is said to have been shot dead by the demolition squad, according to reports.

It will be recalled that the State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has been in a protracted move to relocate the market from Douglas road to a different location of the city. The governor has presented his case citing the traffic problems constituted by trading activities on the strategic “Douglas road” as one of his reasons.

Owerri indigenes have argued that the market is part of their traditional heritage which should not be tampered with but rather be upgraded with today’s shopping mall facilities.

Source:  Igberetv

Three killed as youths, police clash in Owerri market protest

​No fewer than three persons have been reportedly killed as traders and youths of Ekeukwu market in Owerri, the Imo State capital clashed with security operatives over directives given by the state government on the relocation of the market.

The incident occurred this morning when the state government moved in to start the demolition of the market which is to be effected by security operatives. The clash became heavy as gunshots were heard by residents in the neighborhood.

The situation escalated when one of the protesters, a young man, was hit and killed by a stray bullet fired by security operatives deployed to maintain order in the melee which ensued after the demolition.

But the State Commissioner of Police has interfered in the matter to restore peace.

The market relocation has been a major issue between the Imo state government and traders of the market as well as some indigenes of Owerri who see the location of the market as their ancestral home.

The traders rejected the move and have taken the state government to court over the issue.

Yesterday, the Imo state Governor issued a press statement signed by the Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, Kingsley Uju, stating that traders in the market should move out within 48 hours after the release of the statement.

Biafra : I am Ready For Re-arrest – Nnamdi Kanu Tells Buhari

Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has replied President Muhammed Buhari over the call for his re-arrest.

In a statement reacting to the President. Kanu said he is not afraid of arrest and will continue to protect the Biafran people from the dictatorial tendencies of the Buhari administration.

His words: “The directive to service chiefs to clamp down on IPOB is a continuation of the Buhari’s dictatorial and un- democratic approach to gover- nance. I find it unacceptable, abhorrent, and insulting that somebody elected by the peo- ple can turn around to dictate to them.

“Buhari was elected to gov- ern Nigeria, he should get on with the business of gover- nance and not try to instigate another war.”

Kanu also insisted on the boycott of November 18 Anambra governorship election, stressing that “only the beneficiaries of the crumbs from Aso Rock will support those calling on me to rescind the boycott order.

“The call for boycott of the election is our legitimate right. IPOB has only one weapon with which to fight Nigeria, and that is civil disobedience not armed conflict. If we decide not to vote in Anambra, it is our prerogative. It is not targeted at Governor Willie Obiano or anybody.”

He stressed that IPOB would not be forced to take up arms no matter the provocation. “We have refused to be provoked to arms rebellion. That is what Buhari is looking for. Buhari wants a war but we won’t oblige him because we are civilised people. We are democrats at heart by nature and by essence,” he said, adding that no amount of threat or intimidation would make him give up the struggle for Biafra autonomy because it is a genuine cause.

“We are not armed and we can never be armed. IPOB has done a lot to free other ethnic nationalities from the Caliphate’s bondage of retrogression and economic emasculation. Other ethnic na- tionalities should be grateful to IPOB for giving them the cour- age and the heart to speak up and say they are not slaves.

Source:  Naij.com