NIGERIA IN THE WORLD VIEW

Dont negotiate with Boko Haram, Army Chief Gen Ihejirika warns

2012-01-29T08:52:00.000+01:00

Dont negotiate with Boko Haram, Army Chief Gen Ihejirika warns

Lt Gen A. O. IHEJIRIKA, Chief of Ar

my Staff

On 24

January, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubike Ihejirika, warned against entering into any negotiation with the militant Islamist sect widely known as Boko Haram, stressing that d

ialogue had never been an effective response to terrorism.

The Army chief gave the warning in the federal capital, Abuja, in his brief remarks at the opening ceremony of a seminar on National Security, organized by the Alumni Association of the National Defence College (AANDEC) in collaboration with the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja.

jecting to any dialogue with the sect which has killed hundreds of Nigerians, the Army chief said: “No matter and whatever the measures you put in place, we would not get the best result and fast enough, unless the society as a whole rejects terrorism without any justification”.

Gen Ihejirika stressed that: “Those who try to justify acts of terrorism inadvertently support terrorists. And some do so only to discover later that terrorism is not a matter to be negotiated and won”.

He added that: “The Army is not resting on its oars, as it is transforming on the training of its personnel”. In this regard, he disclosed that the last batch of a special quick response squad had just passed out from training and had been deployed to curtail the movements of the terrorists.

Boko Haram rejects talks, threatens fresh attacks

2012-01-29T08:27:00.002+01:00

Boko Haram rejects talks, threatens fresh attacks

By Aminu Abubakar

A spokesman for the Boko Haram Islamist group on Saturday rejected a call by Nigeria's president for talks and threatened fresh attacks if captured members of its group were not freed.

Goodluck Jonathan's call for talks was "not sincere", said Boko Haram spokesman Abul Qaqa, and if captured members of the group were not released, the group would launch attacks like those in Kano.

A series of coordinated bomb attacks and shootings there on January 20 killed at least 185 people.

This latest threat from Boko Haram came hours after the army said troops had killed 11 members of the Islamist group in a shootout Saturday in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, a stronghold of the group.

Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed, spokesman for Joint Task Force (JTF), a special squad set up to crack down on Boko Haram, broke the news of the clash earlier Saturday.

"Today, in an exchange of fire during a cordon-and-search operation conducted by the JTF, 11 Boko Haram members were killed," he said.

Qaqa confirmed the killings, but disputed the army's account.

"It is true soldiers killed 11 of our members today in Maiduguri," Qaqa said in a conference call with journalists in Maiduguri.

"They were individually picked in their homes in Shehuri neighbourhood in raids by JTF and shot dead. They were unarmed," he added.

Qaqa dismissed as "not sincere" comments by the president in a media interview this week in which he urged Boko Haram to state its demands and begin dialogue.

"They are making double-speak," he said.

"The same day Goodluck Jonathan came out and said we should come out for dialogue security agents in (the northern state of) Sokoto arrested a large number of our members in raids on their homes."

If the group's members were not released, he continued, Boko Haram "will launch attacks in Sokoto similar to the big Kano attacks."

Saturday's clash came as part of a crackdown on the group, which already this year has been blamed for more than 200 deaths in a string of bombings and shootings that has tipped Nigeria into a security crisis.

Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, has been hit hard by the Boko Haram insurgency, and on December 31 President Goodluck Jonathan placed the city under a state of emergency.

The Islamists have in recent days struck further west, notably in the devastating attack on Nigeria's second city of Kano.

Security forces in Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer have struggled to contain the threat from the group. The insurgents seem to be able to strike at will in a country divided between a mainly Muslim north and mainly Christian south.

The president has faced intense criticism for his failure to stem the violence.

In a recording posted recently on the Internet, the purported head of Boko Haram, Abubakar Muhammad Shekau, said he had ordered the Kano attacks, the sect's deadliest ever, because the army was torturing the group's members.

"I ordered it and I will give that order again and again," he said in the recording.

The assault on Kano involved coordinated gun raids and suicide blasts in Nigeria's second city and highlighted Boko Haram's renewed strength.

But as the group grows increasingly violent, its specific aims and character remain largely unclear.

It has previously said that it wants to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's deeply impoverished mainly Muslim north, and has charged the government with harassing Muslims and raiding Islamic schools.

The group was also blamed for coordinated attacks on Christmas Day, the most deadly at a Catholic Church near the capital Abuja, where at least 44 people were killed. But the group's victims have also included scores of Muslims.

Top Nigerian politicians have denied that the Boko Haram insurgency is being fuelled by religious tensions, linking the group to like-minded external Islamist groups such as Al-Qaeda.

Many analysts however doubt the strength of those links and say Boko Haram remains focused on a domestic agenda and is boosting its strength by exploiting religious tension within Nigeria.

The group launched an uprising in 2009 that was put down by a brutal military assault.

It fell dormant for about a year before re-emerging in 2010 and now believed to have a number of different factions, including a hardcore Islamist cell.

NEWS

“Why We Did Not Kill Obasanjo” – Boko Haram Leader

2012-01-23T19:30:00.001+01:00

“Why We Did Not Kill Obasanjo” – Boko Haram Leader

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Information recently made available to 247ureports.com through a high ranking contact within the organizational structure of the terrorist Islamic group, Boko Haram reveals unnerving revelations regarding the recent attacks on Kano, Bauchi State – and the aborted attack of September 15, 2011 visit by former President of the federal republic of Nigeria, General Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo to the home of the in-law of the slain leader of the Boko Haram, Babakura Fuggu in Borno State.
It was gathered that the leader of Boko Haram, Imam Abubakar Shekau who is currently hiding away in Qoundere, Cameroun following the recent and ongoing attacks on Kano and Bauchi State – had deliberated seriously on the assassination of the former president of Nigeria, General Obasanjo on September 15, 2011 while on a visit to Borno State to the home of the in-law to the slain leader of Boko Haram [Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf].
According to the Boko Haram source, former President Obasanjo had made first contact with Yusuf’s in-lawal, Babakura Fuggu [eldest son of Yusuf's in-law] in early September 2012 concerning opening a channel of dialogue with the terrorist group. The leadership of the group took it uneasy with the choice of Babakura – [since the line of leadership did not automatically follow family lineage as in traditional settings. As a 'religious' group they did not see Babakura as the rightful person to take over from Yusuf.] - For this reason, the leadership of the group ‘silently’ objected to the meeting between Babakura and Obasanjo.
As Obasanjo concluded his secret meeting the previous day at the Green House with three other religious group [Jamatu Nasir Islam, JNI and CAN] in Jos, the capital of Plateau State on the Wednesday of September 14, 2011, and took off the following day to Borno State, the terrorist group, according to the source, marked the former President within their ‘firing range’ from the moment he landed in Borno State at minutes after 11am till he departed the State in the late afternoon of the same day. According to the source, “we were not sure of him”.
“He was going to be a big catch” said the source who explained that the leadership halted the operation as Obasanjo went inside the residence of Babakura.
“Obasanjo was good to us. We had no problem with Obasanjo. We had him. We could have taken him out”, as he recalled that the sharia movement took off during the period when Obasanjo was president. “The problem started during the late President Yar’Adua regime. Goodluck only inherited the problem. We have no problem with Goodluck. But his Ijaw people around him are deceiving him”.
Interestingly, the Boko Haram source who spoke in fluent English with a slight American accent explained the decision to ‘finish’ Babakura Fuggu came due to what transpired between Obasanjo and Babakura. “We learnt he asked for money”. Babakura requested on behalf of Boko Haram monies to enable the group defray litigation costs and other minor financial requests which the leadership of Boko Haram considered menial and demeaning. The wife, Yakolo, was said to have received money from the former president to the tuned of N500,000. Babakura Fuggu was gundown on September 17, 2012 as he existed his home by his younger brother in the company of other young men dressed in reddish-orange babarigas each armed with AK47s – just barely forty eight [48] hours following the visit of former President Obasanjo.
Meanwhile, information available to 247ureports.com reveals the reason Kano and Bauchi State were attacked a few days ago as having to do with failed promises by the State governors of the two states. The entire northern governors, according to the Boko Haram source, have ongoing relationships with the group. ”Most of them pay us monthly to leave their states alone”.
In Kano State, the former state governor, Malam Shekarau reached an agreement with the terrorist group in late 2004 for an initial monthly disbursement of N5million which was later bumped up to N10million in 2009. The agreement, according to the source, included provision of institutional infrastructural support through the Hisbah [Islam police] project which received yearly budgetary allocation of N1.01billion. The gubernatorial election of April 2011 which introduced Rabiu Kwankwaso as the new governor changed the agreement. The Kwankwaso administration was quick to dismantle the Hisbah set up – and the said agreement to disburse N10million monthly. The governor proceeded to make arrests of known Boko Haram members. Boko Haram leadership who had found comfort in Kano did not appreciate the Kwankwaso administration’s policy on Boko Haram. According to the source, “we warned the Governor of the consequences”.
“We concluded on Kano in December 2011″. The abrupt end to the oil subsidy strike and protests served an opportunity for the group to strike. The preparatory work for the attack and the selection of targets had already been completed. According to the source, an estimated number of casualties was calculated to net 300 minimum. “The go ahead order” was given on Wednesday [January 18, 2012] evening before the leader of the group left the country to Cameroon on the early morning of Thursday, the following day.
In Bauchi State, the Governor, Malam Yuguda reached similar agreement with the leadership of the group. A monthly disbursement of N10million was agreed upon along with provision of training grounds on the many mountain scattered in Bauchi State. The governor also promised to give them security against arrests by the federal government. The agreement was reached in June 2008 but mid 2011, the governor stopped the disbursement of the N1omillion regularly. Boko Haram were not happy but remained loyal to the agreement because of the unfettered access to the mountains of Bauchi as training camps.
However the arrest and detention of their number 3 man by the State Security Services [SSS] fractured the relationship between the governor and the terrorist group. According to the source, the State was attacked to free the number 3 leader of Boko Haram and to “teach them a lesson”. The detained leader schooled at the prestigious Lincoln University located in the State of Connecticut, USA and owns a block industry in Bauchi State near the home of the former governor of Bauchi State – an area densely populated by Boko Haram operatives.
According to the source, “the northern governors are overwhelmed”. They are aware of the capabilities of the Boko Haram operatives operating in their respective states. Some of the State government officials visit the terrorist groups in their training camps to watch the training exercises. “We train harder than the Nigerian military and they see it” said the source while ‘lamenting’ that the governor continue to tell the President that the menace of Boko Haram is under control.
The Boko Haram source made it emphatic that “we [they] have the weapons and are in control. We are not asking for Islamic Nigeria. We want our men free”.
http://247ureports.com/2012/01/why-we-did-not-kill-obasanjo-boko-haram/

A Spirano la Lega si affida a Iwobi Primo assessore nigeriano-padano

2012-01-23T00:07:00.000+01:00

A Spirano la Lega si affida a Iwobi
Primo assessore nigeriano-padano

24 gennaio 2012

Cronaca

TONY IWOBI (Foto by TIZIANO MANZONI)

La medaglia se l'è guadagnata sul campo. Tony Iwobi, nigeriano d'origine, a Spirano da 35 anni e da quasi venti leghista, è il nuovo assessore ai Servizi sociali della Giunta targata Carroccio. Il sindaco Giovanni Malanchini se lo coccola a parole: «L'altra sera ha organizzato un corso di computer per gli anziani in municipio e ha fatto il pienone. Diciamo che Tony ha sempre fatto un certo tipo di lavoro in paese, al di là della nomina che arriva ora ad assessore e che si merita tutta...». Complimenti che fanno piacere al neoassessore: «Sono stato davvero molto contento l'altra sera. Avevamo 32 iscritti, è stato bellissimo. Ora questo assessorato, sarà per me una grossa responsabilità». Tony è un lumbard dalla pelle nera. Forse il primo assessore africano nelle fila della Lega in Lombardia. Ci milita dal 1993 e da tre mandati siede nel Consiglio comunale di Spirano. Alle elezioni ha sempre fatto il pieno di voti e preferenze. «Tony è sempre stato il nostro volano – spiega Malanchini –. Nero e leghista? Ricordo a tutti che è stato lui ad accogliermi nella Lega. Tony è leghista da molto prima di me».

«Mi piaceva la Lega federalista» Ed eccolo Tony, 57 anni, il sorriso sulle labbra, il tono pacato, i modi gentili. Ci accoglie durante una pausa lavoro all'ospedale di Treviglio, dove dal 2010 gestisce con la sua ditta i sistemi informativi dell'azienda ospedaliera. «La Lega? Ho abbracciato il suo progetto nel 1993 quando predicava il federalismo. Io arrivavo dalla Nigeria, una nazione federalista e mi piaceva quell'idea. Quello con la Lega non è solo un rapporto politico, ma anche umano. Qui dentro ho trovato molti amici con cui condividere le stesse idee», racconta mentre si aggira tra i computer. Tony è laureato in informatica, ma prima di arrivare fin qui ha fatto di tutto. «Sono arrivato a Spirano nel 1976», racconta. Dice Spirano e non Italia perché la sua Italia è stata fin da subito questo paese della Bassa di poco più di cinquemila anime. «Colpa del mio amico Charli che era già arrivato qua, io sono stato il secondo nigeriano arrivato a Spirano». Come Charli ha iniziato lavorando al maneggio Beretta, famoso per i tre i cavalli protagonisti della pubblicità del bagnoschiuma Vidal. «Lavoravamo duro, davvero tanto, e non sai quanti calci ho preso dai cavalli», ricorda.

«Qui ben accolto» Non erano certamente tempi facili e la gente li guardava come se arrivassero da Marte. Chi scrive, era una bambina di 5, 6 anni e ricorda ancora quando vedeva Charli, un ragazzotto dalla pelle scura scura, ogni tanto arrivare alla casa della sua balia. Charli avrebbe poi sposato Olimpia (figlia della balia), come Tony Lucia. Due bergamasche. Non erano tempi facili e le unioni miste si contavano davvero sulle dita di una mano in paese. Tony lo sa, muove le mani come a dire mamma mia, ma i ricordi sono dolci come il miele: «Ho sposato Spirano fin dall'inizio. Questo paese mi ha comunque accolto a braccia aperte e gli spiranesi mi vogliono bene. Qui mi sono sposato e sono nati i miei figli. Ora sono anche nonno». Ecco perché certi discorsi, che dice demagogici, sugli extracomunitari proprio non li vuol sentire, anche se ha un'idea chiara di quello che non va: «Quando sono arrivato qui più di trent'anni fa, ero supercontrollato. I poliziotti venivano a casa mia due volte alla settimana, oggi che fine hanno fatto questi controlli? Chiaro che poi non è giusto neppure arrivare in Italia così, questa è un'altra faccia dello schiavismo. E lo dice uno che è arrivato da straniero qui e si è integrato».

«Bergamasco nel mondo»
E se a Spirano Tony è a casa, l'Africa non la dimentica: «Ci sono appena tornato – spiega –, stiamo portando avanti un bel progetto sanitario con il Ghana». Anche se poi glissa se si senta più africano, bergamasco o tutti e due: «Io mi sento cittadino del mondo, ovunque vada mi sento a casa mia». Certo poi ci sono i cavalli di battaglia lumbard, la lingua, le tradizioni, le origini, la propria storia... Tony ha guidato finora la commissione Cultura che ha fatto della riscoperta del dialetto uno dei progetti di punta: «Segreteria telefonica, carta intestata e cartelli in bergamasco possono apparire come folclore, ma io dico "tu bergamasco non devi avere paura di parlare la tua lingua madre, di riscoprire le tue origini"». Ecco perché Tony il dialetto lo capisce e lo parla: «Alura, com'el... Ho sposato una bergamasca, 35 anni fa, mi sono dovuto adeguare, per forza». E per amore.

Vanessa Santinelli

http://www.ecodibergamo.it/stories/Cronaca/262842_a_spirano_la_lega_si_affida_a_iwobi_primo_assessore_nigeriano-padano/

Ezillo Attack: Death Toll Rises to 66

2012-01-02T08:23:00.000+01:00

Ezillo Attack: Death Toll Rises to 66

02 Jan 2012

Font Size: a / A

By Christopher Isiguzo

About 14 fresh bodies were recovered yesterday in Ezillo community in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, raising the death toll from last Saturday’s invasion of the community by gunmen to 66.

Also, Governor Martin Elechi, has said the unfortunate development marked a bad omen for the state, given the number of lives lost in the attack.

Initially, the number of deaths was 52; it later rose to 60 before it rose to 66, according to the youths of the area who had been combing bushes in the area in search of bodies of slain relatives and friends.

The youths who spoke to journalists, who accompanied the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 6 Calabar, Mr. Saidu Daya, to assess the level of carnage in the area, stated that the dead bodies were recovered when a search team constituted by the villagers combed nearby bushes and environs.

The victims comprising children between the ages of three to 10 years, men, adults and the elderly had different parts of their bodies severed while others had mortal gunshot wounds.

The police AIG confirmed that a team of mobile policemen from neighbouring Cross River, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states have already arrived the State and deployed to the crisis area to beef-up security and restore normalcy.

He said detectives from force headquarters Abuja will equally be drafted to Ebonyi State to carry out investigation with a view to fishing out those behind the attack.
Daya appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafis Ringim, to authorise the establishment of mobile police unit at Ezillo.

The AIG who was accompanied by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Adeola Adeniji, also used the opportunity to console the people of the area including the traditional ruler, Eze Chima Oyiba, who lost one of his sons, four vehicles and property worth millions of naira, after he narrowly escaped.

At the end of the visit, the AIG paid a condolence visit to Elechi at Government House Abakaliki, where he commiserated with him and assured that the police would do all that was necessary to bring solution and also bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book. He said he was sent on the visit by the IGP, Ringim, who he said expressed his sympathies over the tragic incident.

In a state-wide broadcast yesterday tagged: “That Evil May Not Endure”, Elechi expressed dismay over the resurgence of the communal crisis which was thought to have been resolved, said the latest development was a phase in the cycle of destruction and bloodletting which have been the lot of the people of the area since May 10, 2008 when the crisis initially broke out.

“The shock waves sent by the latest incident are not only because of the wantonness of the destruction, but also because it came at a time when Ebonyi people and other Nigerians thought that peace had returned to Ezillo.

“As Ezillo burns and Ebonyi people mourn, I want to assure our people and all Nigerians that the State government will stop at nothing to fish out the perpetrators of this dastardly act neither shall we shirk our responsibility to protect lives and property everywhere in the state. We all feel the pains of the bereaved families and we all share their grief,” the governor noted.

The governor further noted in his broadcast that “enemies of peace invaded Ezillo in the early hours of yesterday (December 31, 2011) and proceeded to murder men, women and children who had no inkling about the tragedy that befell them. That was not all. The Ezillo market was burnt down, shops were razed, vehicles burnt and other properties destroyed.”

He however assured people of the state that the security agencies have been given directives to clear the Abakaliki-Enugu Federal Highway which cuts across the warring community of any kind of blockade in order to ensure free-flow of traffic.
Already, the governor has asked the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to undertake an urgent assessment of the conditions at the crisis area for immediate state intervention.

However, sources at the community told THISDAY that more corpses were recovered late Saturday from the bush within the village, while the number of those who sustained bullet injuries is also on the increase.

Unknown gunmen had last Saturday invaded the Ezillo community killing scores of indigenes of the community including the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) in charge of the police station in the area. Those killed include; children between the ages of three to five, aged men and women and youths, as well as over 100 Donkey.

Ezillo people had been fighting a communal war with Ezza-Ezillo people, which claimed more than 150 lives before the intervention of law enforcement agents in 2010 that sacked everybody from the disputed land. Since then, relative peace had pervaded the community.

Meanwhile, the South-east zone of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has condemned the mass killing of the innocent indigenes of Ezillo by unknown gunmen describing the development as act of terrorism.

In a statement by the Zonal Director, Olu Omotayo, the organisation called on the federal government to immediately find ways of ending such acts of barbarism and terrorism, noting that if left unchecked, there are still strong indications that the situation could go out of hand.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/ezillo-attack-death-toll-rises-to-66/106267/

Nella battaglia al terrorismo islamista Nigeria, Usa e Ue stanno a guardare

2012-01-01T08:44:00.001+01:00

Nella battaglia al terrorismo islamista Nigeria, Usa e Ue stanno a guardare di Alessandra Boga
31 Dicembre 2011

Credente cristiano in Nigeria

La Nigeria ha vissuto ancora un Natale di sangue. Tre chiese nel Nord del Paese sono state oggetto di attentati che hanno causato almeno 40 vittime. La maggior parte ha trovato la morte sui gradini di una chiesa cattolica a Madalla vicino alla capitale Abuja, dopo aver partecipato alla messa di Natale. Corpi carbonizzati e arti smembrati da un bomba erano sparsi attorno alla chiesa distrutta. Quello del 2011 è stato descritto come “il Natale più nero che la Nigeria abbia mai avuto”.
Responsabile degli attacchi terroristici il famigerato gruppo islamico Boko Haram (“L’educazione occidentale è peccato”). Il mondo, come al solito, ha offerto le sue indecise, esitanti condanne. Tutti, dalla Casa Bianca al Vaticano, hanno definito “senza senso” i sanguinosi attentati che hanno colpito le chiese nigeriane. Eppure è da oltre un decennio che Boko Haram dichiara apertamente i propri obiettivi: applicare la sharia, la legge islamica, e assoggettare, se non eliminare i cristiani dalla Nigeria.
Il gruppo islamico continua a terrorizzare i cristiani. Ne ha uccisi migliaia e piazzato bombe o bruciato centinaia di chiese. Nel Natale dello scorso anno l’organizzazione terroristica ha fatto saltare in aria parecchie chiese, uccidendo quasi 40 fedeli cristiani. Boko Haram, il cui nome per intero in arabo è “Gente della Sunna per la Da’wa (islamizzazione) e il Jihad (la “guerra santa”)”, rappresenta un fronte religioso islamico ostile a tutto ciò che non è musulmano, cristiani in testa. “Per loro la religione cristiana è qualcosa che proviene dall’Occidente, e che quindi non è consentita”, ha spiegato a Ilsussidiario.net mons. Ignatius Kaigama, arcivescovo di Jos, una delle città teatro degli attacchi contro le chiese che hanno insanguinato il Natale in Nigeria. “Il gruppo islamista considera la stessa Costituzione nigeriana come un prodotto della civilizzazione occidentale, e preferisce sostituirla con la Sharia. Boko Haram insomma è caratterizzato dal fanatismo più radicale. Gli stessi musulmani normali disapprovano profondamente le sue azioni, anche perché gli attentati non colpiscono solo le chiese, ma anche la polizia, le caserme e la stessa sede delle Nazioni unite ad Abuja”, ha proseguito l’arcivescovo.
Egli ha anche affermato che non si sa chi ci sia dietro Boko Haram (se gruppi politici o potenze straniere), nè chi fornisca loro fondi ed armi. “A Jos domenica sono stati arrestati quattro membri di Boko Haram, ma prima ancora che la notizia si sapesse erano già stati rilasciati. Mentre il 22 novembre scorso il senatore Ali Ndume era stato incarcerato per avere pianificato un attentato, e il 19 dicembre è stato rilasciato su cauzione. E’ questo il motivo per cui ritengo che non sia messa in atto un’attività d’intelligence sufficientemente incisiva, e la conseguenza è che gli attentati contro le chiese si ripetono in continuazione”.

Solo negli ultimi due mesi, il gruppo islamico ha effettuato attacchi contro decine di luoghi di culto cristiani, piazzando bombe in alcuni e dandone alle fiamme altri. Ha aperto il fuoco su una congregazione costituita soprattutto di donne e bambini, ha ucciso i due figli di un ex terrorista che si era convertito al cristianesimo, ucciso a sangue freddo dei sacerdoti e dei suoi membri si sono recati in alcuni negozi di proprietà di cristiani, ordinando loro di recitare versi del Corano. Coloro che non li conoscevano sono stati uccisi.
Il mese scorso, centinaia di musulmani di Boko Haram, armati, hanno invaso villaggi cristiani, uccidendo, saccheggiando e distruggendo tutto ciò che vedevano, in quattro lunghe ore di terrore. 130 cristiani sono stati uccisi e altri 45 sterminati in un altro villaggio, al grido di “Allahu Akbar !”. Centinaia di cristiani mancano ancora all’appello e migliaia sono fuggiti dalla regione.

