02 August, 2008

SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS

IT MIGHT BE INTERESTING TO KNOW WHAT THE SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS THINK OF THE ISSUE

WHAT THE SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS SAY.......

.....It also emerged on Friday that Southern Cameroonians expressed support for the 40,000 Nigerians in Bakassi to fight against their oppressors from France and to secure a future for themselves.

Stephen Joseph, Media Liaison Officer of the Orgainsation of people Southern Cameroon Government and People, said: "We the people of the Southern Cameroon have followed events in the Bakassi area with a lot of interest. It is unfortunate that we have followed them as bystanders instead of as the interest concern.

"The people of the Southern Cameroon had hoped that the ICJ would use the Bakassi case to address a larger injustice against all the peoples of the Southern Cameroon, but the court decided to narrow its focus and considered only the matter of Bakassi."

They lamented the harassment Nigerians have gone through at the hands of Cameroonians, saying "the brutal French foreign legion that makes up the armed forces of the occupier in Southern Cameroon have indiscriminately terrorised our citizens using torture, rape, extortion and murder.

"This treatment has been dished out to us as well as people of Nigerian descent. The Anglo Saxon heritage has been the driving factor as exorbitant extortions and indiscriminate deportations have been reserved for people of Nigerian descent.

"In this effort we are expecting Nigeria and Nigerians to join our struggle to de-colonise our country from colonial occupation. The words of Kwame Nkrumah remain as true today as they were in the 1950s and 60s: that the liberation of one of us (Nigeria)is meaningless unless it leads to the total liberation of the African continent (including a free Southern Cameroon).

"It is in this effort that the government of the Southern Cameroons stand in total support of the different groups in Bakassi that are putting up a courageous fight against the French colonial occupation of their land. It is a fight that the people of the Southern Cameroon should have put up in 1961 but did not, and allowed foreigners, speaking a foreign language, to invade the Southern Cameroon and today an enemy flag flies our skies.

"It is our determination that this must come to an end. We invite the fighting men and women of Bakassi to join our fight and become a part of the larger fight that did not take place in 1961 but which we must fight today."........

http://www.independentngonline.com/news/tfpg/article02


--
Chukwubike Okey C.


No Going Back On Bakassi -FG

By Ofonime Umanah, (Port Harcourt), Bassey Inyang (Calabar) and Joe Nwanwko (Abuja)

Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, reiterated on Friday that Nigeria will hand over Bakassi to Cameroon on August 14 despite the restraint imposed on Thursday by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Aondoakaa explained that "I have been served with the court order, it is ambiguous and there are several decisions of the Supreme Court that court orders should be so explicit that the person who is directed to comply would be in position to comply, and I will the genesis of our dilemma here.

"I have a case where the same people from Bakassi instituted the same matter before the Federal High Court presided over by Justice Anuli Chikere, and we filed a notice of preliminary objection. The judgment they had sought Chikere to stop from being enforced, being the judgment of the ICJ, the same Federal High Court upheld our objection and held that the court had no jurisdiction and subsequently struck out the case.

"We have that judgment, which means that the Federal High Court has no jurisdiction to entertain any application on this matter, and nobody has appealed against that judgment. We have that as a final judgment. Today we are having another order that we should maintain the status quo, so the question is which status quo should we maintain?

"If I am to maintain any status quo, the status quo that is existing now is the judgment of the International Court of Justice, that is the truth. The status quo that is existing in law is the judgment of the International Court of Justice.

"If I have two judgments I will chose the one I like; like in this case I have two decisions from courts of coordinate jurisdiction, I will choose the one to obey, and for that matter, Chikere's judgment was a final judgment while this one was an interim order.

"I am not going to file anything to seek to set that ruling aside, what I am enforcing is the judgment of the ICJ, which is the handing over of Bakassi. The judge should have been more explicit and am not the Green Tree Agreement."

Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court had on Thursday granted the restraint order at the hearing of a suit filed by Bakassi indigenes.

He ruled that "the justice of this case is that parties to this suit should maintain the status quo, so that the res (substance)will not be destroyed. The res is southern Bakassi, which is to be ceded by the defendants on August 14th.

"It is hereby ordered that parties should maintain the status quo and should not take any step pending the hearing of all applications."

He adjourned the hearing to October 20 when the court would have resumed from vacation.

Cameroon was to assume full sovereignty over Bakassi on August 14 under the Green Tree Agreement signed in New York on June 12, 2006.

Cross River State Deputy Director of Civil Litigation, Bassey U. Bassey, reacted by saying that the order "is not capable of being obeyed because this court cannot sit as an appellate court on the judgment of the International Court of Justice at the Hague.

"All the issues in this case as well as the final ceding of Bakassi are fallouts from the judgment of the ICJ."

Counsel to the plaintiffs, Kayode Fasetire, countered that the suit is not to challenge the judgment of the ICJ but its implementation.

"We know that we are bound by the judgment of the ICJ. The Presidency did not submit the Green Tree Agreement to the National Assembly for ratification while the legislature also failed in its oversight functions to call the President to order," he explained.

