deportation of igbos fashola wins case

Justice Musa Kurya of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Friday entered judgment in favour of the Lagos State Government in a suit filed by some people alleging a breach of their rights.
The applicants, Rosemary Nathaniel, Friday Ndukwe, Grace Igbochi, Ugulori Tutua, Chinyere Nicholas and Osondu Mbuto filed the suit on their behalf and 77 others, seeking the enforcement of their rights.
Joined as respondents in the suit are the Lagos State Government, the state attorney-general and the commissioner of police in the state.
The applicants had sought a declaration that their alleged arrest, remand and forceful deportation from Lagos to Onitsha, Anambra, in 2012 by the government, on the ground that they were non-indigenes of Lagos, was a violation of their personal liberty and freedom of movement.
The applicants had prayed the court to declare that the alleged action was a violation of Sections 35, 41(1) and 42 of the Constitution and Articles 6,12, 2 and 28 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.
They asked the court to award damages in the sum of N2 billion against the Lagos State Government and its agents for the alleged breach of their rights.
The applicants had also sought an order of the court compelling the respondents to apologise to them in at least three national dailies.
Justice Kurya held that there were conflicts in the affidavit evidence tendered by both parties, which ought to be resolved by oral evidence.
He said that efforts were made to serve the respondents with the court processes.
“Efforts have been made to get the respondents served, and from the proof of service, they have been served consequent upon which they filed their counter-affidavit.
“The respondents’ case is a complete denial of the facts and circumstances as put forward by the applicants.
“The respondents said in their affidavit that they did not deport the applicants to any place outside the territory of Lagos State at anytime.
“They said that, in furtherance of state government’s policy to cater for the welfare of citizens irrespective of their origins, the applicants were rescued from different parts of state while they were begging for alms and engaging in vices.
“The respondents said that those who could not provide details of their places of residence or businesses were taken to a rehabilitation centre at Majidun, Lagos, and given an opportunity to acquire vocational skills.
“They said that it was three months after that the applicants’ home state contacted the respondents and the applicant, who had successfully completed their programme and indicated their intention to rejoin their families.
“The respondents decided to assist the applicants in getting back to their families.
“It is trite law that where there are conflicts in affidavit evidence; it is normally resolved by oral evidence, and applicant counsel did not call for such oral evidence.
“The court was therefore, left with no option but to decide the matter on available evidence.
“I do not find any substance in the case of the applicant; there seems to be truth in the respondents’ averment.
“Consequently, judgment is entered in favour of the respondents against the applicant with no cost awarded to either party,” Kurya held.
Counsel to the applicants, Mr John Nwokwu, had argued that it was unlawful for Lagos State or any other state in the country to forcefully remove a citizen of Nigeria from its geographical boundary on account of indigeneship.
Nwokwu had prayed the court to order Lagos State to go in search of the said deported Igbo indigenes and to return them to Lagos.
He had also prayed for an order restraining the respondents from further deporting the applicants out of the state.
However, the Lagos State Government argued in its counter affidavit that the applicants’ deportation to Onitsha was not done out of malice but with the intention of re-uniting them with their families.
Lagos State averred that the applicants were assisted to re-join their families

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Islamic State setting up Libya training camps, US says

Various Islamist militant groups are competing for power in eastern Libya
Islamic State militants have set up training camps in eastern Libya, the head of the US Africa command says.
Gen David Rodriguez said there could be "a couple of hundred'' IS fighters undergoing training at the sites.
He said the camps were at a very early stage, but the US was watching them "carefully to see how it develops".
Libya has been in turmoil since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011, with various tribes, militias and political factions fighting for power.
Several Islamist groups are competing for power in the east of the country, with some militants recently declaring allegiance to IS.
Syria connection
Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, Gen Rodriguez said it was not yet clear how closely aligned the trainees were with IS.
"It's mainly about people coming for training and logistics support right now, for training sites," he said. "Right now it's just small and very nascent and we just have to see how it goes."
Correspondents say that in the aftermath of the revolution that ousted Gaddafi, many rebel fighters left to fight with militant groups in Syria, and some are believed to have returned home.
The elected government has lost Libya's three main cities amid the political crisis.
Benghazi, the country's second city, is in the hands of Islamist fighters, and the internationally recognised parliament is now based in the coastal town of Tobruk in the east.
The US has been leading an international coalition conducting air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria in recent months.

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Man, 27, rapes 11-yr-old girl with Down’s Syndrome

By Gabriel Enogholase
BENIN—A 27-year-old man, Austin Okonkwo, has been remanded in prison custody by an Evboriaria Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ikpoba-Okha, Edo State, for allegedly raping an 11-year-old Down Syndrome girl.
The accused, who was described with unprintable words when his victim was presented in the court, pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge preferred against him.
Police Prosecutor, Aigbedion Obakpolor, informed the court that the offence was committed on November 29.
When the case was mentioned, Chief Magistrate Frank Idiake, who refused the bail application, said rape cases were on the increase.
A relative of the victim, who pleaded anonymity after the court sitting, said the accused took the girl to his room where the act was committed.
The relative said the victim cried of pains in her private part, which led to the arrest of the accused.
The case was adjourned to January 21, 2015 for continuation of trial.