“Le autorità federali della Nigeria, i servizi segreti e i leader musulmani non fanno nulla per difendere i cristiani e non osano neppure condannare gli attentati. I terroristi di Boko Haram non guardano in faccia a nessuno e sono pronti a colpire chiunque provi a contrastarli. E così gli stessi giudici, quando per caso mettono le mani su un terrorista, lo liberano subito dopo perché hanno paura”, ha denunciato mons. Ignatius Kaigama. “nessuno osa fare un solo passo avanti per condannare pubblicamente gli attentati di Boko Haram, figuriamoci arrestarne gli esponenti e punirli come prescrive la legge”.

Europa e Stati Uniti non hanno potuto far nulla finora per aiutare la Nigeria (benché gli USA abbiano offerto la loro disponibilità per scovare gli attentatori di Natale). Come ha spiegato lo stesso arcivescovo, “il nostro governo non ha mai richiesto il loro aiuto”. E’ grande l’indignazione dell’alto prelato: “Se le autorità federali non sono in grado di gestire la situazione nel Paese è loro dovere chiedere il supporto internazionale, e francamente non mi riesco a capacitare del motivo per cui non lo abbiano ancora fatto” ed egli ha affermato che “la Nigeria non ha bisogno di militari stranieri, ma di essere aiutata nel coordinamento delle forze di sicurezza federali. Il nostro governo dovrebbe rendersi conto che quanto sta avvenendo è ogni giorno più imbarazzante, oltre che estremamente doloroso per la nostra gente. Il problema non è solo dei cristiani, la gente non può più andare a scuola, nei mercati, in moschea, senza avere il timore di attentati terroristici”.
La mancanza di un appoggio efficace del governo non ha fatto tardare rappresaglie agli attentati di Natale. Alcuni uomini hanno lanciato una bomba all’interno di una scuola coranica nel sud del Paese a maggioranza cristiana, ferendo sei bambini e un adulto.

L’episodio ha avuto luogo nella regione petrolifera del Delta del Niger, mentre nella città di Damaturu nel nord musulmano della Nigeria sono circa 90 mila gli sfollati dopo gli scontri tra Boko Haram e il governo. Ad aggravare la frattura fra cristiani e musulmani c'e' anche la situazione politica. Proprio oggi la Corte Suprema nigeriana ha confermato la vittoria alle presidenziali di aprile di Goodluck Jonathan, cristiano del Sud, respingendo il ricorso del Cpc (Congress for Progressive Change) che aveva denunciato brogli e il cui candidato, Muhammadu Buhari, musulmano del Nord, ex dittatore della Nigeria a meta' degli anni ottanta, e' arrivato secondo. Quest’ultimo ha parlato di un risultato “motivato politicamente”. Dopo le elezioni, le violenze fra le opposte fazioni avevano causato almeno 800 morti nel Paese.
news

Nigeria...........Una strage di cristiani

2011-12-26T10:51:00.000+01:00

Nigeria, Natale di sangue: bombe in tre chiese Una strage di cristiani

Tre attentati contro i cattolici. Secondo le prime stime le vittime sarebbero più di venti. La denuncia della Santa Sede: "Un odio cieco e assurdo che non ha alcun rispetto per la vita umana". Rivendicazione della setta islamica Boko Haram

di Libero Pennucci - 25 dicembre 2011, 17:13

Natale di sangue in Nigeria. Tre bombe sono esplose, mentre si stava celebrando la messa del 25 dicembre, in tre diverse chiese della Nigeria. Una bomba è scoppiata nella chiesa di Santa Teresa nella capitale Abuja.

Ingrandisci immagine

Altre due esplosioni vicino Jos, in una zona centrale del Paese, e in una chiesa a Gadaka, nel Nord. Un massacro di cristiani. Secondo i primi soccorritori l'ordigno avrebbe provocato una strage: i morti e i feriti sarebbero alcune decine; aolmeno diciannove soltanto nella prima delle tre basiliche colpite dalle esplosioni, ma il bilancio è destinato a crescere. Il primo attentato sarebbe avvenuto nella chiesa di Santa Teresa, nel quartiere di Madala.

Il governo nigeriano conferma l'accaduto attraverso Yushau Shuaib, portavoce dell'agenzia nigeriana dei servizi di sicurezza, ma non fornisce dati precisi sull'entità della tragedia lanciando tuttavia un'allarme che rende l'idea dell'emergenza: non ci sarebbero abbastanza ambulanze in tutta la città per evacuare le vittime e i feriti. Nel corso della giornata i sospetti degli inquirenti sono stati confermati: dietro ad almeno una delle esplosioni ci sarebbe la mano di un gruppo islamico. La cellula Boko Haram ha rivendicato l'attentato di oggi contro una chiesa cristiana a Madalla, nei pressi di Abuja. Immediata la denuncia della Santa Sede che ha parlato attraverso il portavoce Franco Lombardi: "è purtroppo la manifestazione ancora una volta della crudeltà di un odio cieco e assurdo che non ha alcun rispetto per la vita umana e cerca di suscitare e alimentare altro odio e confusione". Sulla stessa linea anche il ministro degli Esteri Giulio Terzi: "L'Italia, da sempre in prima linea nella difesa della libertà di fede e nella promozione del dialogo e della tolleranza interreligiosi, continuerà ad assicurare il proprio massimo impegno, anche nel quadro dell'azione dell'Unione europea , affinchè in Nigeria come altrove i principi della convivenza interreligiosa e del rispetto della libertà di culto vengano rispettati e difesi attivamente".

Riti «voodoo» come passaporto per controllare i «nuovi schiavi»

2011-12-19T23:17:00.000+01:00

Gdf di La Spezia smantella organizzazione traffico esseri umani, 8 arresti

ultimo aggiornamento: 19 dicembre, ore 15:53

Genova - (Adnkronos) - L'organizzazione, che ha il vertice in Nigeria e ramificazioni in diversi stati africani ed europei, determinava periodicamente delle vere e proprie quote di persone da inviare in Europa. Per ottenere la fedeltà delle donne da avviare alla prostituzione in Italia, venivano praticati riti ''voodoo'', con l'effetto di creare una forma di sudditanza psicologica, integrata anche da minacce di morte nei confronti loro e dei familiari (Video)

http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Regioni/Liguria/Gdf-di-La-Spezia-smantella-organizzazione-traffico-esseri-umani-8-arresti_312765084936.html

Un intervento chirurgico l'ha salvata da una grave cardiopatia

2011-12-10T10:19:00.000+01:00

Sigeoma, dalla Nigeria a Palermo per ritrovare la vita

Palermo (TMNews) - Ha occhi tristi ma riconoscenti, un sorriso appena accennato, le mani giunte, l'espressione di leggero imbarazzo. Sigeoma ha 19 anni, è nigeriana ed è nata con una grave malformazione cardiaca. Ora sta bene, la sua vita non è più in pericolo grazie a un gruppo di volontari dell'Associazione Solaria di Palermo, che l'ha fatta venire in Italia a proprie spese affinché potesse essere sottoposta a un delicato intervento chirurgico all'Ismett, centro sanitario all'avanguardia, come spiega Giacomo Vernengo, pediatra dell'associazione. Il caso di Sigeoma è il quarto a essere risolto grazie al programma di medicina umanitaria dell'associazione siciliana. La mancanza di fondi ha fatto tramontare l'ipotesi di creare una struttura sanitaria nei Paesi interessati, rendendo necessaria una diversa forma di assistenza. Sigeoma ha ripreso a camminare e a mangiare normalmente anche se il cibo italiano non le piace tanto. Presto tornerà in Nigeria dove per un po' sarà tenuta sotto controllo da un'equipe medica locale.

http://www.tmnews.it/web/sezioni/videonews/20111208_video_17153241.shtml

Ondo Socialite Ade Fayeun aka Ade Basket Wanted ...

2011-11-29T06:43:00.000+01:00

Ondo Socialite Ade Fayeun aka Ade Basket Wanted ...

Nov 11, 2011 – Ondo Socialite Ade Fayeun aka Ade Basket Declared Wanted For Sex Assault

Do you remember the story of a man called Ade Fayeun popularly known as Ade Basket who brutally battered 2 girls in Ondo state after sexual encounter with them stating they stole his money.

He has been declared wanted for sex assault and theft over N9,000.

The street character with political influence had on Friday October 21 2011 ordered his followers to strip four girls to their skin and made them parade naked around a couple of streets in the state capital, Akure.

According to a source ‘the victims pictures were severally taken by passers by and participants with camera phones in the course of this abuse’

Some of the pictures have phone their way onto the internet courtesy of Ade’s aides- while others have become one of the most passed around on phones in that part of the world.

The girls were alleged to have stolen N9000 from him when he slept with them over night in an hotel room.

He meted out the treatment to the four girls when he claimed he couldn’t find the money where he kept it- and pain staking search of the girl couldn’t unearth the missing sum.

After the treatment that resulted in the girls also suffering a couple of slaps and kicks- one of the victims, Miss Dayo Richards wrote a petition tagged ‘Complaint of assault, inhuman and degrading treatment done to me by one Mr. Ade Fayeun (aka Ade Basket)’ to the commissioner of police, Ondo State.

Informants claimed that the police ‘arrested’ Ade Basket on the strength of this petition but just like he allegedly boasted when ‘dealing with the girls, he used his influence to get himself out of the hook’

Ade Basket became popular in the state as a political muscle for sacked governor Olusegun Agagu. He is believed to be close to the government of incumbent Gov, Olusegun Mimiko.

His political links and ‘easy release’ by the police have kick started a furore over the development.

Human rights canvassers have started a campaign for Ade to be arrested and prosecuted for ‘his acts against womanhood’. The opposition party Action Congress of Nigeria are stridently calling for his prosecution as well. And to worsen his case, same for the Ondo state Government.

Pictures of the assault victims

The government through the commissioner for information, Kayode Akinmade and Women Affairs, Olayinka Alabi maintains ‘all those responsible will not go unpunished’

The pressure these public furore have brought to bear on the case is said to have forced the police to begin a fresh move to arrest Ade Basket. He is said to be trying to tap into his wealth of influence to dodge arrest and prosecution at press time. (Society Now)

Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu is Dead

2011-11-26T18:16:00.000+01:00

Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu is Dead

26 Nov 2011

Font Size: a / A

Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu

Former biafran leader and leader of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu is dead.
Thisday can confirm that he died late last night. He had been sick for a while and was receiving treatment at a united Kingdom (UK) hospital.More to follow . . .

Ojukwu was born in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria in 1933. His father, Sir Louis Phillipe Odumegwu Ojukwu was a wealthy businessman who made money from the transport industry. Ojukwu was sent to the UK at the age of 13 to study, first at Epsom College and later at Lincoln College, Oxford University where he earned a Masters degree in History.
Upon his return in 1956, he joined the civil service in then Eastern Nigeria. He would later leave the service to join the military, where he was one of the few university graduates.
Ojukwu was appointed Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria by Military Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi on January 17, 1966. By May of the same year, Nigeria was facing a serious crisis. A planned pogrom in Northern Nigeria targeting and killing South-easterners presented a problem. He made several assurances to the South-easterners about their safety but the crisis continued. In May 1967, he declared Eastern Nigeria a Sovereign State named Biafra.
In July, 1967, then Head of State Yakubu Gowon declared war on Biafra. A civil war ensued. The war raged on for another 30 months. An attempt at peace during a meeting at Aburi, Ghana did not stop the war. In 1970, Ojukwu handed over power to his deputy Major-General Phillip Effiong and left the country to avoid assassination. He was granted political asylum in Cote D'Ivoire by President Felix Houphöet-Biogny.
The civilian President of Shehu Shagari granted him an official pardon and he returned in 1982 after 13 years in exile. Ojukwu would later go into politics, forming the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). He was an active member until his death
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/dim-odimegwu-ojukwu-is-dead/103680/

Politici corrotti istigano all’odio religioso

2011-11-12T11:47:00.000+01:00

Politici corrotti istigano all’odio religioso e sfruttano i Boko Haram

Un comunicato di ACS-Aiuto alla Chiesa che Soffre sulle recenti violenze nel Nord della Nigeria. Il testo contiene dichiarazioni del vescovo di Maiduguri, monsignor Oliver Dashe Doeme, e del nunzio apostolico monsignor Augustine Kasujja.

«I veri responsabili delle violenze e degli spargimenti di sangue nel Nord della Nigeria sono alcuni politici corrotti che istigano all’odio religioso». A dichiararlo ad Aiuto alla Chiesa che Soffre è monsignor Oliver Dashe Doeme, vescovo di Maiduguri, capitale dello Stato nigeriano del Borno, che punta il dito anche contro le forze dell’ordine, «incapaci di difendere i cittadini». In una conversazione telefonica con ACS, il presule ha accusato le autorità locali di sfruttare le divisioni religiose interne per destabilizzare il clima e spodestare il governo. «L’amministrazione locale ha fortemente deluso la popolazione – racconta – consentendo gravi violazioni e minando la sicurezza stessa dei cittadini».

Nell’ultimo fine settimana, la serie di attentati del gruppo islamista «Boko Haram» ha provocato più di 100 morti. Epicentro delle violenze sono state la città di Damaturu e il vicino villaggio di Patiskum, in cui gli estremisti si sono scontrati con la polizia e hanno fatto esplodere numerosi ordigni in diverse moschee e chiese. Tra queste, quella di S. Mary a Damaturu, che venerdì è stata colpita da una bomba e ridotta in macerie. Il parroco e il vice-parroco, don James John e don Allan, hanno raccontato a monsignor Doeme di essersi messi in salvo appena prima dell’esplosione. «Era una delle chiese più grandi della nostra diocesi – ha detto il presule - capace di contenere migliaia di persone. Ed ora è rimasta solo la cenere». Domenica scorsa la comunità si è dovuta riunire per la Messa in una sala parrocchiale.

Quella di S. Mary è il quinto edificio religioso colpito in soli otto mesi. Ad aprile è stata attaccata la cattedrale di Maiduguri e tre mesi dopo alcuni uffici della curia e l’alloggio dei sacerdoti. Il quarto episodio tre settimane quando una chiesa è stata incendiata da alcuni giovani.

«I giovani della regione sono reclutati con facilità dai gruppi estremisti – spiega il vescovo ad ACS - a causa della grave condizione di povertà e di disoccupazione e del basso livello d’istruzione».

Molti estremisti riescono ad infiltrarsi anche nei corpi di polizia, aggravando la criticità della situazione. «Se le forze dell’ordine fossero intervenute prima, molte persone avrebbero potuto salvarsi – afferma monsignor Dome – ma molti degli attentatori erano proprio membri della sicurezza». Il presule chiama in causa la responsabilità di alcuni politici – «di cui non posso fare i nomi» – che si servono dei Boko Haram per perseguire i propri interessi. «Le autorità permettono ai fondamentalisti islamici di comprare le armi e fomentano l’odio interconfessionale. La religione – conclude – è un argomento molto delicato in Nigeria ed è molto facile scatenare nuove tensioni». Secondo il presule, il fine ultimo è quello di cacciare i cristiani dal Paese – oppure convertirli con la forza – per riuscire a imporre la legge coranica.

Dopo gli scontri dei giorni scorsi e le minacce di nuovi attentati da parte dei Boko Haram, la Chiesa chiede al Governo maggiore sicurezza. E il nunzio apostolico, monsignor Augustine Kasujja, in una recente intervista ha espresso ad ACS-Italia estrema preoccupazione per le violazioni alla libertà religiosa che si verificano frequentemente in Nigeria, specie nel Nord del Paese. «La comunità internazionale – ha detto il rappresentante pontificio – deve incoraggiare il governo nigeriano ad accogliere nell’ordinamento interno le norme e le convenzioni internazionali, facendole aderire alla Costituzione».
http://www.laperfettaletizia.com/2011/11/politici-corrotti-istigano-allodio.html

Ambassador Saidu Pindar dies in car crash in Kaduna State

2011-10-27T17:38:00.001+02:00

August 31, 2011

Amb SAIDU PINDAR

On 31 August, Alhaji Saidu Shettima Pindar, Nigeria’s pioneer Ambassador to Sao Tome and Principe, died a car accident. The accident occurred on the Kaduna-Zaria road in Kaduna State.
Details of the accident are yet to be confirmed, but sources said he was traveling to Kano at the time he died. One source said the accident was caused by the bad condition of some spots on the road, but this too, had not been verified.
Ambassador Pindar was born in Biu, Biu Local Government Area of Borno State, on 19 August 1954. He obtained an Electrical Engineering Diploma from Kaduna Polytechnic in 1976, Bachelor of Electrical Engineering Degree from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1980, and subsequently a Master’s Degree in Communication Engineering from the University of Manchester’s Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in United Kingdom.
He started his working life with the Borno State Civil Service, rising to become the Director of Engineering/Chief Engineer at the Borno Radio and Television (BRTV) before transferring to the Federal Civil Service in 1987.

In October 1998, he was posted to the Embassy of Nigeria, Rome, Italy, as Minister-Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary. While on that post, he received commendations from the Italian Ministry of Interior, the Italian Immigration and Frontier Service and a Christian NGO for his commitment towards combating human trafficking and for his compassionate treatment of trafficked Nigerians.

In 2000, he was appointed Nigeria’s pioneer Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome & Principe. At that post, he was credited with contributing immensely to the ratification of the Treaty establishing the Nigeria-Sao Tome & Principe Joint Development Zone (JDZ). He voluntarily retired from the Federal Civil Service after 32 years of public service. In 2004, he was conferred with a National Honour, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).

Even in retirement, he remained active in private business as well as in political and public life. He was the founder and promoter of Maitama Amusement Park, a leisure and entertainment centre situated in the high brow Maitama district of Abuja. He was also the Executive Chairman of Subotech Engineering Ltd, a company supplying and installing broadcast equipment nationwide.

Politically, he was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In October 2009, he was appointed by then President Umaru Yar’Adua, into the board of the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Authority (NSTP-JDA). He was later the deputy governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Borno State in the April 2011 general elections, but his party did not win.

Ambassador Pindar was a member of several professional bodies, including the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
He was a founding member of the Biu Emirate Development Association (BEDA) and also the Biu Forum. In recognition of his contributions to the development of Biu Emirate, HRH Alhaji Umar Mustapha Aliyu, the Emir of Biu elevated him from the position of Jarma of Biu to Waziri of Biu in January 2005.

A philanthropist, he sponsored hundreds of students in various schools in Borno, Yobe and Bauchi State under the Shettima Pindar Foundation.
He was happily married and blessed with children.
In a condolence message to the late ambassador’s family, Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima expressed shock over the unfortunate incident. He described the late Pindar as a visionary, humble and de-tribalized man, who dedicated his life to the cause of transforming not only Borno State, but the Nigerian nation.

news

NIGERIAN SENDS AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS PRESIDENT

2011-10-15T06:35:00.001+02:00

A reader of Africanews.it has sent us an email with this open letter to the president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan. We publish it here below. These are his own views and we have no responibility in it.

MY LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA. HIS EXCELLENCY GOODLUCK JONATHAN

Dear Mr President,
after a period of hesitation, I decide to write you for an important issue that disturbs every responsible Nigerian.
I am sorry if you would have wanted it to be a private letter but I think that since it represents the preoccupation of many Nigerians, I should make it known to all. I must commence by saying that the situation of my dear country Nigeria does not surprise me.
For instance, already during the electoral campaign that brought you to power, I foresaw the impasse in which we were heading to and I started expressing my doubt on your capacity of running this complicated country. Mr President, from all indication, you could be a good candidate for a country, but I am afraid, it is not for a country like Nigeria.
It might sound hard to hear but your two great errors are hunting you and your regime.
Firstly, you had always counted on your good luck forgetting you do not run a county by luck. Though your good luck helped you to have a weak opposition and indecisive electorates who out of frustration and poverty went for any laudable candidate who you were it does not also permit to be more realistic and quick in action taking.
Your second and most important error is that you counted on the help of the party under which you ran your election but unfortunately the party has neither reputation nor scope.
My dear President, your downfall started just when you accepted to run for such a vital post under a political party without a determined manifesto and plan of action. When you accepted to run for such a post under a party that for more than a decade has ran Nigeria under a day to day planning, I knew the tenure was to be a moon dance like tenure.
Mr President, when you won this honourable post, I was among those who wanted to sit back and see where you will leading this country to, but seeing the pandemonium that is reigning in my beloved country; seeing that the labour of our heroes pas are trying to be in vain, I decided to write you as a loyal and humble citizen of one Republic of Nigeria.
I know that you might be more preoccupied than every other citizen of this country but I am thinking you are yet to understand well the situation of things in the nation. And what pains me most is that your Excellency has very few members of your crew who really are ready to help out matters in the present circumstance. However, I must state that you are not the cause of the Nigerian problem, but the right heir of a disorganized system.
His Excellency, I will not only blame you for your errors but I will also propose what could make your tenure a successful one. As you rightly know that the major problem of Nigeria is security, I must then say that there are situations that only when they are resolved the nation will know peace. However, I would not want to advice you on the matters of policy keeping and employment creation for you are surely aware they are necessities that every nation must redress.
Permit me to say that the techniques applied till now on the matters of crime fighting in Nigeria have not yielded enough fruit for reasons that are very simple.
In one of our last article, “Why neither FBI nor CIA might be able to help Nigeria resolve her security problem” We were trying to show why the differences in the duration of time necessary for the discovery of an author of a terrorist attack from one country to the other.
His Excellence, it occurs to me very often to ask myself why we spend huge amount of money buying helicopters and arms to fight those we do not know their identity? Do your security advisers ask themselves why proves of robbery and other crimes serve less in the identification of their perpetrators? How can one prove that a man whose birth was not registered and who has no electoral card exist? What does a finger print left on a dead body serve to the police who have no digital record of the citizens? How do you determine that a man declared death is dead in a country where there is no death registration? How can you know a citizen in a country where there is till now no National Identification Card? Does it occur to His Excellency that these are the secrets behind crime fighting? How many telephone numbers has an average Nigerian? How could the police trace a caller in a country where millions of telephone numbers are not registered and are changed as clothes?
Mr President, should I continue to mention the irregularities that mar the work of security agencies in Nigeria, it will never be exhausted.
All these and other related problems are the reasons that permit all sorts of evil in Nigeria, ranging from robbery, kidnapping, bombing and so on. And as long as there is no new redress of the system, there will be no progress in crime fighting.
Though I know it will take much to change the mentality of the people; though it might need many years of sensitization, I think it is a sin non qua non to crime fighting. Mr President, you might not be understood as you start this crusade but I think the nation need to be identified.
We need to register all new born babies obligatorily, we need to declare every death that occur in the nation, we need to have citizens that move about with their identity cards; citizens that identify themselves to the police at necessary checking points.
We need a country where the security agencies have dignity, a place where they know their duties and rights.
Finally, I would advise you, as a loyal and humble citizen of Nigeria, to be man enough to assume your office as the President elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
You should forget some of your friend who are not helping out matters in the building of the nation; you should abandon some outdated individuals who continue hunting your tenure. Call it your duty to make a history or tarnish the image of the nation by remaining inactive and insensible to the national plight.
Thanks Mr President as you make the best decision of your tenure in listening or not listening to this plea.

Yours faithful and humble citizen,
ALI Nnaemeka Cornelius.
http://www.africanews.it/english/nigerian-sends-open-letter-to-his-president/
AFRICANEWS

Nigerian Immigration Service And Beneficiaries Of Harvested Human Spare Parts

2011-10-13T16:19:00.000+02:00

By EKAIWE IGINUA OSEMWEKHA Last updated: 10/13/2011

ON the 22 September, 2011, the New Comptroller of Immigration, Edo State Command paid a courtesy visit to the Benin Monarch.