"We are challenging the agreement and we are surprised that the President has said he would go ahead to hand over in the face of it. Nigeria has not done what it is supposed to do before implementing the Agreement."

The plaintiffs, led by two former Chairmen of Bakassi Council, Emmanuel Etene and Ani Esin, sought N456 billion as compensation before the cession, and an order that the Federal Government should resettle them in a place of their choosing.

They also requested an the amendment of the Constitution to reflect the cession as well as their relocation.

The plaintiffs rejected their resettlement in the "New Bakassi" already inhabited by other people "who are hostile to Bakassi refugees."

They argued that New Bakassi is a landlocked patch ideal for farmers, not fishermen like them.

They sought an order directing the Federal Government to resettle them in Nsutana Iyata in Cross River State or any other location in the state which they might choose by plebiscite or referendum.

The plaintiffs contended that the 206,000 indigenes of Bakassi are entitled to be protected and catered for by the Federal Government - and alleged that Cameroon has a history of imposing unfair taxes, molesting, as well as assaulting and killing Nigerian citizens in Bakassi.

Joined as respondents are President Umaru Yar'Adua, Aondoakaa, the National Assembly, former Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, the state Assembly, National Boundary Commission (NBC), Federal Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

It also emerged on Friday that Southern Cameroonians expressed support for the 40,000 Nigerians in Bakassi to fight against their oppressors from France and to secure a future for themselves.

Stephen Joseph, Media Liaison Officer of the Orgainsation of people Southern Cameroon Government and People, said: "We the people of the Southern Cameroon have followed events in the Bakassi area with a lot of interest. It is unfortunate that we have followed them as bystanders instead of as the interest concern.

"The people of the Southern Cameroon had hoped that the ICJ would use the Bakassi case to address a larger injustice against all the peoples of the Southern Cameroon, but the court decided to narrow its focus and considered only the matter of Bakassi."

They lamented the harassment Nigerians have gone through at the hands of Cameroonians, saying "the brutal French foreign legion that makes up the armed forces of the occupier in Southern Cameroon have indiscriminately terrorised our citizens using torture, rape, extortion and murder.

"This treatment has been dished out to us as well as people of Nigerian descent. The Anglo Saxon heritage has been the driving factor as exorbitant extortions and indiscriminate deportations have been reserved for people of Nigerian descent.

"In this effort we are expecting Nigeria and Nigerians to join our struggle to de-colonise our country from colonial occupation. The words of Kwame Nkrumah remain as true today as they were in the 1950s and 60s: that the liberation of one of us (Nigeria)is meaningless unless it leads to the total liberation of the African continent (including a free Southern Cameroon).

"It is in this effort that the government of the Southern Cameroons stand in total support of the different groups in Bakassi that are putting up a courageous fight against the French colonial occupation of their land. It is a fight that the people of the Southern Cameroon should have put up in 1961 but did not, and allowed foreigners, speaking a foreign language, to invade the Southern Cameroon and today an enemy flag flies our skies.

"It is our determination that this must come to an end. We invite the fighting men and women of Bakassi to join our fight and become a part of the larger fight that did not take place in 1961 but which we must fight today."




CHILD PROSTITUTION.....ARRESTS IN ITALY

A Nigerian lady was arrested at Benevento (Italy)for sexual exploitation of minors. Her accomplices had already escaped arrest by taking refuge in Nigeria.The lady,Vivian Osayamen (40years) a native of Benin City was arrested by the police mobile squad. She was condemned to a prison term which lasts till 26 Jan 2011 for breaking the laws on sexual t exploitation of children and pedo-pornographic offenses. The accomplice of this MADAM who escaped to Nigeria is still to be caught
Following an investigation on the activities of Some Nigerian criminal gangs in Modena, Bologna and surroundings since 2005, the mobile squad in June 2007 had to make the arrests of some members of this gang which is know to haves its logistic and operation Hq in Nigeria and France .
It ws discovered that this group had rooted itself so deep in the area tharefore any arrests made were immediately replaced with fresh recruits form their home country who came in to occupy the(piece of land) places left by the arrested persons With this system the group continued to maintain their criminal activities in spite of continuous fragmentations and arrests.
As in most of these cases the victim (child prostitute) has been under heavy physical and psychological pressure through intimidation with Voodo.
The girl was recruited in Nigeria where she was supposed to pay a sum between 30.000 to 50.000 euro.The pretext was her joining a Nigerian female football team In France . From France she was sent to Modena in Italy where she worked as a prostitute until her final liberation.

Translated/summarized by: Chukbyke



Donna nigeriana arrestata a Benevento per sfruttamento sessuale di minori. Il complice era già sfuggito alla cattura rifugiandosi in nigeria


Si tratta di una cittadina extracomunitaria di 40 anni, Vivian Osayamen, di Benin City, in Nigeria, è stata arrestata dagli agenti della Squadra Mobile di Benevento in esecuzione dell'ordine di carcerazione emesso nella giornata di ieri dal Tribunale di Modena.
La donna, che dovrà scontare una pena detentiva fino al 26 gennaio 2011, è stata riconosciuta colpevole della violazione della legge 38/2006 in materia di lotta contro lo sfruttamento sessuale dei bambini e la pedopornografia.
L'ordine di carcerazione nei confronti della donna emesso dal Tribunale di Modena.