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Nigeria now 39th most corrupt nation, says TI

The global corruption watchdog, Transparency International, has ranked Nigeria as the 39th most corrupt nation in the world.

According to the Corruption Perception Index 2014 released on Wednesday, Nigeria scored 27 out of a maximum 100 marks to clinch the 136th position out of the 175 countries surveyed for the report.

Nigeria appeared to have improved by eight points against its 2013 rating of 144th of 175 countries last year.

It will be recalled that the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index ranked Nigeria 35th most corrupt nation in the world in 2012.

A statement issued by the Transparency International noted that more than two thirds of the 175 countries in the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index scored below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).

Denmark is the least corrupt nation in the world, ranking first out of the 175 countries surveyed while North Korea and Somalia are the most corrupt nations of the world.

The Transparency International said while top performer, Denmark, had strong rule of law, support for civil society and clear rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions, it also set an example by announcing plans to create a public register, such as beneficial ownership information for all companies incorporated in Denmark.

This measure, according to the corruption watchdog, will make it harder for the corrupt to hide behind companies registered in another person’s name.

Botswana comes top as the least corrupt nation in Africa, ranking 31st least corrupt globally while South Africa is ranked 67th.

Transparency International Chairman, José Ugaz, in a statement on the TI website, said countries at the bottom needed to adopt radical anti-corruption measures in favour of their people.

“The 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that economic growth is undermined and efforts to stop corruption fade when leaders and high level officials abuse power to appropriate public funds for personal gain,” Ugaz said.

According to Ugaz, countries at the top of the index should make sure they do not export corrupt practices to underdeveloped countries.

“The biggest falls were in Turkey (-5), Angola, China, Malawi and Rwanda (all -4). The biggest improvers were Côte d´Ivoire, Egypt, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (+5) and Afghanistan, Jordan, Mali and Swaziland (+4),” the statement said.

The anti-corruption group said it was currently running a campaign to unmask the corrupt, urging the European Union, the United States and G20 countries to follow Denmark’s lead and create public registers that would make clear “who really controls, or is the beneficial owner, of every company.”

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13-year-old flees home with suspected lover

The police in Lagos are battling to find a 13-year-old girl, Chikwuo Ezennia, who reportedly fled her house with a yet-to-be-identified man, suspected to be her lover.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Ezennia, who is in Basic 4, had come to Lagos from Nneni village in the Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State to spend her holiday with her relatives.

Our correspondent gathered that the girl, however, fled her relatives’ apartment on Ishola Bello Close, Iyalla Street, Alausa, Lagos, in the afternoon of Thursday, November 20, when the family had gone out.

It was gathered that when the girl’s aunt, Mrs. Ambrose Okolo, and her husband returned from work at about 6pm, Ezennia was nowhere to be found.

Our correspondent gathered that during the initial search for her, some neighbours told the Okolos that they saw the teenager walking away with a man in the afternoon.

Ezennia was said to have told the neighbours that her aunt maltreated her and had travelled away for a week. Hence, she would be staying with a friend during that period.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the family reported the matter at the Alausa Police Division the following day. It was gathered that the police invited some persons, who allegedly saw the girl, for interrogation.

Our correspondent gathered that Ezennia, who speaks only Igbo fluently, was supposed to return to her village by the end of December. It was further learnt that Ezennia had a record of fleeing home to stay with men when she was in the village in Anambra.

When PUNCH Metro visited the apartment on Tuesday, Okolo, who is a self-employed chartered accountant, said the family was anxious to know the supposed lover, who had been shielding the girl, adding that all efforts to locate her had proved unsuccessful.

She said, “Ezennia is just 13, but she looks big enough to be called a man’s wife. If you see her, you will think she is a lady. She just came from the village to spend some time with us and she is supposed to go back this December. But since that Thursday, we have yet to find her.

“The reason I suspect she may be with a lover is because of some recent developments. Just a week before that incident, I travelled to Benue for a programme, and she was alone with my children in the house. There is a phone that my children use which contains only my number and my husband’s.

“But when she fled home and we started the search, I picked up the phone and to my surprise, I saw a string of strange numbers.

“The children said Ezennia used the phone when I travelled.

“I wondered who she might have been calling since she is new in Lagos.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that calls and text messages sent to the numbers by the family since the day of the incident had not been replied to.

Efforts by our correspondent to obtain Ezennia’s photograph were unsuccessful as the teenager had yet to take any since she arrived in Lagos.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident.

He said Ezennia was still on the police’s list of missing persons.

“If seen, the public should contact Alausa Police Station,” he added.

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