He intimated the monarch of the new wild dimension in human trafficking to include the harvesting of human kidney of illegal immigrants in a bid to making a living in Europe and other developed countries of the world.

For the Europeans who have been undergoing diaralaces without a donor of kidney, it is the best development that can happen in their demand of stay alive.

The Boko Haram syndicates affiliated to Al’Quada are systematically gathering steam of acceptability by some traditional rulers who gave land to them without suspecting their sinister motives. This Islamic extremist could eventually constitute themselves into an army of suicide attacks on the humdingers in the society.

The borders of Nigeria with Chad Republic, Niger and Camerouns are very porous, thus creating an easy passage way for some Al’Queda militants who are anti American and the United Nations.

These people have been brain washed to believe that for any successful attack made on western civilization and education, create an Ode to heavenly acceptability

The immigration also frown at the trafficking on children and women. A palace chief who will like to remain anonymous said; “Many children those days have been forced into unwanted labour due to poverty while some people are now bluffing with unmerited wealth stolen from state allocations. So, this type of restrained inequality is the driving force for under age labour.

Some European countries and America are enjoying prosperity, while hundreds of millions of Africans live in abject indigent.

God had created a universal world of great prosperity. The United Nation records states that some countries cannot consume all their products and it was estimated that in 2004, the aggregate total value of goods and services input in that year alone exceeds $65 trillion. If we are to spread this by aggregate world income per capital, it will amount to approximately $9,000 for every individual now living in this planet earth.

This so-called universal prosperity is a clog in the wheel of progress for mankind. With reference to the recent article by the United Nations, the money in the hands of just three persons is more than the aggregate gross domestic product of the forty eight most impoverished countries. It stated that many poor individuals eke a living by surviving on just $2 daily. Millions of those people have no access to portable drinking water and cannot afford one square meal a day.

The hazards posed by migrant Fulani cattle rearers who might have links with Boko Haram and Al’Queda cannot be under-estimated. In a bid to exploring areas for grazing their animals they move from the nook and crannies across the state. And in the course of this endless migration, the animals defecate in all their foot path.
Researchers have proved that animals waste contain similar bacterial as human waste. So, indiscriminate dump of cattle waste by the river bank could fast track bacterial mobility – to water consumers in the rustic environment.
About 80% of population today is without safe dependable water and the consequences are enormous. No fewer than a thousand people are killed annually through water related diseases, such as Bihazzia which afflict so many people, Filariases the world biggest causes of blindness affecting so many people in the northern parts of the country. Dysentery, cholera and typoid continues to destroy human lives. Contaminated water is usually responsible for the menance of those disastrous bacterials.

It had been confirmed by experts in their survey of many delvoeping countries that about 95% of all infant mortality could be avoided through safe water utility and refuse disposal by keeping our cattles in approved cattle ranches across the country.
Retrospectively,the Benin female youths and adults were becoming notorious by jumping Italian Immigraiton regulations. Their major concen was to join the band wagon of the successful Roman prostitutes. They were oblivious of the health hazards of such venture and many of them became afflicted with diverse sexual infections. So, many did not live to enjoy the so-called money they had acquired.

However, it should be abundantly clear that the Benin man is a very proud man and do not encourage their women to live such lives which is antitetical with our cultural valure.

In our youthful days, it was a taboo for a stranger to cross the leg of a married women seating down on a mat nor can a none member of the royal family touch the wrapper of the king.
So, when a Benin woman weds according to our native law and custom, it is a congregational prayer that God and our ancestors should join husband and wife as partners, that will become a shinning example to others who are yet to go into this life long institution and not to become a Roman prostitute.

When the senate president, Senator David mark, paid a courtesy visit to the Benin Moanrch on the 23rd September, 2011, he made a postivie remarks about the pragmatic actions taken by the Nigeiran Ambassador to Italy, Crown Prince eheneden Eradiauwa towards changing the negativ image of the Ngierian girls in Italy.

We are quite optimistic that before his tenure elapses there would be positive changes about the life style of our girls in italy.

news from :http://nigerianobservernews.com/13102011/features/features2.html

Duncan Mighty - Sanko Love

2011-08-13T10:57:00.000+02:00

Corporate accountability | Amnesty International

2011-08-11T19:09:00.001+02:00

Corporate accountability

Stop corporate abuse in the Niger Delta

Corporations frequently exploit the weak regulatory systems in many poor countries, making people living in poverty some of the most vulnerable to corporate human rights abuses.
People living in the oil-producing areas of Nigeria’s Niger Delta have seen their human rights undermined by an industry that their government cannot or will not hold to account. Oil pollution has damaged traditional livelihoods such as fishing and agriculture, put people’s health at risk and undermined access to safe food and clean water. Many victims have not had access to justice or redress.

Urge Nigeria’s newly-elected President to commit to a comprehensive clean-up of pollution in the Niger Delta. His public support will push the oil industry to address the devastating impact of their bad practice.
The Nigerian government has a duty to protect the people of the Niger Delta from the impact of pollution – tell the President to effectively regulate the oil industry.
Nigeria’s government must hold the oil companies to account. The oil companies must clean up their act.

Enlarge

Learn more about corporate accountability »

Amnesty International campaigns for stronger regulation of companies worldwide.

Corporate accountability | Amnesty International

Northen Nigerian leaders accused of supporting Boko Haram

2011-08-07T08:13:00.000+02:00

Northen Nigerian leaders accused of supporting Boko Haram

WRITTEN BY KONYE OBAJI ORI
THURSDAY, 04 AUGUST 2011 16:3
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), a northern ethno-political organisation has been accused of sponsoring terrorism perpetrated by the extremist Islamist group, Boko Haram. Map of Nigeria The northern chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) made the accusation following the federal government’s decision to engage Boko Haram. President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration asked members of the ACF and the Borno Elders Forum to engage Boko Haram in dialogue on behalf of other Nigerians. Protesting against the decision to negotiate with Boko Haram, the secretary-general of the northern chapter of CAN, Saidu Dogo on Tuesday told journalists in Kaduna that the government had made a fundamental error. “It is an exercise in futility because prominent northern leaders are behind the security challenges the nation now faces,” Dogo said. “Where will these people (Boko Haram) get resources to buy explosives and chemicals and put them together to make bombs and start attacking innocent Nigerians?” The accusations also followed reports that the federal government would assemble a committee comprising of ACF leaders to engage Boko Haram. Dogo alleged that the same Arewa leaders that Jonathan had deployed for the talks were behind the armed group. However, the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, speaking at the inauguration of the eight-man presidential committee on security challenges in the North-East zone said the government could not negotiate with Boko Haram because “it is a faceless organisation.” The federal government said it established an eight-man committee not to have peace talks with Boko Haram but gather information from them. “The purpose of the committee is not to negotiate with the Boko Haram sect,” Anyim was quoted as having said. “This is because we cannot negotiate with people whom we do not know. “This is not a negotiating thing, the committee is there to review all the issues of security challenges in the zone and proffer solutions or recommendations, which will bring a speedy resolution of the crisis. “Negotiation may be after the report of the committee, if it is recommended that government should try to negotiate with the sect, then it may be considered.” http://www.theafricareport.com/archives2/politics/5168574-northen-nigerian-leaders-accused-of-supporting-boko-haram.html The committee has two weeks to submit its report to liaise with the National Security Adviser (NSA). But Dogo argued that since the Boko Haram had listed its demands which were impossible to meet, especially adopting Shari’a law throughout Nigeria, the committee’s efforts were bound to fail. “Why then do you start something that will end in futility? It is not going to work because they (Boko Haram) have their beliefs. That as long as the Nigerian nation exists, Sharia must be practiced and imbibed by everybody, which can never happen,” he said. “What is the government going to negotiate with the sect? Would the government ask them to forget their Islamic belief? To me, I feel that this is an exercise in futility. The government should not have constituted the committee.”

NIGERIA.......SECONDO JESSICA

2011-08-06T14:40:00.000+02:00

Nigeria è sentirsi kiamare ''aunt'' o ''mma'' dai ragazzini o addirittura dai cugini..è

ammazzarsi

dalle risate x strada tra gli insulti degli autisti..è

avere smp paura k qlc1 da 1mome all'altro t possa rubare qlcs aprendo la porta della makkina

o addirittura semplicemnt dal finestrino..Nigeria

è avere smp 1torcia n borsa a causa della scarsità d NEPA..è1posto dv nn puoi camminare x

strada snz cnquistare qlc1 -.-'

è1posto dv gli autobus hanno nomi legati a Dio! la Nigeria è dove la gente già dalle 6 d

mattina mette la musica cristiana a palla cosi da

svegliare tt il vicinato -.-' è un luogo dove c è traffico anke tra i pedoni!

Jessica Ojinkeya)

TIMAYA

2011-08-06T10:26:00.003+02:00

Street Life in Lagos - Witness - Al Jazeera English

2011-05-29T12:21:00.000+02:00

Street Life in Lagos - Witness - Al Jazeera English

Filmmaker: Joe Loncraine

Lagos, Nigeria's financial capital, is one of the fastest growing megacities on earth. Every day thousands of people arrive in the biggest city in Africa to start a new life and forge a new, better future. Many come from outside Nigeria.
Jean and Christian, both teachers, are from Benin. They came to Lagos to seek their fortunes and live and work in one of the most famous slums in Africa, Makoko. Here they take us on a journey of their adopted city, showing us the spirit of enterprise and survival that its residents need to make a living.

A canoe or a motorbike can make a huge difference, while those with a generator or those scavaging the rubbish heaps all try to get by in this tough, vibrant city.

Street Life in Lagos can be seen from Tuesday, May 24, at the following times GMT: Tuesday: 2230; Wednesday: 0930; Thursday: 0330; Friday: 1630; Saturday: 2230; Sunday: 0930; Monday: 0330; Tuesday: 1630.

TIMI DAKOLO There's A Cry

2011-05-15T10:07:00.000+02:00

Tears flow as Obi receives slain NYSC member

2011-05-07T11:08:00.000+02:00

BY VINCENT UJUMADU on MAY 7, 2011 · in NEWS

SOBBING pervaded Government House, Awka on Thursday evening at a special service for Mrs. Agnes Ezennadozie, a member of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, from Anambra State who was murdered during the post -presidential election riot in Bauchi.

The service drew a large crowd of sympathisers, many of whom were members of NYSC serving in Anambra State. The crowd waited for several hours to receive the body of Mrs. Ezeamaka which came by road through Onitsha.

Governor Peter Obi, who received the body at about 5.30 pm expressed sadness over what he called “intemperate exhibition of the passion of hate” by some Nigerians and appealed to the people to rediscover the virtues of peace as a way to achieve progress and development.

Obi regretted that the NYSC scheme, which was designed to be a veritable tool for national integration, had become a source of worry to some Nigerians because of the recent sad event that turned corps members into targets of attack by some disgruntled elements.

He said while it is good and patriotic to serve the nation, there is need to protect the people who have dedicated their lives to the service of their fatherland..

He called on the federal government not to abandon the families of the deceased because they paaid the supreme price in the course of service.

According to Obi, the only worthy legacy that could be left for the victims of the riots is for all, especially those who take active part in politics, to shun acts that tarnish the image of the country.

One of her colleagues, Mr. Eyisi Afamefuna from Adazi ani and with the call up number of NYSC/UNN/210/171993 expressed gratitude on behalf of the corps members on what he called the wonderful expression of love from Gov. Obi.

Eyisi said he was one of those who were brought back in the ANIDS vehicle sent by the governor and called for adequate compensation for the dead corps members.

The officiating priest, Rev. Fr. Godwin Okoye in his sermon described life as a gift from God and death a necessary end, adding that what matters in life is how well one lived and not how long

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/05/tears-flow-as-obi-receives-slain-nysc-member/

ITALY: NIGERIAN BLOWS UP HIS APARTMENT TO AVOID BEING EVICTED

2011-05-05T17:19:00.000+02:00

Mantova, 50enne fa esplodere casa per evitare lo sfratto e resta ucciso

Sei i feriti nell'esplosione, erano i carabinieri e i pompieri che lo dovevano tirare fuori

foto Ansa21:39 - Una persona è morta e sei sono rimaste ferite in seguito ad un'esplosione avvenuta in un appartamento a Castiglione delle Stiviere, in provincia di Mantova. A perdere la vita un 50enne di origine nigeriana che ha fatto volontariamente esplodere la casa. L'uomo doveva essere sfrattato e per questo si era asserragliato nell'appartamento. Sul posto sono giunti i carabinieri e i vigili del fuoco per eseguire lo sfratto: sei di loro sono rimasti feriti.
Si era asserragliato in casa da alcuni giorni per non farsi sfrattare. Quando sul posto sono arrivati i carabinieri e i vigili del fuoco per applicare il provvedimento, il cinquantenne ha provocato un'esplosione, forse con una bombola del gas, che lo ha ucciso e ha ferito, in modo non grave, tre vigili del fuoco e due carabinieri.

E' successo a Castiglione delle Stiviere, in un appartamento che si trova in un vicolo a fianco del Duomo, in pieno centro cittadino. La zona è transennata e i carabinieri non fanno avvicinare nessuno, mentre i vigili del fuoco e i tecnici del Comune stanno valutando i danni provocati agli appartamenti e agli edifici vicini.

Non è ancora chiaro se sia stato l'inquilino a fare esplodere la bombola del gas o se avesse da tempo saturato l'ambiente di gas, provocando l'esplosione non appena qualcuno ha suonato il campanello e provocato una scintilla. Quando i soccorritori hanno raggiunto l'alloggio, dopo che l'esplosione aveva investito i tre vigili de fuoco e i due carabinieri, hanno trovato il cinquantenne morto, sotto le macerie.

How BBC caused crisis in the North

2011-04-20T14:29:00.000+02:00

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FALLOUT: North boils *Vice-President Sambo's family house torched in Zaria *Na'Abba's, Tofa's, Salisu Buhari's houses razed in Kano *Emir of Kano's palace, Gov Lamido's company burnt *How BBC caused crisis in the North
Written by Kola Oyelere, Hassan Ibrahim, Ishola Michael, Isaac Shobayo and Dipo Laleye
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

THERE were violent reactions, on Monday, across the northern part of the country to the result of Saturday's presidential election, which saw the Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP's) candidate, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, emerge as the winner.

People demonstrate in Nigeria's northern city of Kano where running battles broke out between protesters and soldiers on April 18. A new outbreak of post-poll rioting in northern Nigeria left many dead overnight, the Red Cross said, after President Goodluck Jonathan appealed for unity following his win.
(AFP/File/Seyllou Diallo)

The reactions left in their wake burnt houses of prominent politicians, including Vice-President Namadi Sambo in Zaria, Kaduna State; Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na'Abba and former presidential candidate, Alhaji Bashir Tofa. The palace of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, was also reportedly torched.

Also, a company, said to belong to Governor Lamido was vandalised.

Elsewhere, public places were reportedly vandalised and burnt with a number of people killed in protest against the alleged manipulation of the presidential election result in favour of President Jonathan against Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate, who is from the North.

The youth, whose ages were put between 15 and 20, had alleged manipulation of the result of Saturday's presidential election in favour of the PDP and the perceived connivance of some northern politicians with President Jonathan to stop Major-General Buhari.

Some churches in the Badawa and Na'bawa areas were burnt down, by the youth, who later attempted to attack the Kano State Government House before they were dispersed by security agents, who fired gunshots sporadically for about 10 minutes.

Curfew in Kano, Kaduna
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State government, on Monday, imposed a 24-hour curfew to prevent the youth from causing further havoc in the state capital.

The youth, according to reports, had targeted chieftains of the PDP in the state capital who had to run away with their families for dear life.

In the northern part of the Kaduna metropolis, some places of worship were torched as thick dark smoke billowed into the sky for several hours.

Many people, especially non-indigenes and their families, had since run away to police or army barracks to seek refuge.

Foodstuffs are already becoming scarce, as shops and nearby markets cannot open due to the crisis.

As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that President Jonathan was leading, aggrieved youths in the Tudun Wada area started to heckle PDP supporters and in the process, burnt a famous eatery on the Nnamdi Azikiwe Way-Abuja Road.

Two houses of a local council chairman in the Kabala Costain area were razed while his whereabouts could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report.

Staunch PDP members in Tudun Wada and adjoining Unguwan Sanusi (names withheld) had to run away, as the mob razed their buildings and vandalised property.

Unconfirmed reports had it that innocent persons were injured as a result of attacks with crude weapons by the Yantauri, those believed to have spiritual protection from knife cuts and other metallic objects.

Although the violence continued to spread to several areas in Kaduna, small planes and helicopters that hovered in the sky scared many of the hoodlums, who scampered and hid to avoid being detected by the security men on surveillance.

The Kaduna State government said it had imposed a 24-hour curfew on the state and all security agencies, including the military, had been ordered to enforce it.

According to reports, in Zaria, several people were reportedly killed in the crisis and a Baptist Church in the city was razed.

The rampaging youth torched the family home of Vice President Namadi Sambo located at the Tudun Wada area of the city.

According to reports, the prison in Zaria was broken by hoodlums but the warders and other security agents had intensified effort to salvage the situation.

Meanwhile, armoured tanks were deployed by the military authorities to strategic parts of the state and combined unit of the police, Civil Defence Corps and other security agents intensified patrol to make sure that people observe the curfew imposed on the state.

In Angwar Romi and Sabo areas of the state capital, youths armed with machetes, cudgels and other dangerous weapons mounted roadblocks and searched vehicles. One of them, who declined to identify himself, said the search was aimed at checking the importation of bombs and other dangerous arms and explosives into their areas by would-be terrorists who might want to take advantage of the crisis to wreak havoc.

The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Kaduna, had in announcements continued to urge the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Hafiz Ringim and the other security agencies to take prompt action in order to bring the situation under control.

The commercial centre of the state capital, Ahmadu Bello Way, as well as the Sheikh Gumi Central Market, remained locked while commercial banks were closed to customers.

Governor Patrick Yakowa said in a live broadcast to the people, that following the outbreak of violence in some areas, the government had imposed a 24-hour curfew on the entire state.

He, however, said for no justifiable reasons, groups of persons in some parts of the state decided to resort to violence and wanton destruction of life and property since Sunday night.

Yakowa said in order to defuse the rising tension and following the advice of the security council, the state government decided to restrict the movement of persons, adding that "the security agencies have been directed to enforce this decision in order to protect the life and property of all law-abiding citizens of our dear state."

He appealed to the people of the state to remain law abiding, calm and stay at home until normalcy returned.

Meanwhile, calm is gradually returning to the city, as people remain indoors, but gunshots were heard from the Camp road/Almannar area of Kaduna GRA where, according to reports, attempts were made by the rampaging youths to torch the family home of the vice-president.

An indefinite curfew has been imposed in and around Kano, following the outbreak of violence which erupted in the commercial city, resulting in the death of no fewer than two persons.

The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Dan'azumi Doma, announced the emergency security measure, after a meeting of heads of security agencies.

The police commissioner said the curfew would be in force until further notice, while warning residents of Kano to remain indoors, as anybody found violating the curfew would be arrested and prosecuted.

"We have imposed an indefinite curfew in Kano State with immediate effect. So all law-abiding citizens are advised, in their own interest, to go to their respective homes and wait for further notice," he said.

As early as 8.00 a.m, on Monday, thousands of irate youths took to the streets, burning homes and mounting roadblocks on some major roads across the city, forcing residents to run for their lives.

In most parts of Kano city, especially Hotoro, Badawa, Sharada, Na'ba-wa, and Dakata, the aggrieved youth attacked homes of some supposed pro-Jonathan politicians, in what was now believed to be a clear case of post-election violence.

A combined team of police and army had been drafted to all streets in the state capital, while the situation remained tense, as most streets were empty and businesses under lock and key.
Activities paralysed in Gombe

Also in Gombe, supporters of the CPC, mainly youths, continued their violent activities and burnt down structures belonging to PDP stalwarts as well as government structures and places of worship around the town, killing one policeman in the process.

A divisional police officer of one of the police divisions was also wounded and was currently receiving treat-ment at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Gombe.

An eyewitness disclosed that Abuja Quarters was the worst hit, as the rampaging youth targeted the private residence of the state governor, Muhammad Danjuma Goje, as well as houses of other PDP stalwarts in the area, chanting Nigeria sai Buhari.

The youth, who were in their hundreds, carried different sizes of weapons with which they unleashed terror on their victims, a development that made people to desert the streets and went back to their respective homes for cover.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the phone, the state police commissioner, Suleiman Lawal, said "the situation is under control now, as we have been able to get the irate youth off the streets and normalcy is gradually returning to the town but the restriction of movement from one place to the other remains in order to check the activities of the youth."

Lawal, however, said the rampaging youth could not gain entrance into the Government House as planned, neither were they able to get anywhere close to the private residence of the governor, adding that, "we are on top of the situation, there is no cause for any alarm."

At the time of this report, there were no plans to impose a curfew in the state but the commissioner said the stay at home order would remain in force until normalcy fully returned.

Taskforce curtails protest in Jos
The Special Military Task Force (STF) in charge of security in Plateau State and the police averted a protest by irate youth on Monday over the outcome of the presidential election, held on Saturday.

As the results were being collated and it was discovered that the incumbent President Jonathan was leading, youths in predominantly Hausa/Fulani parts of Jos, precisely Bauchi Road, Nasarawa and Masalaci areas, trooped out in large numbers to protest the results being released.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that the youth, armed with weapons, barricaded the areas and lit bonfire along the roads to prevent free flow of movement.

It was learnt that on getting wind of the protest, the STF, led by its commander, Brigadier-General Hassan Umaru, mobilised to the scenes of the protests to arrest the situation.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, STF Public Relations Officer, Captain Charles Ekeocha, who said the cause of the protest was yet to be ascertained, stated that some youths suddenly trooped out at about 10.00 a.m, claiming to be protesting.

Ekeocha, who said the force was able to tactically force the youth to retreat, added that security men had taken over the affected areas and were now patrolling to avoid any breakdown of law and order.

Gov Aliyu calls for peace
The Niger State governor, Dr Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, on Monday, pleaded with the people of the state to give peace a chance and accept the results of the presidential election "as the will of Allah."

Aliyu's call came as markets, shops and public offices were hurriedly closed in Minna, Suleja, Bida and Kontagora, as protesters took to the streets in disagreement with the victory of President Jonathan.

At least five cars, one motorcycle and four places of worship were reportedly burnt in Minna, even as bonfires were lit along the major streets in the state capital.

One of the monuments under construction by the state government in the Kpakungu area of Minna was also burnt by the protesters.

A policeman, who had just closed from duty and was entering his house, was attacked and was battered, even as the hand of a staff member of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) was chopped off.

Following the inability of the police to contain the situation, heavily armed soldiers were deployed to maintain law and order in all these towns.

No fewer than eight persons who were throwing stones from buildings in the Kpakungu area were arrested and taken to the police headquarters.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Richard Oguche, confirmed the unrests, saying "a large number of arrests have been made."

Jonathan warns perpetrators
President Jonathan has called on those involved in the violence to desist forthwith from the acts, in the interest of peace and stability in the country.

In an address to the people of the country, on Monday, President Jonathan expressed sadness at the occurrence and urged political leaders to prevail on their supporters to stop the riots.

According to the statement, "I have received with great sadness the news of sporadic unrests in some parts of the country, which are not unconnected with last Saturday's elections.

"I appeal to those involved to stop this unnecessary and avoidable conduct, more so at this point in time when a lot of sacrifice has been made by all the citizens of this great country in ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections."

Jonathan noted the positive comments of local and international observers on the integrity of the just-concluded presidential election, which the PDP won and restated that no political ambition was worth the blood of any Nigerian.

"All of us are further encouraged by the comments of the independent election monitors and observers, both domestic and international, on how transparent and credible the elections have been so far.

