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The Network of International Human Rights Organisations and Coalitions say it may soon adopt detained Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Mr Omoyele Sowore, as a “Prisoner of Conscience”.

The Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) said on Mondfay in Lagos that it was working with renowned rights groups across the world to ensure that Sowore was adopted as a Prisoner of Conscience
unless the Federal Government releases the activist without further delay.

They also expressed shock that the Nigerian authorities were making frivolous charges against Sowore who had been in custody since Aug. 5.

The group also called for the release of Olawale Bakare, a member of #RevolutionNow arrested in Osogbo, Osun, on Aug. 5, Publisher of Cross River Watch, Mr Agba Jalingo and Ekanem Ekpo. The last two were arrested by the police and have yet to be taken to court.

“The continoued detention of Sowore is an embarrassment to Nigeria as a country. Everywhere we visit across the world, people are asking questions about Sowore’s detention.

“Many people do not understand the logic of laying charges of treason against Sowore simply because he used the word revolution.

“His incarceration continues to put a question mark on the credibility of the Nigerian government. Democracy dies when the culture of debate and the tradition of protest are lost,” the group said in a statement by CSNAC Chairman, Mr Olanrewaju Suraju,

CSNAC said the Nigerian government had beyond imaginations embarrassed itself by charging Sowore for “insulting the President”.

“It is even more ridiculous that he is being charged for insulting Mr President and also for money laundering where money was legitimately transferred through the financial institutions.

“These are frivolous charges aimed at seeking justification for his illegal arrest and continuous detention.”

CSNAC said from indications, the Nigerian government was desperate to press charges against Sowore and ensure he is jailed at all cost.

Suraju said Sowore was being hunted in part, due to series of publications in Sahara Reporters that consistently exposed corrupt practices in this and previous governments.

“Sowore is obviously a victim of vengeance. Corrupt politicians and security chiefs whose dirty deals have consistently been exposed by Sahara Reporters are looking for ways to settle scores. They think by
bringing down Sowore, Sahara Reporters will die.

“Its an illusion to think by keeping Sowore in jail, Sahara Reporters would be off the global network. This is a mistake because Sahara Reporters has assumed the status of an independent entity,” he said.

CSNAC also dismissed the charge of money laundering by the Department of State Security, (DSS), saying it was an attempt to blackmail Sahara Reporters and its publisher.

Sowore was arrested on Aug. 5 in Lagos and the Federal Government obtained an ex-parte order granting his detention for 45 days.

After keeping him for almost two months, he was charged for insulting President Mohammadu Buhari during a life programme on AriseTV. The government also accused him of treason.

He was also charged for transferring the sun of $19,975 from his personal account to Sahara Reporters.

NAN

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) Alhaji Muhammed Aliyu, the Kogi Chairman of the Nigeria Peoples Congress (NPC) has resigned from the party and withdraws from the Nov. 16 governorship election in the state.

Aliyu announced this in a statement he made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja, saying that his action was “with immediate effect”.

Aliyu, who is also the governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming gubernatorial election, said that he had sent his letter of resignation to the National Chairman of the party.

“Among several reasons for my decision, is my desire to continue to maintain the integrity with which I left the public service after 35 years of meritorious service as executive director.

“I discovered that the political arena is not a place where I can continue to maintain that integrity with unblemished records of service.”

He thanked NPC for affording him the opportunity to serve.

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) The Nigerian Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Ramatu Ahmed says no fewer than 10,000 Nigerian girls are forced into prostitution in Burkina Faso.

Ahmed disclosed this in an Interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN)  in Ouagadougou on Monday

She said the  victims of sex-trade were mainly underage girls kept in appalling conditions in Ouagadougou and in mining camps across the West African country.

Ahmed who had been in Burkina Faso since August 2017,  said  that over 200 Nigerian girls had been voluntarily repatriated this year.

According to the Ambassador,  many of the girls who were promised jobs in the country and Europe by the human traffickers are not willing to return home.

“The spate of human trafficking here in Burkina Faso is a big concern to the embassy because at present, we have nothing  less than 10,00 Nigerian girls who have been trafficked into Burkina Faso as commercial sex workers  and most of these girls are underage, most left school and are roaming about doing commercial sex work in Burkina Faso.

“This apart from been a dent to our country, it is also a sort of concern as far as their health is concerned, This is very serious to us and most of the girls who wants to go back as a result this voluntary repatriation do it because they were tricked, they did not know the condition there are going to found themselves here.

“For every Nigerian girl that escapes and wants to go back, there are more than 10 in the bush that are willing to carry on.

She said the Embassy is partnering with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) office in Ouagadougou to assist in the voluntary repatriation of some of the victims of human trafficking.

“200 girls have been repatriated to Nigeria  by the embassy , this is apart from the ones that runs to the churches , some to other Civil society Organisations(CSOs) and the International Organisations on Migration (IOM).

In fact, the IOM is complaining to the embassy that most its money meant for West Africa is used to repatriate Nigerian girls back home and they are complaining that with time, they would not be able to cope with the number.

“So if the embassy alone have repatriated 200 girls, you can imagine how many girls the IOM has repatriated and  the reason they are complaining.

Ahmed also appealed to Nigerian parents and guardians to monitor their children and wards more closely and not to be swayed by promises of greener pastures abroad.

“I am pleading with  Nigerian parents that they should know what their children are doing, most of the girls said  that their parents don;t know what they are  here  and some will tell us that their parents  know and some will say that they were sent by either their father, mother, Uncle.

“This is problem that emanates from the family, for the girls, i  wish to tell them that anybody they see that comes to tell them that he is taking then to somewhere, either employed as hair dressers or work in the shop, these are human traffickers.

Anybody that will tell them not work in Nigeria but to move outside is simply a human trafficker and they should be weary of such persons. she said

It will be recalled that the U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report (TIR) 2019, Burkina Faso is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking.