Una breve sintesi della intera vicenda:


Nel mese di giugno 2007 la Squadra Mobile di Modena - a seguito di attività di indagine condotta per episodi di sfruttamento e favoreggiamento della prostituzione minorile consumati a Modena ed altre province nel periodo compreso tra il mese di luglio 2005 ed il dicembre 2006 - ha dato l'avvio al procedimento penale a carico di alcuni dei componenti di un gruppo criminale nigeriano, tutti radicati nella provincia di Modena ed in quella limitrofa di Bologna, e con basi logistiche in Nigeria ed in Francia dediti ai reati connessi alla prostituzione di colore.

L'operazione in questione, così come quelle analoghe concluse negli ultimi due anni, rientra nell'ambito di un piano strategico più generale e penetrante approntato dal Servizio Centrale Operativo della Direzione Centrale Anticrimine della Polizia di Stato e rappresenta l'ennesimo colpo inferto dalla Polizia di Stato a quelle organizzazioni criminali di etnia straniera (nel caso di specie centro africana) che negli ultimi anni hanno gestito in posizione di totale monopolio, sia a Modena che in tutto il resto del paese, le attività illecite connesse alla prostituzione ed ai reati a questa collegati (immigrazione clandestina, falsi documentali, ecc.).

L'indagine si ricollega ed è la naturale prosecuzione anche delle pregresse operazioni della Polizia di Stato "Multilevel" (dell'aprile 2005), "Multilevel 2" (del maggio 2006), "Multilevel 3" (dell'ottobre 2006) e Multilevel 4 (del maggio 2007).

Si tratta, infatti, delle diverse frange dello stesso gruppo criminale che si sono progressivamente sostituite e rimpiazzate a seguito della ciclica disarticolazione delle consorterie ad opera della Polizia di Stato di Modena negli ultimi anni. E' stato infatti riscontrato che la totale padronanze del territorio dei membri dei sodalizi ed il loro forte radicamento nella provincia di Modena, ha comportato il fatto che anche successivamente all'arresto dei componenti di turno, le porzioni di territorio da loro occupate siano state mantenute con l'immediata sostituzione dei soggetti tratti in arresto, con nuove e più fresche forze immediatamente giunte a Modena dai paesi di origine. In questo modo, pur accettando la frammentazione dei gruppi criminali, è stata comunque garantita continuità per diversi anni alle attività del gruppo delinquenziale.

A conclusione dell'attività investigativa in argomento, che è stata coordinata dal Servizio Centrale Operativo della Polizia di Stato e dalla Direzione Centrale Anticrimine per tutta la sua durata, nelle primissime ore della mattinata odierna gli uomini della Polizia di Stato hanno dato esecuzione a 2 ordinanze di custodia cautelare in carcere emesse dal Giudice per le Indagini Preliminari presso il locale Tribunale su richiesta del Pubblico Ministero titolare dell'indagine, a carico di altrettanti soggetti tutti indagati per i reati di cui agli artt. 110 c.p. in relazione agli artt. 600 bis e sexies c.p. (prostituzione minorile ed altri reati minori, il tutto in concorso).
Le operazioni di esecuzione sono state svolte nella città di Modena, Bologna - dove è statat arresta la cittadina nigeriana Osayamen Vivian, nata in Nigeria nel 1968, residente a Benevento ma domiciliata a Bologna - e Benevento. Resta da catturare il complice della madame, sempre nigeriano, che da alcuni mesi ha trovato riparo in Nigeria.

Per le operazioni di arresto il personale della Polizia di Stato si è avvalso dell'ausilio della Squadre Mobili di Bologna e Benevento.

Nel corso delle perquisizioni delegate dal Pubblico Ministero, effettuate presso 3 abitazioni dei soggetti sottoposti a provvedimenti restrittivi (una a Modena, una a Bologna ed una a Benevento), sono stati raccolti ulteriori elementi di prova attestanti le responsabilità dei due indagati per i reati loro contestati.

I due soggetti indagati sono stati ritenuti responsabili dei reati loro contestati per episodi di sfruttamento di una giovane ragazza nigeriana nella città di Modena fino al dicembre 2006, quando la ragazza è stata poi sottratta all'egida del gruppo ed opportunamente collocata in struttura protetta.

Anche in questa occasione le attività hanno consentito di appurare che la donna sfruttata è stata mantenuta in stato di totale soggezione psicologia e fisica mediante l'utilizzo di vari riti voodoo della Nigeria occidentale.
La ragazza era stata acquistata dalla famiglia di origine in Nigeria (dove erano di stanza soggetti preposti al reclutamento) per una somma oscillante tra i 30.000 ed i 50.000 Euro, portata in Francia (a Parigi) con passaporto falso e con la scusa dell'aggregazione ad una squadra di calcio femminile nigeriana ed infine portata in Italia a Modena, dove ha esercitato l'attività di meretricio fino alla sua definitiva liberazione.