"Therefore, it is with the deepest sense of responsibility that I call on all our political leaders, especially the contestants, to appeal to their supporters to stop further violence in the interest of stability, peace and well-being of this great country," Jonathan said.

IGP vows to apprehend perpetrators
Meanwhile, The Inspector Gene-ral of Police, Hafiz Ringim, has blamed the riots and violence in some parts of the North in the aftermath of the presidential election on groups and persons that have refused to accept defeat in the election.

Ringim also said the violence was neither ethnic nor religiously-motivated, vowing to apprehend the perpetrators.

A statement from Ringim on Monday said: "the spate of violence is being engineered by persons who failed to accept the results of the last election.

"The security agencies are in the process of identifying and arresting the perpetrators behind this mindless mischief across the country."

How BBC caused crisis in the North
Meanwhile, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service had been blamed for the riots and confusion in Adamawa State, following its alleged broadcast that the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, had won the election in Adamawa State, when the electoral commission in the state was still collating results.

The Special Adviser to the Adamawa State Governor, Aminu Iyawa, told journalists that the BBC broadcast was orchestrated to cause mischief and chaos. He said violence erupted after the electoral commission announced Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP as winner in the state.

http://odili.net/news/source/2011/apr/19/602.html

VIOLENCE IN THE NORTH

2011-04-18T19:49:00.000+02:00

Nigerian incumbent's election win spurs unrest

The Associated Press Posted: Apr 18, 2011 10:06 AM ET

Ex-PM Clark observing Nigerian election

Opposition supporters in Nigeria's Muslim north set fire to homes bearing ruling party banners Monday and heavy gunfire rang out in several towns as election officials released results showing the Christian incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan, had gained an insurmountable lead.

Results from Saturday's election released live on national television indicated Jonathan had a commanding lead of more than 10 million votes with only two states left to be announced. The Muslim north had largely voted for former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.

President Goodluck Jonathan, seen voting on Saturday, had an insurmountable lead with only a few states' results left to count. (Joseph Penney/Reuters) Buhari's party brought a formal complaint Monday afternoon to the national electoral commission over vote tallies, alleging massive rigging in Jonathan's home state. The letter also alleged that the computer software used to tally results had been tampered with in northern states to favour the ruling party.
"What is being exhibited to the world is not collated from polling units but … a lot of manipulations," the letter read.
In a statement, the federal police blamed the violence on "persons who failed to accept the results," denying it came from religious or ethnic roots.
Witnesses said youths in the northern city of Kano were setting fires to homes that bore Jonathan party banners. Heavy gunfire also could be heard. A reporter there saw hundreds of youths carrying wooden planks in the street, shouting "Only Buhari" in the local Hausa language.
In Kaduna, home to the oil-rich nation's vice-president, angry young men burned tires in the streets and threw stones at police and soldiers trying to restore order, witnesses said.
"Right now, I'm holed up in my room. There's gunshots everywhere," said Shehu Sani, a civil rights leader. "They are firing and killing people on the street."
Federal emergency management agency spokesman Yushua Shuaib declined to release casualty figures out of fears it would further stoke sectarian violence.
Nigeria's elections have long been marred by violence and rigging. But voting in Saturday's presidential election had been largely peaceful apart from a hotel blast that wounded eight people and the fatal shooting of a police officer at a polling station.
Nigeria, a country of 150 million people, is divided between the Christian-dominated south and the Muslim north. A dozen states across Nigeria's north have Islamic Shariah law in place, though the area remains under the control of secular state governments.
Jonathan, who became president after his Muslim predecessor died in office last year, has long been considered the front-runner. His ruling People's Democratic Party has dominated politics in the West African giant since it became a democracy 12 years ago.
However, the country's Muslim north remains cold to Jonathan as the Christian from the south who took over after the death of the country's elected Muslim leader.
Many of the north's elite wanted the ruling party to honour an unwritten power-sharing agreement calling for a Muslim candidate to run in this election, yet Jonathan prevailed in the party's primary.
NEWS

NIGERIANS VOTE 2011

2011-04-17T07:46:00.000+02:00

Nigerians vote in presidential election

Click to play

The BBC's Will Grant asks whether anyone can beat current President Goodluck Jonathan

Tens of millions of Nigerians have taken part in Africa's biggest presidential election, amid hopes of the most credible poll in two decades.

Votes are already being counted in parts of the country, with official results expected on Monday.
Voting is reported to have generally gone smoothly, despite some reports of fraud and incidents of violence.
President Goodluck Jonathan's main challenger is Muhammadu Buhari, an ex-military leader popular in the north.
Some violence has been reported, with a woman said to have been killed in the central city of Jos and two bomb explosions in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.
Dozens of people were killed in the run-up to the vote.
The polls closed at 1700 (1600 GMT), but anyone already in the queue by then was still being permitted to vote.
According to the law, counting should start immediately at the polling stations after everyone has voted.
'More sophisticated' Mr Jonathan has staked his reputation on the conduct of the election, repeatedly promising it will be free and fair.

This was Nigeria's big day, a chance to prove that Africa's giant could hold a credible election.
In the capital Abuja there was a sense of thrill and excitement as people poured out to vote. Across the country, there were occasional disturbances.
But, overwhelmingly, signs of a calm and a peaceful election are encouraging election observers who say that this day could be a historic step forward for Nigeria's democracy.

He cast his ballot in his home state of Bayelsa in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

After voting, he said the election was a "new dawn in Nigeria's political evolution".
"If the ballot paper means nothing then there is no democracy… Nigeria is now experiencing true democracy where we the politicians have to go to the people," he said.
He said he was confident of victory, but that he would leave office if he lost, adding that he hoped there would not be a run-off because elections cost a "colossal sum of money".
Other challengers for the presidency include former anti-corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu and Kano state governor Ibrahim Shekarau, though both are seen as rank outsiders.
In Daura, home to Gen Buhari, crowds waited for hours despite the intense heat to cast their votes.
"There's a desperate attempt by the ruling party to rig this election in a more sophisticated way," Gen Buhari told the BBC.
"This time around - the level of awareness and commitment by the masses is what has given me some relief."
Gen Buhari added that he had more faith in the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) this time round, adding that "probably 60% of the election will be credible".

Africa's largest oil producer has long been plagued by corruption and has a history of vote fraud and violence.

Reports from Jos say a woman was killed in an argument between voters and election officials.
In other unrest

An explosion tore through the Maiduguri election commission office on Friday night, and there was another blast at a police station early on Saturday

An Inec office in Misau, in the north-eastern state of Bauchi, was set on fire when voters found that not enough ballot papers had been sent to the area, and were not satisfied with the explanation from the Inec official

In Dutse, a town in the north-western state of Jigawa, a Nigerian election observer was reportedly beaten up by security staff of state governor Sule Lamido after witnessing ballot-stuffing

Voters expressed hope that the election would be fairer than previous votes.
Williams Beacher, a voter in Kano, said he had confidence in the new election chiefs.

Presidential Candidates

Goodluck Jonathan, president - PDP
Muhammadu Buhari, former military ruler - CPC
Nuhu Ribadu, former anti-corruption fighter - ACN
Ibrahim Shekarau, Kano governor - ANPP
16 others

"In previous elections, before we finish casting our vote, the national result had already been announced," he said.

Allegations of ballot-stuffing plagued the 2007 election, which brought Mr Jonathan to power as the vice-president.
He took over as president in 2010 when the incumbent died, becoming the first leader from the oil-producing Niger Delta region.
Mr Jonathan's People's Democratic Party lost seats in a parliamentary election last week.
But he remains favourite in opinion polls, and his chances have been boosted after Mr Buhari and Mr Ribadu failed to agree a formal alliance to run against him.
The relatively successful conduct of the parliamentary election has increased confidence in the ability of the electoral commission, Inec, to ensure a fair presidential vote.
With 74 million registered voters, Nigeria has the biggest electorate on the continent.

Nigeria: A nation divided

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) has won all elections since the end of military rule in 1999. It won two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states last time. But having a southerner - President Goodluck Jonathan - as its candidate in the presidential elections

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13102541

Fw:Buhari's Six Questions For Goodluck Jonathan/Soyinka’s Comment.

2011-03-24T22:58:00.001+01:00

Buhari's Six Questions For Goodluck Jonathan/Soyinka's Comment.

1) Can Mr President explain what happened to the case of N104m seized from Nancy Ebere Nwosu who allegedy swore to an affidat to the EFCC that she was laundering money for Dame Patience Jonathan?

2) What about the announcement by the then EFCC spokesman,Mr Osita Nwajah on September 11, 2006 that the sum of 13.5m USD was seized from another associate of Mrs Jonathan which the anti-graft body said belonged to the now first lady?

3) Any explanation on the several billions of Naira which DSP Alamiesegha left in Bayelsa coffers as at the time of his impeachment which was allegedy squandered in months by Jonathan without anything to show for it?

4) Who presided over the FEC meeting in October 2009 where a 4 km runnway at Abuja Airport was awarded for N64b?Late Predident Yaradua was already in Saudi Hospital as at the time!

5 What happened to the 30b USD Yaradua left in the excess crude account that is virtually empty now?

6 How come it is only Nigeria under Jonathan whose foreign reserve is depleting among oil producing nations at a time of all time high increase in prices of oil products?

Prof. Wole Soyinka's Comments.
"It'll take total blindness to vote PDP in 2011. Only 4 sets of people can vote for them;
(1) Those who are intellectually blind.
(2) Those who are blinded by ethnicity.
(3) Those who are blinded by corruption & therefore afraid of d unknown, should power change hands; and finally
(4) Those who are suffering from a combination of the above terminal sicknesses"
------------------ Prof

__._,_.___

RIP OTABOR

2011-03-19T15:26:00.001+01:00

Okey,

I just heard of the passing on of Itabor.
May his gentle soul continue to rest in perfect peace and may
Almighty God continue to guide those he has left behind.
\may he give them the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.
I got to know Itabor while i was serving in the Nigerian Embassy, Rome between 2000 and 2003.
He was then the President of Edo Union. Eventhough we didnt start on a good footing, we eventually became friends
and he was a close collaborator with the Embassy, he assisted us in using his position, at the time, to solve some problems.
Once again, may his soul find solace in the bossom of the Lord, Amen.

Hakeem Toyin Balogun
(Formerly with Nigeria Embassy Rome)

HTB

To: italo_naija@yahoogroups.com
From: chukwubike@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:13:37 +0100
Subject: [ITALO_NAIJA] RIP OTABOR

__._

Nigeria Re-builds Security Capacity

2011-03-02T23:05:00.000+01:00

Sunday, February 27, 2011 Nigeria Re-builds Security Capacity
From Oghogho Obayuwana, Abuja

WITH the aid of some Israeli experts, Nigeria has quietly been re-building its security capacity in a bid to ensure that the country is not hit any harder by terror blows, The Guardian, has learnt.

The renewed efforts, aimed at winning the war against terrorism on Nigerian shores, would be given a visible cloak before the April general elections.

High-level sources at the Ministry of Foreign affairs, Presidency and Israeli embassy confirmed the silent collaborative drive with the Israeli concerns.

They, however, declined details on cost of training, equipment and installation.

They were also silent on whether, or not, government has reviewed the $260 million contract signed in 2006 with an Israeli security company, Aeronautics Ltd, for the Planes-without-pilot project. Nigeria hopes, through this, to also develop a national coastal defence alignment based mainly on unmanned platforms.

A high-level source said that the implementation of the planes-without-pilots project for aerial surveillance "has begun, much of the equipment is already in Nigeria. Our personnel have been steadily sent to Israel, also from the State Security Service (SSS) as well as the police. They are guests of the Israeli homeland security.
Discussions are on with the National security adviser for the building of an enduring security programme to work on anti-terrorism squad, bombs and disarmament. Training on how to find explosives, intelligence is the most crucial. It constitutes 80 per cent of the war on terrorism.

"If you developed intelligence, you can intercept phone calls, track emails, put people on ground or have high spies. We have gone to the global security problem solvers. You know that Israel has no terrorism issues since 2002 after the Ariel Sharon saga despite the fact that the country's enemies are in some countries that are just five minutes away."

By the end of last week, the Federal Government had become satisfied with the preliminary effects of the security ring already thrown around Abuja, which, sources said, was largely responsible for the overall peaceful and tension-free national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held at the Eagle square last December.
http://odili.net/news/source/2011/feb/27/10.html

Libya protest: FG on alert to evacuate Nigerians from Libya

2011-02-22T15:50:00.000+01:00

Libya protest: FG on alert to evacuate Nigerians from Libya

Written by Christian Okeke, Abuja Tuesday, 22 February 2011

AS protests against the 40-year rule of Moammar Gadhafi escalate, indications emerged on Monday that the Federal Government was on a red alert to evacuate Nigerian citizens out of that country.

The number of Nigerians living in Libya could not be ascertained as at the time of this report but the Nigerian Tribune’s investigations revealed that the situation in the country was giving officials, especially those at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, sleepless nights and contingency evacuation was being contemplated as soon as it became extremely imperative.

The Federal Government evacuated over 1,100 Nigerians from Egypt when similar protests rocked the country against the government of Hosni Mubarak.

Confirming the stand-by stance of the government, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Aliyu Idi Hong, told the Nigerian Tribune on telephone that the Federal Government would take up contingency evacuation of Nigerians in Libya if it became extremely imperative.

The minister disclosed that the government was preparing to move in at any moment.

He, however, described as speculative the report that Nigerians were among those killed in the ongoing protests and maintained that the ministry was yet to receive any official report from the country’s embassy in Tripoli.

Dr Hong said, “I didn’t even hear anything like that; otherwise our embassy in Tripoli should have informed us. There is no official communication yet, but we are studying the situation to see if we can get a report.

“We are preparing to move in as soon as it becomes necessary. We are keeping a very close look at the situation and will take up contingency evacuation at any moment”, he added.

The minister went further to admit that, “Nigeria and Libya have diplomatic relationship.”

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/17874-libya-protest-fg-on-alert-to-evacuate-nigerians-from-libya

AFRICAN DIASP CONFERENCE LIBYA 2

2011-02-14T23:24:00.000+01:00

Droga: arrestati 10 corrieri nigeriani

2011-02-13T09:38:00.001+01:00

Droga: arrestati 10 corrieri nigeriani

Sono stati dieci gli arresti eseguiti questa mattina dalla Polizia di Padova nei confronti di trafficanti di cocaina che dalla Nigeria all'Italia usavano il sistema del "corriere ingoiatore".
L'attività degli investigatori della Squadra mobile coordinata dal Servizio centrale operativo (Sco), dalla Direzione centrale per i servizi Antidroga e con l'aiuto della polizia nigeriana, ha già portato in carcere altre 5 persone.
L'indagine, denominata "Black web", è iniziata nel settembre 2009 ed ha permesso di far luce sul vasto traffico internazionale di cocaina che dalla Nigeria raggiungeva l'Italia attraverso il sistema dell' "ovulazione" ovvero l'ingestione di capsule ermetiche contenenti la droga purissima. I nigeriani, prima di affrontare il viaggio in aereo, ingerivano fino a un chilo e mezzo di capsule per poi evacuarle appena giunti in Italia in appartamenti messi a disposizione da connazionali.
I guadagni del traffico venivano inviati tramite money transfert in Nigeria da una donna incaricata della gestione del denaro. Importante è stata la collaborazione della polizia nigeriana che, tramite suoi funzionari, ha fornito un prezioso contributo nello sviluppo dell'attività tecnica ed operativa.
I rapporti investigativi bilaterali tra Nigeria ed Italia sono stati consolidati nel 2009 con un accordo siglato dal capo della polizia Antonio Manganelli, per rafforzare la cooperazione e colpire con maggiore incisività le organizzazioni criminali.
fonte

CRISTIANI: MOZIONE PD AL SENATO, L'ITALIA S'IMPEGNI A FERMARE LE STRAGI

2011-01-11T17:02:00.001+01:00

11-01-11 ( NEWS IN ENGLISH)
(ASCA) - Roma, 11 gen - ''Gli ultimi episodi di violenza nei confronti dei cristiani, come l'attacco di oggi a un villaggio in Nigeria costato la vita ad almeno 13 persone, confermano l'urgenza di un problema che, oltre che culturale e morale, e' strettamente politico: l'opinione pubblica e la classe politica devono destarsi da un torpore che sconfina nell'indifferenza''. E' quanto affermano i senatori del Partito democratico Mauro Cerruti e Giorgio Tonini, primi firmatari della mozione sulla persecuzione dei cristiani nel mondo in discussione domani a Palazzo Madama.

''Siamo di fronte a fatti certi e inconfutabili - sottolineano i due parlamentari Pd - lo spettro tanto paventato ed esorcizzato, a parole, dello ''scontro di civilta''' si potrebbe materializzare sotto l'aspetto di una guerra di religione munita di armi di distruzione di massa.

La persecuzione in atto contro i cristiani nel mondo non e' un evento lontano, ma una minaccia diretta alla sopravvivenza della nostra stessa democrazia, per non dire della stessa umanita' come noi oggi la conosciamo''.

''E' per questo che chiediamo al governo italiano - proseguono Cerruti e Tonini - di esercitare ogni forma possibile di pressione politica e diplomatica sugli Stati e i governi che impediscono o comunque non garantiscono la liberta' religiosa, perche' mettano in atto misure efficaci di contrasto ad ogni forma di persecuzione, con particolare riguardo alle comunita' cristiane oggi tra le piu' colpite, insieme a misure di prevenzione dell'intolleranza, attraverso la messa al bando di ogni forma di incoraggiamento del fanatismo e dell'odio religioso, sia in ambito educativo e culturale, sia attraverso i mezzi di comunicazione di massa''.

''L'Italia deve farsi promotrice in sede Onu di una Conferenza internazionale sulla liberta' religiosa, finalizzata a dar vita ad un monitoraggio permanente delle persecuzioni religiose e ad impegnare gli Stati nel contrasto e nella prevenzione dell'intolleranza e del fanatismo religiosi. Infine - concludono i senatori del Pd - il nostro Paese deve porre alla base delle relazioni interne e delle collaborazioni economiche il rispetto dell'articolo 8 della Costituzione cosi' come da noi costantemente applicato, ritenendone la violazione elemento sanzionabile da parte degli organismi internazionali''.

On patrol with Nigeria's police

2011-01-08T06:06:00.000+01:00

On patrol with Nigeria's police

In the first of a series of articles looking at policing in Nigeria, the BBC's Andrew Walker goes on a patrol with the newly formed, elite Specialist Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars) in the eastern city of Enugu.

With machine-gun at the ready, a policeman flags down a car with his torch.

"You! Out Now!" he barks.

The driver wordlessly complies, standing with hands raised before being asked, the routine is now so familiar.

What kind of human being are we working with, we needed back-up!

Stephen Osaghae
Sars commander

Who polices the police?

The Nigerian police have a terrible reputation for corruption and brutality.

But they also have problems with their technical capacity to fight crime.

The main method used by this elite unit of police officers is to stop cars at random looking for guns.

"When criminals see us, their behaviour changes. We're looking for people who try and run from us," Sars' Commanding Officer Stephen Osaghae told the BBC.

Their aggressive manner, which includes pointing loaded automatic weapons at drivers who have done nothing to arouse suspicion, is necessary, they say.

"You have to make everyone think when Sars are around, they are the owners of the job," says Inspector Olawole Ohiolebo.

On the night the BBC was out with them, Sars did not find any weapons.

Mr Osaghae admits there is probably a better way of catching armed robbers.

"But we don't have the equipment. In Europe you have helicopters and other sophisticated gadgets, we don't."

Chase

At one of the patrol stops, a van approaching them does a quick u-turn.

Enugu's Special Anti Robbery Squad are an elite police unit

It's the moment the police have been waiting for.

But it takes them too long to get into their truck and by the time they are in pursuit, the van has gone.

The radio they have doesn't work properly and they can't inform other police of where they are for several minutes.

Only one truck has been pursuing the suspects.

When they meet up with their second police car, Mr Osaghae is furious.

"What kind of human being are we working with? We needed back-up!" he yells at his men.

They return to the barracks without making any arrests.

Ambush

The life of a policeman in Nigeria is dangerous.

A few weeks before the BBC caught up with the men from Sars, their patrol was ambushed by a gang.

The robbers we come up against have sophisticated weapons, better than ours

Patrolman Tiku

Someone sent them into a trap. Their pick-up truck was blown up with dynamite placed by the side of the road.

Three officers were killed in the gunfight that followed.

Inspector Godspower points to a line shaved into his scalp.

"The bullet went here. Fsst!"

He motions over his head, tracing the path of the shot that nearly killed him.

Another one went right through his arm.

The police officers say armed robbers are unredeemable evil misfits who smoke marijuana to dull their senses, kill without remorse and use black magic charms to protect themselves.

Patrolmen say Enugu's robbers are led by a notorious bandit called Ngukelomo, who has political connections which have enabled him to be released from custody in the past.

Capacity

Some of the men admit to being afraid they might one day get killed.

"The robbers we come up against have sophisticated weapons, better than ours. We have no bulletproof vests. We need better equipment to protect us," says patrolman Tiku, a 34-year-old officer who has been with the police for 10 years.

Kemi Okenyodo, of police reform group the Cleen Foundation, says the police need more than just expensive gadgets to improve their ability to work effectively.

"The police capacity to investigate crime is next to zero," she says.

Officers are not trained in policing techniques - if they do have qualifications, they are often irrelevant to police work, she says.

Nowhere is the police's lack of capacity more evident, reformers say, than in the interrogation of suspects.

Interrogation

Back at the Sars office the next day, two suspects are brought to Mr Osaghae's office.

One, a young man is accused of organising the rape and robbery of a woman who lives in a building he used to guard.

Police have been accused of torture and executing suspects

"You will take us to your accomplices," orders Mr Osaghae.

"I don't know who you are talking about," says the man.

"Why are you lying? Take him back to the cells. In 15 minutes you will tell the truth," says Mr Osaghae.

When asked what he meant by that, he refuses to elaborate.

Before speaking to another suspect, Mr Osaghae asks for 15 minutes alone with him.

When the BBC is let back in the room, the man tearfully confesses to being a kidnapper.

Mrs Okenyodo says the Cleen Foundation has pictures and witness statements that accuse Sars police of torture and killing of suspects.

Enugu Commissioner of Police Mohammed Zarewa denies his men beat confessions out of people - the deaths are likely to be as a result of fire-fights with armed criminals, he says.

"Any criminal can get a lawyer and make up a story," he says.

Mr Zarewa has just been posted to Enugu, and he promises to investigate any accusation levelled against his officers.

But Mrs Okenyodo says none of the cases brought up by police reform activists have been investigated.

"The east of Nigeria, in terms of policing, is crazy," she says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7986039.stm

Nigeria police: Issuing corpses and denials

2011-01-07T14:48:00.000+01:00

Nigeria police: Issuing corpses and denials

By Caroline Duffield
BBC News, Lagos

The police are facing criticism over the deaths

"It really overwhelms our capacity to store bodies," says Dr Anthony Mbah, chief medical director at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital.
His mortuary is overflowing - with corpses brought in by the police.
"We have between 70 and 80 bodies right now... and about three weeks ago, there was a mass burial of some other corpses," he says.
"We are now getting ready to get these ones buried."
Inside the mortuary in the south-eastern city of Enugu, two rooms are set aside for the remains of the young men.
In the first room, they are stacked, naked, one on top of the other. In places the piles are four or five deep.
Faces peer out amongst a forest of legs. Heads loll into groins. Limbs are flung around torsos. Some almost seem to embrace. The smell - and the flies - make it impossible to get close.
It is a scene beyond belief.
Fathers' pain
The mortuary is in a state of chaos. No-one working here can put a precise number on the corpses. Many of the bodies have no names. Mortuary records simply say "suspected armed robber" or "unknown thief".