NAN reports that the Director General of National Agency for the Prohibtion of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP), Julie Okah Donlie while briefing the ECOWAS Parliament on the spate of trafficking in West Africa in December 2018 said that 500 girls were trafficked from Nigeria on daily basis.

She added that a whopping 20,000 Nigerians girls were also discovered in Mali.

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Ahmed bemoaned the activities of Nigerian syndicates operating in Burkina Faso, vowing that the Embassy will continue to track them down and bring the perpetrators to book in collaboration with the local authorities. (NAN)

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) Delta state governor, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, on Monday reaffirmed his commitment to providing road, saying such infrastructure had multiple benefits in the state’s economy.

The governor stated this while inaugurating a new office complex for the state’s command of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Asaba.

He said that his administration’s determination to ensure that there were good roads in the state was to boost socio-economic activities through ease in movement of people and goods.

According to him, we are committed to road construction, because if we ease the movement of people, it will be quicker to grow our economy.

Okowa assured that the state government would partner FRSC to ensure free flow of traffic across the state, especially during the yuletide.

He said that work had begun on the rehabilitation of deplorable sections of some federal roads in the state, explaining that his administration first sought approval from Federal Ministry of Works before engaging in the intervention.

“We have awarded contracts to Levant Nigeria Limited to reconstruct the Asaba end of the Niger Bridge.

“We are also intervening in the failed portions of Warri-Benin road, and there is another place from Agbor to Benin; these are the places we need to intervene urgently before the Christmas.

“We will continue to work with Federal Ministry of Works to see what can be done in the area of making the roads more motorable,” he said.

He congratulated the FRSC for the new office complex, noting that the it was a beautiful place for people to work and be more productive.

The governor thanked the FRSC for the quick provision of number plates and driver’s license in the state, assuring of his administration’s partnership with it and other federal agencies to ensure quick service delivery.

Earlier, Chairman, FRSC Board, Malam Bukhari Bello, had in an address lauded Okowa for complementing Federal Government’s development initiative, asserting that the governor had rendered exceptional support to FRSC which other state governors should emulate.

Corps Marshal of FRSC, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, on his part, thanked the governor for his support and show of good leadership in the state.

“Since you came on board, no one has slept on top of the Niger Bridge due to your collaboration with your counterpart in Anambra.

“My focus has been on infrastructural development because good work environment enhances productivity.

“We support the government and people of Delta State, because you have made the atmosphere conducive for us to work,” Oyeyemi said.

The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Monday, strongly dispelled as fake, news circulating in the social media speculating that some bridges along Jebba-Mokwa-Bokani Road, especially Tatabu Bridge, collapsed and advising motorists to avoid the route. (more…)

• Says funding, inclement weather major challenges

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, has assured Nigerians that critical roads across the country, particularly those leading to fuel depots would soon be fixed in order to enhance fuel distribution and ease the usual high traffic during the ember months.

Fashola spoke in his office in Abuja while responding to a request by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for urgent intervention by the Ministry on some roads leading to fuel depots without which the distribution of petroleum products during the festive months could be seriously hampered.

The Minister, who assured that arrangements were already being put in place to fix such roads and a number of those which conditions had deteriorated as a result of heavy rainfalls, listed such selected roads to include Suleja-Bida-Lapai-Lambata; Oyo–Ogbomosho-Ilorin; Jebba-Mokwa-Tegina; Benin-Sapele-Warri; Benin-Auchi-Okenne; Enugu-Onitsha; Awka-Amansea and Odukpani-Itu roads.

On the state of the listed roads, Fashola explained that the Suleja-Lambata-Minna Road was in a fairly good condition, adding that the failed portions were slated for emergency repairs during the ember month’s programme while work is ongoing on the Bida-Lapai-Lambata Roads where the contractor handling it has already stabilized a substantial part of the road.

The Bida–Minna Road, the Minister explained, is a Niger State Government Road and is in a fairly good condition while the Suleja –Lambata –Minna Road; is a Federal Government road under SUKUK funding.

Disclosing that his Ministry had commenced discussions with the contractors handling the various road projects for the commencement of repair and rehabilitation works as soon as the rains subside, Fashola said approval has been given for the Engineering Corps of the Nigerian Army to repair the bad portions of the Bokani-Makera-Tegina-Birnin Gwari Road in Niger and Kaduna States, which is currently under procurement, due to the security situation in that axis.

He further explained that funding has also been a challenge, adding that the Federal Government would endeavour to meet its financial obligations to the contractors handling the various road projects to ensure that they returned to the sites.

He said work on the Oyo-Ogbomosho-Ilorin Road is on-going by the contractor handling the project, which, he explained, is one of the projects that received dedicated funding under SUKUK.

According to him, although the project is being challenged by the current weather situation and funding, the old alignment of the Oyo-Ogbomosho route is receiving palliative attention.

On the Ilorin –Jebba –Mokwa Road, which is under a dualization contract, Fashola explained that the project has been divided into two sections with Ilorin –Jebba in Kwara State as Section1: while Section II comprises Jebba–Mokwa–Bokani Junction in Niger State, adding that it is a new project and mobilization was still being processed.

For Okene–Lokoja Road, which is in four sections and under SUKUK funding, he explained that all the contractors handling the various sections had been directed to do palliative work on the failed portions of the road.

He said while a Federal Government appointed contractor is currently working on the Enugu –Onitsha Road, the bad portions of the Awka –Amansea Road are being repaired by the Anambra State Government.

For the Odukpani –Itu Road, the Minister said the contracting firm which is handling the project, has left the site as a result of the challenges of the weather situation and funding adding that the Ministry is currently intensifying efforts to address the challenges for the company to return to site as soon as possible.