As they killed him, they killed me, my life is over

Dennis Onovo
Father of victim

The register says police left 75 bodies between the beginning of June and 26 November this year.
But the records are imperfect - staff correct mistakes as they go along, one page appears to be missing.
It is uncertain how many of these bodies really are those of armed robbers.
The father of one victim of a police shooting has no doubt about the innocence of his son.
"A child is a gift from the Gods. They have taken him from me," Chief Dennis Onovo murmurs.
The morning that Mr Onovo's 22-year-old son, Matthew, died he had been walking to a computer class. Police were searching for an armed man in the area - and shot him dead.
"I always hoped my son will one day be governor of this state, or even head of state - but all my effort is in vain," says Mr Onovo.
For two days, the community stood still as people came out in peaceful demonstration.
The police told Matthew's parents he was suspected of armed robbery.
"This boy was not an armed robber. He was never a thief, much less an armed robber," says Mr Onovo.
"As they killed him, they killed me, my life is over."

Emmanuel Egbo's parents say he was a keen student, not a criminal

A few miles away, another father echoes his words.
Chief Mark Ngena trembles, remembering.
"He was playing with his fellow children," he says of his 13-year-old son Emmanuel.
"Suddenly policemen, three of them, came in. They shot and killed this boy. Murdered him in cold blood."
It was later claimed that Emmanuel too was an armed robber.
His family have never recovered his body.
Lawyers and relatives point to a pattern - of unlawful killings by police, followed by claims the deceased was an armed robber.
It is an easy way to cover dirty tracks, they say.
Police 'are victims too'
Enugu State Police Commissioner Mohamed Zarewa looks at the photograph of piled up bodies in the mortuary and covers them with his hand.

Why are you not asking about the policemen who died?

Mohamed Zarewa
Enugu State police commissioner

On patrol with Nigeria's police

"I am not aware of that number you are talking. I am not aware, I am not aware," he says.
He mutters it five or six times.
Officers in his force do not carry out unlawful or arbitrary killings, he insists.
He says the young men were all killed in gun battles, fighting the police.
"Not just to go and kill somebody, we don't do that, it's unconstitutional. We are in a democracy," he says.
"You are asking about the young men, why are you not asking about the policemen who died? We people, we lose our lives."
It is true that police work in Nigeria is a difficult job - often deadly.
An encounter between a police officer and a real armed robber is a matter of life or death.
Police officers' wages are low. Corruption in the force is endemic. Poorly trained and ill-equipped policemen are sent to face armed gangs.
But it is also true that many people are killed in police custody.
Punishment without trial
In the Brought in Dead book, seven names are of particular interest.

The Brought in Dead book revealed names of interest

Kennis Victor Okonkwo, Adolphus Odumegwu, Sunday Okoye, Hussein Yusuf, Ugochukwu Ogbonnaya, Amichi Nnamdi, and Ifeani Eze Leonard.
They were arrested, accused of a kidnapping in early September.
On 11 September they were paraded by the inspector-general of Police.
Photos of them alive appeared in local newspapers.
But they never reached court.
By 15 September six of them were dead. The body of the last was delivered to the mortuary the following day.
By each name is written SARS, Special Anti-Robbery Squad - a feared police unit.
When asked for an explanation, Police Commissioner Zarewa said he was too busy.
'Equivalent to hell'
"They told me they have transferred my brother to Abuja," says Charles, a shy 22-year-old.
His older brother was in trouble with the police, accused of robbery.

Charles took a food flask for his brother, and travelled for two days to reach the police station.
On arrival he was arrested, accused of armed robbery, and held for three months.
"Inside there was equivalent to hell," he says.
He says he was taken out of his cell, hung by the knees and beaten. But he feels lucky as it happened only a couple of times.
A man held with him suffered a similar punishment, but his joints were smashed. He screamed as he crawled back into the cell.
Briefly, Charles was held opposite his own brother and the two had the chance to talk.
After that, Charles never saw him again.
"It is the slang they use," he says quietly.
"They are not going to tell you openly your brother is killed. They just tell you they have transferred his case to Abuja."

500 Nigerian victims of forced prostitution killed in Italy

2011-01-06T00:55:00.002+01:00

500 Nigerian victims of forced prostitution killed in Italy

Saturday, 01 January 2011 01:22 |

Research by the Association of Benin City Girls calls for better protection for victims

More than 500 Nigerian girls and women have been killed in Italy in the recent years. They were all victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution, a new research has revealed.

The research carried out by the Association of Benin City Girls, was financed by the Government’s Equal Opportunities Department.

Three Nigerian former victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution conducted the research, headed by Ms. Isoke Aikpitanyi, the founder and spokesperson of the Association of Benin City Girls, the only association of victims and former victims of human trafficking in Italy.

They interviewed more than a thousand new Nigerian victims of human trafficking in Italy.

One of the key findings of the research is that the number of Nigerian girls and women forced into prostitution in Italy continues to grow day by day, but very few manage to find a way out.

Most of the victims are minor children, and they are usually brought to the country upon an agreement to repay a loan which keeps on growing in order to force them into prostitution for a much longer period.

The average amount each victim must pay for her freedom is 80,000 Euros. This in fact forces them to work every day, whether they are sick, have their periods, are pregnant, etc. Whether it’s hot or cold, the girls and women must go out to look for clients.

The research underlines the fact that prostitution is a very complex issue and warns against the common belief that most prostitutes freely decided to become prostitutes.

Even though many of them easily claim that they chose to become prostitutes and enjoy doing it, in reality this is just a mask they’ve learnt to put on to hide the fact that they are convinced there is no way out.
While there may be people who willingly decide to become prostitutes, this research however, shows that none of the victims interviewed chose to become a prostitute.

The research reveals that there are at least 10,000 female pimps (maman) in Italy managing human trafficking and girls and women forced into prostitution.

The exploiters usually hijack children of their victims so as to blackmail them and force them not to rebel. At least 50% of the victims have performed clandestine abortions, the research shows.

All the Nigerian girls who are victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution in Italy are managed by the Nigerian mafia, the research shows. It also reveals that human trafficking and forced prostitution are just two of the many activities carried out by the Nigerian mafia in the country, which Isoke describes as “one of the most dangerous in the world.” She adds that the Nigerian mafia is specialized in human trafficking especially of women and girls for forced prostitution, men for forced labour, organs, drugs, and arms.

The survey also reveals that social assistants find it very difficult to approach victims of human trafficking because they live in isolation and underground. This makes it difficult to help the victims find their way out.

Even though the Government has banned street prostitution, the research shows that there are still some Nigerian girls and women working on the streets. There is an increasing tendency of transporting them from one area to another, depending on where there is a high concentration of clients and less inspection by the police.

It emerges that the public opinion is not informed of the dramatic situations in the Identification and Expulsion Centres where irregular immigrants are taken before being deported from Italy.
The research also shows that deportation of girls forced into prostitution is not a solution at all to their problem.

Even after deportation, the girls are still under the control of their exploiters who do arrange for them to go to new destinations for the same work, or be marginalized if not killed.

A truly worrying finding of this research is that many Nigerian churches and associations in Italy are accomplices of traffickers. The research reveals that some of them actively collaborate with human traffickers while others are aware of their activities but avoid doing something for fear.

The role of former clients in saving victims of forced prostitution also emerges from this research. Most of the prostitutes and victims of human trafficking who escaped from traffickers were assisted by a client or a former client. This is why the research calls for a campaign to inform the clients of the important role they can play in saving the victims of forced prostitution.

The former victims of trafficking should be involved as peer counsellors and social operators in anti-trafficking operations, the research recommends. It also recommends national campaigns to inform the public of the real situation of the victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution.

The research recommends implementation of the recently adopted European norms calling for tougher penalties for traffickers and better protection for victims.

Recognising the important role former victims of human trafficking can play in helping the new victims, the research recommends involving them in a national campaign in Nigeria to inform potential victims of what they risk if trafficked to Europe. It also recommends establishing care homes for the victims where the former victims of human trafficking play key roles in supporting the new victims and working as peer counsellors. This is supported by the fact that many former victims are ready to help the new victims, especially the very young ones.

It is equally important to help the victims re-establish relationships with their families in their home countries, the research suggests, in addition to a national campaign to raise awareness of the Nigerian mafia.

The research recommends simplifying the bureaucratic procedures in order to make it easier for the victims to seek help.

Isoke says that the Association of Benin City Girls receives so many requests for help from victims of forced prostitution, but with limited resources, they find it difficult to help all of them. We’d like to appeal to all public institutions, private companies and individuals to support the Association of Benin City Girls and all other similar associations helping the victims. People in need of help to save their lives should never find doors closed.

ASSOCIATION OF BENIN CITY GIRLS
If you are a victim of forced prostitution or if you know a victim in need of help, please contact the
Association of Benin City Girls using the following contacts:
Tel: 346 9406053
Email: isoke.aikpitanyi@gmail.com

By Stephen Ogongo Ongong’a

news

PALM WINE BAR

2010-12-03T22:51:00.000+01:00

Palm Wine Bar@GRIOT: Tra vino di palma, capitani di ventura e tamburi parlanti.

· Eventi

Domenica 5 Dicembre, alle ore 18:00, Palm Wine Bar@Griot, a cura di TPAfrica, vi da appuntamento per una serata tra vino di palma, capitani di ventura, tamburi parlanti e la musica Juju della Nigeria dell’indipendenza.

Nato negli anni ’30 dalla musica palm-wine che si suonava nei bar di Lagos, il Juju vide il suo massimo successo negli anni immediatamente successivi all’indipendenza – tra i ’60 e i ’70. Allora le orchestre Jùjù erano le più richieste per animare le lunghe notti di musica e danza in Yorubaland.

Siamo a Lagos, o a Ibadan, o a Ilorin, o in una qualsiasi delle città Yoruba della Nigeria sud occidentale. Il sole sta tramontando, e sul piazzale di terra circondato dagli edifici è stato allestito tutto il necessario per un Ariya, una celebrazione tradizionale di un matrimonio, un funerale, un compleanno o un battesimo. La gente seduta sulle panche sorseggia vino di palma e aranciata dolce, e consuma pietanze di ogni sorta cucinate dalle donne in enormi marmitte di alluminio argentato. Finalmente arriva il pulmino con gli artisti, sulle cui fiancate il nome della band è dipinto a lettere colorate. Sono in ritardo, e qualcuno della famiglia protesta con il capitano – il leader dell’orchestra – che inventa qualche scusa. Poco dopo lo spettacolo ha inizio, e ai bordi del piazzale, dove sfuma la luce dei riflettori, la gente del quartiere si accalca per godere della musica e per ballare.

La banda continuerà a suonare fino al mattino, con l’obiettivo di trattenere gli invitati il più a lungo possibile. Un’orchestra Jùjù è numerosa come una famiglia, e sul palco possono esserci anche una trentina tra percussionisti, coristi, chitarre, tastiere e giovani ballerine che si esibiscono nella fire dance, muovendo freneticamente i loro tondi sederi. Ijoya si dice in yoruba, muovi quel culo.

Le serate, rigorosamente accompagnate da vino di palma, sono curate da TP Africa (www.tpafrica.it), un’associazione nata per diffondere la musica e la cultura africana attraverso la costruzione di ponti per accedere a una terra fremente. Il suffisso T.P. – Tout Puissant (che può tutto) – vuole evidenziare il potenziale dell’Africa, che a volte non si esprime, ma anche quando accade, come nella musica, rimane spesso poco conosciuto.

http://www.libreriagriot.it/2010/11/26/palm-wine-bargriot-tra-vino-di-palma-capitani-di-ventura-e-tamburi-parlanti/

AFROLIFE PUBLICATION @AMBASSADORS PARTY

2010-11-29T22:25:00.000+01:00

COMMUNITY AWARD .. NIGERIAN GOLDEN JUBILEE ( ITALY)

2010-11-20T10:50:00.000+01:00

NIGERIAN COMMUNITY AWARD 2010 (ROME)

2010-11-09T23:41:00.000+01:00

Ex prostitute traduttrici per la Polizia

2010-09-07T16:14:00.005+02:00

Le donne nigeriane, liberate dal giogo della prostituzione dalla Polizia di Trieste, hanno collaborato grazie alle proprie conoscenze linguistiche all'operazione "Hermes" che ha portato all'arresto di 28 narcotrafficanti. Il cartello, proveniente dalla Nigeria, usava persone dell'est europa per trasportare cocaina dal Sud America ed eroina dall'Afghanistan.

Trieste, 07-09-2010
E' il primo caso in Italia di ex prostitute nigeriane che collaborano a un'inchiesta su un traffico internazionale di stupefacenti.Il dato e' stato sottolineato stamani, nella Questura di Trieste, alla conferenza stampa per l'operazione "Hermes" che ha portato la Squadra Mobile del capoluogo giuliano e la Polizia di Frontiera ad arrestare 28 corrieri di un'organizzazione criminale nigeriana che faceva arrivare in Europa, attraverso la "rotta balcanica", cocaina dalSudamerica ed eroina prodotta Afghanistan.Le donne nigeriane, ex schiave della prostituzione liberate sempre dagli uomini della Polizia di Trieste nel corso di indagini dal 2004 al 2008, sono state inserite in programmi di reinserimento e hanno trovato lavoro nel Nord Italia. Gli uomini della Polizia hanno potuto usufruire della loro conoscenza linguistica e culturale per comprendere le strategie dei criminali nigeriani, fondamentale il loro operato per tradurre le telefonate.

"Le donne hanno partecipato all'operazione anche con un senso di rivalsa - ha detto Manuela De Giorgi, dirigenti della Polizia di Frontiera - e hanno vissuto la collaborazione come una nuova occasione che la vita le poneva di fronte".
I corrieri, per lo piu' dell'Est Europa, viaggiavano in treno o in aereo, spesso ingerendo un grosso quantitativo di ovuli, fino a 100 unita' da circa 14 grammi a testa. Fondamentale la collaborazione tra i vari corpi di polizia degli Stati interessati.Tra gli arrestati anche un criminale ricercato in Nigeria per omicidio.
http://www.rainews24.it/it/news.php?newsid=144908

Sex War: Ghanaian Prostitutes Battle Nigerian Invaders

2010-09-03T21:41:00.000+02:00

Sex War: Ghanaian Prostitutes Battle Nigerian Invaders

Ghanaian girls who offer sex for money are currently not happy over the influx of young Nigerian girls into their country.
They are currently spoiling for war, P.M.NEWS has learnt through News One, a Ghanaian news outfit.
The sex workers who operate in Adum, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti region, said they were disenchanted that younger and prettier girls from Nigeria are gradually taking over the sex business as they could hardly retain their usual customers.
According to investigation, if not for the intervention of the assembly member for the area, Albert Osei-Banahene, the enraged sex workers would have protested nude and marched from one office building to another, just to get the authorities to come to their aide.
According to one of the sex workers, “it is not that they are better than us in bed but as you know, most men prefer younger girls and these Nigerian girls are younger.
“Some are still in their teens and their agents protect them but we do not have agents who make things easier for us so. So, the conditions of work are not fair. We would start attacking any underage ashawo from Nigeria because they are spoiling the market.”
Though both groups are prostituting, the Ghanaian girls have cleverly named themselves commercial sex workers while they call their Nigerian counterparts ‘ashawos,’ a more derogatory term for prostitutes.
We learnt that a group of Nigerians take these girls to Ghana where they link them up with prominent Ghanaians and share some percentage of the money the prostitutes get from the trade.
According to the Ghanaian sex workers, the arrival of sexier girls from Nigeria is making business very competitive and compelling them to either lower their rates or lose customers.
Not pleased about the development, the disillusioned sex workers have declared their preparedness to hit the streets in protest should authorities fail to respond to their call and put in place appropriate measures to arrest the worrying situation.
In an interview with an online portal, the sex workers revealed that some Nigerians living in Kumasi have made it their business of bringing in very pretty sex workers from Nigeria to engage in the trade in the country.
“Having realised the potential in the business, some Nigerians living in the city have decided to make it their business by bringing sex workers from their country to come and work here,” one of the disgruntled sex workers observed.
“When they bring them, they initially put them in hotels, before hiring rooms for them to practise their trade but we do not have agents or promoters so we are losing the market even in our own country,” another dissatisfied sex worker noted.
According to them, they would do everything within their means to ensure that the practice was stopped, because they believe that as Ghanaians, they have exclusive right to the trade.
“We cannot allow Nigeria to take over everything in the country including the sex trade,” the sex workers emphasized.
The assembly member for the area, Hon Albert Osei-Banahene, who has been appealing to the sex workers to remain calm, urged the government to take up the matter and ensure that it is resolved amicably.
He noted that it was important for the government to come in strongly because of the ages of the girls who are purported to have been brought into the city for sex trade.
—Eromosele Ebhomele/Agency Report
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2010/09/03/sex-war-ghanaian-prostitutes-battle-nigerian-invaders/

Nigerians angry at oil pollution double standards

2010-08-15T13:55:00.001+02:00

Nigeria's oil spill crisis

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Nigeria has suffered devastating oil pollution in Delta region over 50 years

Activists angry at attention being given to Gulf of Mexico

Figures are disputed but one cause of Nigerian spills is oil thieves and militants

Niger Delta is one of the world's most oil-polluted places and one of its most important wetlands

Watch a CNN International 30-minute special at 1630 GMT June 30 putting the Gulf oil spill in a global context. Why the spill has repercussions beyond the Gulf and where to find the untapped or under-exploited oil reserves.

Niger Delta, Nigeria (CNN) -- Nigeria's Niger Delta is one of the most oil-polluted places on the planet with more than 6,800 recorded oil spills, accounting for anywhere from 9 million to 13 million barrels of oil spilled, according to activist groups.

But occurring over the 50 years since oil production began in the Delta, this environmental disaster has never received the attention that is now being paid to the oil-spill catastrophe hitting the U.S. Gulf coast.

"The whole world is trembling and even the president of America had to do a personal visit to the site. The U.S. will have put serious measures in place to stop such situations happening in the future," said Ken Tebe -- a local environmental activist who is visibly shaken by what he regards as a double standard.

"It's funny because we've been dealing with this problem for 50 years. I even heard BP will pay $20 billion in damages (for the U.S. spill). When will such hope come to the Niger Delta?" Tebe asked.

--------------------------------------------------

Nigeria

Oil Production and Refining

Royal Dutch Shell plc

The U.S. imports about eight percent of its oil from Nigeria. That is nearly half of Nigeria's daily oil production and makes Nigeria the fifth-largest exporter of oil to the United States.

Tebe, like other activists, focuses his energy and anger against his own government and the oil companies he blames for neglecting the region -- but he feels the U.S., as the largest consumer of Nigerian oil, also must also play its part.

"It's very, very bad because Nigeria is the fifth largest exporter of oil to the U.S., and the fact that Nigeria has been going through such issues for the past 50 years with little or no concern even from the U.S. government goes a long way to show you that they look at the Niger Delta as an oil field that people don't need to live in."

According to Amnesty International, people living in the Niger Delta have experienced oil spills on par with the Exxon Valdez disaster every year for the last half century.

In its June 2009 report, Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty, Amnesty said independent environmental and oil experts estimated between nine million and 13 million of barrels had leaked in the five decades of oil operations. It also quoted U.N. figures of more than 6,800 recorded spills between 1976 and 2001.

Oil companies operating in the Niger Delta believe the figures are exaggerated. Mutiu Sunmonu, the managing director of Shell Nigeria, told CNN the industry is committed, after any spill, to "restore the environment to its previous status."

In the 1990s, Shell was forced to stop operating in Ogoniland after mass protests against the lack of investment and environmental damage culminated in a military crackdown.

Then, a special tribunal found Nigerian writer-activist Ken Saro-Wiwa guilty of complicity in the murders of four Ogoni chiefs. The government executed him and other activists in a move widely condemned internationally.

Shell last year paid $15.5 million in an out-of-court settlement in a civil case brought by members of Saro-Wiwa's family and others.

Shell, which denied any wrongdoing in the case, also refuted charges it was complicit in human rights abuses in the Delta.

It was the only company operating in Ogoniland, and no oil has been pumped there since, yet the locals continue to complain of oil spilling from the maze of pipes criss-crossing their land.

We took a boat into the creeks of Ogoniland in the Niger Delta to see for ourselves. As we traveled to the site, it began to rain heavily. The heavy raindrops splashed black in the thick oil coating the river.

We were unable to access the pipe in the rain and mud. The leak had been repaired but no one here knows how much oil was spilled.

Plumes of dark oil haunt the nearby rivers, the mangroves are stained black, and most conspicuously, there are no fishermen here.

Instead we found Peter Bornu and his wife, knee-deep in thick, oily mud pulling at the branches of the mangroves and stacking them in their wooden boat.

"There's no fish in the river anymore," he told us, his clothes sodden in the rain, "So there's no way I can feed my family apart from fetching firewood like this." The money he makes from selling the wood helps pay for food.

The 700,000-square-kilometer Niger Delta is one of the most important wetlands in the world and home to 31 million people -- 60 percent of whom, according to the U.N. Development Program, depend on the natural environment for their livelihoods.

Chevron, Agip, ExxonMobil are among the other companies operating in the Delta, but Shell is the only company in the region to release regular reports on its operations.

Shell maintains that more than 90 percent of spills are caused by militants and oil thieves tapping into pipelines to steal oil. And then, Shell says, locals often refuse access to the ruptured pipelines until the oil companies have paid for access.

Shell's Sunmonu said: "I am not naive to believe that Shell can fix the problem in the Delta. Ninety-five percent of our revenue -- after tax, after costs -- goes back to government."

And so the oil companies' argument goes: They pay the Nigerian government and it is the government's responsibility to provide investment, security and pressure on private business.

In all those areas the government has notably failed in the poverty-stricken and conflict-racked Niger Delta.

"Even if we pour all our earnings into the Delta - into development and infrastructure - it would still be a drop in the ocean," said Sunmonu.

However, when pressed on the one issue for which the oil companies are legally responsible -- whatever the difficulties -- oil spill cleanup, Sunmonu insisted: "We will clean up and remediate the environment regardless the cost of the spill."

Yet, as we leave Peter Bornu and his wife scavenging for firewood, it's clear many locals don't believe the oil companies.

Environmental reports put the cost of the environmental damage in the tens of billions of dollars.

"Soil is turned upside down, money has been allocated and the cleanup is done," explained Ken Tebe. The oil companies regularly contract out the cleanup operations to local crews, he says, who carry out their operations on the cheap.

"The truth is that the oil has not been mopped up from the soil. We have a series of spills in the Niger Delta for more than 30 years that have not been cleaned up," Tebe said.

And if the U.S. cuts oil production off its coast because of the BP oil spill it will put more pressure on places like Nigeria.

"There'll be new oil blocks so we can meet the quota we send to the U.S." said Tebe. "That'll mean there'll be an increase in oil spills, more gas flares, and resources conflict is going to be on the increase."
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/06/29/nigeria.oil/index.html?hpt=C1&fbid=IrXsdCMPPE#fbid=-2o9Ae-Ce8D&wom=false

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: ITALO_NIGERIAN ACCORD

2010-07-24T06:48:00.000+02:00

21-07-10
IMMIGRATI: FIRMATO ACCORDO ITALIA-NIGERIA SU TEMA CLANDESTINI

(ASCA) - Roma, 21 lug - E' stato firmato ad Abuja l'accordo tra Nigeria, Italia e Interpol per intensificare la lotta contro il traffico di esseri umani e l'immigrazione clandestina, rafforzando cosi' la cooperazione internazionale e colpire quelle organizzazioni che alimentano tali crimini. Coordinato dall'Interpol, il progetto pilota della durata di due anni, permettera' alle forze di polizia di entrambi i Paesi di rafforzare la loro capacita' di combattere il traffico di essere umani, il crimine organizzato e l'immigrazione illegale. Inoltre, gli strumenti e le risorse dell'Interpol saranno utilizzati per analizzare la sussistenza di legami criminali piu' ampi. L'aspetto operativo dell'accordo consentira' inoltre di creare nel nostro territorio, squadre di polizia miste con i nigeriani che saranno impiegati per un periodo di dodici mesi in aeroporti internazionali, porti, e in alcune citta'. La Direzione centrale per l'immigrazione e le frontiere organizzera' corsi di preparazione per i poliziotti nigeriani. I primi cinque poliziotti nigeriani saranno in Italia gia' nei prossimi giorni. Nella foto, il capo della Polizia, Antonio Manganelli insieme ai primi cinque poliziotti che arriveranno in Italia, il capo dell'Interpol Ronald Noble e il capo della polizia Nigeriana Mike Mbama Okiro. Il ministro dell'Interno Roberto Maroni soddisfatto per la firma dell'accordo ha dichiarato: ''E' un importante passo avanti nella lotta all'immigrazione clandestina e al traffico di esseri umani che vedra' impegnate le forze di Polizia italiane e nigeriane nel contrasto di tutte quelle organizzazioni responsabili di questi crimini''. ''In Italia - ha detto il capo della Polizia Antonio Manganelli - si sta costruendo l'intelligente equilibrio tra politica di accoglienza, solidarieta' e integrazione ed e' necessario rigore nei confronti dell'immigrazione clandestina, di cui sono provati i frequenti collegamenti con la criminalita'''. Il segretario generale dell'Interpol, Ronald Noble, ha dichiarato: ''I capi della polizia italiana e nigeriana dovrebbero essere lodati per il loro impegno bilaterale e globale nella collaborazione tra polizie nella lotta ai gravi crimini trasnazionali. Grazie agli accordi di condividere le informazioni raccolte con l'Interpol, potremo mettere in luce collegamenti del crimine organizzato che vanno al di la' di questi due paesi e quindi indebolire ulteriormente la criminalita' organizzata attiva sul fronte del traffico di esseri umani e dell'immigrazione clandestina''. news

Ovuli di cocaina in pancia Così trasportavano la droga

2010-07-21T21:54:00.002+02:00

Ovuli di cocaina in pancia
Così trasportavano la droga

La polizia di Rovigo ha collaborato alla maxi operazione 'Black passenger'. I corrieri nigeriani trasportavano la droga in Italia inghiottendo gli ovuli e viaggiando in aereo con un chilo e mezzo di cocaina o eroina nelle viscere

Trova significati nei dizionari Zanichelli
In questa pagina è attivo il servizio ZanTip:
Facendo doppio click su una qualsiasi parola presente nell'articolo, sarà visualizzata la definizione della parola, così come è stata pubblicata all'interno del Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana Zingarelli 2010.
Alla fine del riquadro di spiegazione ne sarà proposta anche la traduzione in inglese, ripresa dal lemmario Italiano-Iglese del Ragazzini 2010.Rovigo, 21 luglio 2010 - La polizia di Perugia sta dando corso ad un’importante operazione antidroga, coordinata dal servizio centrale operativo della polizia di Stato e della direzione centrale per i servizi antidroga, con la collaborazione delle squadre mobili delle Questure di Padova, Rovigo, Vicenza, Venezia e Prato, che ha già portato all’esecuzione di diversi arresti nei confronti di nigeriani per i reati di detenzione, traffico internazionale e spaccio di sostanze stupefacenti.Le indagini dell’operazione chiamata “Black passenger”, coordinata dalla direzione distrettuale antimafia della Procura della Repubblica di Perugia, sono iniziate nell’aprile 2009 ed hanno permesso di far luce sul vasto traffico internazionale di sostanze stupefacenti che dalla Nigeria venivano importate nel territorio nazionale.I nigeriani portavano la droga in Italia inghiottendo gli ovuli: viaggiavano in aereo con 1,5 kg di cocaina o eroina in pancia per poi indirizzarsi, una volta giunti in Italia, verso un appartamento di Padova dove l’organizzazione curava l’espulsione degli ovuli dal corpo, ridistribuendo e confezionando la droga per farla poi ripartire alla volta di varie località italiane.

Tra gli arrestati è stato rintracciato il cosiddetto “cassiere”, ovvero colui che era l’unico deputato a muovere denaro contante per poi inviarlo tramite money tranfert in Nigeria. Tutti i membri dell’organizzazione dovevano fare riferimento a lui per spostamenti di denaro, mentre corrieri ed altri soggetti deputati alla detenzione e alla distribuzione dello stupefacente non potevano e non dovevano toccare soldi contanti.
Fondamentale, spiega la polizia, per la riuscita dell’indagine, è stata anche la collaborazione della polizia nigeriana, che tramite suoi funzionari giunti a Perugia e rimasti nel capoluogo umbro per quasi un anno grazie ai rapporti investigativi bilaterali consolidati nel 2009 con la stipula di un accordo tra Nigeria, Italia e Interpol siglato dal capo della Polizia, Prefetto Antonio Manganelli, per rafforzare la cooperazione e colpire con maggiore incisività le organizzazioni criminali

Forestale: scoperto traffico di rifiuti tra Italia e Nigeria

2010-07-15T15:53:00.000+02:00

Sei mesi di perquisizioni, pedinamenti, controlli hanno portato sulle tracce di 14 persone ora iscritte sul registro degli indagati redazione

Una vera e propria organizzazione criminale dedita al traffico internazionale di Rifiuti da Apparecchiature Elettriche ed Elettroniche (RAEE) realizzato tra la Provincia di Torino e la Nigeria è stata scoperta dagli agenti del Corpo forestale dello Stato nell’ambito dell’ “Operazione Freon”.

L’operazione prende il nome dal gas presente in rifiuti speciali pericolosi quali frigoriferi e congelatori dismessi che, insieme a ingenti quantitativi di elettrodomestici, apparecchiature elettroniche e parti di veicoli, venivano stipati a Torino in container da nave pronti per essere trasportati dal porto di Genova fino in Nigeria.

I carichi venivano contraddistinti come “masserizie” per la spedizione ma, in seguito ai sequestri effettuati anche presso la dogana di Genova, sono risultati costituiti non solo da RAEE ma anche da automezzi radiati.

Sei mesi di indagini, coordinate dalla Procura della Repubblica di Torino, e condotte dai Forestali del Nucleo Investigativo Provinciale di Polizia Ambientale e Forestale (NIPAF) di Torino, hanno portato al sequestro di centinaia di tonnellate di rifiuti e all’iscrizione sul registro degli indagati di 14 persone tra rifornitori, trasportatori e gestori dei rifiuti, tutti di nazionalità italiana o nigeriana ma residenti nella provincia del capoluogo piemontese. Traffico illecito di rifiuti e violazioni della Convenzione di Basilea sui movimenti internazionali e sull’eliminazione di rifiuti pericolosi: ad oggi sono questi i capi d’accusa formulati.

I rifiuti venivano forniti prevalentemente da uno stabilimento di Beinasco (TO) e da centri di raccolta del pinerolese, venivano poi trasportati a Torino e depositati su un’area di diverse migliaia di metri quadri, ora posta sotto sequestro.
Si stima che il traffico abbia generato un volume di affari di oltre 500.000 euro l’anno considerando anche il conseguente risparmio dei costi necessari per lo smaltimento regolare dei rifiuti.
Proseguono le indagini sul materiale documentale sequestrato durante le perquisizioni dell’inchiesta al fine di verificare l’ipotesi di configurazione del reato di associazione a delinquere.

http://www.ilcorrieredellasicurezza.it/articolo.asp?idarticolo=forestale-scoperto-traffico-di-rifiuti-tra-italia-nigeria_3214

ENI PAYS $365 MILLIONS NOT TO BE CONDEMNED

2010-07-12T10:09:00.000+02:00

In Nigeria, Eni paga 365 milioni per non essere condannata

"Rispetto e’ una parola indispensabile" dicono...

Per dieci anni (dal 1994 al 2004) TSKJ, un consorzio di quattro imprese di cui faceva parte Snamprogetti Netherlands BV (società controllata da Eni, confluita in Saipem nel 2006), avrebbe pagato 180 milioni di dollari di tangenti a politici e funzionari nigeriani per costruire impianti di liquefazione del gas a Bonny Island, nel sud della Nigeria. Un affare da 6 miliardi di dollari, che Snamprogetti ha condiviso con gli altri tre membri di del consorzio : gli americani di Halliburton, i francesi di Technip e i giapponesi di JGC. Ora i nodi vengono al pettine ed Eni ha accettato di pagare 240 milioni di euro al Dipartimento di Giustizia americano e 125 milioni alla SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission, la Consob americana) per uscire dal procedimento ed evitare la condanna.

L’inchiesta, partita da Parigi nel 2006, ma poi aperta anche negli Stati Uniti, in Inghilterra, in Svizzera, in Nigeria e in Italia, aveva portato l’anno scorso all’arresto dell’avvocato londinese Jeffrey Tesler, il galoppino delle tangenti. Tesler, attraverso una società con sede a Gibilterra (la Tri-Star Investments) avrebbe pagato le mazzette su una serie di conti svizzeri intestati a politici africani. Ma una parte rilevante dei soldi sarebbe stata consegnata con furgoni pieni di cash, parcheggiati in un hotel di Abuja, la capitale nigeriana.

Secondo le ricostruzioni del quotidiano nigeriano Next (234next.com), basate sui documenti messi a disposizione dal tribunale di Houston (Texas), le tangenti sarebbero state intascate dall’ex ministro nigeriano del petrolio Dan Etete (almeno un milione di dollari), dall’ex presidente Olusegun Obasanjo (23 milioni) e, soprattutto dal sanguinario dittatore Sani Abacha (45 milioni), morto nel 1998, fulminato da un infarto, tra le braccia delle sue prostitute. La ricostruzione minuziosa di tutti i pagamenti si trova nelle note e negli appunti di Wojciech Chodan, ex manager di Halliburton, depositati presso il tribunale di Parigi. Un vero e proprio “manuale Cencelli” delle mazzette di Bonny Island. Oltre 500 pagine, scritte a mano, con i verbali degli incontri del consorzio TSKJ, i nomi delle persone da corrompere, i commenti e le riserve espresse dai manager delle società consorziate.

Oltre ad Eni hanno pagato finora anche Halliburton, che nel 2009 ha chiuso il caso con 579 milioni di dollari, e Technip, che se l’è cavata con 338 milioni.

Per Eni, però, rimane l’incognita del procedimento italiano, aperto presso il tribunale di Milano e seguito dal pm Fabio De Pasquale. Il cane a sei zampe ha comunicato nella sua relazione annuale 2009, pubblicata nel marzo di quest’anno, che il procedimento italiano potrebbe comportare il rischio di condanne e sanzioni ai sensi del decreto legislativo 231/2001 sulla responsabilità amministrativa delle società, con la “confisca del profitto del reato”. Un costo in più, che peserebbe ulteriormente sugli azionisti: il patteggiamento americano è già costato l’8,35% dell’utile netto 2009
http://www.isoladeicassintegrati.com/?p=3410

Govt Bans Prostitution in Abuja

2010-07-08T16:33:00.001+02:00

Nigeria: Govt Bans Prostitution in Abuja

Catherine Agbo 13 June 2010

Abuja — Worried by the sharp increase in their activities, sex workers in the Federal Capital Territory have been given a 48-hour ultimatum by the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, to leave the nation's capital or face the wrath of the law.

The minister, who decried the steady rise in the population of prostitutes in Abuja, noted that they constitute a nuisance as their services add no value to the beauty of the city.

He gave them a stern warning to heed the ultimatum, noting that the FCT Special Task Force would be out as from today to arrest them.

The minister, who issued the ultimatum through the FCT Secretary for Social Development, Mrs. Blessing Onuh, while on a visit to the call girls at their respective joints on Saturday night, also warned men who patronise the girls to desist from the act as he promised that anyone caught would be treated like the prostitutes.

He said that to drive home the importance of the assignment to the FCT, the Task Force would commence arrest from today and warned the prostitutes not to take the matter lightly.

At Emprest Hotel, "which is the headquarters" of the commercial sex workers in Wuse District, where over 600 call girls were seen parading the streets waiting for prospective customers, the secretary lamented that most of the girls involved were under-aged.

In her message to the girls she said, "I'm out to instruct the girls that the FCT minister has given them 48 hours to vacate the city and quit the job. They constitute a nuisance in the city and the FCT administration will not tolerate them.

"We are also sending warnings to all those men patronising them to stop. Some of the girls are under-aged; it is child abuse. If we get you doing that we will get you arrested, lock you up and treat you like the prostitutes are treated."

A patron of the call girls who spoke to reporters under condition of anonymity gave reason why he patronised call girls, saying it was due to the weather which made it difficult for him to spend the night alone.

"As you can see, it is rainy season now, it is not good for a man to just go home and sleep alone," he said.

The man argued that the ultimatum given to the girls would lead to an increase in the charges of the girls who presently charge between N5,000 and N7,000 per night.

He said, "This decision now will make them to increase their price. Normally we take them home for N6,000 or N7,000 but now with this decision, they will increase it to N15,000 or more than that."

At the hotel, one of the girls who refused to give her name disclosed that she relocated to Abuja when the governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, demolished her apartment in Lagos. She however expressed her readiness to quit the job if given an alternative, lamenting that Emprest Hotel is like a sex camp where two prostitutes pair up in a room and pay N5,000 each daily while those who have more patronage take up a single room and pay N7,000 daily.

The secretary, after addressing the girls at Wuse Zone 4, made a donation of N50,000 to the girls after they complained to her that they had not eaten all day and she advised them to desist from selling their bodies for money but try to go into a more decent occupation.

Other places visited by the secretary where activities of sex workers thrive included Banex Plaza, Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2, Rockview Hotel, Gimbiya Street, Area 11 and Agura Hotel.

news

Protest For Nigeria.

2010-07-08T00:13:00.000+02:00

Protest For Nigeria.

Fellow Nigerians,

The only choice we have is to take action(s) now to save Nigeria. No price will be too much to save Nigeria. In doing so, we also need to take action(s) beyond the Nigerian boarders, especially now that the world has become a global village. It is on this note that, we are calling on all Nigerians to join and protest for Nigeria at the international arena. Simply copy the petition below and send to the lists of the contacts below. Surely our cumulative action(s) will yield results.

Dear Sir/Ma,

Part of Nigeria’s biggest problem is capital flight, occasioned by massive top level corruption. At present, “The World Bank estimates the country’s generals and gangster politicians stole $300 billion in the three decades to 2006”(Time Magazine, May 3^rd 2010 Edition, Page 42). These stolen funds are usually kept in European, American and other oversea banks, while some are used to buy properties in the same countries. The cumulative effects, being high unemployment, poverty, crimes, insecurity and the near collapse of the entire Nigerian system. Little wonder United Kingdom Guardian Newspapers of Thursday November 27^th 2008 page 23, grouped Nigeria among the list of 20 failed states. A failed Nigeria, with a population of about 150 million will be the greatest challenge for the international community.

Therefore, time to take action is now. Kindly use your good office to effect a policy change that will deny corrupt Nigerian officials and their family members, access to your country. Where such law exists like the, United States Presidential Proclamation 7750 of January 12, 2004, authorities should commence full enforcement. Those on dual citizenship with your country should be placed on crime watch lists. Investigate properly every money transfer originating from Nigeria to, or through your country/banks. For lists of corrupt Nigerian officials, please contact your embassy in Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and Interpol. Furthermore, sign an extradition treaty with Nigeria if none exists.

This is a non governmental, but a citizens/groups led request for your government’s assistance. The Nigerian masses will be highly grateful if your government could oblige the above request.

Note:

Please copy the above petition and send to the recipients below.

President Barack Obama,

The White House.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact (click on the web page and send this petition).

Committee On Foreign Relations.

U.S. Senate.

Tel: +1-202-224-4651.

Tel: +1-202-224-6797

Fax: +1-202-228-3612

Committee On Foreign Affairs,

United States House of Representatives,

http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/contact.asp (click on the web page and send this petition).

The British Prime Minister, (David Cameroon)

No 10 Downing Street, London.

https://email.number10.gov.uk/Contact.aspx (click on the web page and this your petition).

Foreign Affairs Committee,

House of Commons, London.

SW1A 0AA
Telephone: +442072196394/6105
Fax: +442072195365
Email: foraffcom@parliament.uk

patersona@parliament.uk

European Parliament,

Committee on Petitions,

The Secretariat, Brussels.

https://www.secure.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/petition/secured/submit.do?language=EN (click on the web page and send this petition).

Secretary-General,

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Jakarta, Indonesia.

Email: termsak@aseansec.org

Please be kind enough to send the above petition to other international NGOs, Other countries/governments, various regional organizations etc. May God Bless Nigeria.

Chinedu Vincent Akuta.

An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK

akutachinedu@yahoo.com

http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/

TRAFFICKING OF DANGEROUS WASTES FROM ITALY TO NIGERIA

2010-06-30T20:23:00.001+02:00

Scoperto un traffico di rifiuti pericolosi tra Italia e Nigeria

Rifiuti a Lagos

Frigoriferi, computer, televisori, auto e pneumatici sulla tratta Torino-Genova-Lagos. E’ quanto hanno appurato gli agenti del corpo forestale di Torino, denunciando a piede libero 14 persone, 10 nigeriani e quattro italiani.

in un’inchiesta condotta dai pubblici ministeri Andrea Padalino e Paola Stupino.

L’indagine, durata sei mesi e condotta dai pubblici ministeri Andrea Paladino e Paola Stupino, ha permesso di individuare tonnellate di rifiuti potenzialmente pericolosi che uscivano illecitamente dal nostro Paese.

Nodo cruciale del traffico era un’area a cielo aperto situata nella zona della Falchera a Torino, che alcuni nigeriani avevano affittato a un privato. Qui, in quattro diversi cumuli, erano stoccate delle automobili ‘radiate’, ossia senza più immatricolazione per il mercato europeo, dove il loro unico destino sarebbe stata la rottamazione, ma con possibilità di immatricolazione per quello extraeuropeo.

Proprio all’interno delle vetture venivano nascosti i rifiuti, che provenivano da tre centri di raccolta (due di Pinerolo e uno di Piscina) e da un’azienda di Beinasco, i cui titolari avevano un evidente risparmio sul costo di smaltimento legale. Le auto riempite, così, potevano essere caricate sui container e dirette al porto di Genova, dove venivano imbarcate per la Nigeria.

30 giugno 2010 | 13:05 Letto 100 volte

Nigeria - lead poisoning kills 100 children in north

2010-06-05T17:22:00.000+02:00

Nigeria - lead poisoning kills 100 children in north

Friday, 4 June 2010 17:30 UK

More than 100 children have died of lead poisoning in Nigeria in recent weeks, health officials say.

The number has been rising since March, when residents started digging illegally for gold in areas with high concentrations of lead.
The victims were from several remote villages in the northern state of Zamfara.
A total of 163 out of 355 cases of poisoning have proved fatal, a Nigerian health ministry official told Reuters.
Dr Henry Akpan, the health ministry's chief epidemiologist, said: "[The victims] were digging for gold, but the areas also have large concentrations of lead."
Health authorities have set up two camps in the area to treat people who are suffering symptoms of lead poisoning.
Contaminated water? The deaths were discovered during the country's annual immunisation programme, when officials realised there were virtually no children in several remote villages in the northern state, says the BBC's Abdullai Kaura Abubakar in Kaduna.
Villagers said the children had died of malaria and it was only when a team from international aid agency Medecins Sans Frontiers took blood tests from local people that the high concentrations of lead were discovered.
Zamfara State had recently employed a Chinese company to mine gold in the area, adds our correspondent.
But villagers had also attempted to capitalise by digging for the precious metal themselves - an illegal activity in Nigeria.
It is likely locals became sick after lead removed during the process of refining gold ore contaminated local water systems, our correspondent says.

THE NIGERIAN MAFIA.......ITALY (INTERNAL SECURITY)

2010-05-24T12:34:00.001+02:00

La mafia nigeriana fra voodoo e computer

THE NIGERIAN MAFIA (English)

LA MAFIA NIGERIANA (Italiano)

Abituati ad esportare la mafia nazionale all’estero, forse con compiaciuta vergogna (si scusi l’ossimoro), si è pervenuti in ritardo alla percezione del rischio criminale straniero in Italia. Si sono sottostimati, se non la pericolosità di alcune manifestazioni - quali traffico di droga, immigrazione clandestina, sfruttamento della prostituzione e del lavoro nero - almeno il disegno transnazionale più generale e composito. Il presente elaborato propone alcune osservazioni sulla minaccia integrata nigeriana. Sebbene molti analisti ritengano che il collante ‘strutturale’ di tale matrice criminale sia l’omertoso ossequio ad un fideismo superstizioso, sintetizzato dalle pratiche del voodoo o del ju-ju, tuttavia, ad una esplorazione successiva sono emersi caratteri fondanti ancor più complessi e pericolosi. La nostra analisi, quindi, mira ad individuare e qualificare i fattori di rischio avvalendosi della conoscenza degli elementi costitutivi sociali, politici, economici, religiosi e culturali della Repubblica nigeriana.

Essi si ripetono all’interno del fitto contesto reticolare ordito nel tempo dalla locale criminalità a livello internazionale. Rete che si estende anche in Italia, attraverso una complessa filiera impermeabile e indefinita che ha le potenzialità di veicolare istanze integraliste, interessi illegali lobbisti ed attività delittuose.

Il raccapricciante ritrovamento dei resti mutilati di un bambino nigeriano nelle acque del Tamigi (1) , la clonazione di un sito Internet bancario, una cassa comune che unisce in un rapporto circolare e perverso lenoni e prostitute (2) sono solo alcuni degli originali aspetti di una stessa realtà criminale, quella di matrice nigeriana, in grado di pianificare indifferentemente omicidi atroci, espressione di rituali primitivi permeati da elementi magici, reati informatici di alto profilo tecnologico, originali e fantasiose iniziative imprenditoriali e gestionali applicate al delitto.

La versatilità delinquenziale nigeriana costituisce solo l’emergenza di un sistema altamente criminogeno che non può essere circoscritto alle apprezzabili ma non esaustive manifestazioni del traffico di droga e della tratta degli esseri umani. Occorre, invece, cogliere la pienezza della deriva deviante dei fattori socio-economici, religiosi e politici dell’area di origine, che pervadono la proiezione transnazionale delle reti affaristico-criminali.

E’ necessario, quindi, individuare ed analizzare gli elementi tipizzanti del complesso sistema nigeriano, di ordine generale, quali il ruolo dell’esercito, la multietnicità (3) e la rendita petrolifera, religioso, soprattutto il crescente integralismo, e sociale, nei diversi aspetti del consociativismo. Essi aumentano le criticità sistemiche endogene e si riverberano sulle dinamiche allogene ed internazionali.

Il paradosso nigeriano: un colosso dai piedi d’argilla

La forza politica della Nigeria emerge nettamente dalla leadership regionale assunta all’interno della Comunità economica degli Stati dell’Africa occidentale (ECOWAS) e della “Nuova Partnership per lo sviluppo dell’Africa” (NEPAD) (4) , in cui attualmente sembra competere solo con il Sudafrica. Il consolidamento del ruolo di snodo economico e finanziario nello scenario subsahariano ed i suoi indubbi riflessi sul piano internazionale sono testimoniati dall’avvio di relazioni commerciali privilegiate con la Cina, soprattutto nel ‘petrolifero’, nei trasporti e nelle forniture meccaniche.

Il colosso nigeriano si è imposto nell’area africana anche profondendo un rilevante impegno nelle missioni internazionali in Liberia e in Sierra Leone sotto l’egida della forza d’intervento dell’Ecowas (ECOMOG) e, più di recente, nel Darfur, sotto la bandiera dell’Unione Africana (5) , peraltro presieduta proprio dal Presidente nigeriano Obasanjo.

Non meraviglia, quindi, che la struttura militare svolga un ruolo ‘guida’ e sia diventata la più importante della regione africana sud-occidentale (6) con le sue 1.360.000 unità e con il continuo ed abbondante ricambio dei quadri offerto dalla straordinaria crescita demografica del Paese. Ne deriva che all’esercito sia affidata da una parte la delicata funzione di contenimento delle incessanti spinte centrifughe interne e dall’altra la promozione di uno stigma affidabile e ‘muscoloso’ nei consessi strategici africani (U.A.) (7) ed internazionali (O.N.U.). Forte anche di ciò, il Paese ha avanzato titoli preferenziali per l’inclusione nel Consiglio di Sicurezza dell’ONU, come l’Egitto ed il Sudafrica.

La storia della Nigeria, recente e febbrile, offre molti spunti di analisi. Alcuni problemi di oggi derivano dalla difficile strutturazione del Paese. Infatti, dalla sua indipendenza, quando si fondava su tre macroregioni (Northen Region, Western Region, Eastern Region), la Nigeria ha promosso una politica di progressiva frammentazione che conferisse autonomia alle molteplici soggettività statuali. L’attribuzione delle auspicate autonomie ai diversi attori regionali, tesa ultroneamente ad ordinare le differenti realtà tribali e lobbiste locali, non ha sedato le spinte centrifughe di molte etnie, soprattutto del Sud, maggiormente esposte agli oneri delle attività estrattive e produttive senza tuttavia condividerne congruamente gli utili.

Le accese rivendicazioni localistiche hanno trovato nuovo vigore con l’ascesa di un Presidente del Sud, il generale a riposo Olusegun Obasanjo (8) , eletto nel 1999, dopo un ventennio caratterizzato da una cronica instabilità (9) , e poi confermato nel 2003. Egli, interprete di un processo costituzionale e democratico non ancora completamente assestato, ha inteso limitare il tradizionale privilegio degli Stati del Nord cercando di assorbirne i motivi di dissenso e limitare le loro potenzialità di tipo eversivo-religioso.

Nell’anamnesi della giovane e popolosa Repubblica Federale nigeriana (10) la tradizionale prevalenza di alcune etnie - Yoruba (11) e, soprattutto, Haussa-Fulani (12) - ed il macchinoso sistema di distribuzione regionale delle rendite petrolifere hanno più volte innescato le violente contestazioni delle etnie meridionali. In tale ambito sono maturate sin dagli anni ‘60 la sanguinosa rivolta secessionista degli Igbo, nel Biafra, le violente rivendicazioni degli Ogoni e, più di recente, l’escalation di attentati nel delta del Niger, consumati dagli Ijaw (13) alle strutture ed al personale delle multinazionali petrolifere (14) .

Il petrolio, infatti, rappresenta la principale fonte di reddito della Nigeria, costituendo il 98% delle esportazioni federali (15) . Tuttavia il passaggio repentino e non razionalizzato dalla fase agropastorale a quella industriale estrattiva, non ha consentito che la ricchezza di petrolio e gas (16) costituisse un fattore di sicura e solida crescita economica.

La debolezza strutturale del paese, per l’assenza di progettualità economiche differenziate, si evince anche dal fatto che sia costretta ad importare derrate alimentari, in un periodo in cui l’aumento demografico esponenziale (72,49 morti/1.000 nascite) ha esteso la domanda di beni e di assistenza (17) .

Si trova, inoltre, per difetto di pianificazione e di aggiornamento infrastrutturale, ad essere eccessivamente dipendente dalle oscillazioni del prezzo del greggio ed in preda ad una costante e grave crisi di carburante che viene importato dall’estero ed è oggetto di un contrabbando tanto aggressivo da danneggiare ulteriormente la sicurezza economica (18) e territoriale (19) .

Dal marabutto (20) al mullah Omar

La polverizzazione del Paese, già strutturalmente critica, è ulteriormente aggravata dalla polarizzazione conflittuale delle due religioni principali, la cristiana (21) , prevalente nel Sud, e la musulmana (22) , maggioritaria al Nord (23) .

Nella comunità musulmana nigeriana, con i suoi 67 milioni di fedeli seconda solo all’Egitto, l’Islam praticato fino agli anni ‘70 era di matrice sunnita. Il diffuso pragmatismo lobbista e il laicismo politico che pervadono da sempre la realtà nigeriana hanno conferito alle comunità islamiche locali un orientamento “moderato” sino agli anni ‘80. Nel decennio successivo (24) , invece, soprattutto nelle regioni settentrionali, si è diffusa e radicata l’ideologia integralista più oltranzista, progressivamente filokhomeinista, filotalebana e wahhabita.

L’entità del fenomeno è facilmente apprezzabile dal fatto che in ben dodici Stati del Nord (25) sui trentasei della Federazione nigeriana vige la Shari’a. Inoltre Kano rappresenta non solo il maggior centro politico-commerciale nel Nord nigeriano ma soprattutto l’epicentro del fenomeno integralista e la roccaforte della sua diffusione nelle regioni limitrofe, attraverso circuiti ufficiali ma anche altri più defilati e criminogeni (strutture di finanziamento, supporto logistico, addestramento). Ciò appare foriero di ulteriori tensioni sociali sia perché la Shari’a entra spesso in aperto conflitto con le leggi federali (26) e con le norme internazionali che tutelano i diritti civili, sia perché l’apparato centrale non riesce a dirimere le contraddizioni e ad imporre la sua linea essenzialmente moderata (27) .

Una simile defaillance rischia di esasperare le istanze più radicali e di mescere pericolosamente le mire di potere ed economiche di alcune etnie e le aspirazioni espansionistiche del Jihad globale, come dimostrano i frequenti scontri fra cristiani e musulmani che allontanano le soluzioni sincretiche auspicate dal Governo nigeriano.

Gli scontri di maggior rilievo si sono verificati in data:

• 21-22 febbraio 2000 nel nord, a Kaduna (2.000-3.000 morti);

• 22-23 maggio 2000 a Kaduna (300 vittime);

• 7-12 settembre 2001 a Jos (Stato di Plateau), nella Nigeria centrale (1.000 morti);

• 13-14 ottobre 2001 a Kano, nel nord, durante una manifestazione contro l’intervento americano in Afghanistan (350 morti);

• 21-23 novembre 2002 a Kaduna, in seguito ai disordini innescati dalla protesta contro la prevista finale di Miss Mondo in Nigeria (215 morti, 1.215 feriti);

• giugno 2003 a Numan, nello Stato centro-orientale di Adamawa, l’omicidio di una cristiana da parte di un musulmano provoca tumulti, devastazioni ed un centinaio di morti;

• febbraio-maggio 2004, nella Nigeria Centrale (Stato di Plateau), una disputa territoriale fra cattolici Tarok e musulmani Fulani causa un migliaio di morti (in prevalenza musulmani);

• 11-12 maggio 2004 a Kano, la protesta musulmana per la strage nel Plateau State, provoca 40 morti, centinaia di feriti e quasi 30.000 sfollati. Il Presidente Obasanjo decreta lo stato di emergenza nella regione e sostituisce il governatore;

• 8 giugno 2004 a Numan, la ricostruzione di un minareto devastato dai tumulti dell’anno prima innesca nuove conflittualità fra la comunità maggioritaria Bachama (cristiana) ed i musulmani Hausa (132 morti).

E’ emersa all’attenzione, sin dal 2001, una formazione d’ispirazione salafita, la ‘Ahel Al Sunna Wal Jamaa’ (ASJA). Il gruppo, in prevalenza composto da giovani universitari, si propone di affermare uno Stato islamico sul modello talebano nei dodici Stati ove vige la legge coranica.

L’ASJA sarebbe coinvolto: nel conflitto con la polizia avvenuto a Lagos (sud-est) nel maggio ‘98 (ove sono periti molti associati); negli scontri etnici verificatisi nel settembre 2001 e nel febbraio-maggio 2004 nello Stato di Plateau (Nigeria centrale); negli attacchi a diversi commissariati effettuati nel nord-est, negli Stati di Yobe [31.12.2003] e di Borno (settembre-ottobre 2004), proseguiti in ripetuti scontri tra forze di sicurezza ed estremisti ‘talebani’ rifugiatisi sul complesso montuoso Mandara, al confine con il Camerun.

Tale situazione non poteva sfuggire all’onnipresente Bin Laden, che nel messaggio audiovisivo rivolto l’11 febbraio 2003 “ai bravi musulmani”, ha incluso la Nigeria (28) nella lista dei regimi arabi ‘apostati’, convinto che nel Paese sussisterebbero le migliori condizioni ‘per la liberazione’.

Anche gli esiti informativi conseguenti all’arresto in Pakistan, il 13 luglio 2004, del tecnico informatico Mohammed Naeem Khan (Abu Talha) confermano la presenza in Nigeria (29) di nuclei di estremisti islamici contigui alla rete di Osama e ad essa collegati attraverso fitti sistemi di comunicazione tecnologica.

Il rischio di una ‘dorsale verde’ integralista subsahariana è stato sottolineato anche da soggetti istituzionali dei Paesi magrebini, che per ovvi motivi geografici sono molto attenti agli sviluppi del locale scenario. In un’intervista rilasciata a La Stampa il 9 agosto 2004, il Ministro degli Esteri libico Abdulharam Shalgam ha dichiarato che gli integralisti islamici del Gruppo Salafita per la Predicazione ed il Combattimento hanno intenzione di “fondare insieme ai ribelli del Ciad uno Stato cuscinetto, un regno islamico nella regione… al confine fra Libia, Algeria, Nigeria, Ciad e Sudan” (30) .

Sebbene la Repubblica Federale nigeriana e generalmente i governi della ‘Africa Nera’ non abbiano ancora la sensibilità e l’esperienza antiterroristica maturate dagli Stati magrebini, tuttavia si sta diffondendo un più deciso orientamento al controllo preventivo dei focolai di tensione endogena e ai tentativi destabilizzanti di penetrazione allogena, spesso riferibili a progettualità integraliste globali (31) .

A suffragare quest’ultima ipotesi, si ritiene che la perdita delle basi afgane, le pressioni occidentali in Medioriente e nell’Asia del sud potrebbero spingere gli jihadisti a considerare tutto il continente africano, e non solo l’Africa orientale dove Al Qaeda mantiene i suoi legami più forti, come una possibile area logistica, nella prospettiva di più diretti progetti strategici ed operativi.

La natura “camaleontica” delle reti

La necessità di aggregare utilmente distinte realtà locali in un unico mosaico ha favorito il sistematico e qualificato ricorso a forme organizzative orizzontali, fluide e trasversali. Esse compongono oggi il modello socio-politico, economico e di potere della Nigeria attraverso cui le lobby acquisiscono, gestiscono e controllano la collettività nazionale e le diffuse diaspore.

Si tratta di una ‘grande rete clientelare territoriale’ (32) , che si dipana intorno a figure ‘carismatiche’ capaci di potenziare i legami di tenuta interna, coalizzare risorse umane, materiali ed intellettuali ed orientarle verso progettualità politiche ed economiche.

La rigida organizzazione, i rituali aggiornati opportunisticamente, il fideismo nazionale, la garanzia di protezione che attrae ed assume ancor più valore in un contesto destabilizzato da tensioni etniche, povertà e anomìa costituiscono fattori importanti che legittimano le élite e le qualificano in modo competitivo nei mercati globali.

Tale situazione offre una più efficace chiave di lettura dell’associazionismo che permea ogni comunità nigeriana, anche all’estero. Esso si sviluppa attraverso forme associative che hanno più marcate connotazioni ‘mafiose’ (33) oppure per mezzo di filiere internazionali in cui interagiscono centri di interesse (professionale, etnico, universitario, religioso, settario, sportivo, umanitario), aperti anche a istanze criminali.

Quest’ultimo fattore è essenziale ai fini del nostro studio in quanto dietro i gruppi o i soggetti promotori od esecutori di attività delittuose esiste un reticolo stratificato, in cui le faglie criminali sono supportate in modo causale e strumentale da network parimenti criminogeni, anche se attinenti a lobby, matrici etnico-religiose e centri di potere trasversali.

Proprio la presenza di rappresentanze ed associazioni, soprattutto nel caso esse siano numerose, poliedriche e diffuse, costituisce l’evidenza che le colonie di stranieri hanno conseguito un apprezzabile radicamento ‘strutturale’ ed un’integrazione progettuale tali da offrire ulteriori opportunità di evoluzione.

Lungi dal criminalizzare l’associazionismo, che ha risvolti molto positivi di mediazione ed integrazione con la comunità ospite, tuttavia in alcuni casi, come quello nigeriano, esso ripete le ambiguità e le vulnerabilità dell’area di origine. Inoltre è il prioritario obiettivo dei gruppi criminali che, permeando i più elevati livelli, possono contare su un ottimo interfaccia legale dei propri affari e su di un capillare ed ‘ufficializzato’ strumento di controllo e condizionamento dei connazionali.

Management e gri-gri (34)

Alla luce delle considerazioni precedenti s’intuisce quanto sia composito l’universo criminale nigeriano. In esso si alternano capacità innovative, sotto l’aspetto tecnologico e funzionale, ad elementi primitivi criminogeni. L’alternanza conferisce alla minaccia una duplice natura solo apparentemente differente ma in effetti interattiva ed interdipendente. In essa convivono riti primitivi e superstiziosi, spesso eletti quale iniziatico sanguinario al settarismo lobbista, e modelli tecnologicamente e culturalmente evoluti, in cui si integrano le più diverse e qualificate risorse sociali nigeriane. Accanto a bande aggressive, che derivano la loro legittimazione da organizzazioni strutturate in madrepatria, quali gli Eiye ed i Black Axe, responsabili di violente risse e di reati predatori particolarmente eclatanti in Piemonte ed in Veneto, si assiste al proliferare di articolazioni ben più solide, delle vere e proprie holding.

Esse si modulano come società moderne, attraverso: la multisettorialità degli affari, derivante dalla morfologia flessibile del modello organizzativo, in grado di aderire utilmente ad ogni aspetto remunerativo del mercato globale; la diffusività delle cellule, che realizzano un ampio network intercontinentale, in cui nodi locali, relativamente autonomi, rispondono all’occorrenza ad imputazioni delle lobby che dirigono i traffici; l’elevata capacità di condividere disegni transnazionali, frutto della duttilità strutturale (35) , della disponibilità a condividere spazi illegali senza esasperare la competitività e dell’adattività agli ambienti ospiti; il mirato esercizio della violenza, normalmente orientata all’interno della diaspora ed in modo ‘inabissato’ per evitare l’allarme sociale.

I gruppi finiscono per operare in modo autonomo, come attori criminali indipendenti, orizzontalmente, quali snodi di una rete e verticalmente, in ambiti associativi mafiosi gerarchizzati.

Camaleonticamente essi assumono atteggiamenti tanto elastici da aderire magmaticamente a differenziati disegni criminosi, assicurandosi una ‘forte tenuta interna’ e cogestendo affari personali e ruoli terminali di un processo ben più ampio ed allogeno. Non deve quindi meravigliare che per lungo tempo la criminalità nigeriana sia apparsa solo nelle sue manifestazioni più periferiche e residuali e che il conseguente rischio sia stato parcellizzato secondo evidenze casuali. Raccogliendo le tessere e componendole secondo i parametri della potenzialità, la minaccia criminale può riservare inedite preoccupazioni.

Dalla raccolta dei pomodori al money-transfer

Nel territorio italiano la criminalità nigeriana ha acquisito un ottimo livello di competitività nel mercato illecito per la specializzazione conseguita in alcuni settori illegali e per la coesione all’interno dei gruppi. Inoltre ha colto le opportunità offerte dal fitto reticolato transnazionale che collega le cellule presenti in Italia a quelle diffuse nello scenario intercontinentale.

La transnazionalità e la forte ‘omertà’ presente nelle comunità nigeriane, oltre a connotare la matrice criminale, sono fattori costitutivi del network lobbista, che da tali caratteri trae legittimazione e forza. E’ proprio tale ‘interdipendenza’ il nuovo orizzonte della minaccia, attraverso cui mirare e interpretare le poliedriche attività illegali.

Il felice connubio tra tradizione e modernità emerge anche dalle cosiddette ‘contribution’, che conferiscono uno statuto imprenditoriale attualissimo nell’ambito della prostituzione, ritenuto misoneista e chiuso alle innovazioni, tra riti ju-ju e voodoo. Secondo tale sistema, ormai generalmente applicato, le donne costrette a prostituirsi investono una quota dei guadagni nell’acquisto e nello sfruttamento di altre connazionali che, aumentando i profitti, facilitino l’assolvimento dei loro debiti con l’organizzazione ed il conseguente affrancamento.

Siffatto modello gestionale, ancora più impermeabile, efficace e competitivo, attraverso una partecipazione più diretta e coinvolgente di tutti gli attori illegali, vittime e carnefici, crea un circuito perverso di reciproco coinvolgimento che espande il mercato e limita eventuali defezioni.

Il fenomeno nigeriano in Italia, qualitativamente crescente, emerge soprattutto nel Triveneto, Piemonte, Lombardia, Emilia, Umbria, Lazio e Campania (36) . In quest’ultima regione i nigeriani, concentrati nell’area domiziana, si sono inseriti nella manodopera in nero e nel traffico di droga. Nel primo caso hanno pressoché monopolizzato la raccolta di pomodori e di frutta, la pastorizia e la piccola produzione casearia.

Nel mercato locale di narcotici, invece, essi hanno vissuto momenti di conflittualità con gruppi albanesi e camorristi, allorquando abbiano tentato di espandere spazi e competenze, minando così i delicati equilibri locali. Sono, inoltre, mal sopportate talune spiralizzazioni (37) che, provocando allarme sociale, mettono a repentaglio l’andamento degli affari criminali nell’area.

Nel Triveneto, in Piemonte e nel centro-Italia, infine, interagiscono gruppi ‘microcriminali’, vere e proprie organizzazioni strutturate come in madrepatria, di cui ripetono interessi ed antagonismi e associazioni di spiccato profilo imprenditoriale e “penetrate” da qualificati pregiudicati.

Sotto l’aspetto direttamente criminale i nigeriani hanno acquisito una posizione competitiva in molti settori illegali. Di seguito riportiamo i principali.

Tratta di connazionali

Il traffico di esseri umani rappresenta il primo collettore di ricavi illegali da destinare al più lucroso traffico degli stupefacenti. Nella tratta, collegata al racket della prostituzione ed allo sfruttamento della manodopera in nero, i sodalizi nigeriani hanno raggiunto elevati standard organizzativi e gestionali, curando interamente ogni fase, dal ‘reclutamento’ in patria (ingaggio per debito) alla fornitura di documenti falsi per l’espatrio, dal trasferimento nei Paesi di arrivo per tappe successive, sino allo smistamento nei vari settori di impiego illecito. La maggior parte delle vittime proviene dagli Stati del sud (soprattutto Edo (38) , ma anche Delta e Lagos), è di etnia Bini, ha un diploma secondario ed è di religione cristiana (pentecostale, cattolica, anglicana).

Nel traffico i cittadini dello Stato di Edo monopolizzano la tratta verso i Paesi Schengen, gli Yoruba e gli Igbo, invece, preferiscono Gran Bretagna ed Usa (39) .

Le principali rotte per il trasferimento in Italia delle clandestine si sviluppano per via aerea -diretta od in tratte successive- oppure via terra, attraverso una serie di soste effettuate in vari Stati africani -in attesa si verifichino le condizioni di sicurezza necessarie alla prosecuzione del viaggio- fino all’attraversamento del Sahara con successivo arrivo in Algeria, Libia od in Marocco.

Da quest’ultimo Paese, via mare, raggiungono la Spagna o direttamente l’Italia.

I viaggi via terra sono compiuti in jeep, condotte da autisti arabi che trasportano una ventina di passeggeri per volta, e possono durare da 2/8 mesi fino a due anni. La tratta via mare, con partenza dalle coste marocchine, avviene in modo precario su piccoli scafi che trasportano gruppi di 20 o più persone.

Dai Paesi dell’Africa subsahariana (Africa centrale, occidentale e Corno d’Africa) arriva un flusso crescente di clandestini diretti verso le coste italiane, in prevalenza provenienti dall’Africa occidentale ed in particolare dal Ghana e dalla Nigeria. La Comunità Economica degli Stati dell’Africa occidentale (ECOWAS) prevede la libera circolazione all’interno degli Stati membri. Pertanto, i migranti provenienti dai Paesi dell’area diretti verso l’Italia sarebbero effettivamente controllati solo allorquando varchino la frontiera con l’Algeria e la Libia.

In assenza di una normativa concordata fra Paesi dell’Unione Europea e Paesi dell’Africa subsahariana, in merito alla riammissione dei clandestini, ogni intesa riguardante il problema migratorio deve essere trattata sulla base dell’accordo di Cotonou, in vigore dall’aprile 2003. Esso prevede, fra l’altro, strategie allocate di riduzione della povertà per eliminare le cause prime dell’immigrazione.

Al momento la UE ha previsto, da qui al 2007, programmi di sviluppo solo in 6 Stati nigeriani su 36.

L’Italia, che dal 2002 ha destinato alla Nigeria -unico Stato subsahariano prescelto- una quota riservata di ingressi per lavoro, ha avviato con quel Paese attività di cooperazione allo sviluppo sulla base di programmi predisposti dall’Organizzazione Internazionale per le Migrazioni (OIM) e dall’Istituto delle Nazioni Unite per la Ricerca sul Crimine e la Giustizia (UNICRI) per contrastare la tratta di donne e minori. Il programma si traduce in informazioni, supporto tecnico e formazione alla rete di assistenza locale alle vittime in Nigeria ed in Italia, ed alla struttura di contrasto, federale e locale (Stati di Lagos e di Edo).

La Nigeria, invece, che ha collaborato fattivamente al rimpatrio dei propri connazionali, ha introdotto nell’agosto 2003 una nuova normativa contro la tratta che prevede pene più severe per i trafficanti e sistemi di protezione delle vittime.

Le clandestine sono destinate soprattutto al mercato della prostituzione. Il fenomeno ha assunto un rilievo ‘epidemico’ tanto da interessare pressoché tutto il territorio nazionale. Infatti, il 60% delle prostitute straniere presenti in Italia è di origine africana. Si concentra inizialmente nel Piemonte e nel Veneto, sviluppandosi su tutto il territorio nazionale ad opera dei gruppi deputati a gestire il debito delle migranti ammontante a 50/60.000 euro (40) .

Il racket della prostituzione si avvale, talvolta, dell’attività di associazioni apparentemente legali (41) , collegate ai vertici criminali nell’area di origine.

Traffico di droga

L’Italia è interessata al narcotraffico sia direttamente, sia quale snodo per altri Stati europei.

I gruppi africani investono nella droga parte dei proventi della tratta e della prostituzione, sfruttando la fitta rete intercontinentale nigeriana al fine di selezionare corrieri di varia nazionalità e provenienza (anche tra microcriminali delle diverse realtà ospiti) e mantenere rapporti efficaci con omologhi sodalizi sudamericani ed asiatici.

Essi, inoltre, utilizzano opportunisticamente canali e strutture dedite anche ad altri servizi criminali, così rendendo il proprio profilo interoperativo ed assicurando un costante incremento del bacino d’utenze e delle risorse disponibili.

Anche in Italia viene adottato il sistema ‘a grappolo’ e ‘della formica’, che coinvolge un gran numero di corrieri incaricati di trasportare quantità relativamente piccole. Peraltro questi ultimi, spesso ‘ingoiatori’ di ovuli (che contengono la droga) o occidentali incensurati (meno soggetti a controlli), utilizzano differenziate rotte d’ingresso (aeree, marittime e terrestri).

Riciclaggio

I profitti delittuosi alimentano diversificati traffici illegali, anche in considerazione del rapporto spesso organico tra i gruppi operanti che, partecipando ad un fitto network transnazionale, possono agevolmente orientare i proventi nei settori più remunerativi.

Sempre più nigeriani investono in attività commerciali (nei settori alimentari etnici), imprenditoriali, phone-center e strutture finanziarie di trasferimento di denaro, soprattutto money-transfer, attraverso cui controllano i circuiti delle rimesse in patria e supportano le filiere illegali all’estero.

Conclusioni

L’elevata capacità di alimentare la rete clientelare-lobbista-criminale consente ai gruppi nigeriani di interpretare fedelmente le opportunità offerte dalla transnazionalità.

La poliedricità degli interessi illegali coltivati e la capillarità delle presenze nigeriane a livello mondiale garantiscono potenzialità competitive e rapida possibilità di convertire lo strumento illegale a favore degli affari congiunturalmente più remunerativi.

La morfologia organizzativa della criminalità nigeriana presenta, infatti, una duttilità che consente di aderire alle più remunerative logiche del mercato globale e di sfruttare la vulnerabilità del Paese ospite.

Inoltre, la complessità sociale ed etnica e le tensioni centrifughe presenti in Nigeria assicurano pericolosi canali di comunicazione e trasferimento delle criticità anche in Europa ed in Italia.

Sotto l’aspetto squisitamente criminale, nella comunità nigeriana in Italia sta emergendo un contrasto competitivo tra le organizzazioni più dotate, che operano all’interno di sistemi impermeabili, autoreferenziati, esclusivi ed inabissati (42) , e il banditismo di raggruppamenti violenti, ipertrofici, più diretti ed ‘esternalizzati’ (43) .

La maggiore visibilità delle bande finisce per nascondere il più subdolo sistema relazionale delle criminalità lobbiste, offrendo a queste ultime un maggiore agio evolutivo.

Non si esclude, quindi, che proprio la criminalità lobbista e consociativa per la sua capacità di mimetizzarsi, possa offrire uno spazio sempre maggiore alle istanze di natura estremistico-religiosa, peraltro richiamate anche nelle citate ‘comunicazioni progettuali’ di Bin Laden. Il network, quindi, avrebbe le possibilità di interconnettere affari diversi, di veicolare rischi differenziati e di ‘confondere’ le matrici originarie della minaccia.

(1) Nel settembre 2001, a Londra, il ritrovamento del torso del piccolo Adam ha orientato le indagini verso gli ambienti di talune associazioni criminali nigeriane, presenti in Gran Bretagna e diffuse in molti Paesi europei. Esse, infatti, praticano feroci riti di affiliazione tra cui il ‘sacrificio’ di bambini. Le persone indagate in relazione all’omicidio, in larga prevalenza di nazionalità nigeriana, sono risultate far parte di un’organizzazione dedita al traffico di esseri umani. Secondo la stampa, il principale sospettato, presunto padre naturale del bimbo, avrebbe in precedenza ucciso altri 11 bambini, fra cui una delle sue figlie.

(2) Con il sistema delle ‘contribution’ le maman e le prostitute conferiscono in una cassa comune parte dei loro proventi, che successivamente utilizzano per l’acquisto e la gestione di nuove ‘vittime’. Lo sfruttamento di quest’ultime finanzia l’affrancamento delle prostitute ‘investitrici’. Il fenomeno è circolare e sfrutta la psicologia dei kapò in quanto da un legame di correità e condivisione fra vittime e carnefici deriva un utile che cementa il meccanismo di reciproco controllo ed incentivazione.

(3) Nella Federazione nigeriana convivono oltre 250 etnie, caratterizzate da una marcata tribalità che spesso si traduce in differenziate spinte lobbiste e di potere.

(4) La coalizione di Stati africani fondata nel 2001 per attirare gli investimenti esteri si propone di favorire lo sviluppo africano. Nel febbraio 2003, si è impegnata a darsi un meccanismo paritario di valutazione collegiale per verificare la buona ‘governance’ politica ed economica degli Stati membri.

(5) L’Unione Africana, a differenza della vecchia OUA attestata sul principio di non interferenza, ha sancito il diritto dell’Unione ad intervenire nei casi di crimini di guerra, di genocidio o di crimini contro l’umanità, per riportare la pace e ripristinare la sicurezza negli Stati membri.

(6) La Nigeria possiede l’unica industria di produzione bellica dell’Africa occidentale, la Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON). Gli stabilimenti di Kaduna (armi leggere e munizioni) e di Bauchi (veicoli corazzati leggeri), entrambi situati nel Nord musulmano, producono armi ad uso esclusivo delle forze di sicurezza, benché si stimi che nel Paese vi siano oltre un milione di armi detenute illegalmente.

(7) L’esercito nigeriano, massicciamente ristrutturato dal Presidente Obasanjo per ridimensionare il ruolo dell’etnia Hausa-Fulani ai vertici delle Forze Armate, ha talvolta veicolato anche interessi illeciti (narcotraffico e contrabbando). Nel 1985 il regime del gen. Buhari fu travolto dallo scandalo di alti ufficiali implicati nel narcotraffico. Nel 1999 i caschi blu nigeriani in missione in Sierra Leone furono coinvolti in un traffico di diamanti con i ribelli del Revolutionary United Front (Marcella Emiliani, “Petrolio, forze armate e democrazia – Il caso Nigeria” e Giorgio Pietrostefani, Geografia delle droghe illecite”).

(8) Cristiano anglicano di etnia Yoruba e politico di lungo corso, Obasanjo fu capo di Stato fra il 1976 ed il 1979, anno in cui si segnalò come primo e unico militare a voler restituire il potere ai civili (restituzione mai avvenuta compiutamente perché impedita dai golpe militari degli alti ufficiali del Nord succedutisi dal 1983 fino al 1999). Obasanjo fu arrestato e recluso durante la dittatura del suo predecessore, gen. Abacha (1993-1998).

(9) Dopo un ventennio di governi militari, e di colpi di Stato, con la breve parentesi dei governi ‘civili’ fra il 1960-1966 (‘I Repubblica’) ed il 1979-1983 (‘II Repubblica’), Obasanjo ha vinto le elezioni che, a detta degli osservatori internazionali, pur non essendo esenti da sospetti di brogli, hanno avuto il merito di essersi svolte pacificamente. E’ invece risultata problematica l’accettazione del risultato elettorale, tuttora oggetto di vivaci contestazioni da parte dell’opposizione.

(10) Indipendente dal 1960, la Nigeria è composta da 36 Stati e conta 130 milioni di abitanti. Secondo il Population Reference Bureau di Washington, la Nigeria ha raggiunto nel 2004 i 137 milioni di abitanti (nono posto nella classifica dei Paesi più popolati) e nel 2050 potrebbe raggiungere i 370 milioni di abitanti (salendo al quinto posto mondiale).

(11) Rappresenta la maggiore comunità etnica africana (20 milioni di persone) e popola il sud-ovest della Nigeria e parzialmente il sud-est del Benin.

(12) Situata nel centro-nord del Paese, in prevalenza di religione musulmana.

(13) Nell’agosto 2004, la ripresa degli scontri interetnici a Port Harcourt, capitale dello Stato di Rivers, è sfociata, come in passato, in una violenta ribellione nei confronti del governo federale e locale e delle multinazionali straniere. In particolare i ribelli della ‘Niger Delta Volunteer Force’, diretti da Mujahid Dokubo Asari, hanno minacciato di attaccare le infrastrutture nigeriane ed il personale delle piattaforme petrolifere (‘Operazione Locusta’) per ritorsione agli attacchi delle forze speciali nigeriane nei loro confronti. Fra l’altro Asari ha accusato la Royal Dutch Shell e l’Agip di collaborare con il governo nigeriano in ‘atti di genocidio’ contro il popolo Ijaw. Asari, ricevuto dal Presidente nigeriano Obasanjo, si sarebbe impegnato a rispettare un patto di reciproca non belligeranza con l’esercito federale. La situazione, tuttavia, rimane fluida.

(14) Nel 2003 la produzione petrolifera nigeriana si è ridotta per tale motivo del 40%, con ripercussioni, a livello mondiale, sulla quotazione del greggio, già influenzata dall’instabilità del contesto mediorientale.

(15) La Nigeria è il sesto produttore mondiale ed il primo esportatore africano, con l’estrazione di oltre 2 milioni di barili di greggio al giorno.

(16) Lo sfruttamento del gas naturale nigeriano potrebbe rivelarsi strategicamente importante nel giro di una decina d’anni. Attualmente la Nigeria è al nono posto della classifica mondiale dei Paesi produttori/detentori di riserve di gas.

(17) Nonostante l’esistenza delle fonti energetiche, di risorse agricole e di un buon tasso di alfabetizzazione (87%, stima 2001), il Paese ha un alto indice di disoccupazione (28%), in prevalenza nel nord musulmano, e circa la metà della popolazione vive sotto la soglia di povertà. Inoltre ha un forte debito estero (32,8 miliardi $ USA) e la moneta nazionale, il naira, soffre di debolezza strutturale.

(18) Nel delta del Niger vengono sottratti fino a 100.000 barili di greggio al giorno dalle pipeline (bunkering). Per contrastare il fenomeno la Nigeria ha avviato nell’area un intervento militare congiunto con gli USA nell’ambito del più ampio programma statunitense (African Coastal Security Programme) finalizzato alla lotta al terrorismo islamico, al contrabbando ed alla pirateria, nonché per la difesa dei giacimenti off-shore e delle principali rotte di afflusso del petrolio e degli idrocarburi destinati al mercato occidentale.

(19) La Nigeria risulta tra i Paesi africani più interessati dal fenomeno della pirateria in mare.

(20) Termine derivato dall’arabo che correntemente definisce l’asceta santone cui vengono attribuite capacità di guaritore. Più specificamente, nella confraternita sufi dei Muridi, molto diffusa nell’Africa subsahariana (soprattutto tra i wolof del Senegal) il marabutto riveste il ruolo di guida spirituale e sociale e di insegnante, nella comunità dove opera.

(21) Protestante (14%), cattolica (8,2%), anglicana (5,1%), africana indipendente (6,7%) diffusa prevalentemente nel sud del Paese. Quest’ultima, nata negli anni Settanta come reazione alle chiese cristiane ufficiali identificate con gli imperi coloniali, innesta sulla tradizione animista numerosi elementi mutuati dal cristianesimo e prolifera soprattutto nei grandi centri urbani.

(22) 43,1%, prevalente al nord.

(23) A cui si aggiungono le differenziate e numerose credenze animiste e tradizionali (19%).

(24) Innovativa fu la valenza socio-economica e politica delle rivolte yantatsine, avvenute in molte città del Nord tra il 1980 ed il 1985, ispirate dal leader fondamentalista Muhammadu Marwa, meglio noto come Maitatsine. Questi, personaggio carismatico dalle pretese messianiche a favore delle classi disagiate, si proponeva di legittimare uno Stato islamico al fine di scardinare l’establishment musulmano nordista. Infatti cercò di ‘accreditarsi’ negli ambienti emarginati del proletariato urbano postagrario, esacerbato dall’ostentato privilegio dei vertici militari golpisti. Egli riuscì ad armare un violento scontro (a Kano, Yola, Kaduna e Maiduguri), secondo per intensità (5.000 morti) solo alla guerra del Biafra.

(25) Zamfara (il primo ad applicare la legge coranica, nell’ottobre del ‘99), Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Borno e Gombe.

(26) Per tale situazione la Nigeria rischia di essere censurata e marginalizzata nei consessi internazionali.

(27) La Costituzione nigeriana prevede l’applicazione della Shari’a, che equipara alle altre leggi consuetudinarie, nel campo del diritto di famiglia e solo per i cittadini musulmani. Tuttavia la legge coranica non sembra soddisfare pienamente le rivendicazioni più estreme delle frange oltranziste.

(28) Insieme alla Giordania, al Marocco, al Pakistan, all’Arabia Saudita ed allo Yemen.

(29) Nonché in Turchia, Pakistan e Gran Bretagna.

(30) Il Ministro ha espresso preoccupazione anche circa una possibile infiltrazione islamica nel Darfur, qualora si giunga ad ‘un’internazionalizzazione del conflitto’.

(31) Che operano direttamente o attraverso l’associazionismo islamico internazionale.

(32) Definizione coniata dall’africanista ed islamologo Guy Nicholas, secondo il quale le dinamiche politico-sociali nigeriane si sostanziano nell’antagonismo che oppone aggregazioni clientelari e criminogene, espressione di distinte cordate di potere. Esse tendono a tutelare ampi margini di ‘segretezza’, adottando, tuttavia, codici intimidatori intelligibili dai contesti in cui operano, così traendo dalla società forza e legittimazione omertosa.

(33) Secondo l’africanista e mediorientalista Marcella Emiliani, in Nigeria si sono sempre definite ‘mafie’ quelle lobby di potere a base locale che, ‘per lo meno agli inizi’, non avevano nulla a che vedere con l’associazione a delinquere di tipo italiano. La caratteristica di queste mafie risiederebbe nel loro essere uno ‘spazio politico-affaristico’ in cui, dietro alla ribalta dell’ufficialità, si aggregano interessi per lo più regionali o subregionali, ma soprattutto si coalizzano gruppi di pressione ‘cruciali’ composti da civili, militari ed ex militari.Esistono inoltre molteplici forme di banditismo etnico, che perseguono attività criminali più fluide ed aggressive di quelle mafiose, spesso funzionali o collegate alle reti.

(34) Si tratta di amuleti magici confezionati dai santoni, assai diffusi in Nigeria ed in tutta l’area subsahariana, che aumenterebbero le capacità di affermazione personale e proteggerebbero dal malocchio.

(35) I gruppi criminali nigeriani usano e si scambiano informazioni ed esperti quali: falsificatori (in prevalenza ghanesi), procacciatori di documenti, avvocati, albergatori, agenti di viaggio, operatori sanitari (per gli aborti clandestini delle prostitute) e provider di comunicazioni.

(36) I nigeriani preferiscono concentrazioni geocriminali sparse sul territorio nazionale ed in stretto rapporto tra loro, sia attraverso condivisioni affaristiche illegali sia nelle occasioni ‘ufficiali e non’ promosse dall’associazionismo etnico.

(37) Alcuni eventi aggressivi e/o micidiari tra extracomunitari sono stati vivamente censurati da alcuni leader camorristici che mal sopportavano la conseguente presenza di polizia in loco ed il crescente timore delle popolazioni locali.

(38) Si stima che a Benin City e nel suo hinterland pressoché ogni famiglia ha un proprio membro coinvolto a vario titolo nel traffico.

(39) “Programme of action against trafficking in minors and young women from Nigeria into Italy for the purpose of sexual exploitation – Report of Field Survey in Edo State, Nigeria” elaborato dall’Università di Benin City nel luglio 2003.

(40) Nel debito sono computati: il viaggio per raggiungere il Paese di destinazione, la fornitura dei documenti falsi per l’espatrio, l’acquisto da parte della maman, il vitto e l’alloggio in Italia, il noleggio del joint (la postazione lavorativa) ed il trasporto giornaliero (fornito dall’organizzazione) dall’abitazione al posto di lavoro.

(41) Alcune di queste associazioni paralegali si riuniscono in veri e propri congressi, cui partecipano anche alcune centinaia di persone, nel corso dei quali viene elaborata la strategia complessiva dell’organizzazione, si risolvono i conflitti fra madame e si stanziano i fondi di mutuo soccorso.

(42)I gruppi criminali tradizionali di matrice etnica sono sostenuti da gran parte dell’associazionismo, di cui talvolta sono pure organici.

(43) Mal tollerati dalle rappresentanze nigeriane, che ne ostacolano la diffusione considerandole tra il teppismo e il gangsterismo primitivo.

Nigerian mafia decapitated in Italy

2010-05-15T00:14:00.001+02:00

Total of 400 years (in jail) for 36 Nigerians who were guilty of being members of two waring Nigerian 'mafia' groups; Black Axe and the Eiye who staryed operating in Italy.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Torino, decapitata la mafia nigeriana: condanne per 36 stranieri

Pubblicato il 13 Maggio 2010 da supmod2.

La mafia nigeriana esiste e ha operato per anni in Italia, a Torino. Lo ha stabilito ieri mattina il tribunale del capoluogo piemontese, che ha riconosciuto l’accusa di associazione per delinquere di stampo mafioso che la procura subalpina aveva contestato ai 36 imputati finiti a giudizio perché appartenenti ai due clan rivali dei Black Axe e degli Eiye. Il giudice Walter Maccario ha condannato i 36 affiliati ai due clan a pene comprese tra un minimo di quattro mesi di carcere e un massimo 14 anni e due mesi di reclusione, per un totale di quasi 400 anni di galera. La pena più alta è stata inflitta Joseph O., uno dei capi-mafia più noti in città. A sostenere l’accusa in aula c’erano i pubblici ministeri Enrica Gabetta e Sandro Ausiello.
Quello che si è concluso ieri a Torino è stato il più grosso processo celebrato in Italia nei confronti di una mafia straniera. La mafia è quella nigeriana, i soldati armati quelli appartenenti ai due clan rivali dei Black Axe e degli Eiye.

Le vittime, soggette a torture e violenze indescrivibili, sono nigeriani onesti che di quei clan non volevano far parte. Come il giovane straniero che al giudice Walter Maccario e al pubblico ministero Enrica Gabetta aveva raccontato di essere stato evirato in strada per aver risposto di “no” a chi gli chiedeva di schierarsi con uno dei due gruppi in guerra per il controllo dello spaccio e della prostituzione in città. I soldati Black Axe e i militanti Eiye erano stati arruolati nei rispettivi eserciti ai tempi dei corsi universitari frequentati a Benin City. Cominciarono a “farsi la guerra” in patria, poi trasferirono la lotta sulle strade delle nostre città. Su quelle di Torino, in particolare. Finché non finirono in manette tutti quanti nel maggio di cinque anni fa.

Nella chiusura indagini notificata a tutti gli indagati, i pm Gabetta e Ausiello avevano scritto che «lo scopo dei Black Axe e degli Eiye è quello di conquistare una assoluta supremazia sui propri connazionali al fine di ottenerne la sudditanza». Il che si traduceva nel pianificare tutta una serie di azioni che producessero denaro da inviare in Nigeria: spaccio di droga, riduzione in schiavitù delle connazionali, truffe basate sulla falsificazione di denaro, falsificazione di documenti. Un autentico piano di battaglia capace, oggi, di spiegare i numerosi episodi di violenza che durante l’estate del 2005 ebbero per protagonisti un numero altissimo di nigeriani.
Durante il processo sono stati ascoltati in aula centinaia di testimoni, quasi tutti vittime della guerra tra i due clan mafiosi. Testimonianze crude, terribili. Come questa: «Un mio connazionale, un uomo che io non conoscevo ma che abitava nel mio stesso palazzo, a un certo punto ha deciso di rivolgermi la parola. Mi ripeteva che ero un “momu”, un uomo senza palle, un uomo che non è un vero uomo. Cercava di arruolarmi, tentava di convincermi che dovevo entrare a far parte di un gruppo, del gruppo che lui e altri come lui chiamavano e chiamano Eiye. Io ho ignorato quei tentativi di approccio, me ne sono fregato. Una sera mi trovavo in un locale, a un certo punto si è avvicinato un uomo e mi ha detto che dovevo uscire in strada, che dovevo seguirlo, andare con lui perché qualcuno voleva parlarmi. Quando sono uscito erano lì che mi aspettavano, erano in tanti. Mi hanno circondato, hanno cominciato a picchiare. Hanno tirato fuori le asce, mi hanno colpito ovunque, in tutto il corpo. Ho ferite sulle braccia, sulle gambe, sul petto e sulla schiena. La conseguenza terribile di quell’aggressione è che non potrò più avere figli, quegli uomini mi hanno strappato via il pene e un testicolo».
Giovanni Falconieri
News

NIGERIA IN THE WORLD VIEW

Dont negotiate with Boko Haram, Army Chief Gen Ihejirika warns

Dont negotiate with Boko Haram, Army Chief Gen Ihejirika warns

Boko Haram rejects talks, threatens fresh attacks

Boko Haram rejects talks, threatens fresh attacks

RELATED CONTENT

“Why We Did Not Kill Obasanjo” – Boko Haram Leader

“Why We Did Not Kill Obasanjo” – Boko Haram Leader

A Spirano la Lega si affida a Iwobi Primo assessore nigeriano-padano

A Spirano la Lega si affida a IwobiPrimo assessore nigeriano-padano

TONY IWOBI (Foto by TIZIANO MANZONI)

Ezillo Attack: Death Toll Rises to 66

Ezillo Attack: Death Toll Rises to 66

Nella battaglia al terrorismo islamista Nigeria, Usa e Ue stanno a guardare

Nigeria...........Una strage di cristiani

Nigeria, Natale di sangue: bombe in tre chiese Una strage di cristiani

Tre attentati contro i cattolici. Secondo le prime stime le vittime sarebbero più di venti. La denuncia della Santa Sede: "Un odio cieco e assurdo che non ha alcun rispetto per la vita umana". Rivendicazione della setta islamica Boko Haram

Riti «voodoo» come passaporto per controllare i «nuovi schiavi»

Un intervento chirurgico l'ha salvata da una grave cardiopatia

Ondo Socialite Ade Fayeun aka Ade Basket Wanted ...

Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu is Dead

Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu is Dead

Politici corrotti istigano all’odio religioso

Ambassador Saidu Pindar dies in car crash in Kaduna State

NIGERIAN SENDS AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS PRESIDENT

Nigerian Immigration Service And Beneficiaries Of Harvested Human Spare Parts

Duncan Mighty - Sanko Love

Corporate accountability | Amnesty International

Celebrating 50 years of uniting against injustice

Corporate accountability

Stop corporate abuse in the Niger Delta

Learn more about corporate accountability »

Northen Nigerian leaders accused of supporting Boko Haram

NIGERIA.......SECONDO JESSICA

TIMAYA

Street Life in Lagos - Witness - Al Jazeera English

TIMI DAKOLO There's A Cry

Tears flow as Obi receives slain NYSC member

ITALY: NIGERIAN BLOWS UP HIS APARTMENT TO AVOID BEING EVICTED

How BBC caused crisis in the North

VIOLENCE IN THE NORTH

Nigerian incumbent's election win spurs unrest

The Associated Press Posted: Apr 18, 2011 10:06 AM ET

Ex-PM Clark observing Nigerian election

NIGERIANS VOTE 2011

Nigerians vote in presidential election

Presidential Candidates

Fw:Buhari's Six Questions For Goodluck Jonathan/Soyinka’s Comment.

RIP OTABOR

Nigeria Re-builds Security Capacity

Libya protest: FG on alert to evacuate Nigerians from Libya

Libya protest: FG on alert to evacuate Nigerians from Libya

AFRICAN DIASP CONFERENCE LIBYA 2

Droga: arrestati 10 corrieri nigeriani

Droga: arrestati 10 corrieri nigeriani

CRISTIANI: MOZIONE PD AL SENATO, L'ITALIA S'IMPEGNI A FERMARE LE STRAGI

On patrol with Nigeria's police

On patrol with Nigeria's police

Nigeria police: Issuing corpses and denials

Nigeria police: Issuing corpses and denials

500 Nigerian victims of forced prostitution killed in Italy

500 Nigerian victims of forced prostitution killed in Italy

PALM WINE BAR

Palm Wine Bar@GRIOT: Tra vino di palma, capitani di ventura e tamburi parlanti.

AFROLIFE PUBLICATION @AMBASSADORS PARTY

COMMUNITY AWARD .. NIGERIAN GOLDEN JUBILEE ( ITALY)

NIGERIAN COMMUNITY AWARD 2010 (ROME)

Ex prostitute traduttrici per la Polizia

Sex War: Ghanaian Prostitutes Battle Nigerian Invaders

Sex War: Ghanaian Prostitutes Battle Nigerian Invaders

Nigerians angry at oil pollution double standards

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: ITALO_NIGERIAN ACCORD

Ovuli di cocaina in pancia Così trasportavano la droga

Ovuli di cocaina in panciaCosì trasportavano la droga

Trova significati nei dizionari Zanichelli

Forestale: scoperto traffico di rifiuti tra Italia e Nigeria

ENI PAYS $365 MILLIONS NOT TO BE CONDEMNED

Govt Bans Prostitution in Abuja

Protest For Nigeria.

TRAFFICKING OF DANGEROUS WASTES FROM ITALY TO NIGERIA

A Spirano la Lega si affida a Iwobi
Primo assessore nigeriano-padano

Ovuli di cocaina in pancia
Così trasportavano la droga